Sony Ericsson Xperia

A lot of talk is going around cyberspace about the XPERIA X10 mini & XPERIA X10 mini pro being exact copies. Unless the tech guys at Sony Ericsson have gone over the deep end, there must be some difference or some sort of variation that set these versions apart, no matter how slight they are. Comparing Xperia X10 Mini contracts with X10 Mini Pro contracts online can be a sure fire way to save money on your next mobile phone.

Like features

Nearly everything down the line is essentially the same for the XPERIA X10 mini & XPERIA X10 mini pro. The phones come with a 2.55-inch TFT capacitive touchscreen. There’s still the recognisable “4-corner” icon hallmark at the Mini and Mini Pro’s screens.

Both mobile handsets run an older Android v1.6 OS (Donut) and are powered by the same 600 MHz Qualcomm MSM7227 mobile CPU. Sony Ericsson assures buyers that the users interface are just as performance-packed as the more recent Android OS’s.

The Mini and Mini Pro comes installed with Sony Ericsson’s own Timescape UI as well as a variety of other essential apps. Both phones are integrated with popular social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and Bebo.

Both XPERIA X10 mini & XPERIA X10 mini pro support 3G HSDPA , HSUPA and WiFi networks, as well as Bluetooth and microUSB connectivity for wireless and cabled data transfer.

Major differences

The X10 Mini is strictly a touchscreen phone with a T9 layout for text entry. In contrast, the Mini Pro comes with a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard located behind the main screen. This sliding keyboard feature adds more weight and dimension to the Mini Pro, and makes it rather heavier and bigger than the Mini.

What’s more, both XPERIA X10 mini & XPERIA X10 mini pro came in different launch colours.

The Mini came in more colours like Gold, Pearl White, Black, Pink, Lime, Red, and Silver whilst the Mini-Pro came only in Black, Red, and Pink.

Sony Ericsson frequently offer users the chance to win an Xperia X10 from their Facebook fan page. Now the company have introduced “Winning Wednesdays”. The first prize they are offering for this, is the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. Like the other chances to win, you’ll need to provide some details as well as answer a question.

For the Winning Wednesdays competition, you have to Spot the Difference. At first it sounds easy and once you go to the page (found here) to enter, it becomes even simpler. You’re greeted with a picture of a girl jumping and you have to spot one difference between the two photos and you answer by selecting one of three answers. There are five X10 handsets up for grabs, so enter here to have a chance at winning one of the phones.

O2 UK have finally released the latest update for the Xperia X10. O2 were the last network in the UK to approve the update, causing many O2 customers and Xperia X10 owners much anger. The software update has gone straight to R2BA026, where as initially it was thought that the older, R2BA020 firmware would be released. The latest update is said to improve the battery life, with many owners agreeing. X10 owners with the latest update are also reporting that the overall performance is much better and especially in TimeScape and MediaScape. Unfortunately, the latest update also includes the WiFi bug. The only firmware users didn’t find this a problem, was in R2BA020, so I’m sure there will be some users who wished it was the earlier firmware released onto O2.

As it stands at the moment, the update can’t be performed as an OTA (over the air) update. Instead users will need to use the Sony Ericsson Update Service or PC Companion to update the firmware version. The download totals 153.8MB.

We recently learned that in the UK, Three are the exclusive sellers of the X10 Mini Pro in white. There’s now two competitions up to win the said handset in white.

First up, The News of the World is holding a contest which ends tomorrow. To enter you’ll need to provide a few details and answer one simple question “What colour Xperia™ X10 mini pro handset is exclusive available on Three?”. Vogue are also holding the same competition. Again you’ll need to provide a few details and answer one question, which is slightly harder. “Which young designer has been named as the winner of the British Fashion Council’s MA Scholarship?”. There is however, fortunately a clue page to help you along. Vogue’s competition ends September 2nd.

Along with the handset, with both competitions, you will also win a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses, an Aspinal of London bag, along with a Marc by Marc Jabobs watch. All provided in white to match the X10 Mini.

Source

If the black X10 Mini Pro is a bit too boring for you, then there’s great news for you, especially if you’re a Three customer. Sony Ericsson and Three have teamed up to offer the Mini Pro in white, exclusively on the Three network. The handset features the same specs as the black model, which is a slimmed down X10 but, a beefed up X10 Mini.

The Xperia X10 Mini features Google Android 1.6, which will hopefully be updated soon to Android 2.1. The screen size is the same as the X10 Mini at 2.55 inches but, features a slide out QWERTY keyboard. To make room for this, the X10 Mini Pro is slightly larger than the X10 Mini, which is already available in white, as well as a variety of other colors. However like the X10 Mini, it’s only the back which features a color change, while the front of the phone remains black and the keyboard silver.

Sony Ericsson have released another firmware update for the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, bringing the build number up to R2BA026. It’s recommended however that you don’t install the update if prompted as it brings back a mysterious WiFi problem which we haven’t seen since R2BA016. The issue occurs when you lose the network signal on the phone. Upon losing (and regaining) signal, the Wifi turns itself off, so you lose all connections to the internet, making the phone brick like for a few minutes until the signal returns completely. As well as bringing the Wifi issue back, the update sees the Wise Pilot app taken off. The only improvement in the firmware, is that Timescape and Mediascape are more responsive.

There are a couple of videos showing how the problem happens, courtesy of the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog.

Originally, the Xperia X10, X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro were, to many people’s disappointment, due to get the Android 2.1 update in Q4 of this year. With 2.2 announced many people were hoping that Sony Ericsson would skip 2.1 and go straight to Android 2.2 but, they have confirmed this won’t be the case. However they have pushed the release of Android 2.1 forward from Q4 to late Q3. To some this won’t make much difference but, we’re now looking at a September release for 2.1 instead of possible as late as December.

Sony Ericsson have also confirmed they are working on Android 2.2. They have also committed to a Q4 release for Froyo, so we should see the Xperia X10 updated to the latest Android operating system by the end of the year.

Over on the se-nse blog a handful of what are being dubbed as ‘official’ photographs of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X8 handset have been posted.

We also know the Xperia X8 as the ‘Shakira’ handset which is Sony Ericssons latest smartphone, expected to be released in the fall. The photos show that it is, as predicted, a mid size handset, a mix between the full sized Xperia X10 and Xperia X10 mini in size. Technical details arent confirmed yet, nor is pricing or exact release date information although, specifications are expected to be similar to those of the Xperia X10 Mini.

Orange are once again, serving up an X10 model on the Orange network in an exclusive color. This time round, the X10 Mini will be available in Lime Green from Orange only. The handset is also free on the majority of the tariffs. All contracts last 24 months and the handset is available for free on the Dolphin 15 contract, which is only £15 a month. For that you only get 50 minutes but, you get Orange internet and unlimited texts. Or the £20 a month contract doubles your minutes. The handset is also free on Racoon 20 and Canary 20. Where as the £15 a month equivalents of these tariffs, the X10 Mini will set you back £49.99.

Coming soon to the T-Mobile network in the UK is the Sony Ericsson Android powered Xperia X10 Mini.

The T-Mobile website is now showing the X10 Mini as a ‘pre-order’ and there is a register your interest form posted up on the site for potential customers which can be found on this page.

The Xperia X10 Mini joins it’s big sister, the full sized Xperia X10, in the smartphone range that T-Mobile offer and although pricing isn’t confirmed it is expected that the X10 Mini will be in a lesser price bracket than the X10 which runs out at £35 a month with 900 minutes and unlimited texts and internet usage (with a fair usage limit).