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Sony Ericsson add Windows Mobile with the Xperia X1

Alfredo Padilla Published on February 10, 2008 Comment on this

February 10, 2008 - Sony-Ericsson today at the Mobile World Congress announced that they would begin manufacturing Windows Mobile devices, starting with their new Xperia X1 device. Until now Sony-Ericsson's smart phone strategy has focused on the Symbian platform using the touchscreen UIQ interface. Symbian is the most popular smart phone platform in the world, mostly due to Nokia's support for it. It is still unclear how this move will effect Sony-Ericsson's UIQ product lineup. The Xperia X1 is a high end device with a 3-inch WVGA display and full QWERTY keyboard. The Xperia X1 is also distinguished by it's interesting "arc-slider" mechanism where the QWERTY keyboard creates a concave curve with the screen when opened. This is somewhat similar to the effect seen on Motorola's "kick-slider" design with the Z8. The X1's specifications include a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, Bluetooth with support for stereo headsets, touchscreen interface driven by Windows Mobile 6 Professional and support for Micro SD memory cards. The device will measure 110 x 53 x 16.7 mm and weigh in at 145 grams.

One interesting note is that the Xperia X1 will be a quad-band device, meaning it will work on any GSM network world-wide. There will also be two versions of the device available, one of which supports international high speed HSDPA networks and another that will support U.S. networks. This is notable because traditionally Sony-Ericsson's high end devices like the P1 have not fully supported North American networks. This change may be an indication that Sony-Ericsson believes the smart phone market in the U.S. has matured enough that they are willing to invest in devices for it. It also may be indicative of the fact that Windows Mobile devices are popular in the U.S. while Symbian devices are almost unknown.