There's A New Small Kid In Town!

A long awaited successor to the Xperia X10 Mini and Mini Pro... Sony Ericsson has FINALLY announced the new Xperia Mini and Mini Pro (dropping the X10 model name).

Over the current Mini and Mini Pro, the new models have improved the ff:

• 1 GHz CPU!!!!
• Screen now 320 x 480 (vs 240 x 320)
• 720p HD video recording
• Major RAM upgrade now at 512MB
• Built in storage now at 400MB
• Aperture seems to be fixed at f2.6
• And like the Arc, it features the Exmor low-light sensor and Bravia display engine

And as an added surprise... the new Mini Pro has a front facing camera!  Although, no info of whether it will support 3G video calls... or if it's just for IP based video conferencing.

The new features may actually put the Mini Pro above the Arc in terms of sheer performance.  Having  similar CPU & RAM, but running on a much smaller screen would leave a lot of processing power left over for apps.

I like that it's only slightly larger than my current Mini Pro, but it has 2x the screen real-estate.  And I'm liking how they updated the corner menu!  It was already a great idea before, they made it much better now!  I was a big fan of ELSE Mobile, but seeing as how they're not really moving... I'm glad SE decided to adopt a similar fan-style menu.  The corner menu system is probably the most creative menu system on a smartphone today.

Can't wait!

Mini Pro 2 Successor Size Comparison

More pics have surfaced about the upcoming Mini Pro successor!  I hope they will announce this real soon!  I wonder if this will have LTE or HSPA+ already...

Mango Season? (Xperia Mini Pro Successor)

Mango, aka SK171, aka Xperia Mini Pro II has been spotted again.  This time with much clearer pics.  SEMC Blog has posted more details about it.

So far, rumored specs still stand at:

• Android 2.3
• 3′ 320×480 pixels Display
• 1GHz CPU ( Snapdragon *QSD8650)
• Adreno 205 GPU
• 5 mega-pixel camera
• 720p Video Recording
• Backlit MENU and BACK touch keys
• Hardware HOME key

And as I previously noticed, the smaller frame/bezel around the screen seem to suggest that this is smaller than the current X8, but larger than the current Mini Pro.

Let's hope this arrives soon!

*Original pics and posts on Chinese Blog SEIT168

Update: Rumored Xperia Mini Pro Successor

I can't wait for the upgrade of my Mini Pro.  I was a bit apprehensive at first, since the initial rumors claimed a 3" screen, putting this closer to the larger X8 than the Mini/Mini Pro.  But looking closely at the photo, it seems to be somewhere in between.  The screen bezel seems to be thinner, and given a rumored 3" screen puts the dimensions just slightly larger than the current X10 Mini Pro, albeit with a much higher pixel density.

A newer rumor surfaced recently claiming a 3.3" display, which makes this NOT a Mini in any way.  Putting the dimensions larger than the iPhone and Xperia X8 (which are my standards for a normal sized phones)

I sure hope the upcoming Mini Pro is smaller than the X8.  Otherwise I'll be pressed to look elsewhere for my next phone.  Although there is a rumored Mini iPhone, I don't think I'll hold my breath for that since that really wouldn't be in line with Apple's market strategy.

Photo from SEMC Blog

*Original pics and posts on Chinese Blog SEIT168

Android App of the Day: My Tracks

Are you one of the many people into running?  You've got an Android phone with GPS.  How do you make use of it?  My Tracks offers a very easy to use way of tracking and measuring your progress.

Fairly simple to use, My Tracks shows your movement on Google Maps, and provides performance stats.  Aside from recording your tracks, My Tracks allows you to upload your routes to Google Maps for saving or sharing.

Like any GPS product, line-of-sight to satellites is needed and accuracy may be compromised if under heavy foliage or cloud cover.  But so far, I haven't had any accuracy issues with my X10 Mini Pro.

Yesterday, I posted a review on the Mio Motiva heart rate monitor.  And its a great simple watch to have for simply keeping track of your heart rate without the addition of a chest strap.  But what if you want more?

Well, a particular feature of My Tracks, and an upcoming feature for the Sony Ericsson Xperia line of Android phones is ANT+ support.  This will allow a wide range of health and fitness sensors to work with My Tracks and display their data right on your phone without the need of an additional receiver.

AFAIK, My Tracks does not compute for calories burned, which I think would be a great addition specially when combined with an ANT+ sensor.  I hope they add a calorie counter in a future update.  For now, My Tracks is a great little app that performs very well.

Recharge! A Momax Portable Battery review

I use Barnacle Wi-Fi on a regular basis.  At a mall, cafe, in my car or in areas of my building that don't get wifi, I use my X10 Mini Pro to tether my laptop, iPod Touch and iPad with Internet.  This does take its toll on the battery life of my little Android.

Although my battery can last me a couple of days with regular use, tethering is a huge battery drain.  Lugging around a charger is of no use if I can't find a power outlet to plug into, and not very pocketable.

Enter the Momax Portable battery.  There are a lot of other battery solutions out there.  And this review is more of portable battery packs in general.  Pick the portable solution that is suited to the device(s) you have.

What I likes about the Momax battery pack was that it had a micro USB plug, which can charge both my phone, or Bluetooth headset.  This also means that the chargers of my X10MP, Jabra Stone, and Momax are all interchangeable as well.  Big convenience for field/travel use.

It provides approx 1200mAh of power, which is a little over a full charge for my phone effectively doubling my battery life.  This gives me 8 full hours of tethered surfing or about 4 days of power with regular use.  Why not just carry a spare battery?  Portable battery packs allow uninterrupted use.  And having a standard charging tip, allows use on more than one device.

iPhone users may like the battery jackets instead that wrap around the phone.  These may make the phone a lot bigger but offer more usable power for the larger iPhones, and are more convenient to use since they act as a case for your iPhone.

Supplemental Review: X10 Mini Pro Eclair (2.1) Part 2 (Camera and Battery)

Ok, more noticeable improvements in 2.1.  Somethings I hadn't noticed earlier: Significant improvement in the camera's 'Twilight' setting.  Although still not as sensitive as I'd like it to be... way better than 1.6 which almost had no difference between 'Auto' and 'Twilight'.  Unlike with Donut, the Twilight Setting now actually does something significant.  Shutter speed slows down, so moving subjects will be blurred. But there is a big jump in exposure.

Automatic Setting

Twilight Setting

There also seems to be a very significant change in power management.  Although I still need Juice Defender to manage my 3G/HSPA settings, I can now leave wifi, gps and bluetooth on all day and still get the same battery life I did with them all off in 1.6.  HSPA and PUSH services though still eat up a lot and can kill your phone in under a day.  Juice Defender handles mobile data quite nicely and can give you 2-3 days of average use.

If you're always within a wifi area, you can leave your wifi on the whole day (no sleep) and it won't drain your battery as much.  I never could do this with 1.6.  This is a big help now since I can leave my phone connected over wifi whenever I'm home.

GPS can also be left on since the chip only seems to draw power when an app needs it.

Currently, with the exception of my 3G services which are scheduled every 15min by Juice Defender, I have all my background data services and all radios on all day.  By the end of the day, I still have over 50% power.  It's not a marathon battery life, but the fact that I can leave all the features of my phone on now and it'll still last a day is a significant improvement in how I can now use my phone.



*Dec 10, 2010 - Battery experiment update*

I decided to try just switching off mobile data and wifi for a couple of days.  All other settings are the same.  No Task Killer, no CPU underclocking, and no power management.  After 33 hours straight... I still have 50% battery left.

***December 20, 2010 - Momax Portable Battery Review***

Supplemental Review: X10 Mini Pro running Eclair (2.1)

Since the update came out, SonyEricsson has finally decided to let it's X10 family out of the stone age running Android Donut (1.6) into the 20th century to join the rest of the herd running the current Android Eclair (2.1)...  I'm still wondering why SonyEricsson didn't just skip over Eclair all together and hit the latest FroYo (2.2) version of Android instead.  Oh well.

Anyway, how different is it?  And is it worth the wait?  Well, yes and no.  Don't get me wrong, it's a GREAT update... but starving your customers to release a non-earth-shattering update doesn't win SE any points.

The update itself is relatively painless.  Sony Ericsson has a great internal back-up and restore function that saves all your messages, missed calls, etc so you can easily restore most of your phone after the update.  Apps that are not compatible with 2.1 have to be replaced with alternate apps all together.  No big deal though.

First up, it is faster.  Not by much, but on the Mini Pro, it's a welcome upgrade.  Running 600MHz, any speed increase is a blessing.  Had the update been to FroYo, the tiny CPU on the Mini Pro would've really been given a well needed boost.  But I'll take what I can get.

Rooting... Since I don't primarily run Windows anymore, I'd rather not have to hook up my Mini Pro and root it through a computer.  UniversalAndRoot no longer works, but Z4 does the same job... one click root and unroot.  It's just a lot slower to root now.

Barnacle Wifi works a lot better and way more stable.  For those that are still experiencing drops when the phone goes to sleep, enable WEP security.  This, for some reason, lets your device bypass the need for re-association with Barnacle even after long periods of inactivity.

Although not a new app... I wasn't fond of Launcher Pro running on 1.6 and preferred ADW... but Launcher Pro is waaaaay faster and more responsive than ADW is, running 2.1.

Apps that can now run well on 2.1 and the Mini Pro:

• Skype
• Kik (so much better than Pingchat)
• Official YM (a bit battery hungry but it does work quite well)
• Gmail!!!!  Yes, Android's own app is actually usable now.  I was able to ditch K9 Email all together.  One gripe, you can't change font sizes, something that K9 could do.  Very useful on the small screen of the Mini Pro.
• Official Twitter app

Things that have changed in Eclair:

• Official Send Via Bluetooth!
• Multiple Google Accounts, full contact, email, and calendar sync between multiple accounts.
• Power widget looks better, as does the Settings Menu
• Auto-brightness is now permanent.  No more setting to disable it.
• Automatic contact list integration between Google, phone, Facebook, and Twitter.  Although it looks like there are double entries, there aren't.  You can join contacts and consolidate all your addressbooks easily and automatically.  This is a big deal for me.
• Timescape is a bit faster now and more integrated into the Contacts app... not perfect, but getting there.  SE should move faster on developing this app.
• Unlock screen is new... annoying that you can't disable the haptic feedback of the unlock screen... I think it's a useless feature that wastes the little battery that the Mini Pro has.
• As much as I like the 4-corner UI of SonyEricsson, the app drawer is too cluttered and difficult to organize over LauncherPro or ADW.  I really do love the 4-corner approach.  But the app drawer is just a deal-breaker.
• Camera response is a lot faster, but start-up time is still slow.  No additional functions have been added, nor has picture quality and low-light sensitivity been improved.  Too bad.
• New signal indicator differentiating 3G and HSPA connectivity.
• Live Wallpaper.  This chews up battery like crazy specially if not properly coded.  Cute and fun, but not very useful.  Specially on the limited battery life of the Mini Pro.

Over-all great, but its a LONG OVER DUE update, and quite frankly, I can't understand what took SE so long to bring it to their products.  Let's hope they don't abandon a FroYo update soon because the only thing holding back their sales is poor software support.

Part 2 (Camera and Battery)

Philippine X10 Mini Pro 2.1 Update!!!

PHILIPPINE UPDATE

AVAILABLE NOW!!!!!

SonyEricsson X10 Android 2.1 update begins...

One of the last to adopt the Eclair 2.1 version of Android's OS... SonyEricsson FINALLY starts rolling out their 2.1 updates in select markets.

Nordic countries, like Sweden, have already gotten it... shockingly, Japan hasn't gotten the update yet.

So far, no news on the Philippine update yet.

Impatiently waiting...

**Update Nov 5, 2010 - Official response from SonyEricsson Philippines**
Hi John! The 2.1 update for the X10 and X10 mini pro will be released on the week of Nov 20. The 2.1 update for the X10 mini will be released in the week of Nov 27. You will receive a notification on your phone once an update is available. Thank you! :)

Cut the cord, but stay tethered...

**This is just a warning, the following review requires rooting.  I do not encourage those that don't know how to root to blame me for anything that may go wrong with your phone.  Google the proper procedure for rooting, and understand the risks.  Now onto the review...**

"Blistering Barnacles!!!"  Don't worry, this isn't another iPad review.  You can find a billion of those on the web.  This is a review about Barnacle Wifi Tether for Android phones.

Now, what exactly is 'tethering'?  It's usually the process of sharing the internet connection of one device to another.  In the past, this was done via Bluetooth (in prehistoric times, this was done via USB cable... hahahaha... dinosaurs had such a difficult time since they had no opposable thumbs)

Granted, Bluetooth tethering is probably the most efficient way to do it, not all manufacturers (cough... Apple... cough... cough) enable Bluetooth tethering.  Bluetooth tethering is still my preferred method for 2 reasons, low power consumption, and connection stability.  I've rarely had any problems with BT connections to my laptop in the past, and given the low power drain, I'm willing to take a performance hit while on the move to conserve battery.  Although the bottleneck is rarely with the BT connection, and more often with your HSPA, EDGE, or GPRS connection.

Enter WiFi tethering.  Although rumored to come standard with FroYo (Android 2.2), wifi tethering is still a mod for Donut and Eclair models.  What this does is it turns your Android phone into a pocket wifi router.

So as far as your wifi devices are concerned, they think your phone is just a regular hotspot and connect with no fuss...well...minimal fuss.

Barnacle Wifi is a pretty simple app to use.  It's got a big START/STOP button and an ASSOCIATE (you press this in case your device can't find your phone) button.  The menu is quite simple, you can leave everything on their default settings and it should work 80% of the time.  With other phones, you may have to do a few tweaks to get it to work.  You can rename your hotspot ID (I renamed mine DOPPLERAUDIO in this review) and your device (iPad, iPod Touch, laptop, etc) should see it in their list of available access points.

Just connect like a regular hotspot and you're good to go!  Well... there are a few hiccups for now.  Depending on your phone model, you may have to play music in the background and turn down the volume.  Some power management systems on some phones will shut down wifi when the phone goes into standby.  Another option is to just keep your screen on the whole time but this will kill your phone in a very short time.

As you can see from the test photos, you can get respectable speeds using this app.  And it works quite well considering it's currently an unsupported app.  I'm betting things will just get better in a few months when the official Android tether option is released.

Now, some of you may wonder why go through all this trouble?  Why not just get a 3G iPad and a data SIM?  Well, quite simply, because I don't like having duplicate services.  Specially when I can't maximize both of them.  I don't bring my laptop, iPad, and iPod Touch with me all the time.  I also don't like bulky phones anymore.  My X10 Mini Pro is now setup to be the heart of my mobile communications, and that includes mobile internet.

Instead of having a separate SIM for each device to use, Barnacle Wifi acts like my mobile hub to all my devices wherever I am.  It maximizes my data plan, and I don't have to bring around a separate MiFi router or pay for another data plan.

Download Barnacle Wifi!  It's a great little app.  It's free.  You just have to root your phone.  It's not as difficult as it's sounds, but just know the risks and potential dangers.

...Pour mes visiteurs français...

Prises en main des Sony Ericsson X10 Mini et Mini Pro

... the continuing X10 Mini Pro battery saga...

As per my previous post, there have been reports of users getting well over 4 days of standby time from the X10 Mini Pro. I have yet to experience over one day of use with it.

Ok... aside from not using the phone... I've tried to find a combination of apps that will help maximize battery use, without sacrificing too much of the capabilities of the phone.

For people that do not have unlimited data plans, then you're over half way there... having unlimited surfing capabilities really takes its toll on your battery... mainly because you're always surfing... hahahaha... and background sync does drain a lot as well. Leaving it on 3G doesn't, but data polling and push services (if you get a lot of email and facebook updates like I do) does drain a lot.

So far, I've tried a ton of power management apps... and so far... there are 3 that look very promising together.

Juice Defender shuts off cellular data services when your screen goes on standby, and turns it back on when you use your phone. This prevents apps and widgets from connecting to the net and draining your battery when you're not using your phone. Free version logs in every 15 min so email and MMS can come in during those intervals... it might be worth getting the paid version if you want more control over time and scheduled log-ins.


SMODA Widget, a small 1x1 button to shut off data services manually. Can over-ride Juice Defender when you're screen is on and you don't want to surf.





Timeriffic allows you to control and trigger wifi, ringer, screen brightness, vibration, volume, and airplane mode using user set times and days. Like you can have the phone automatically go on silent at 10pm and turn all sounds back on at 6am. Or completely cut-off using airplane mode during Sundays. I personally only use this to control my screen brightness during the day.

---

There's also an app called Power Manager that enables wifi when you plug in your phone, and disables it when you unplug your phone. This runs in the background, and you can always over-ride it manually.

There are a ton of other apps that can help you manage and save battery life... so far, for my use, Data on Demand seems to be the one with the biggest difference since all I give up are push messages. So it has the least impact on my use, without me giving up too much functionality or convenience (I don't like having to turn things off and on all the time)

What battery savings apps do you guys have running on your Android phones?

***August 7, 2010 - Juice Defender has a widget that performs the same function as the SMODA widget, so if you like Juice Defender (I'm hoping to get the full app when it's available here in the Philippines) you don't need SMODA anymore... but if you just want a simple widget that shuts off your data transfers, SMODA is the way to go***

***December 20, 2010 - Momax Portable Battery Review***

X10 Mini Pro battery review: supplemental entry

Two words: Car Charger... hahaha... I need to buy the official car kit for the Mini Pro.

Some users have reported (with proof) up to 4 days of battery life.

Rated capacity for the X10 Mini Pro is approx 6 days of standby or 4 hours of use (I do really use it for 4 hours straight, at least now that I'm still experimenting with the phone)

This translates to about 1.5 days of standby lost for every hour of use.

So to get about 4 days worth of charge, you have to use the phone as little as 15 min per day, total ... this includes calls, composing and reading SMS, email, surfing, etc... inclusive of background/push activity.

3 hours of use will give you about a day of power...

3.5 hours of use will yield only half a day total...

and 4 hours... is well... just 4 hours.


*****correction*****
Rated standby time on the X10 Mini Pro is 12 days, and 4 hours of use... someone on Esato was able to get 8 days... I barely get a day... hahahaha...

***December 20, 2010 - Momax Portable Battery Review***

on Sony Ericsson's Timescape...

Timescape was introduced by Sony Ericsson as a one-stop messaging app/widget for all your contacts.

In theory this is great. You always see the latest updates in a fancy 3D gallery.

Now, in practice, it's very different. The app is quite nice, but far from 100% practical.

There aren't many settings to customize HOW your data is displayed... and it's not an all-in-one app. The 2 major features it is missing are call history (all calls should be logged by Timescape as well, not just missed calls), and of course... email! Why can't I tie it in with my email account(S) to show me any and all emails I have with any given contact?

And multiple updates from the same contact come out as separate 3D cards... there should be an option to collate by contact... like only the contact with the latest update is on top... and all their previous updates aren't displayed until you click on their card.

This is an issue because if contact A sends me an SMS... then another contact B decides to post 20 things on Facebook... the SMS gets buried under 20 cards of contact B. If it was sorted by contact. Then I would only see 2 card... the SMS of contact A, under one SINGLE card of contact B which will only expand if I click on his card.

Now, Timescape does have a practical use, as a widget, it always displays the latest update whether it be a missed call, SMS, Twitter or Facebook update... but the lack of an email tunnel limits this app to just a cute show-off app for now.

In it's infancy, Timescape is fun... it has the potential to be an incredibly great app that could be THE all-in-one news collector if it was refined further, and email was added.

CHARGE!!!! an X10 Mini Pro battery review...

Ok, after a week of using my X10 Mini Pro, I've been trying to use it in different ways... and so far these are my observations...

Full use... everything on (Bluetooth, Wifi, GPS, Sync, and backlight on full) ... chatting, downloading apps, and the screen never turning off... drum-roll... 4 hours. Granted, that's how long my iPod Touch lasts when I surf that much too... so no big surprise there.

Medium use... backlight set to medium, wifi set to auto-off when screen locks, GPS on only when app turns it on. I was able to get a respectable 16 hours... broken down to about 2 hour of surfing via wifi, an 1 hour of calls, and about 75 SMS.

Light use... backlight on medium during the day and on low at night. 30 min of surfing, 30 min of calls, and about 20 SMS... this can make your phone last over 24 hours.

Although I can see the phone lasting more than 2 days with really light use, it defeats the whole purpose of getting a PDA phone. The screen really does chew up the battery. Calling and leaving wifi, bluetooth, and 3G on don't kill it... playing with the phone does. Screen constantly eats up about 85% of the battery charge.

The phone is also way more efficient at handling a 3G/HSDPA connection rather than a Wifi one. Leaving this on is a much more practical way of surfing than via Wifi.

Best way, I've found, to conserve battery without sacrificing the functions of the phone are:

• 3G on
• wifi off
• backlight on medium
• screen timeout to 30 sec
• Bluetooth on only if you have a headset
• disable the 'media' function of the headset unless needed
• get an app that consolidates your communication functions, my fav is Executive Assistant. It minimizes the number of times you check on your phone for messages, email and SNS updates.

MY PHONE IS DEAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You can imagine my horror this afternoon as I was charging my phone, when it suddenly switched off. I pressed the power button, it vibrated but the screen wouldn't light up... crap... this happened to my P1i before, and the boot ROM needed to be reflashed... crap. Not a big deal but that would mean that I would still have to go to the SonyEricsson Service Center in Glorietta.

So I went to Glorietta and the guy checked my phone with my SIM, he confirmed that the phone needed to be reflashed, and this has happened to a few models before... not a big deal, I could've waited for it if it wasn't closing time.

He kept trying to restart the phone however, in the hope that maybe it was just a software bug or something. So I was ready to leave my phone with them, I got my SIM back and placed it in my old phone. He said he'd try to restart it one more time, but since I didn't want to take my SIM out again, he got out one of his dead SIMs... and oddly enough... my phone switched on. So I placed my SIM back... and my phone wouldn't turn on again. Take note, my SIM never stopped working on any other phone... just my new X10 Mini Pro. And my Mini Pro would work with EVERY other SIM except mine.

But since the X10 Mini Pro works without a SIM (just functions as a PDA) and it worked with all the other SIMs at the Sony Ericsson Service Center, I went over to Globe.

Turns out, there are cases where a defective SIM can render a phone dead... only with THAT particular SIM. This is very different from defective SIMs that don't log into the network. Globe Customer service was very efficient... got my replacement SIM in 5 min, activated in 1 hour. It really was the SIM... Globe said that some of the newer 128 SIMs are quite sensitive and can cause compatibility problems with some phones. New SIM worked right away. No problem with the phone... whew...

So, tip for the day... if your phone suddenly dies... and a hard reset, or battery swap doesn't work... try a SIM swap, with all providers.

...Battery review to follow...

**Follow up tip... problem happened again this morning when I tried to restart my phone... I think the SIM overheats... long story short, I found that if this happens again, I just press the back (non contact side) of the SIM against something cold... then it works again. This issue only comes out when restarting the phone**

X10 Mini Pro, the keyboard review...

One of the things that most people interested in the Mini Pro are curious about is the keyboard. It's pretty good. Solid build, no creaking, back-lit, and keys spaced well.

But among all the qwerty phones I've had, P990i & P1i, including my Mini Pro, I have to say the P1i had the best qwerty board I've tried to date.

When I first saw the prototype photos of the P1i, I thought to myself, "WTF?!?!! What designer in their right mind would think of such a crazy design? Rocker keys THAT small????" ... cut to 5 hours after I bought my P1i... "WOW!!! This is just genius!"


Don't get me wrong, the Mini Pro keyboard is great. I just think the rocker design on the P1i was better. On such small keys, the rocker switch design led to far less typos, felt better under the thumb, and led to much faster typing right out of the box.

Next up... X10 Mini Pro battery review... real world testing...

apps...apps...apps...

Been testing out my X10 MP for a couple of days now, and I have to say I'm very impressed.

Been downloading, installing, testing, uninstalling apps for the past 3 days... battery life is about 5 hours of non-stop surfing, chatting, and camera use. Screen on full power. The follwing are apps that I think I'll be keeping on my phone for a while.

GPS - MapDroyd ... amazing little app. Works offline, and has quite detailed street maps of the Philippines. Has other countries as well, taken from OpenStreetMap.org

The X10 Mini Pro's GPS is very decent. Takes a while to get an initial lock, but keeps a lock quite well. I don't have data service active yet, so it was running purely on the data from the GPS, cel-ID, and compass. Under stormy conditions and under an elevated highway, GPS stayed locked while the phone was resting on my center console in my car.

Over-all, I have to say that the GPS is almost as good as a dedicated Garmin unit... although Garmins still outperform mobile phone GPS (regardless of brand, unless it's the Garmin mobile phone) for non-critical applications, it's decent enough.

**Thanks to Mr. Dennis Manzano of SE PH for the tip on this app at the SE Expo!**


SMS - Handcent SMS. Much nicer to look at than then default SMS app. Allows easy access to speec synthesis for reading your incoming SMS to you.








Contacts - Phonebook 2.0 .. still not perfect, but way better than built in phonebook. I wish Android has much better contact management. Sort order can't be changed, and fields are a bit clumsy to edit. This is more inherent in Android than the apps for it. Maybe 2.2 will introduce a much better phonebook app.




Internet - Opera... nuff said. Dunno if the built in browser is a stripped down Chrome (why wouldn't it be) but it's not very pleasant to use. Default browser keeps opening a new window everytime you enter a new page... very annoying. Switched to Opera, much better.




Misc - Tricorder ... for all Star Trek fans... this thing displays all the information gathered from your phone's sensors... Wifi, Blutooth, GPS, cel-ID, accelerometer, gyroscope, electronic compass, etc.

Other neat apps that I like are
PhoneVoice: speaks alerts when incoming calls or SMS are received and says the name of the caller or sender.
Calendar Pad: Much better calendar viewer... gets data from built in cal app.
eBuddy: centralized IM app (although I was never a fan of this, YM for Android isn't official yet and the one out now keeps crashing)

On a separate note, the following Google apps are amazing: Google Goggles, Sky Map & Google Translate.

What apps do you have on your droid phone?

big things come in small packages...

I FINALLY got my X10 Mini Pro (currently the smallest Android phone on the market). Thanks to Sony Ericsson's Expo at the Megatrade Hall, I was able to get a hold of one of the first few units that were sold here.

Will give a much more detailed review once I get all the apps and settings done the way I want.

Granted the most annoying thing is that Sony Ericsson went with 1.6 (Donut) and is still "promising" 2.1 (Eclair)... by the time they release 2.1, (FroYo) will be out already.

Ok, initial impressions:
It's REALLY small. But surprisingly, the screen size isn't that much of a hindrance. Coming from using an iPod Touch as my primary PDA, there are a few things to get used to, but going from iOS to Android opens up way more flexibility.

Oddly enough, the Gmail app is the most limiting app on it... allowing only 1 Gmail Account to be registered. Hopefully future software updates of Android will fix this limitation.

Camera is quite decent, 5 megapixels, LED flash. Response time is pretty good, although video recording is a bit slow to start.

Now, onto the keyboard. It's very well built. Keys are well spaced and feel sturdy. For those that surf the web a lot, or blog, the Mini Pro is better than the regular Mini... but if you only check email, facebook, and twitter... and don't type a lot... the Mini is slightly smaller... a whole lot lighter... and comes in more colors.

I'm also very impressed with the GPS reception on the X10 Mini Pro. Granted, I'm impressed that it can get a decent lock for a phone... anyone who really needs a navigation system, please get a Garmin instead.

If anyone has any tips, or questions about the X10 Mini Pro, or Android, please feel free to post it here.

I will be posting a more in depth review on this in the days to come... so stay tuned...