There’s a new Sony Ericsson listed there too, but it’s running 1.6 and Sony have been appalling at getting upgrades out. Hopefully I’ll get a Mini Pro to test, but I’m not holding out any hope that it will be a decent device.

Brilliantly titled full press release follows:

These are the Droids you’ve been looking for

Vodafone is unleashing the power of Google’s Android operating system on the New Zealand public with three new Android-powered devices joining our line up.

Vodafone was first in the country to offer the revolutionary power of Google’s operating system on a smartphone with the HTC Magic and we followed up last month by launching Sony Ericsson’s flagship Xperia X10i.

Now we’re adding three new Android smartphones to our range.

First off the rank we have the HTC Desire, with its 1GHz snapdragon processor and its 3.7” AMOLED full touch screen. The Desire is one of the leading lights of the Android world and includes HTC’s native platform “Friendstream” which collates all your social media updates from Twitter, Flickr and Facebook.

The HTC Desire will be selling for $999 RRP (less if you’re on a contract).

Complementing our Sony Ericsson Xperia X10i is the X10i Mini PRO which offers a full touch screen plus slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 5MP camera with autofocus and LED flash. Retailing from $599 RRP.

Rounding out the Android collection will be the LG Optimus (GT540), with its 3” full touch screen display, 3MP camera with auto face tagging technology and advanced multimedia supporting DivX & Xvid. The LG Optimus will be selling for $399 RRP.

Vodafone’s Director of Sales, Grant Hopkins, says Vodafone is leading the smartphone revolution in New Zealand.

“We already offer some of the world’s best-known brands in the smartphone space and now with this full range of Androids at different price points, we have the country’s most complete range of smartphones.

“Smartphones are the fastest growing segment in the handset world, yet the devices themselves have always been at the top end of our price range. With Google’s Android operating system available right across the range we now have a smartphone to suit every pocket.”

To avoid being eaten alive by open source drop bears, we also need to throw Android into the mix. This comparison is more fraught, with Android device specs all over the map. For argument’s sake, lets pick a flagship device promoted by the mothership: the Nexus One.

1. And also 480×320, but apparently all “launch devices” will be the higher res versions.
2. Effectively the same chips as the iPhone 3GS or Nexus One

On the face of it, the iPhone 4 takes away the crown on raw spec numbers. Anyone who has played with an iPad can attest to just how stonking fast that A4 silicone is, regardless of clock speed. And the screen is frankly unbelievable. It reminds me of playing “spot the pixel” on the tiny 352×416 screen of my peculiar Nokia E70.

In defence of the other platforms, consider this: both Android and WP7 phone hardware manufacturers are free to iterate as fast as they want. There’s already talk of a 1.5GHz Scorpion processor behind HTC’s latest Android handsets (and planned WP7 devices). So while you’re waiting for His Steveness to present the next iPhone iteration for your pleasure, your mate’s Android phone might have a 2GHz processor and a 8 megapixel camera.

The stickiest problem of all? Android and Windows Phone 7 restrictions on screen resolutions. As far as I’m aware, both platforms limit the screen resolutions available to developers, with the maximum being 800×480. Ten bucks says the next major release of each platform will support 960×640, because history tells us that Apple drives niche components very quickly into commodity territory.

I’ll say one thing: it’s fantastic to have some choice back in the smartphone market, and great to see that Apple aren’t resting on their laurels. Your thoughts?

You can have one for only about the price of a top-end iPad starting from June.

Full press release follows:

New Zealand, 9th April 2010: Today Sony Ericsson launches the XPERIA™ X10, the flagship handset of the aptly named ‘Fab 5’ series of mobile phones for 2010. Building on Sony Ericsson’s entertainment heritage the handset is designed to deliver the best user experience in communication, social media and entertainment in one place on a stunningly clear new four inch screen.
 
Socialise with friends and family in a whole new way through new unique signature applications Timescape™ and Mediascape, on the XPERIA™ X10 and open up a world of possibilities with the Infinite button.  This clever function is integrated into Timescape™ and Mediascape and can automatically recognise connections between contacts, content and media. By recommending alternative ways to communicate or guiding users to new media experiences, the Infinite button lets consumers discover more in a truly open way.
 
·       Timescape™ intuitively brings together all recent mobile and online communication in chronological order onto a 3D scrolling menu – Facebook™ and Twitter updates, photos, missed calls, emails, and SMS messages –easy viewing and organisation of previews, or full views. Press the Infinite button to access all of your communications with one person in one place.
·       Mediascape is the smart way to get music, photos and videos, as it cleverly pulls online content as well as content already stored on the handset all onto the same screen. Smarter still, when listening to a favourite song, press the Infinite button to see related content about that artist, as well as albums, songs and video content from YouTube™ and Google.
 
Another signature feature is Face Recognition – simply take photos of your friends with the 8.1 megapixel camera, with 16 x digital zoom, and tag up to five faces on the screen. The image is automatically filed in date order under the friend’s name in the photo gallery or social phonebook. Upload the photos directly to social network sites or simply click on a friend’s face to start communicating with them. Next time this friend is snapped in a shot, they will be automatically tagged using the face recognition software.
 
Brendan Johnston, Managing Director, Sony Ericsson Oceania said, “The XPERIA™ X10 is a superior consumer experience enabling people to catch life all in one place while on the move. We are delivering a true, open world of entertainment with our unrivalled social networking capabilities, media features and choice of the most popular applications on Android Marketplace. Add that to our new, unique User eXperience (UX) platform and it really sets the XPERIA™ X10 apart.”
 
The UX platform builds on top of the Android™ operating system and brings together a rich graphical user interface, unrivalled service plug-ins and content from external partners to deliver unique consumer experiences such as Sony Ericsson’s signature applications Timescape™ and Mediascape.
 
Enjoy a host of features and capabilities including: Gmail, YouTube™, Google Maps™, Street View™, 3D games, push email and calendar, video streaming and recording, album art, TrackID™, 8GB microSD™ card and Bluetooth™ stereo with a 3.5mm audio jack. Its human curvature design ensures the handset ergonomically fits in the palm of the hand for the best user experience possible. 
 
The XPERIA™ X10 supports GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900, UMTS HSPA 900/1700/2100 and UMTS HSPA 800/850/1900/2100
 
The XPERIA™ X10 will be available in Sensuous Black at an RRP of $1,399 on the Telecom and Vodafone networks from June 2010.

Watching this video from Gizmodo, I get that little twitch. How do I close those apps? I don’t want a fucking calculator app running in the background.

I’ve become a multitasking atheist – on devices at least. Multitasking is nothing more than a guaranteed way to eventually slow down or crash your device. I know Apple are promising that background apps will be well behaved, but I just have no faith in that assertion.

On a fast device like the iPhone 3GS or iPad, there’s no need for multitasking if apps are written properly. Games like Chromazone pop up and resume state so incredibly fast, you barely know they were ever shut down.

Yes maybe online apps like Skype and AIM need some way to poll for alerts. How about a central network stack that can execute programs with parameters when messages are received on listening ports? I think that’s what Apple have included in OS4, but NDAs prevent me from discovering or discussing this. If it is the case, why bother running apps in the background?

Is it any good?

When I first saw the Windows Phone 7 UI, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not like Microsoft to take a ground-up rebuild of a platform and design, but in this case it is exactly what the Windows mobile platform needed.

But: I was disappointed by the crap responsiveness seen in all the UI videos. In every video there were missed taps, scrolls not happening, and long animation delays. Not what you want in a phone at all. I went as far as to call out Charlie Kindel on this, and got a bit of a palm-off in response.

Perhaps the best news out of MIX was that the software is getting better. I noticed that the phones used in partner demonstrations appeared notably faster and more responsive than the original phones demoed by Microsoft employees. This could be entirely coincidental, but as I understand it, there are multiple WP7 builds out there, and it makes sense that those more recently in possession of phones would have newer builds.

This is an object lesson in product development, and the very reason that Apple holds their products back from the public eye until they are completely polished. I do have to remind myself that it’s only a small cadre of geeks that are studying these iterations in detail. The general buzz around WP7 is very positive. I’d hope that Microsoft know enough to hold the phone back from the general public until it is ready – but we’ve seen with products like the XBox 360 that they will rush a release sometimes.

I’m stating the frakking obvious here, but the only people able to screw this up are Microsoft themselves. If anyone at Microsoft is listening, please keep saying “not good enough” until the UI and hardware is close to perfect.

What about app development?

This is where WP7 is really going to shine. Microsoft dev tools just get better with every release, and one of Microsoft’s most powerful assets is their developer community. Visual Studio 2010 is a genuine pleasure to use, and the combination of .NET, Silverlight, and XNA platforms for WP7 development are going to bring hordes of developers to the platform.

This leaves us with a bunch of questions.

Will there be an active app market? Apple has shown that an active market can and will drive product sales. Microsoft will have an active market. The barrier to entry is much lower than iPhone development. The language is easier to use, there is already a huge store of Silverlight knowledge, and developers don’t need to fork out for a Mac to make software. I’ll be hugely surprised if all the standard bases of productivity, games, and fart apps aren’t completely saturated at launch.

Will there be enough consumers for this market? That is the crucial, and most delicate issue. Microsoft have the ability to lose badly here. If they don’t execute perfectly and completely, the iPhone will keep charging ahead, with Android filling in the gaps. On the other hand, if Microsoft do it right, they will be up there competing with the iPhone, and even fuelling innovation in the smartphone world. If consumers love the phone, the market will follow.

Will there be too many crap apps? This is a real risk. The iPhone app store is bad enough with its crapflood of fart apps and single-RSS apps. The barriers to entry for WP7 are so low that there is a risk of these sort of useless $0.99 apps overwhelming the useful apps in the store. Hopefully a mix of curation and filtering will keep things in check.

How do you get involved?

I keep saying the barrier to entry is low. If you want to see just how low, download the free tools from http://developer.windowsphone.com, then visit this awesome summary post from Microsoft NZ’s Nigel Parker.

I’ll be incredibly surprised if you haven’t got a Hello World app up and running within 30 minutes.

The event is booked for 10am Pacific time on the 27th, which WolframAlpha incorrectly tells me is 6am NZDT on the 28th (it’s actually 7am NZDT). I’ll be tracking it live, and doing my damndest to get my hands on a review version of whatever is announced.

Of course I will laugh my head off when it turns out to just be multi-coloured iPhones or something like that.

]]> http://www.ben.geek.nz/2010/01/apple-event-official-27th-january/feed/ 4 http://www.ben.geek.nz/2010/01/kiwi-apple-reseller-confirms-march-tablet-release/ http://www.ben.geek.nz/2010/01/kiwi-apple-reseller-confirms-march-tablet-release/#comments Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:56:10 +0000 Ben http://www.ben.geek.nz/?p=4644 It’s all a bit third-party, but we have a tweet from a fellow New Zealander who states that a local Apple reseller has “confirmed” a March release date for an Apple tablet:

A apple reseller in new Zealand has confimed a march realise date for the tablet !!!!!!!! More info in a weeks time to follow

We only have a couple of Apple resellers in New Zealand, with MagnumMac being the most visible.

The cynic in me says this is just a local employee parotting what has already been speculated by the Wall St Journal. Why would a Kiwi reseller have any more information than any other resellers worldwide? The alternative view is that someone has royally screwed up by breaking a non-disclosure agreement. Let’s run with the latter explanation, it’s much more exciting.

CES

As is customary, you’ll want to follow the big USA tech blogs for your CES coverage. There’s no way I’m ever going to keep up, unless I developed some method to automatically post press releases from my email to this blog. I would caution you that the majority of CES coverage is a torpid melange of pointless incremental product updates and banal releases. Exhibit A: Sony have announced no less than twelve compact digital cameras. Perhaps some consumer expert at Sony has decided to target the buried-by-cameras fetishist market segment in 2010?

There is one small shining light out of CES 2010: the Parrot Ardrone. Just watch this video:

Apple iTablet

Either Apple is about to pull off the biggest jape in consumer electronics history, or they’re announcing a tablet-like computer on or about the 27th or January. Stay tuned.

Google Nexus One

In an utterly different style to Apple, Google’s Nexus One phone was leaked far and wide when they gave one to every Google staffer back in December. This week they officially announced the phone’s release in the USA, with hints at an imminent European release. Don’t hold your breath for a New Zealand release, but there’s nothing stopping you getting a mate to buy one in the USA then using it on Vodafone’s network.

Free applications from the Android Market have been available since at least day one of the HTC Magic release in New Zealand. Apparently local currency conversion has stopped paid applications up until now.

Today, our dedicated Android forum member, Rob, has just posted a note saying that paid apps quietly appeared last night. I guess the currency issue has been resolved. You can check out some of the top-selling paid applications on the Anroid Market here.

Skeletor

Overall, if you were expecting something huge from Apple’s “Only Rock and Roll” event, you’re going to be disappointed. The biggest shock was FM radio in the new iPod Nano. Even the video camera in the device had been widely telegraphed, and the lack of video in the iPod Touch is something of a disappointment.

So rounding it all up:

• iTunes 9 with improved Genius (including Genius for Apps) and finally App organisation (you can arrange which screens apps will appear on before syncing to your iPhone or iPod Touch).
• iTunes LPs – single download (note: not this single-file format we’ve been hearing about), including photos, video, liner notes, lyrics.
• iPod Touch 8GB gets a price drop to NZ$349, and we get speedier 32GB and 64GB models for $519 and $699. Bear in mind you won’t get OpenGL|ES 2.0 on the $199 model, so we’ll see some game compatibility issues cropping up there I think.
• More games – notably Madden from EA and Assassin’s Creed.
• iPod Classic gets a capacity bump to 160GB for NZ$429
• iPod Shuffle gets colours at the standard $99 price, and a new “special edition” 4GB model for $129.
• iPod Nano is the biggest change-up, with video camera (640×480 resolution, so there’s no way it’s competing with the Flip-type HD cameras), and FM Radio (!). NZ$259 for the 8GB, and $318 for the 16GB models.

And that’s it. No tablet. No Apple LCD TV. Just an incremental bump in iPod lineup. All of which are available as of now from the NZ Apple Store with 24hr delivery.

And I know we’re not supposed to talk about it, but Steve Jobs was back, and looking anorexic. The guy is sick. More power to him, and I’ve known other people who have opted to “die with their boots on” rather than go out with a whimper.