We get a hands-on preview of the Android 2.3-powered Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini and Mini Pro HD with the good people from Sony Ericsson
We got a look at the Android 2.3-powered Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini and Mini Pro HD yesterday and also got the low-down on Sony Ericsson's new Facebook Inside UI feature.
If you like your devices small, Android-powered and with HD (720p) video recording capabilities you might just be in for a treat with Sony Ericsson’s latest batch of smartphones, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini and Mini Pro HD.
We got a hands-on preview of the two new devices yesterday at Sony Ericsson’s London HQ (Brando PR) and even managed to get a walk-through on video.
Sony Ericsson has upped the ante specs wise on both the devices bringing a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, Android 2.3 and Sony's Reality Display with Mobile Bravia Engine for improved display performance.
Sony Ericsson also claimed that the two new devices are also the smallest HD recorders the world, albeit in a rather tongue-in-cheek manner.
Thing is, we think they might just be right – the Xperia Mini and Mini Pro HD are tiny.
The only difference between the two handsets is that the Pro version has a slide-out Qwerty keyboard. Other than that, they’re equally matched in terms of specs and hardware.
The devices, according to Sony Ericsson, will be mid-range handsets and this will be reflected in the price – expect to be able to pick the devices up for free on 18 month contracts.
In terms of a release date, Sony Ericsson tells us to expect the devices in late-Q3 early Q4 of 2011.
Deeper Facebook Integration
Sony Ericsson also showed off its new ‘Facebook Inside’ feature. What this essentially means is that your Facebook account is deeply integrated into your Sony Ericsson Xperia handset.
Facebook Inside will be coming to all new Xperia handsets and should be hitting the Xperia Play, Arc and X10 next week, according to Sony Ericsson.
So what’s all the fuss about? Facebook Inside is extremely impressive, if you’re a hardcore Facebook user, and caches all your Facebook photos – including tagged ones – to your phone, so you can view them offline.
Facebook is also integrated into the music player as well, which means you can ‘Like’ and ‘Comment’ on tracks within your device’s media player and this activity will automatically show up on your page.
There’s a Media Discovery Widget that aggregates all your contacts most ‘liked’ and viewed music and videos. Click on a ‘liked’ track on your Facebook profile will take you to TrackID where you can read about the artist, view videos on YouTube and even purchase the album.
All in all, Sony Ericsson’s Facebook Inside software should impress. Especially since it’s a work in progress – Sony Ericsson tells us that there could be up to two updates before the end of the year.
Plus, if you don’t like it you can always turn it off – simple.
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