Holy hot damn, we got us a
Mylo up in this piece. Yes, unfortunately it's only a late prototype (we haven't actually heard of anyone getting a final production unit yet) but here she is, Sony's ever-hopeful ace in the hole to get a foothold in the pockets of disenfranchised Sidekick 'tweens everywhere (and maybe even some 770 user throwbacks as well). Click on for the full report.
They had to get 'er out the door fast, we were calling by the hour.
The box matches the orange-and-white color scheme nicely. Touring around it, we can see some pictorial feature highlights, support for Google Talk, Yahoo IM, and Skype (with voice, of course), and some of the media formats supported, including WMA and -- whew -- ATRAC! That was a close one.
Note the "No 911" service warning. Darn, and we were hoping to give up our cell phones for Mylo.
aThe top part of the box has the Mylo's tag line, "My life online," that is, as long as you live your life within range of a Wi-Fi access point.
Digging deeper, we have the "important information" pamphlet and the PC software.
USB cable, AC adapter, slip case, battery and earbuds. The Mylo can also charge via USB and enter mass storage mode There's also a microphone for help get your Skype on. The Mylo can also be used as a Skype WiFi handset, just hold it up to your right ear and the built-in micophone and speaker do their thing.
Here's a closeup of the slide-up keyboard. The oblong keys take a little getting used to. They're raised ever so slightly above the surface and are unfortunately not backlit. Darker orange on orange doesn't make for great contrast, either. We wish Sony had done all the keys in white like the Symbol key. This also may be a good reason to go for the black unit instead of the Sony's "S2" aesthetics in this scheme. However, backlighting would solve all these problems.
Here's a tour of the back, which feels platicky unlike the gloss smooth top exterior. On the top left is the Memory Stick Duo slot and the bottom right has dedicated volume buttons and the hold switch. While the main speaker is easy to spot, power and WiFi slider switches (think PSP) are on the side of the Mylo. The control in the center on the bottom is for pausing skipping and replying. Flicking it instead of holding it down will skip ahead or back in a song or video. You can also use it to show a video in slow-mo.
Mylo poses next to the PSP, which really doesn't look as much of an inspiration for its design after all when next to it, and the Nokia 770, which shares some of its features and lacks a physical keyboard but has a much larger screen.
Mylo's not a traditional cellphone, but it's smaller than some smart phones and is closest in volume to a T-Mobile MDA.
Mylo's keyboard feels like it has less key travel than phones with slide-out (or flip-out) keyboards.
Mylo's on-screen interface is a departure from the XMB cross-media bar that Sony has looked to as an interface standard. However, it's very simple to navigate.
Here's a shot of the music-playing screen and a photo being displayed. The Option button brings up menu items. The Mylo's screen is nice and bright.
The file manager is pretty basic. On the other hand, Skype is on the menu. Mylo can do some limited multitasking. The "Info" button lets you see what's going on in an application without leaving the one you're in, a bit like widgets
You can switch between one-column view and full-page view where you'll do a lot of horizontal scrolling.
In a shot with it top slid up, we can see that the Mylo supports WPA and Web proxies. The keyboard slides up and down with a smooth satisfying thunk.
An included hot spot finder is a nice extra for finding out where the Mylo can go online, but alas Bluetooth has been passed over.
Kirk to Enterprise, I've lost my rave light. Can you please beam down a Mylo? The purple-blue Wi-Fi light pulses when you're connected to a hotspot.
posted September 1st 2006 2:21PM
Hell why would you wan't one of these. Just buy a tapwave zodiac. Same thing plus more features and its only $129
I'll stick with my HTC Wizard
That looks pretty cool. What is really cool though is the picture of the tetons with the reflection on the river. I took that same picture like two weeks ago.
http://rajytechstar.textamerica.com/?r=5224777
The reason I bought the mylo is because I was looking for a good Skype phone. I don't use a traditional land line and the mylo is supposed to also connect to hotspots that require browser authentication (the Sony support lady says so). The other wi-fi Skype phones don't do that. Also, for traveling, this device is very convenient. I will be in Japan this month, there are many hotspots in Japan, and I don't have to take my laptop just to check my email and make a couple blog posts.
This isn't for everyone, but for someone like me, who refuses to give the local telco or mobile phone companies a penny, this should be a convenient Skype phone. And for the price? Fifty bucks more than the NETGEAR WiFi Phone for Skype, plus video, plus music, plus web browsing, GTalk & Yahoo Messenger? None of the smart phones can beat that for the price.
I'm a spammer! Spam me please! sharry@myloforums.net
kinda eww. i dunno just too kiddish. is it just me or is it odd that its upside down in the packet?
Wow, that's really cool!! Does anyone know when the exact release date for mylo is? I love this a lot but I'm not sure if this will be available in Hong Kong. I'm wondering if I need to buy it through the net.
(Hi Sharry! Welcome back :)
I agree mylo is too expensive and its OS should be open for customizing but it's well a nice, original and, I guess, good quality gadget.
It's a shame Sony didn't choose for worldwide distribution...
What about web authentication? Theoretically it should work but Engadget is one of the few groups that actually has a tester right now.
What each sight that I have read about Mylo on seems to be missing is that in another market segment this device seems to have a convergence of two key features. There are four different Skype wifi phones about to hit the market, (the SMC is already out in asia) and none of them can access a web-based secure wifi login like at starbucks or an airport. The only wifi phone that can, the lynksys wip330, is nearly the same price as this and can not use skype because skype is not SIP protocol. And Skype zones is a myth for handhelds because its Boingo logon software can not be loaded on a non-pc. All of the bloggers on those sights post, why not get a Pocket PC and run skype mobile? Because every hands on review of skype mobile from real reviewers is abismal, rating it un-usable for calls. The software is just not the same as PC skype. The SMC skype phone is okay but not great. The Lynksys wip330 is great for voice calls and has a full web browser specifically to make it usable to log onto web authenticated public wifi hotspots, but no skype. I read a hands on use review of Mylo this mourning and now I can't find the page, but the reviewer actually used the mylo to place skype calls and was suprised at how good the call quality was. With a processor that can decode MPEG4 video and 1GB of onboard memory I can see why this device might have more muscle to do a better job than some $200 skype only wifi device. However, no hands on reviewer has specifically stated that they used or could not use or failed in an attempt to try to log onto a public wifi hotspot through Mylo's browser to get access. I am one of the few odd people who actually has a non frivolous reason to want this new skype wifi junk. I am an international business traveler who deals almost solely with american companies while rarely ever entering the states. Yes, I am american, I work in the shipping industry, as in aboard ships. The companies I deal with are long on cash but short on tech savvy, and I have to have a US based number for them to call me on. However, in my situation I can not even get my cell phone to work when I need it most, which is while traveling through overseas airports. I can roam with my GSM at high rates in singapore or thailand, but korea is all cdma and so are several others. I already use a quad band mobile since all of europe and asia is using old 900mhz GSM and most GSM towers in the states are old 850mhz equipment. If my companies could call me on my skype number while I am laid over in korea to change my follow-on flight arrangements within the states it would be great for me. In fact, that is what I already do, I sit in the Hong Kong airport during a 5 hour layover, with my laptop on next to me and skype running waiting for an incoming call while my battery runs down. I have actually recieved flight changes this way. That is when I need a handheld skype device that will just sit and wait for a call on a wifi network. Business life sucks sometimes, but for better or worse, Skype and wifi work in every airport in the world and my number never changes. I keep my skype number forwarded to my cell phone, so if I have a roaming cell signal but the laptop is off it still ring me, which is the most important thing, no matter what it costs. Someone will say why not a Broadvoice wifi phone based on a US voip account. I am not married to the idea of skype, but the broadvoice phones can't web authenticate either. Skype has alot of functionally working for it as a network, even if it is proprietary and the hardware basically sucks. So if this Mylo will provide a flexible link to that wifi network, it is worth the price. Lack of bluetooth aside, if I can browse onto a airport website in korea and call my office in singapore all from a device small enough to hold up to my ear like a real phone, I will be satisfied.
I think this is an ugly piece of cr*p that's going to fail hard. Ugly design, awfull colors, everything about this handheld simply stinks!
YES! I totally agree with Sam Morrison's comment that, "for someone like me, who refuses to give the local telco or mobile phone companies a penny, this should be a convenient Skype phone." Here in Tokyo there's free WiFi everywhere I go thank to Softbank BB's (Japan's No1 broadband provider) policy to default all there routers to open WiFi. K-kool! I'll just slip this into otaku/geek-bag and I can say bye-bye to vile DoCoMo bills forever!
L8r,
Taro in Tokyo at http://news.3yen.com
I just want to know before I buy one if I will be able to listen to my favorite radio station over streaming audio. www.wsbradio There is a button on the website to "listen live" Anyone that has one want to try and reply?
Maybe I'm just not "with it", but all the Sony bashing on this product makes no sense. How can you compare it to a Sidekick when you don't have to pay anyone $30-40/month to use it. This gives me hope for Sony. This box is fairly unhindered, has a phone app that people really want, and costs nothing to use. I'm amazed the Sony legal team allowed it. If they had been following their normal pattern of late, they would have used, proprietary VOIP software, tried to squeeze $10/mo for some dumb service plan, and only played DRM'd content. Did Howard Stringer die or something?
it looks better than prototype shots.
http://www.laptopbatteryclub.com/
I heard you have free service for a year on T-Mobile's service line what does it cost after that
I really like the idea of this product but I'm not willing to buy it just to test it out. Sony doesn't offer a good enough return plan to buy it, try it out on my school's network, and then return it.
Has anyone tried this on a wireless network with a web-based login page?
I can see the Skype utility being amazing when traveling abroad (you save the cost of having Skype directed to your mobile phone), though Sony doesn't market the product for use outside the states.
I wish there was an email utility-- it could be a major hassle to log into web-based mail all the time.
As for IMing, can't you use Google and Yahoo to IM AOL and MSN clients?
but does it have a spot for a sim card? cause what if your in an area without wi-fi nd u need to make a call what do you do? does this mean we have to carry a cell phone, mp3 player and a sony mylo/nokia770??
The Mylo looks like an overall good device but sony didn't do a very good job designing it. I will probobly wait until it goes down to 200$-250$ and then I will buy it.
if u don't want to buy one, jus go to this site and sign up, then refer 9 people and they'll send u one for free. that's what i did and it worked.
http://gadgets.giftsinn.net/index.php?referral=881
I know this is so last year, but I was reading up on the Mylo and found this. The price has been knocked down by $50, which is good. Anyway, this blog is the first time that I have seen pictures of the Mylo next to other devices, so I found the pics and descriptions really helpful.Thanks! The Mylo actually looks really good for what I am looking for, which is mainly web browsing but also audio files.Skype is like the icing on the cake. I see where the small keys may cause fumbling for some, but I have small fingers but I am always clumsy with touch screen keys so I think this might be a good choice for me. No extra monthly fees are the big selling point.
I can deal with no Bluetooth, but I do wish it had capability for more applications. Complimentary software would be awesome. If Sony is smart they will learn from their mistakes with this and make a better version soon. (with a backlit keypad.Duh!)I mean it's almost a fantastic device. It's great, but not perfect.
I think that I am still going to go ahead and purchase it, because it will suit my needs without me having to order an additional service plan from the cell phone provider.I'm also glad the case is included with it.