Sony's mylo 2 magically transforms from 'Personal Communicator' to 'Internet Device'

According to hot, hot reports from the interblogs, interwebs, and yes -- internets -- Sony has made some shocking changes to its mylo 2. Did we say shocking? We meant not shocking. At all. Apparently in an attempt to re-market (and thusly sell) the odd little handheld, the company has begun branding the gadget an "Internet Device" as opposed to its previous (circa 2006) title of "Personal Communicator." We're all for the new convention (we love the hell out of new names) but it remains to be seen what kind of effect, if any, it will have on the gadget's not-so-hot sales. The next step? Lose the Spider-Man font.

[Thanks, Penny]

[gylman @ Aug 15th 2008 8:53AM]

I would have thought about buying the cute little thing except that:

1) Too expensive by about 100$
2) can't really install own software

The second is particularly a deal-breaker.

[j_g_puff @ Aug 15th 2008 11:15AM]

I think it's way more appealing with its new name. If only it was manufactured by Compuglobalhypermeganet, I'd buy it.

[yoyodude64 @ Aug 15th 2008 8:58AM]

yea for this price...id prob just get some kind of sliding cell phone with all those features (yes i know id b paying on a contract, but id also be getting a phone and something that can access the internet anywhere)
this should be designed more for kids who dont really need a cell phone yet

[iEye @ Aug 15th 2008 8:58AM]

1) Too expensive by $200

2) Its not a Phone

3) Name sounds like a heath cereal

4) Not a Phone

5) Eee pc and other netbooks exist for the same price

6) probably smells like doo doo...

[Bryan S. @ Aug 15th 2008 11:48AM]

The name sounds like a dog/cat name to me. *shrug*

Gimmick device all around, imho.

[Stephen Lang @ Aug 15th 2008 3:14PM]

Talking about ships that have sailed, maybe they can rename thing the Portable Audrey.

This thing was probably super-cool when the designers started making mockups back in 2001...

[Stephen Lang @ Aug 15th 2008 3:15PM]

It probably sounds like a dog or cat because 'mylo' rhymes with 'aibo'.

[tekdroid @ Aug 15th 2008 8:30PM]

iEye @ Aug 15th 2008 8:58AM
1) Too expensive by $200
--------
Found any similar devices for 99 USD?
PS. new name sounds far more in keeping with what this unit does instead of the vague 'personal communicator' which could mean anything, including smoke signals.

[john @ Aug 15th 2008 9:03AM]

So, basically, they're trying to jump into the MID market... with a device that is way under-featured for that market. The Nokia IT's at least have momentum/experience behind them to make up for not having the x86 architecture that the MIDs have ... and the iPod-Touch and iPhone have their advantages to offset their differences from the pack. But, what exactly can the Mylo do to compete with them?

1) the rest of the market can install downloadable software
2) most of the rest of the market (iPhone, N810-WiMAX, and some MIDs) will have WWAN access, not just wifi. And while the other Nokia IT's don't have WWAN built in, they can at least do bluetooth DUN with a phone, for WWAN access.

The Mylo needs to do more than just change names. It needs to lower price and/or add an application eco-system and/or add WWAN capability. Maybe Sony should be talking to their Sony-Ericson division about part of that...

[Matt @ Aug 15th 2008 9:05AM]

I never understood the point of this thing...it's like a Sidekick or a BlackBerry, but...there's no phone? And it's 300 bucks?

[Nick @ Aug 15th 2008 9:21AM]

Sony Ericsson should pop a phone into the Mylo and release it for a lower price point than the X1 as a more consumer oriented device.

[bob sakamano @ Aug 15th 2008 9:25AM]

it seems like sony needs to quit making new products and just stick to doing the main stream ones really well like they do anyways.

(yes they did have some good things, but the bad outweighs the good)

[Tim C @ Aug 15th 2008 9:44AM]

the price needs to be $129 or less

[Joylove @ Aug 18th 2008 3:17AM]

No match for the N800/N810, that's why it won't sell.

[FreeRange @ Aug 15th 2008 9:49AM]

2 things this needs before I'd consider it (not that I'm considering it now, but just saying): 1. compatability with the locationfree base unit. The PSP has this functionality and it seems the only needs are processor power and internet; two things this should have. 2. they may as well build UMD support. Not for the games, mind you, but the movies.

If this had those two abilities, I could imagine myself taking this on business trips instead as the web browsing on the psp is a bit of a cluster without a keyboard. Currently I take my laptop (would still take), my ipod (could leave behind if this worked), psp (just for movies both as UMD and ripped to memory stick)...so this could theoretically eliminate two of these devices. That's not too shabby.

I like my phone to be a phone so I'll leave that alone. And I've never liked the idea of an iPhone as my ipod also as I'm kind of stingy with my phone's battery life but I'll run my ipod battery into the ground on a flight. Without the ability to switch the battery when I land, I'd be too concerned that I've arrived some place for work with only a few hours of battery life, which could be disastrous.

[OziD @ Aug 15th 2008 2:39PM]

I agree, mainly about the UMD thing. What was Sony trying to accomplish by making this medium but never including it on anything? They seemed shocked when most studios dropped it.

They should have included UMD slots on TV's, PS3's, and Vaios.

Maybe it would have a fighting chance, if that were the case.

[tekdroid @ Aug 15th 2008 8:40PM]

OziD @ Aug 15th 2008 2:39PM
They should have included UMD slots on TV's, PS3's, and Vaios.
------------
This is all great in theory, until you come to this conclusion:
Adding a UMD drive in a TV, PS3, Vaio laptops... would kill their competitiveness in the TV, console and computer marketplace versus other manufacturers and erode their profits considerably, not to mention the fact that most in these markets have no need for such a device (I would argue 99.9%) so the drive will never be used. Besides, UMDs were created for one reason: the PSP. It's a short-sighted format for widespread adoption (playback only, limited storage) to be including it with high-definition capable devices like TVs and laptops (I would argue many would say it looks crap compared to DVD and Blu-Ray and hate it for that reason). Then consider the profit losses including the optical drive in everything would bring.

Joe comes into bigbox retailer, sees prices... buys competitor offering for $100 less (likely more considering the Sony name allows some price uppage itself), without the unnecessary UMD drive.

[ScOObyDoo @ Aug 15th 2008 9:52AM]

The idea behind it is great, the execution not so. It is slow, the touch screen is awful and the applications on it are the bare minimum.

Perhaps MyLo 3 will be better?

[Michael @ Aug 15th 2008 10:09AM]

Knock $100 off the MSRP and I'd buy one.
Those buttons are too cheap-looking to warrant three bills.
They can keep the font as long as they drop the price or make it look less fragile.

[Jon Acheson @ Aug 15th 2008 10:22AM]

It's a shame they couldn't have made this a Palm-powered Clie instead. That would have solved the whole application issue for them, and this beats hell out of a Palm TX.

But alas, that ship has sailed.

[digitallysick @ Aug 15th 2008 12:05PM]

$299.00??? crazy you could have an iphone that does the same for almost that price. Or even other phone models. Even an ipod touch

[AlphaTeam @ Aug 15th 2008 3:13PM]

Of course nobody gets the $20/$30 iPhone data plan and the phone plan either.

[Johan S @ Aug 15th 2008 10:56AM]

It's not a phone or GPS, who would buy that thing??

How stupid of Sony to make such a useless device.

Sony is run by morons!

For example, they are delaying the Xperia X1 thinking it won't sell. Yeah ..by the time it comes out demand would have dropped.

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Aug 15th 2008 11:12AM]

btw, how it compared with PSP? except for keyboard of course.

[YOO. @ Aug 15th 2008 11:41AM]

An "internet comunications device", just like maddox says.

[CosterMonger @ Aug 15th 2008 11:41AM]

why not just have a keyboard for the PSP? as a $25 attachment
netbooks kinda make this thing obsolete

[tbracelin @ Aug 15th 2008 12:37PM]

If they added a cell antenna and didn't raise the price any, then i would buy one cause it would be kindof like a sidekick

[tiuk @ Aug 15th 2008 12:44PM]

Costs too much for what it does. The people who would use this have cell phones that already fill the roll.

[Jason @ Aug 15th 2008 1:14PM]

Yeah, I think this would sell great at $99 - $149.

[Ridgecity @ Aug 15th 2008 1:42PM]

Sony likes to change whatever they have gathering dust in the shelves:

MiniDisc: Digital Audio to file backup
PSP: Media player to Homebrew SafeHaven
PS2: Media Computer to game console
PS3: The the next technological step in the evolution of humanity to cheapest (and only one available in stores) bluray player

[Jesse Dula @ Aug 15th 2008 3:44PM]

$149.00, and I'd get one.

[Mylo x2 @ Aug 15th 2008 5:08PM]

I actually own both Mylos. Mylo-1 i picked up at the Sony outlet for $99 and Mylo-2 from a sales promotion running at work. I'd agree with this group saying that the price of this gadget should be much lower. I'd price Mylo-2 at $129 to avoid buyer's remorse.

Mylo-1 is great for Skype calls. It's smaller and easier to slip in your pocket and whip out for free or highly discounted calls on the Skype network. Also great for AIM, or yahoo chat.

Biggest drawback of Mylo-1 is the lack of a touchscreen. Navigation of a web page is frustratingly slow and unuseable. Also the web pages are so severely clipped..it's just not worth using for web browsing. Also, it surfs in Wireless B which is painfully slow.

I was really stoked when i got my Mylo-2 that has a touch screen display. Only problem now is that the unit is much bigger and not a device you'd want to slip in a non-winter coat pocket. Touch screen does make it easier to select fields to type into. Web pages are stil clipped but you can select diff zoom levels. I wasn't able to find a zoom level that i could see the entire page and still remain legible so i had to choose a level in between. The side scrolling bars are hard to grab so i spent a bit of time selecting boxes on the perimeter of the screen on accident. Still not a great web surfing device but more usable than Mylo-1 (M-1).

Speakers are missing from this device so you cannot pop it to your ear to talk like (M1). Instead, there is an included earbud/mic. Calls are just as crisp as the old unit though.

The new Mylo-2 has apps called Widgets. One lets you see what network your buds are on at a glance so you can bring up the propper applcition to communicate with them. There is also a Facebook Widget that shows updates and a few other simple ones. More widgets would be great but i haven' t seen any changes since the Mylo-2 site went up.

Being a Sony product, Microsoft Hotmail and Messenger is not supported at all. In fact, i cannot even open hotmail messages from the browser. However, Yahoo, AOL, and gMail are all supported along with their chat apps.

This device is very limited in its use. For me, when i travel abroad, it is nice to have something that can be tossed in my pocket and connect to a hotspot. Unfortuneately, most of my contacts are on MSn so i need to get the people i need to reach signed onto a multi chat program like Trillion in order to communicate with them.

I'll add more as i spend more time with Mylo to this thread...

[skulldriveshaft @ Aug 15th 2008 9:56PM]

don't even bother with this pile of junk

[Gleceryth @ Sep 4th 2008 12:15PM]

MYLO is perfect for me over here in japan.... WiFi is available everywhere and having VOIP with a tap of a few things I can talk to my relatives back in the states. If you have some extra cash laying around its worth it. I know that by this time next year something new will be out and of course even better but thats the world of technology.... Deal with it.

[Gleceryth @ Sep 4th 2008 12:15PM]

On the go.....

I have my ipod for music
I have my laptop for internet
I have my mylo for everything in between(great for traveling)