Video: Sony Ericsson's Pureness haunts the breathless wilds of Translutania
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Sep 8th 2009 6:34AM
posted Sep 8th 2009 6:34AM
posted Sep 8th 2009 6:34AM
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Where can I get it? What's the price? I want it now!!!
It seems to use that self-frosting "smart glass" that's becoming popular on TV shows and such, except as a matrix instead of a single layer. Not convinced about the rest of the build, looks like a cheap device. I'm hoping that the rumored price is out by a factor of 10 - it's not without precident for a budget device to usher in a new display tech (e.g. Motorola Fone).
I've seen pictures of the device's web browser which is just insane, but could work for super-lite mobile versions of sites. I wonder if it can run Java apps in black-and-white.
Very cool stuff, maybe if i was in the market for a dumbphone..
The phone is quite chunky tho..
This technology would be great in windshield of a car.
Right before it became illegal...
http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/mseries/m5/2007/allfacts/ergonomics_hud.html
It's projected rather than embedded but the principle is the same.
Manufacturers are afraid to place "HUD" information in the direct visual field so show it well below - the old (1993?) Nissan Altima GLE had projected info down near the bottom of the windshield as well. Seems pretty much like a gimmick, unlike airplane HUD stuff that IS directly in the normal central visual field.
GM had the first automobile HUDs in Caddies and a few others in the 80s.
Who's singing?
totally stupid concept and design. i hope to hell this flops, for the consumers sake atleast.
Ah yes, those poor consumers, unable to decide for themselves what they wish to purchase.
it'll be creepily awesome if you turn the phone around and the text isn't backwards :D
Translutania? Sounds like an adult movie I once saw...
You watch movies with tranny sluts???
It looks like the only thing "going for it" is the screen, which is actually a pretty bad one. I mean sure it's got that nifty transparency thing going, but a screen's quality is measured by its sharpness, brightness, contrast and color fidelity - all of which this one is lacking... a lot. The transparency is nothing but a gimmick.
Not to mention the rest of the phone, which looks cheap and entirely boring.
A screen's quality is completely subjective. Sharpness, brightness etc may be worth less to some people than a translucent screen. It is not as if it is meant for viewing photos/editing movies. The fact that it is see through is more than enough to have me interested.
Eh, good try. But not good enough.
The screen needs to be brighter. The buttons look crappy and unresponsive.
Lets see some more solar powered waterproof awesomeness!
http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/19/sharps-solar-936sh-and-934sh-with-memory-lcd-headline-latest/
Its exciting to see advancements in the non-smart phone category though. I'm not a fan of smartphones, too big and too expensive to have.
All the "playas" out there (and anyone not wanting to broadcast private info at all times) may decide to stay away from the phone. Anybody standing facing the backside of your phone while you talk will be able to tell who you're communicating with and possibly even read you're txts.
Even considering the relationship 007 has with Sony, I'm giving this a James Bond factor of 0.
I'd hate to view a web page on a screen like that.
I wish it could use photo cells, similar to those in the Maybach's option (10,000 GBP) sunroof.
it might be (slightly more) practical then?
In all but price, yes.
Can you warn us next time a video has ear-bleeding quasi-dance music on it? Damn near deafened myself.
blaming Engadget for forgetting to turn down your machine volume? I'd suggest you re-consider your stance and re-post your comment..
Hmmm its interesting but when your outside i think the screen may go for your eyes
i would love to type of tech intergrated in to visors or specs or cars ( as long as its safe etc)
Now if the screen was also a magnifying glass that you can use to get a fire going when you're lost in the wilderness, then it would at least be useful.
But it is! Quite useful! :)
Now one can text and drive perfectly, seeing through the screen... Nice! O:)
Add a camera, and it would be the first cameraphone with optical viewfinder...
It would be nice if this phone had a touchscreen on the back... then you could interact with icons, etc on screen without your finger blocking the view.
If this wasn't going to be such a cheap novelty from the outset, the potential for augmented reality in similar devices is actually pretty interesting. Point the phone at a cab, get the cab companies number/website/etc. Point the phone at a person, find their Facebook page...
... yeah, that last idea creeped me out too. Let's not invent that one... ah, crap.
Duct-tape's gonna end up at the back of the screen. Since it provide better view with it. Mmm.
Anyone know how this performs in the dark? I can imagine this being a very hip phone for those that go clubbing a lot.
I don't get the appeal at all. In fact, it's downright fugly, not to mention low on practical utility. I'll take an OLED screen over this any day.
This would be the most frustrating phone I would ever use. No thanks! The screen is horrible (don't know the point of the transparency thing) and the OS seems archaic.
Please, on this particular issues, I wish companies would take a lesson from Apple. Don't do it until it can be done well. You can barely see the images on the screen, and they can't even incorporate a camera? Pathetic.
Taking a lesson from Apple. "Don't do it until it can be done well"
Are kidding? Seriously? You have to be a total idiot to say something like that. I wont even bother explaining that.
Apple sells because its customers are abused addicts.
There are billions of people who want dumbphones. They are practical and unobtrusive. There is a huge market for basic functionality mid to high-end phones. This particular phones is a fantastic proof of concept and it's a foreshadowing of very near mobile technology. Once they perfect this tech, the next step is flexible, transparent displays on mobile devices as we've seen in concept presentations.
Anyone remember the first 16 color mobile phone that came out? I recall it was a Siemens and the screen looked like crap and was extremely hard to read/illegible due to the low contrast. Skip 8 years later now even low end phones have basic color screens that are far superior to the first model Siemens. I recall at the time very few people thought it would be a basic feature on phones to have color due to how bad it was at the time.
So don't knock it. This is one of the ways mobile device displays will develop.
+1
Sounds like Engadget really likes this handset. Too bad it's greatly flawed and impractical.
videos not working anymore :( it was set to private before i got to see it
Why do people INSIST on pointing out fashionable things not being practical? When was the last time something PRACTICAL was FASHIONABLE? Can we please stop filling up space with needless and pointless statements that EVERYONE knows the answer too?
(gets off soapbox)
Exactly, if you were in a club or out somewhere and pulled this phone out next to someone who pulled out their smart phone, you'd get alot more attention with this phone for sure. Good on SE for branching out into something new.
New link for the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwe-fjbVwNI