New Sony Ericsson Rachael UI video hits, still looks nothing like Android
By Paul Miller 
posted Oct 31st 2009 11:56PM
posted Oct 31st 2009 11:56PM
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
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Looks very Zune-y
i know, esp. that my music page. kinda looks like quickplay. But i still will crave over HTC HD2
Looks sexy
Very nice indeed, however, I do agree with oringal- HD2's interface is quite a looker.
Joe Biden? In MY Android? It's more likely than you think.
Yo Sony Ericsson, I'm really happy for you and I'ma let you finish, but using a song with kids singing about drug dealing in a promotional video is one of the greatest corporate moves of all time!
@NikAmi
This isn't a promotional video...
Which time did you miss it saying, "This video is conceptual and for internal use only!"?
I don't see any problem with something being 'Zune-ey'.
The Zune HD had a great UI, well suited to an all-touch and media-centric devices.
@CJ: There's nothing wrong with it. Personally i love the Zune UI, Im just pointing out how similar it is.
fair enough.
The point is, most touch interfaces are going to reach a point, and then plateu in terms of usefulness-to-asthetics ratio.
out of the many touch interfaces, there's only really two that have managed this (I believe): iPhone OS, and Zune OS. So naturally any half-decent interface is going to look very similar to one or T'other.
I agree, but i would add android to the list too
would be better without douchye west
"This video is conceptual and for internal use only!"
That is, we're watching an animation put together by marketing and some graphic artists, probably on a Mac, that shows off ideas they're thinking of for the UI of a phone that's Coming Real Soon Now.
When they're ready, I'd like to see the SAME UI moves done on the actual device.
Looks kind of busy doesn't it? Just because you add a lot of swirling and transitions and menus and sliders doesn't make it elegant - it just makes it complicated.
How is it complicated? All the swirling and busy part of the interface is only during transitions that don't require user input, when user input is required, the interface is rather straight forward.
It only looks complicated for the typical american sloth. Good thing they are only marketing this in Europe.
Oh, right, I forgot that America is the home of elegant simplicity and Europe is the fortress of cluttered excess. Thanks for clearing that up!
@uwaga dude
You're full of so much shit, pal.
catachip, I suppose you'd be very happy with your simple iPhone interface. And in that case, I'd have to ask you to STFU !
@)ROFL(
i see what you did there, ntsc.
Agreed all the menus and things flying around look bad, but everything else is fine
Agree. Visibility is also quite bad with the tiny translucent text and gradient background.
@uwaga dude - funny that a company of American sloth's changed the mobile handset market, and is the reason why an interface like this is even getting any attention
@v3xx
i see what you did there, ntsc.
Android, I'm really happy for you, and i'm gonna let you finish, but Sony Ericsson had one of the best user interfaces of all time!!!
Dammit, I knew someone was going to do it.
Will this savagery ever end?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvaSaeFMCy8&feature=related
"still looks nothing like Android", thank goodness for that
that's probably the biggest issue for consumers with Android is that it doesn't have the sharp look of iPhone OS or even WebOS
instead it has that toy-like theme similar to what you get with most default linux themes
@JohnTitor
The sharp look of the iPhone OS? Is it any different than the OS on my iPod Touch? Because it just looks like a bunch of square icons on a black background to me
Do you like fish sticks?
@EGOvoruhk
It's the same OS, I just don't wanna called it OS X, since it's clearly not even though that's all Apple will tell people
and it's actually pretty commonly called the iPhone OS, since the iPhone is the base hardware, the iPod Touch is just a cut down version
@JohnTitor
you are missing the point he was making. he was saying that the iphone/itouch OS is not all that nice. its just a black background and some cute little buttons.
say what you will about the android theme, at least it has somewhat of a desktop. not to mention the ability to change all of that if you want to with apps like ahome or openhome.
@Wiigee
Whether you like Android or iPhone's OS better is a different story, but purely from a design standpoint you'd be speaking for a small crowd if you actually think Android's default theme looks better
I've done a lot of graphics design work, but it doesn't take an expert to tell the difference
as far as the background goes it's quite design dependent, for the look Apple was going for, the black just fits better, it gives a more flush look with the case and gives a sharp contrast to the colorful icons
looking pretty slick.....one of the best UI concepts I've seen from Sony in a while.
Key word there is "concept"
Indeed. This looks like it was done in flash. Android just isn't that smooth - mainly due to the interpreted java / frequent slow garbage collections.
@Tim
Because a 1Ghz Snap dragon processor will be SO SLOW?
You have no idea what you are talking about.
Zune HD rip off.
Did you read the very first post? Did you?
Same premise, no annoying elitism.
Which one is highlighted in blue?
So since the Zune HD is just an iPod Touch rip-off then it makes this a "double" rip-off
So, how long till this gets ported to the G1?
HTC really didn’t plan well if they were making a future-forward device. The G1 likely won’t even be able to get Android v2.0 without some major tweaking. Besides that, the Rachael UI has too many transitions and effects to even work smoothly on the now antiquated HW in the G1. It’s unfortunate, but the G1 is likely now at the end of its rich update cycle. RIP G1… we barely new ye.
It's funny you say that, because I'm playing with Android 2.0 right now.
Yo HTC Sense UI, I'm real happy for you, but Sony has one of the best android skins of all time...
Had to do it =p
"If this is your first time hearin' this, you're about to experience, somethin' so cold, man."
holy moly i think ive already found my next phone. the only thing that made me not into android was how it didnt look so great. htc's sense was really nice and all, but this looks a lot more slick.
its not smart to put kanye west in the video tho -_-"
If this comes to AT&T, it will be very tempting to get rid of my iPhone. Wouldn't mind having something completely different.
hey uwaga dude,
a penny for ur thoughts and a dollar for ur silence
useless. if i could stomach gsm in the US i'd already be under contract with an iphone.
fail.
Did you know there are more countries in the world than the US? Maybe Verizon is raping you so hard with their prices that the only map you can see now is their coverage map.
@uwaga dude
Uwaga dude does it again! Steel36 is only stating his discontent with GSM carriers, he never said the US is the world. Get a hold of yourself, dude.
No. He said that the phone is useless and called it a fail, just because he's on Verapezon.
Looks a little busy, and they could probably simplify the needlessly flashy page transitions, but overall this looks pretty awesome to me.
Finally, a smartphone that looks like it can compete with the media playback capabilities of the iPhone. I've been looking to upgrade to one of these fancy Android phones, but I'll admit one of the larger hangups for me was the lack of an appealing media playback interface (something Apple definitely put a lot more work into than the makers of just about every other smartphone labeled an iPhone killer.) Even the Droid lacks in this department.
I'll have to seriously consider this Rachael. I finally might be able to combine two devices into a neat, appealing package...without buying an iPhone.
Yeah really neat package. Yeah competition to the iPhone sure let's see Sony $750. iPhone as low as $49. U call this competition?
Seriously what planet do u live on?were u born yesterday ?
I seriously doubt this $750 Sony will sell million in 72 hours like iPhone did. Agree?
Whoa, calm down there, cowboy.
Firstly, I don't care how low the iPhone gets (with contract); I don't want one. I want a phone that provides a comparable user experience without the hangups that keep me (personally) from purchasing an iPhone, with exceptional media playback capabilities being high on the list of priorities. The Rachael UI seems to bring Android pretty damn close to that level.
Speculative price is not my point. Feature set is. Put your iTardness on the back burner for a second.
Whoa, who is pagmer12? I wrote that last comment...
To compete with the iPhone it must deliver in ease of use and functionality as well.
But it's good to see SE putting effort in developing a nice looking interface.
Zune-HD-esque. But still nicer than andriod - now, this or DROID?
Because this phone is basically "droid" as well, I will say this looks quite impressive. Definitely more so than the motorola phone. Competition is good, let the games begin!
I'm excited for this SE phone and all but I just have little faith that it will make it to the US in a timely manner, if at all. SE doesn't really have a good reputation of releasing high-end phones here. Sad face
I get dizzy watching all the effects. Nothing to make me change from my iPhone.
And if it is released, it'll probably be $256322454618.99. Hope I'm wrong.
dont like the brand pf sony ericsson
god i hope it comes with tmobile 3g bands, knowing se though it won't
nice one
I wonder if this is just an animation or if they actually have it made.. I think its a good start but the blue interface and effects might get annoying after a bit. At best, this phone would be in the same league as the Pre.
Lol the Pre is mediocre.
The Pre has an interface that is both as pretty and more clean than this one. The Pre lacks a good media player though AFAIR.
> I wonder if this is just an animation or if they actually have it made...
As noted in a comment on the first page of comments, I think you're safe in assuming this is an animation that never saw the hardware of a phone...
"Looks nothing like Android?" I have to disagree. Theres plenty of little touches on each screen that look distinctly Android. It's pretty much the only reason I don't think this is fake.
I hope these fancy UIs are applications instead of OS customizations that could prevent over the air os updates directly from Google.
OTA updates don't come from Google. As the various branches are patched, HTC/SE/Moto have to get the newest versions from the android source and test/approve it on the device. After that, the wireless provider has to decide if they want to push it out.
Overall, I've been able to get much faster updates on my G1 from custom ROMs from the community than when I was waiting for OTA updates from T-Mobile. Hopefully the same robust community will exist for the X10, because I like the clean UI (although the Twitter/Facebook/Messaging thing with the pictures in the first video is WAY over the top... I just want something that looks exactly like the Google Voice or Google Talk applications do now).
I am SO GETTING the XPERIA X10!!
Am I supposed to be impressed ?
This has been implemented since iphone was unveiled Jan 5 2007.
I'm yawning. Btw I'm a Sony fanboy.
We need evoutuionary products here not 2-3 years late to the game clones of what should of been done. Next.
iphone had none of that
There's so many ways I could spin this to be a hit to the iPhone...
But I'll let the others take it. I'm just happy to see a nice Android phone that has elegance but power (16GB storage and 1Ghz processor).
Android is now the object of it's very own "it looks like" comment in an engadget story, thus it's official coronation.
All hail.
Long live.
I think the phone looks awesome and from the sound of it Droid needs some reworking of it's media handling, but this UI is not really appealing to me. I love the Zune UI, but this seems to take that similar aesthetic a little too far, to the point of gaudy.
Hopefully they tame down the glass and bling a little bit (or at least enable options to do it in the phone settings), because it's pretty awesome but just a little too busy for my taste.
Those transitions are really unnecessary.
graphics are unnecessary. COMMAND LINE RULES!
Looks like I will have a tough decisions to make
HTC Dragon/ or this....
Acer Liquid is a contender too..
Is there the slightest possibility that this could somehow end up on the Motorola Droid (not officially) but the screen res fits and it could make major improvements to the lackluster media player on the Droid.
Motorola is building their own Android interface called Blur.
@[Highest Ranked]
What does that have to do with anything?
The Droid doesn't run Blur - it's stock Android.
Searchman.exe was just saying, maybe this OS/skin could be ported to the Droid (unofficialy)
ps - kanye, beyonce sucks
I'm real happy for you kevin, and I'ma let you finish...
Such a deceptive name for such a beasty device...
Kanye has the right idea, we really DON'T care about yet another bad phone
Miles, who is the face in your avatar?
Suiseiseki from the Rozen Maiden anime and manga series.
Hahaha! I can only imagine how the suits at SE would blow a gasket if they knew that their product promo now widely distributed on the internet contains two sets of lyrics, one being "to all my people that's drug-dealin' just to get by, stack your money till it gets sky high"!!!! Hahaha! That's awesome.
All joking aside, the UI is pretty nice. I use TuneWiki on my MT3G, its GUI isn't as slick, but it's far more usable than the stock Android music player.
I cannot get this because I am Sprint, but DARN this is nice!! I want this for ported for my Linux Media center!!
This is easily enough to make me wait on the Droid to see if this delivers. I'm on Verizon but I can switch any time, if needed. I don't like moving off google experience (slower updates etc) but, damn, this is sweet action.
the pictures are dated 10.11.08.@ 1:50 in the video. just saying... & kayne west's 808s & heartbreaks did drop in 11.08. just saying. the video does say its for internal use only. i wonder how outdated this UI is. i wonder if it is indeed even better looking then this '2008' demo... :)
notice the friday august 28th at 0:01
that lines up with friday august 28th 2009
Sick!