Well, this is just
great timing. What we're looking at here is supposedly a Sony Ericsson smartphone, which seems to sport a five-inch screen and a hinged slide-out keyboard like the
HTC Shift and the
Eking S515. Even if this prototype turns out to be legit, our tipster -- who has a solid track record -- says it's only running on Android 2.1 and that development is in its infancy while low-level drivers are being tested. Well, we can probably wait, except we're also told that internally SE doesn't appear to have any plans for 2.2 yet. Cue the angry tomatoes and eggs, but bring us a
PSP phone any day and we'll call off the rally.
Update: We've received word from a second highly-trusted source who says that the display is 5.5 inches (too big to fit in the front pocket), and runs a clean Android 2.1 install. Oh, and it's
launching in the fall.
Update 2: We've been told that the device has now been pushed to CES 2011.
posted June 4th 2010 2:34AM
Looks like Apple's not the only one having internal security issues.
@Clyzm
This is Sony. Their Middle Name is "internal security issues".
@kapanak And their first and last in case you didn't get the point.
@Clyzm
OMG, this is not a phone, this is a mini laptop, look at the screen is 5 inches and the whole equipment is very big.
This will not fit in my pocket.
And no 2.2?? OMG everybody is lovin it now
@JAG You've got extremely small pockets, but I guess that is a fashion choice. I'm not good at making fashion choices. What I am goo.. screw it... HUZZAH PSP-PHONE!
5-inch long is OK if it has the girth to make up for it.
@Kurian
That's what she...
come on, too easy!
@Clyzm
Apple was never the only one, nearly every smartphone out right now was revealed by spyshots or planning documents before its announcement.
At what size does a phone become a tablet?
Ummm... when you can swallow it with a glass of water?
@Shanebenn Seriously. Look at that enormous, iPhone-like bezel. And it's a 5"! There's enough space in the device to create a thin device with a small bezel. Instead we get something that is simply not pocketable.
@Shanebenn I think with a cool remote headset ear piece, we can now drive any calling - at least to the observers :)
And put a map on it, then we have the perfect drive companion.
And if you happen to stop, then you can access your ebooks while waiting for her.
@Shanebenn
Why can't they do away with the side bezels. A 16:9 rectangular piece is the same size as an entire iPhone. So, if you do away with the side bezels, the phone size will be the same as the size of BB 8520 or an iPhone. And just keep a little bezel at the top and the bottom (for sideways holding purpose and for speaker, microphone, front-facing camera, proximity sensor, etc etc). There you go! Your phone won't be over-sized and will still have a 5" screen. Size can NEVER be overrated - always useful. Are you listening HTC?
@buoy
That's a caplet you. A tablet it a small table. LOL!!!!
@buoy
LOL
@krishansy Maybe the side bezel is so the device can be thin? ever heard of engineering and physics? Things don't just magically disappears behind the screen so the screen is as large as possible with no rim, it just floats there... I mean do you think they would have done if they could? Do you have to pretend you have the answer? Are SE designers idiots like you think they are? Sometimes you guys just need to use your head rather than speakup and remove all doubt.
sorry if I hurt your feelings, but sick of people going "oh, why don't they...? It's so simple"
@tallfella
Exactly. Bezels aren't just empty and hollow space behind them. There are actual components there. But the idea could work if you take a small device, say, a Nexus One, and put a bigger 4.3" screen that goes edge to edge. That way you actually add space width-wise and potentially thin out the phone.
@JW
Oh wait that's the HD2
@tallfella Do note: A 5 inch screen can actually fit into a space 4.50 x 2.31inches (leaked Iphone 4g dimensions).
Re: “Don’t you think they would have done it if they could” Not if the cost of production is too high it won’t increase sales enough to make it worth it.
Re: “ Ever heard of engineering and physics? “ Umm.. have you ever heard of creativity and ingenuity? I say make the screen of Gorilla Glass and put a 3-4mm rim around it. Even better make the whole front of the phone out of Gorilla Glass (the edges and corners would be thermoformed). In this type of situation the Iphone 4g could have a 5inch screen and the Galaxy S could nearly fit a 5.5 inch screen.
Re: “screen can't just float in the front” 4mm rim around screen is enough to fit screws. Or even better the thermoformed Gorilla Glass can be cut at a 90 degree angle on the thermoformed edges, do the same with the back plate but cut the angle in a lower position so that the front & back plate lock into each other then you can put screws into the top and bottom and even sides of the phone rather than from the back to the front and you eliminate needing any rim or bezel around the phone at all.
Re: “Maybe the side bezel is so the device can be thin?” No need for a question mark… that’s exactly what it is, but considering the battery takes the most space and battery improvements continue to happen, the speed increases of processors continue (allowing us to under clock and save battery) and OS’s are optimized for battery consumption (well not Android apparently) are all things happening now and in the future so devices can and will be smaller and expecting large screen sizes isn’t wrong.
My question to you: Ever heard of supply and demand!?? Just because you are accepting of the current screen size to phone size ratios doesn't mean we shouldn't push manufacturers to produce better products in the same dimension or smaller packages… thinking that way is ignorant.
That looks quite promising. Sony Vaio flashed before my eyes for a second whilst I tried to figure out what it was.
@buoy Yeah. That keyboard looks phenomenal.
Well, considering that we in the US haven't even gotten the X10 nor the X10 mini, expect to see this bundled with Duke Nukem Forever then?
@pika2000
Too bad for you people huh? Canada has it.
But guess what. You "bastards" get the EVO, Incredible, and a shitload of other Android phones, while the X10 is THE ONLY good Android phone in Canada, with the exception of the Milestone (Droid), and X10 isn't even rootable yet. And it runs 1.6. Seriously, as a Canadianm I would like to express the opinions of all Canadian Gadget Nerds...FML!
@kapanak
A true gadget nerd would acquire devices through other means/countries. Not whine about current locale's lack of choice.
@Almo
There are no other means. All of Canada's major carriers use AT&T frequencies. Most of the world does not.
@kapanak
Hmm, in that case, it does make it more tricky. Fair play.
@kapanak EVO and Incredible are all CDMA-locked phones, useless outside the US anyway. The only valid truly open Android phone available in the US in my book is the Nexus One. I was hoping for the X10 since SE tends to sell their phones unlocked in the US, but it didn't happen. Moto and d0uchebag HTC are in bed with the carriers.
@kapanak I think you got it mixed up with CDMA & GSM, most of the world (incl. Canada) uses AT&T's GSM network with same or similar freq. Unlike Verizon or Sprint, still stuck in a backward CDMA model
@tallfella Actually he's right. AT&T uses UMTS frequencies that most of the world doesn't use. NO carrier in the US uses the standard European UMTS frequencies. Which means while you normally can use the phone on AT&T and T-Mobile networks, you don't get 3G which is the main selling point of 90% of these phones.
@kapanak
You can toss most (not all) of latin America and the Caribbian into that fold.
Sorry Sony, just bought the Evo... you're a bit late :(
When is this due out? Knowing Sony and their smart phones it will probably be 2015
By the time this comes out, HTC will have the EVO 5G and HD5.
@Steve Jobs Jr true
Sorry, the sizes of these are just getting ridiculous now.
@Flowah Yeah, I really don't have any interest in a phone bigger than 4 inches. Even the Evo's a bit much.
@Flowah
What are you talking about?
-Sent from my Dell Streak XL.
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth Yeah! Size matters.
~ Sent from my 17inch tablet
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth
do you use the fingerlonger to hold your dell streak
@spawn57
Shut up with the Futurama references, or I'll set my Hitler shark on you.
@spawn57
*fing-longer
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth
"Quick, Robin, get out the shark repellent bat spray!"
WANT
The only phones that can challenge Android phones in specs are ... other Android phones.
@TheGM
Yeah, Android users have this thing for having a bigger settings menu and a longer spec sheet, you know, rather it actually being usable.
Iphone users use their devices, Android users like to look at theirs and play about with their settings menu as if they're some sort of tech guru
@suicidebob I had an iPhone 3G before I moved to the AT&T Nexus One. Usability was exactly the reason I moved to Android. The fact that I could put widgets on my homescreen to give me instant access to info was part of that usability. As was the ability to multi-task and an unintrusive notification bar instead of the constant pop-ups of the iPhone notifications. The fact that I could do simple things like add folders and perform the miraculous task of changing my homescreen wallpaper without JailBreaking and installing Cydia was another advantage in usability. As was a much more open Market; even before 2.2 brought built-in tethering options all I had to do was to download a free tethering app from the Market.
If on top of all that I get a spec advantage that'll further enhance the usability of the device, I'll definitely take it.
@TheGM LOL! You just prooved suicidebob's point - maybe read suicidebob's second paragraph a few more times, here, let me copy n' paste for you:
"Iphone users use their devices, Android users like to look at theirs and play about with their settings menu as if they're some sort of tech guru"
then read your dribble again
@tallfella @tallfella No you proved my point. Those things are exactly what aid usability. You don't create folders for the fun of it. You don't add widgets just because you can. You add those things to you're homescreen because they make you're homescreen more useful than a blank grid of icon. You multi-task, to *shock* complete multiple tasks at once.
That's usability. If stripping away features and the resulting simplicity it offers is what you're looking for maybe you should take a look at the JitterBug.
It looks more like a small netbook than a qwerty smartphone.
Very thin though; I'll give it that. But 5" = Not a Phone. I hope the Samsung Galaxy S Pro has a tilting keyboard....
Why do you name something with 5'' screen a phone?
If I was able to make calls with my TV it would also be a phone?
Be serious pls, anything over 4''-4,3'' cannot be called phone, minimun tablet or even netbook with phone capabilities...