Sony Ericsson aims for developers with its first Android mobile

The XPERIA 10 is unveiled - the first Android device to come from Sony Ericsson. There are two main thrusts to the device, that I can see. First, it is very much aiming for a sort of Google Experience feel. It has a set of home-developed, Sony Ericsson owned applications on the device that run over the open Android OS (although it has plenty of Google apps as well). And second, with a set of open APIs and the upcoming Web 2.0 event in New York, it is aiming at attracting a community of developers.

The phone:

Let’s talk about the device itself a little. It’s a pretty sweet looking smartphone. The hi-res screen clocks in at 4.0 inches, giving it half an inch on the iPhone diagonally. It has a 1Ghz Qualcomm processor, so it doesn’t skimp on speed. It has an 8.1 megapixel camera, a microSD slot (with an 8GB card in-box) and the increasingly ubiquitous 3.5mm stereo headphones jack.

Surprisingly it comes with Android 1.6 - not 2.0. I say surprising because it isn’t launching until Q1 2010, several months after the Droid first showcases it.

As for apps, The X10 comes preloaded with four Sony Ericsson home-brewed applications. Timescape is a “communications manager” - a homescreen hub that lets you access your texts, email and social networks from one location. Mediascape is a content aggregator. It allows you to track media from your favourite friends and artists from multiple sources (YouTube, Playnow, etc.) and organises it into one app. The remaining SE apps are utility applications - a homescreen with a clock widget and a synchronisation app.
Despite the drive to carry Sony Ericsson apps, it still packs a fair amount of Google applications. Google Talk, Voice Search, search widget, Maps, Calender, Gmail and Media Uploader are all present.

The developers:

With the launch of the X10, Sony Ericsson really seems to be trying to attract a developer community. The company already has an SDk available for download, and intends to open up the APIs for X10, providing developers with the tools to make apps for the device.  Later on this month, we’ll see Sony Ericsson hosting a number of areas just for developers at the Web 2.0 event in New York. In these areas, the company hopes to meet developers in person to spread ideas and get feedback - much like the dev camps run by Microsoft for WinMo.

Other stuff:

The phone has a fun feature that will appeal to the social photo tagging crowd - the device has software that Sony Ericsson claims can automatically recognise up to five faces in any picture on your phone. It will then automatically tag that picture to your “social phonebook” and any communication channels you have with that person.

What we think?

This phone is a great example of just how much applications have wormed their way into the mobile psyche. We are seeing more and more phone launches where developers aren’t just allowed to get involved - they are actively pursued by the manufacturer. In many ways, the physical specs of this device aren’t all that important. They happen to be pretty impressive, but most people will be more interested in how the UI runs, what apps it comes with, and what will they be able to buy from the Android Market.