Earlier in the year we published a review of the Xperia X1, an eagerly-anticipated touchscreen smartphone from the people at Sony Ericsson, stating that it was slated for release sometime late this year.
Well, late this year is upon us, and the Xperia X1 looks to be hitting Sony Style stores on November 28 (just in time for the holidays) selling for $799 unlocked.
The strange thing about this rollout, however, is that the device comes with no carrier.
Buyers benefit in that they can choose which carrier to use, rather than being locked in to Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, etc.
But Sony Ericsson loses in that they won’t benefit from the major marketing push and widespread distribution a wireless carrier provides its smartphones. That is no doubt why the price tag for this device is so high.
Sony Ericsson is hoping that potential users will be willing to pay a premium for receiving the X1 unlocked.
On September 22 a new 9-part digital drama called “Johnny X” makes its debut online. This promised fast-paced, high-adrenaline series of 2-3 minute long episodes follows the exploits of the title character as he tries to figure out his forgotten identity after he gets kidnapped by a gang. The catch? To solve this mystery his uses his new Sony Ericsson Xperia X1.
The climax of this innovative marketing campaign is not the climax of the online minseries’ plot, however, but the official launch of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, happening on September 30, though it will only be a limited initial release. While the UK, Sweden, and Germany will find the device filling their Vodafone and O2 shelves (though not yet at Orange), U.S. stores will unformately not be among those carrying the premiere issues of this long-awaited handset. (Latin America, Asia, and the rest of Europe are next, slated for the end of year, with no launch date yet announced for Russian, Chinese, and North Amerian markets.
The series will run for 3 weeks. As of Monday, September 22, Sony Ericsson will post a new episode every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
This week Barcelona, Spain hosted the 2008 GSMA Mobile World Congress. One of the highlights of the international conference, as always, was the unveiling of several new smartphones, among the top contenders for leading spots in this year's marketplace, the following:
the HTC P3470 - a GSM mobile phone running Windows Mobile 6 with the TomTom Navigator 6 built in;
the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 - a touch screen smartphone with 100 adjustable panels poised to become the iPhone biggest competitor this year;
Also announced was the first mobile phone processor from Nvidia, world leading maker of visual computing, graphics processor technologies. The new technology, dubbed APX 2500, is - as you might expect - designed for handheld devices with multimedia capabilities.
Stay tuned here throughout the year for reviews of the above-mentioned products and many more of the latest and greatest new releases debuted at the event.
