Today in London Sony announced the Xperia sola smartphone which is powered by Android version 2.3. That may cause your eyes to glaze over in boredom, but keep reading because they’ve added some “magic” to what might otherwise be just another Android smartphone.

The sola’s key features include:

NFC enabled and Xperia SmartTags in the box to enable quick app loading and easy content sharing
3.7” Reality Display with Mobile BRAVIA Engine gives razor sharp clarity
Powered by a 1GHz dual-core processor for super fast browsing
xLOUD and 3D surround sound audio technology for crisp and loud listening
Direct access to Sony Entertainment Network with pre-installed Video and Music Unlimited apps
Launches on Android platform 2.3, upgrade to Android 4.0 during summer 2012

Besides the NFC feature, there’s no real magic in that feature list. The magic is in the new touch technology:

A floating touch of magic
Making its smartphone debut exclusively on Xperia sola, Sony’s unique floating touch lets consumers
navigate the web by hovering their finger above the screen so it acts like a moving curser, without
actually having to touch thescreen. Once the desired link is found it can be highlighted and a simple tap
will load the page. Floating touch will evolve with new user functionality and applications through software
updates and engagement with developers.

Calum MacDougall, Head of XperiaMarketing for Sony Mobile Communications, commented; “Xperia sola
comes with the power of Sony and a sense of magic with floating touch, giving consumers a fun new way
to browse the web and latest technology to show off. With Xperia SmartTags out of the box and access
to the latest content through Sony Entertainment Network, Xperia sola is perfect for consumers looking for
ease of use and the best in entertainment in a smart and innovative smartphone.”

I’m not convinced that browsing the web by hovering my finger over my phone’s display will be the next wave in mobile surfing, but you have to admit that it sounds cool. And in this time where all Android phones seem to be blending together in a blur of sameness, it’s nice to see some innovation. The sola will be available in Q2. The full press release that includes more info about the NFC SmartTag feature after the jump.

A floating touch of magic

Making its smartphone debut exclusively on Xperia sola, Sony’s unique floating touch lets consumers navigate the web by hovering their finger above the screen so it acts like a moving curser, without actually having to touch the screen. Once the desired link is found it can be highlighted and a simple tap will load the page. Floating touch will evolve with new user functionality and applications through software updates and engagement with developers.

Calum MacDougall, Head of Xperia Marketing for Sony Mobile Communications, commented; “Xperia sola comes with the power of Sony and a sense of magic with floating touch, giving consumers a fun new way to browse the web and latest technology to show off. With Xperia SmartTags out of the box and access to the latest content through Sony Entertainment Network, Xperia sola is perfect for consumers looking for ease of use and the best in entertainment in a smart and innovative smartphone.”

Simplify the everyday with SmartTags

Xperia sola is NFC enabled and comes with two NFC Xperia SmartTags in the box as standard to simplify consumers’ everyday smartphone experiences. By touching an NFC Android smartphone on a SmartTag, a pre-configured profile in the smartphone will launch. The two SmartTags included with Xperia sola can be personalized with up to 10 commands. Out of the box they are ready for the living room to turn on Wi-Fi™ and launches Google™ news and weather apps, or for the bedroom, which turns on the alarm and switches to silent mode. Xperia sola supports NFC pairing, allowing consumers to enjoy great connectivity with other NFC smartphones, applications and services by tapping their smartphones together.

Powerful entertainment anytime, anywhere

Xperia sola boasts razor sharp clarity with Reality Display powered by Mobile BRAVIA® Engine, xLOUD™ and 3D surround sound audio technology delivering crisp and loud sound, and a 1GHz dual-core processor for super fast performance. Xperia sola also comes with fast capture to take the camera from sleep to snap in a little over a second with a single key press.

Consumers can also access premium entertainment experiences with Sony Entertainment Network**, where they can watch the latest Hollywood blockbusters on Video Unlimited or listen to millions of songs*** through Music Unlimited.

Filed in categories: Android related, News

Tagged: Android, Smarphone

Xperia sola Android Smartphone from Sony has the Magic Touch originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on March 13, 2012 at 8:00 am.

I spent the weekend and today trying a few of the Storm’s built in applications including the suite of Documents To Go applications, Visual Voicemail, and the video viewer. I also revisited the Yahoo! chat client to try a feature that had failed for me on my first try last week.

Documents To Go from DataViz allows you to view and edit Microsoft PowerPoint, Word and Excel files right on your BlackBerry Storm device.

When you start one of the three apps (Word to Go, Sheets to Go and Slideshow to Go), it will allow you to search the Storm’s internal memory, or an installed MicroSD card for .DOC, .XLS and .PPT files.

The Excel application called Sheets to Go easily opened several .XLS files that I tried. I didn’t have anything too complex, just simple spreadsheets with some formatting (colors, fonts) and calculations.

Just like using a spreadsheet program on your desktop computer, on the BlackBerry you can edit cells and insert functions. My issues with the touchscreen came into play again as I tried to tap specific cells for editing. Of course, the smaller the cells, the harder it is to select them with your finger. This made me wish for a stylus.

I didn’t have any problems with the Word to Go application either. I was able to view large documents with embedded images relatively well. Scrolling through documents with images feels a bit sluggish when you hit a image and it would need to load it. The only issue I noticed was when I entered edit mode. In order to take advantage of some of the features such as check spelling, tables, inserting bookmarks, etc., you have to have to buy the premium version of Documents To Go. The version on the Storm is only the Standard version.

The app I had the most trouble with was the SlideShow to Go app. As long as my PowerPoint file was less than 1mb in size, it seemed to load and display just fine. Anything much larger and I would see the spinning clock. At one point, when I was loading a PowerPoint around 3mb in size, it locked up the phone and I had to remove the battery in order to reset it.

Documents To Go is handy for viewing files, but I would not want to do any heavy lifting with it…

I also played around with the video player application. I tried .WMV, .MOV, .MP4 and .M4V files. The only video file that gave me errors when I tried to play it, was an .M4V file. These movies didn’t look anywhere near as good as the demo BabylonAD movie trailer included on the phone though. I’m not sure what format it is. I wouldn’t have any problems watching a full length movie on the Storm if it was thet same quality as that sample. The Storm really has a wonderfully bright and vivid display.

I revisited the Yahoo! instant messaging client and tried sending a file again. It worked this time when I sent it to someone who was using Pidgin (opensource multi chat client). So I guess the issue with my first try was entirely the fault of Adium.

I also played with the Visual Voicemail feature, which is ummm… similar to the visual voicemail feature on the … wait for it… iPhone Sorry, couldn’t resist. It works the same way. You are presented with a list of voice messages, the person’s name (if they are in your contacts), the number and timed they called. Just click on the play button to hear their message. You can also easily call the person back, send them an SMS or a record follow up voice message (which I guess only works if you are responding to another Verizon customer).

I also spent some time making and receiving phone calls. No one complained that I sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher, so I consider that a good thing

Tomorrow is going to be my last day using this phone. I plan to test VZ Navigator, Email and the Opera Mini browser. I’ll post my experiences with these apps and my overall thoughts on the BlackBerry Storm in a last entry to this series on Wednesday.

Filed in categories: Wireless

Tagged: Blackberry, RIM, Smarphone

A Week with the BlackBerry Storm Smartphone Day 4, 5 & 6 originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on January 12, 2009 at 9:00 pm.