It took the manufacturer less than a year since the release of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 to announce its successor, the XPERIA X2. It´s the first Windows phone of the company, meaning it runs Windows Mobile 6.5. The panel interface we know from the X1 haunts us again, but it has been revamped and the manufacturer´s personalization pack seems to have taken over the standard Windows interface deeper. The XPERIA X2 sports 8-megapixel camera with touch focus, larger display, new keyboard and navigational keys design, plus a microUSB port. We´ve got a prototype intended for Vodafone, but it´s functional, so we will show you what to expect from the first Windows phone of Sony Ericsson.

The design of the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X2 features small changes and the manufacturer has staked on retaining the characteristic style of the X1 and its high build quality. You will almost immediately notice the lack of the prismatic navigational keys on its face side – they are now flat and smooth and the D-Pad has been transformed into an optical pad. The size of the phone display has grown 0.2 inches and now measures the healthy 3.2”. It utilizes resistive technology again and its native resolution and supported colors remain the same, 480×800 pixels and 65k colors respectively.

Source: Phone Arena

However, Mozilla have released a new ‘alpha2′ version of Firefox, or Fennec Alpha 2, or whatever they’re calling it this week, and now, anyone with a Windows Mobile phone can try it out for themselves!

Well, I pretty much had to download it, didn’t I…

So, the big question is, what’s it like? Well, the ‘alpha2′ bit should give you a clue that it’s a really early version. So it’s slow, unresponsive, hasn’t been in the slightest bit optimised, and is generally a bit of an anticlimax.

Will it be fixed before release? Oh yes.

Will it, therefore, when it does get a final release, be any good?

That’s the question, isn’t it? When it does go on general release, will the holy grail of mobile browsers (as a lot of people have alluded to it being) actually be much cop? Well, I’ll be frank, yes, the alpha version isn’t that great. It clearly needs a hell of a lot more work doing to it, but one thing is for certain: when they do get it fully optimised, mobile Firefox is going to be a stunning web browser. The controls seem broadly similar to Opera Mobile, the one I use now, with features like double tap to zoom, and full kinetic scrolling (the one where you swipe your finger and the page keeps scrolling, before slowing to a stop, with real world physics, and everything).

One thing it has that Opera Mobile doesn’t, though, is the superb range of add-ons that makes Firefox the superb browser that it is. Yep, that’s right, the mobile version will have add-ons as well, and when they get the usability issues sorted out (which they will, because this is still a very early version), Firefox on your mobile phone is going to be brilliant.

But will it beat Opera Mobile?

Arrrrrrrrgh, I can’t decide! I can’t make my mind up, between the two, which’ll be better! We’re just gonna have to wait and see…

Source:  Mobile Shop

Samsung has partnered with Microsoft and Vodafone to launch the Samsung C6625 for business.

Users can also take advantage of business offerings from Vodafone, such as device management, security and premium support. Samsung Mobile head of smartphones Marcus Stone said: “The Samsung C6625 combines style and efficiency for business users keen to stay ahead and get more done on the move. In the current economic climate retaining that edge has never been more important, and with the C6625 users have everything they need at their fingertips. Our work with Vodafone and Microsoft makes this an extremely competitive offering thanks to a feature-packed Windows Mobile phone that is suited to even the most image conscious of business users.”

Source: Mobile News

Consumers may soon be able to access sites like YouTube and Hulu directly from the mobile browsers because Adobe (NSDQ: ADBE) said Flash is coming to some smartphones in October.Adobe’s Flash technology is nearly ubiquitous around the Web but is often considered too resource intensive for smartphones. The company said in February it’s committed to bringing the full version to Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s Android, Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT)’s Windows Mobile, Nokia (NYSE: NOK)’s S60 Symbian, and Palm’s webOS.

“We are bringing Flash Player 10 to smartphone-class devices to enable the latest Web browsing experience,” Adobe CEO Shantanu Naraye said during an investor call. “Multiple partners have already received early versions of this release and we expect to release a beta version for developers at our MAX Conference in October.”The move could open up tens of millions of devices for Flash developers and content creators, as well as give consumers a richer mobile Internet experience. Adobe has created the Open Screen Project to help it achieve its goal of creating a standard platform that can be used on desktops, mobile phones, and other devices.

The two major players missing from the list are Research In Motion (NSDQ: RIMM)’s BlackBerry and Apple’s iPhone. Adobe said it has been working with RIM, but they aren’t far enough to announce anything. The iPhone is another matter altogether, and Flash may never wind up on Apple’s touch-screen smartphone.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has said Flash is not good enough for the iPhone because of its resource requirements. Some industry watchers also believe having Flash could potentially detract from the App Store because developers could decide to just create content with Adobe’s technology. Additionally, Apple appears to be placing some bets that HTML 5 can provide iPhone users with Flash-like capabilities like video streaming.

Source: Information Week