At the Sony Ericsson Global Conference yesterday we had some brief hands on time with the three newly devices from Sony Ericsson and here are the videos taken from the launch event.

Three more videos await your attention after the jump but before that, we must apologise for the video quality. Our regular shooter ran out of battery so we had to improvise and use a Sony Ericsson Xperia arc to shoot the videos instead. The video quality is not bad but not on par with videos that we usually churn out. Still, something is better than nothing.

Enjoy.

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	Mobile Devices, Sony Ericsson, Video
	launch, LiveDock, LiveSound, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson 2011, Sony Ericsson LiveDock, Sony Ericsson LiveSound, Sony Ericsson txt, Sony Ericsson txt Malaysia, Sony Ericsson Xperia active, Sony Ericsson Xperia active Malaysia, Sony Ericsson Xperia ray, Sony Ericsson Xperia ray Malaysia, Video, xperia active, Xperia Ray

Update: Uploaded more pictures and videos

Sony Ericsson today has revealed 3 new devices – a featurephone and 2 Android smart phones. The first phone shown above the Sony Ericsson txt which is a QWERTY candybar device which is targeted for the youth market.

The Sony Ericsson txt is a feature phone with features inspired by Xperia at an affordable price. As the name, its dedicated SMS shortcut key and the very tactile QWERTY keyboard suggest the txt is built for messaging junkies. In addition, the txt also features an embedded “friends” application that gives users quick access to Facebook and twitter updates from their five favourite friends.

Other notable features include a 2.6 inch screen, a 3.2 MP camera with video support (don’t expect HD recording though) and connectivity comes in the form of b/g/n WiFi, and Bluetooth but there’s no 3G. Also, the txt packs a 1000mAh battery and comes in four colours (white, black, pink and a really nice blue).

Price of the txt is said to be around the US$100 mark without contract. That’s about RM300 at today’s exchange rate.

Next is the Sony Ericsson Xperia active which is designed for users with active lifestyles. This is somewhat similar to the Motorola Defy with its water and dust resistant capabilities. It also features wet finger tracking, barometer, pedometer, pulse meter, HD recording and runs on Android Gingerbread with a 1GHz processor.

The Android Gingerbread Xperia active is essentially an Xperia mini that’s built for the outdoorsy user. The active features a Bravia Mobile Engine enhanced 3-inch 320×480 Reality Display and a 5MP camera with HD-video recording. The device also meets the IP67 exposure rating standard which means that the device is dust and water resistant and can stand being submerged in fresh water up to a depth of one metre for a duration of maximum 30 minutes. Battery capacity for the active is 1200mAh.

In line with its active inclination, the Xperia active features scratch resistant screen enhanced not by Corning’s Gorilla Glass but from a competitor called Dragontrail which, we were told, offers similar protection to Gorilla Glass. The reason for the change is simply a matter of supply. Sony Ericsson needed the supply, Corning couldn’t keep up with the demand.

Colours include white accent option or an orange accented one. The active ships with both black and white interchangeable covers.

The third device is the Xperia ray. The Xperia ray is very much like the Xperia arc but with a smaller screen and a different design language. It uses premium materials like aluminium.

In its purest sense the Xperia ray is an Xperia arc reincarnated in a smaller form factor as both devices share virtually identical feature sets. This includes a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, an 8.1MP camera with Exmor R and 720p video recording capabilities. The ray’s 3.3-inch Reality Display is enhanced by Sony’s Mobile BRAVIA just like the Xperia arc.

The major differences between the arc and the ray is mainly in the size and thickness. While the arc is a svelte 8.7mm thin device, the ray is slightly thicker at 9.4mm but at 854 x 480 pixel it’s smaller 3.3-inch screen packs the same resolution as the arc but with a higher pixel density which means images a crisper. With what little hands on time we had with the device, the higher pixel density really shows on the Xperia ray’s display. Images are pin sharp!

The arc packs a 1500mAh so you can expect good battery life and there are four colours for you to choose from including black, gold, white and of course, everyone loves a pink phone.

Availability for all the devices is slated at Q3 this year, prices are yet to be announced. And also, both the Xperia ray and Xperia active feature active noise cancellation secondary mic, which is cool.

In addition to the phones Sony Ericsson also announced two new accessories. The LiveDock and the LiveSound. We’ll put up videos that explain what these two accessories are in a bit.

Official pics after the jump. More updates coming soon. Post updated with more details on the devices, official promo videos as well as some hands on pictures. All yours to view right after the jump.

Don’t forget to watch our hands-on video from the launch here.

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	Mobile Devices, Sony Ericsson, Video
	launch, Sony Ericsson, Sony Ericsson 2011, Sony Ericsson txt, Sony Ericsson txt Malaysia, Sony Ericsson Xperia active, Sony Ericsson Xperia active Malaysia, Sony Ericsson Xperia ray, Sony Ericsson Xperia ray Malaysia, Video, xperia active, Xperia Ray

While we’re all wondering when will the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer be available for purchase, Maxis has confirmed that the HTC Flyer will be available from them starting May 27.

Earlier Maxis made a joint announcement with HTC to announce the HTC Flyer. At the event, availability was set at May 12 but apparently due to stock issues, the availability date of the flyer had to be delayed.

What is still unclear and is still intriguing to us is the RM199 deal for the HTC Flyer that Maxis says it will be offering. Maxis COO, Jean Pascal Van Overbeke said that the offer is not a gimmick and its something worth looking forward to.

Come May 27, we will all know if this is indeed true. Stay tuned.

Big thanks to commenter Jason for the tip!

[source]

	Android, HTC, Maxis, Mobile Devices, Mobile OS, Players on the Field
	Android, Android Tablet, HTC, HTC Flyer, HTC Flyer launch, HTC Flyer launch Malaysia, HTC Flyer Malaysia, HTC Flyer Malaysia price, HTC Flyer Maxis, HTC Flyer price Malaysia, HTC Tablet, Jean Pascal Van Overbeke, launch, Maxis, Maxis Android Tablet, Scribe, Scribe Technology, Tablet

Maxis has announced today the anticipated Android Honeycomb tablet, the Motorola Xoom will be made available from 6th May onwards. We will be getting the WiFi only version as the 3G version is mentioned to be not available outside the US at the moment.

So how do you get connected you might ask? Maxis is offering a bundle of the Motorola Xoom together with the robust Motorola Defy for a combo price of RM2499. The connectivity for the Xoom is supposedly to come from the Motorola Defy through its portable hotspot feature as mentioned via twitter. Although this is workable, having hotspot enabled would be taxing on the smart phone’s battery and isn’t a recommended solution long term. It would be better if you could connect with a proper WiFi router while the Defy’s hotspot feature is used only when it is absolutely necessary. If we can have it our way, we would prefer the Xoom to be paired together with a MiFi device.

There’s no full details on the bundling plans yet but all should be revealed next Friday. To register your interest, head to Maxis Tablet page here.

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	Android, Android 3.0, Android Tablet, google, Honeycomb, launch, Maxis Motorola Xoom, MotoPad, Motorola, Motorola Defy, Motorola Tablet, Motorola Xoom, Motorola Xoom launch, Motorola Xoom Malaysia, Motorola Xoom Malaysia launch, Motorola Xoom Malaysia price, Motorola Xoom Maxis, Motorola Xoom Maxis launch, Motorola Xoom Price, Motorola Xoom price Malaysia

It looks like the Motorola Xoom will indeed be launched “just before” the iPad 2.

We’ve just receive a media invitation to the launch of the Motorola Xoom happening on April 28 which serves as confirmation that the tablet will be launched just a day before the iPad 2 in Malaysia.

The Motorola Xoom will be the first tablet in the country to run Android’s tablet only Honeycomb OS. With a 10.1-inch screen, 32GB of on board storage, a 5MP rear camera and a 2MP forward-facing camera, 1GB of RAM with a 1GHz dual-core processor, the Xoom is the iPad 2′s closest competitor and the most competent.

But the next-gen specs on the Motorola Xoom come with a hefty asking price — USD$799 for the 3G version and USD$599 for the WiFi version. For Malaysia, it is almost a certainty that we will be getting the WiFi only version.

The launch partner for the Motorola Xoom is none other than Maxis and it will be interesting to see what sort of plans the telco will introduce considering that the Malaysia-bound Xooms are WiFi only devices which don’t really need a telco plan.

This development is bound to make quite a number of iPad 2 would be buyers think twice and adopt a wait and see approach. If the price is right we’re pretty sure that there will be a few that’s going to forgo the iPad 2 and go for the Xoom instead.

What do you think?

	Maxis, Mobile Devices, Motorola, Players on the Field
	Android, Android 2.4, Android 3.0, Android Tablet, google, Honeycomb, launch, Maxis Motorola Xoom, MotoPad, Motorola, Motorola Tablet, Motorola Xoom, Motorola Xoom launch, Motorola Xoom Malaysia, Motorola Xoom Malaysia launch, Motorola Xoom Malaysia price, Motorola Xoom Maxis, Motorola Xoom Maxis launch, Motorola Xoom Price, Motorola Xoom price Malaysia

Immediately after we posted the iPad 2 Malaysia launch story, a very reliable source has revealed to us that Maxis is planning to launch the Motorola Xoom “just before” the rumoured iPad 2 Malaysia launch date. Earlier last week Maxis opened its registration of interest for the Motorola Xoom.

While the source declined to elaborate what “just before” means exactly it is fairly safe to assume that both tablets will not be launched on the same day. At the very least, the Xoom will make its Malaysia debut a day before the iPad 2 which means April 28 is looking like a very likely date.

At the same time, by revealing this piece of information, the source is indirectly adding credence to the April 29 iPad 2 Malaysia launch rumour.

So, are we looking at the launch of two very exciting tablets next week? Very likely it seems.

	Android, Mobile Devices, Mobile OS, Motorola
	Android, Android 2.4, Android 3.0, Android Tablet, google, Honeycomb, launch, Maxis Motorola Xoom, MotoPad, Motorola, Motorola Tablet, Motorola Xoom, Motorola Xoom launch, Motorola Xoom Malaysia, Motorola Xoom Malaysia launch, Motorola Xoom Malaysia price, Motorola Xoom Maxis, Motorola Xoom Maxis launch, Motorola Xoom Price, Motorola Xoom price Malaysia

HTC is a prolific device manufacturer, that is a fact. Yes, all the HTC devices out there probably all look the same but there’s no denying that there are probably more HTC smartphones in the market then any other manufacturer right now.

But it’s not all quantity with the Taiwan-based manufacturer. Being chosen by Google to built the first Nexus phone, HTC is prominent when it comes to building quality devices too.

So we’ve established that HTC is a pro when it comes to making devices, and when it comes to Android devices, one can argue that HTC makes some of the best of them. But so far it’s been phones, phones and more phones from HTC.

2011 is the year of the tablet. For the first time we will see tablets coming in from more manufacturers than ever before. Aside from the usual suspects, tablet devices will come from HP, Acer, RIM and many others.

While others have been quick to jump on the Android tablet bandwagon, HTC have been taking their own sweet time. So why has HTC taken this long to put out a tablet? Was it to make sure that they have a winner in their hands? Is the HTC Flyer a real contender in the tablet wars? How does it stack up against the iPad 2? Is the stylus and HTC Scribe just a gimmick or does it really bring innovation to offer users an enhancement that they can really appreciate?

Head on over to after the jump to find the answers to these questions and more. This is our first impressions of the HTC Flyer.

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	Android, HTC, Maxis, Mobile Devices, Mobile OS, Players on the Field, Video
	Android, Android Tablet, HTC, HTC Flyer, HTC Flyer launch, HTC Flyer launch Malaysia, HTC Flyer Malaysia, HTC Flyer Maxis, HTC Flyer review, HTC Flyer review Malaysia, HTC Tablet, launch, Maxis, Maxis Android Tablet, Scribe, Scribe Technology, Tablet

At the HTC Flyer launch, Maxis revealed that it will offer the RM2,499 RRP device for a ridiculously low RM199 with contract. That is a whopping RM2,399 off the list price or a very generous 90% discount.

Naturally, we posted this right away and immediately the comments and tweets came flooding in. Some said we made a typo, some said Maxis made a typo, others claim that Maxis will offering a high monthly fee to compensate for the low price.

So to settle this once and for all We asked Maxis Chief Operation Officer, Jean Pascal Van Overbeke, what is the catch behind this to-good-to-be-true deal. Was the RM199 price announcement a misprint, did he mention the wrong number during his speech? What about the monthly commitment? Will it be ridiculously high?

Jean Pascal’s answer was frank and straight to the point. “The package will be competitive and interesting, otherwise we wouldn’t do it. We don’t want to have it (the HTC Flyer) stuck you know, we want to sell it.”

He promised to reveal all the details on May 12. Very well, we’ll keep in touch then. To register your interest, head over to Maxis Android Tablet page.

	HTC, Maxis, Mobile Devices, Players on the Field, Video
	Android, Android Tablet, HTC, HTC Flyer, HTC Flyer launch, HTC Flyer launch Malaysia, HTC Flyer Malaysia, HTC Flyer Malaysia price, HTC Flyer Maxis, HTC Flyer price Malaysia, HTC Tablet, Jean Pascal Van Overbeke, launch, Maxis, Maxis Android Tablet, Scribe, Scribe Technology, Tablet

Maxis and HTC today announced the launch of the HTC Flyer. Here are some of the updates at the event.

The HTC Flyer will be priced at RM2,499 outright with market availability starting from May 12 at all Maxis Centres and Maxis Exclusive Partners. Maxis has yet to reveal plans and packages for the Flyer but have indicated the that the Flyer will be offered for as low as RM199 with contract.

MCMC regulations states that an operator can’t offer contracts for more than 24 months. If we take that into consideration and assuming that the monthly bundled plans are reasonable, this is one good deal for a rather interesting tablet device.

Stay tune for more updates.

Update: We spoke to Maxis COO, Jean Pascal Van Overbeke about the RM199 contract purchase price for the HTC Flyer. He confirms that there is no typo and that Maxis will indeed offer the HTC Flyer for RM199. When asked whether there is a catch, he answered “There is no catch”. Watch it all here.

	HTC, Maxis, Mobile Devices, Players on the Field
	Android, Android Tablet, HTC, HTC Flyer, HTC Flyer launch, HTC Flyer launch Malaysia, HTC Flyer Malaysia, HTC Flyer Maxis, HTC Tablet, launch, Maxis, Maxis Android Tablet, Scribe, Scribe Technology, Tablet

Update: It looks like we missed a very important clue in the invite. The HTC Desire S will be joining in the fun as well this Friday. So we are actually looking at two more new devices from Maxis! Hats off to the product people at Maxis.

Just to refresh your memory, the HTC Desire S is an evolution of what was one of the best Android smart phones in its time — the HTC Desire. The Desire S features a unibody chassis that is slightly thinner (0.27mm) than the original Desire. Specs-wise, the Desire S runs Qualcomm’s latest single-core 1Ghz Snapdragon MSM8255 that is in the Incredible S, Sony Ericsson Xperia arc and Xperia Play.

The significant difference is that the Desire S comes with 768MB of RAM and 1.1GB of on board storage. Also, it’s very likely that the Desire S that will be launched this Friday will be running Android 2.3 Gingerbread. If this is indeed that case, this makes the Desire S the third device in the local market to run Google’s latest mobile OS.

Other than that, you get 3.7-inch 480×800 pixel Super LCD screen, a 5MP camera with a single LED flash and 720p video recording, there’s also a VGA front camera, dual-mic for active noise-cancellation and a 1450mAh battery to power it all up.

Check out a promo video of Desire S here.

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One of the most promising and yet vastly underrated tablets to come out this year is coming to Malaysia and it’s happening this Friday!

Yeap, we’re talking about the HTC Flyer with its tremendously fresh Scribe Technology stylus interface will launch at the end of this week with Maxis.

We got to hand it to Maxis for being really proactive in bringing all this new and exciting devices to Malaysia. In the span of less than two months we’ve seen the Nexus S, the awesome Xperia arc and now the HTC Flyer tablet make their debuts with Maxis. All this action is certainly is keeping a lot of geeks and device junkies out there very, very happy.

Keep up the awesome Maxis! Now can you tell us when the Xoom and Atrix are coming?

Excited about the HTC Flyer? Check out a full six minute demonstration video of the device here.

	HTC, Maxis, Mobile Devices, Players on the Field
	Android, Android Tablet, HTC, HTC Desire, HTC Desire S, HTC Desire S Malaysia, HTC Desire S Malaysia launch, HTC Desire S Malaysia Price, HTC Desire S Maxis, HTC Flyer, HTC Flyer launch, HTC Flyer launch Malaysia, HTC Flyer Malaysia, HTC Flyer Maxis, HTC Tablet, launch, Maxis, Maxis 10, Maxis Android Tablet, Maxis HTC Desire S, Scribe, Scribe Technology, Tablet