Posts in Handhelds

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XPERIA X1 launch to delay till 2009?

Reuben Lee | Mar 03, 2008

It looks like fans eager to get their hands on the much-anticipated Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1 handheld may have to wait a while longer, if the release date published on the company's own corporate site is to be believed.

According to the table of release dates, the X1 is expected to roll out only on February 10, 2009. That's exactly one year from the day it was first announced at the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, and a couple of months off its earlier estimate of a second-half 2008 release.

While we are not sure if the release date is meant for the US/Europe market only, or if this is simply a typo error, a one-year gap between announcement and shipping really doesn't bode well for the PDA-phone. Hopefully, it doesn't end up like its Symbian predecessor, the P990i, which was delayed so many months, it lost its wow factor by the time it finally launched. More importantly, the launch delay may give its competitors enough time to come up with a respective response to the X1.

Sony Ericsson has yet to get back to us on an official word.

The XPERIA X1 is the company's first PDA-phone running on Windows Mobile OS. It features a 3-inch WVGA touchscreen display, slide-out QWERTY keypad, HSDPA/HSUPA, wireless LAN and GPS. You can get our early impressions here.

Update: Sony Ericsson has clarified that the XPERIA X1 is slated for a second-half 2008 launch, not the Feburary 10, 2009 release date as rumored earlier.

Filed under: Handhelds
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Mobile number portability still on track for Q2 launch

Damian Koh | Mar 03, 2008

Over dinner recently, my friend was ranting about her angst with a local mobile telco provider and, in the end, she decided to jump ship to its competitor. After the new contract was signed, she sent a text message to her all friends so they would be aware of the change in number. A scenario like this where users flock to cheaper price plans or better service from competitors is common fare on our island-state. There's just a tiny drawback: The change in number.

That's probably one of the main reasons many are looking forward to the number portability database in the second quarter this year. According to Frost and Sullivan research analyst Siu Keat Chak, number portability will benefit both existing operators and eventual entrants. Siu added in the January 2007 research paper that the barrier for subscribers to switch carriers will be lowered and may lead to further price-based competition with a potential increase in new customers for the operators.

Unlike the current number retention system which is more like a forwarding service, "true" number portability will allow users to switch carriers without changing their current line or signing up for a new one. Besides getting to keep their own numbers, subscribers can also look forward to more market competition among the operators, which end consumers could benefit from eventually.

Singapore's not the only country looking at a centralized database for mobile subscribers. Malaysia expects its number portability plan to be completed by end this year. South Korea and Taiwan also announced similar plans back in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

So are you just holding out until the system is in place? Or will you stay loyal to your telco operator till the end?

Picture credit: M1

Filed under: Handhelds, Mobile Phones
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