Sony Ericsson Rachael – a different Android smartphone

Sony Ericsson introduced its first smartphone, the P800 back in 2002, which now seems like ages ago. It utilized the Symbian UIQ OS that was to become the driving force behind the company´s smartphone range. Then the manufacturer introduced its first and still only device, powered by Windows Mobile in February 2008 – the Xperia X1. It featured an interesting and pleasing panel interface, but never managed to captivate consumers and make it big. Perhaps this is why Sony Ericsson has turned to other operating systems. We first saw the 12-megapixel Satio on  February 15 at the MWC 2009. Initially known as the ldou, the handset runs on the Symbian S60 5th Edition OS that also powers the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, with the only difference being that Sony Ericsson's device comes with personalized interface. As of lately, the rumor has it that Sony Ericsson is planning an attempt at a device that will be running on the growingly popular Android OS, which brings us to the topic of the current article, the Sony Ericsson Rachael.



Currently there is no official information about this marvel of modern technology but a video that has recently surfaced on the Internet shows us what its personalized interface would probably look like. Yes, you got this right, the Rachael won´t come with the standard Android OS interface that we know and have already reviewed in our articles about the G1 and the Magic. Rather, it will feature a good-looking and fast, unified work environment. Its home screen will consist of three separate pages and four icons will be permanently anchored at the bottom to allow users instant access to certain functions. We are impressed by the screen that sports a variety of tabs, dedicated to music, camera, messages, emails, Facebook, Twitter, etc. If you´d like to see the interface in action, please take a look at the embedded video.

Now, let´s take a closer look at the handset itself, although we still don’t know much about it. If the pictures that can be found here and there on the Internet show the real McCoy, then the device will be offered in black and white varieties and feature a huge touch sensitive screen. Erm, exactly how big would it be? According to the information that appeared for a short time on eXpansys.com, the display will measure 4 inches and come with WVGA resolution, i.e. 480x800 pixels. The same webpage also indicated other interesting details about the phone's specifications. First, its name.  According to the online store, it will be the Xperia and a closer scrutiny revealed its product designation is – SEMXP3_BLK_UK, meaning the handset might be available as the Sony Ericsson Xperia X3. We hope future changes will affect its name only because the  specifications of the device are pretty promising indeed. According to the same website, the handset will feature a powerful processor running at 1GHz based on the Snapdragon chipset by Qualcomm, 3D capabilities, 8-megapixel camera, dual-band 3G and Wi-Fi.

Now with UIQ gone bust, it seems Sony Ericsson is trying to feel the smartphone market, experimenting with different operating systems in the quest for a proper substitute. We hope Android will not be disregarded lightly and that we will see the OS power an increasing amount of devices by the manufacturer. In the meantime, we just have to wait up on the official announcement of the Sony Ericsson Rachael and hope we are able to share our first impressions shortly after.