Xperia X10 Blog

Android 2.1 on Xperia 10 gets sneak video preview

Android 2.1 on Xperia 10 gets sneak video previewWe’ve already seen some leaked details regarding the Android 2.1 update for the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, but now we have something a lot more definitive. German site ViMoNews managed to get hands-on with the Xperia X10 at last week’s IFA show in Berlin.

The interesting part is that the build they played with was running Android 2.1. They give a two and a half minute preview of the firmware in the video we’ve attached after the break (from 3:36 to 6:04). Check out the video and our initial observations below.

Update: Another Android 2.1 video has emerged this time showing the live backgrounds. The bad news is that this results in more lag. We also see a demo of the video functions. It’s not the greatest video quality but we’ve included it below. Thanks wimpiedb!

  • The whole UI seems much faster than current firmware builds.
  • There is a new slider lock screen.
  • The X10 now supports 5 homescreens instead of 3.
  • I noticed no significant changes to Timescape/Mediascape.
  • It has a new launcher.
  • The theme shown is darker than our current phones. I have a feeling that the colour choices present currently in Timescape will now apply to the rest of the phone too.



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66 responses to “Android 2.1 on Xperia 10 gets sneak video preview”

  7. My phone asked 10 minutes ago to update . He make the update but nothing new. Come on i had the feeling it is 2.1 moment so why or for what he make this update.

  9. it looks sexy again. As for timescape/mediascape changes, I remember reading somewhere that the UX update for timescape/mediascape will come in Q4. or something like that.

    here’s to hoping that Sony Ericsson continues to support updates to the xperia x10 through 2.2 and potentially 3.x at least

  10. Eww, I like the rainbow slider. Mediascape doesn’t really look much faster. 🙁

    Here’s hoping the final release isn’t as underwhelming as what they just showed…

  11. Hmm. Interesting. It definitely alot faster than current 1.6.

    I guess I will have to wait but 3 questions that I have is Multitouch, 16M colour, MS Exchange support.

  14. Does this 16M colour improve the camera pictures too? Right now, my camera pictures don’t look too good.

  15. I’m drooling big time. I’m counting day the days too.
    Eclair looks much quicker than 1.6 so this is a very good sign.

  16. @Seirra
    Unfortunately the 16M colors only effect the screen. Try a program called Vignette on the market, it’s not free but works good as a camera and allows you to pit cool effects on your pictures. I notice too, sometimes the camera can be lacking. I always make sure that the image stabilizer is always on (you can set it by pushing the menu button while the camera is on, and set image stabilizer to on!) and try and take pictures with as much light around as possible. Hope that helps! 🙂

  19. With homescreen replacements, everything’s possible. Just try Adw Launcher. It looks just like the 2.1 Homescreen in the video – even under android 1.6

  21. ohhh….my desire is very high….i want the update really soon…..i love my xperia 10!!!never a regret that i purchased this work of genuis…nowadays technology keeps on advancing rapidly, the only means we can do to satisfy us is by knowing what really is our priority or what makes us happy and comfortable when purchasing an electronic gadget…hoping for a shift of andriod 2.2 to the near future on my xperia 10…i am also a follower of the upcoming PSP andriod phone……thank you sony ericsson…….

  23. sony has officially announced that the hardware is not capable of multitouch….one of the devs testing thepre-release version of android 2.1 on X10 confirms there is NO multitouch…the jury is still out on 16M colours… ppl are pondering over a method to test the 16M colour capabilities…is there any such test?? any suggestions? n ya…for all here claiming its fake or something….dudes…how far off reality are u ppl?? 2.1 is being tested by many on the X10 since like forever…

  25. so from what i understand even 2.1 does not support multitouch …is it true … if it is this is sad 🙁

  26. @ mez Can old 1.6 version can give live wallpapers? Its 2.1 and above which can give you live wallpapers. So its confirmed that it is not 1.6

  28. “ppl are pondering over a method to test the 16M colour capabilities…is there any such test??

    Provided it’s in JPEG or TIFF format, a gradient image depicting the grey scale (white to black) should do the trick. Infact, any gradient chart would work. If zoom into the pic’ you’ll see lines where the screen can’t distinguish the new colours.

  30. I’m I the ony one wondering what the point of that home button in the GUI? There is one physically half an inch beneath it….

  31. For everyone complaining about no updates on MediaScape and TimeScape:
    SE confirmed on their blog that a MS and TS update will arrive in Q4. The current update to 2.1 will not include any improvements on these apps.

  32. I like the general look of the 1.6 much more. 2.1 looks too iPhone-like and that sucks 🙁 btw, in the video it doesnt seem faster than 1.6, even if less laggy, and that multitouch issue is real shame! Flagship of SE which doesnt support multitouch?! Really disappointing… Nevertheless, Im still loyal to SE 🙂

  33. @LDVC: Well at least that’s some good news. An update to these apps will make the phone just that much better.

    Some people mentioned issues with the camera?
    I don’t know what you are expecting(slr quality or something?) but the camera works fine for me.
    As long as there is a fair bit of available light it works just fine and in low light it works fairly well, but nothing amazing. Just look at the sensor size… it’s not going to have good low-light performance regardless of what you do.

    Viewing the photos in mediascape or on the phone is a bad idea because they aren’t rendered very well.
    I brought them up on my computer and they are much better.
    In fact I’m almost positive that mediascape doesn’t actually render the full resolution of the image, even when zoomed in all the way.
    Download the Photoshop app if you want to do some minor editing on your phone. It’s free and works quite well.

  34. live wallpapers can’t be the sole reason why the x10 in the second video showed considerable lag while the first video showed none?

  35. WOW! Still looks rubbish! Did you see him struggling to slide the screens across in mediascape? lol

    im stuck with this piece of crap for over a year now!!! I wouldn’t mind but SE seem to have gone out of their way to stop people modifying their horrible software 🙁

    Why do they need to put their own crap over android anyway? if I buy a Dell PC, i dont expect it to have a Dell skin on it, which stops me having access to the latest updates! it just more work for them and gives them grief and a bad name … if they gave us vanilla android, they could release it and then forget about it!

  36. It looks good and bad all at the same time, there’s going to be other releases that will improve the glitches we see so I’m not worried.
    Personally I’d prefer to put 2.1 behind us and look to the 2.2 or try and rally enough internet traffic that SE skips 2.2 and prepare Android 3.0 for its loyal and very patient X10 owners.

    Not everyone will be up to date on the Multi Touch saga so debate to your hearts content at the below link. For those who know the tooth fairy is really a family member of theirs there’s no need to hit the link. 🙂
    http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=777415

  37. For me, the 2.1 upgrade will only make a real difference if SE compensate for 2.2 with some custom apps as they did with 1.6. I know flash and the ability to store apps onto sd card is not possible with 2.1(even though it appeared on the nexus one with 2.1) but I was hoping for some app to allow wifi tethering without the need to root as that can cause updating problems for some phones. Looks like I’m going to be disappointed. The 2.1 upgrade is rapidly loosing its appeal because I know deep down that an upgrade to 2.2 is extremely unlikely.

  39. tbh i am happy with how this update looks, was expecting a bit more of a change but it looks nice still. With the video and camera thats not an issue for me i have a sony tx9 no phone camera can match a proper sony compact. With regards to the mutli touch this is quite annoying, i tried to go on the betfair website and it wouldnt scrol across the page fully where as my partners htc desire would wok full and pick across not sure if its just that it has 2.2 or the multitouch check it out!

  40. get this, they can update the colours of the screen yet they choose not to, im baffled with this company now seriously lol

    Oh so is it now sure that the screen colours would stay only 65 k in the upcoming Android 2.1 update???
    7 hours ago · Comment · Like · Flag
    Sony Ericsson UK Hi Ruchit,

    Thank you for your response.

    We are able to confirm that with the update to Android 2.1, the display colours will remain at 65K. However we appreciate all feedback provided regarding this.

    We have passed the suggestions you have made to the relevant department for consideration in any future updates.

    Regards,
    The Sony Ericsson Facebook Team.

  43. This is rubbish … atleast i hope there`s something like DT or MT because i`m fed up with reading stuff about the problem and the opinions are different …and i read in some forum that some hacker hacked i5700 device and the device now has a MT even it didnt …i`m praying some hackers to hack X10 aswell :)))

  45. Hello everybody,
    i have a question, please answer if someone know if is there something can let me use the flash to take a pictures ? i can use it just like a projector 🙁
    is the update 2.1 make it a real flash or not ?

  47. Im really hoping timescape and media scape work faster than they look in this vid. And still no multitouch as insinuated at launch. Sorry but i defiantly wont be buying a sony ericsson phone again. Takes this long to get something thats already out of date. looks like your all a little too excited to simply get some battery draining moving wallpapers and 720 video that cant even focus on text. I wanted this phone to be so much, sony ericsson such a let down. p.s out 28th sept

  48. Never purchasing another sony ericsson product a
    gain, what a heap of rbbish, I wish I got nexus 1. !!”

  49. @ kal

    lool funnily enough google offered se the chance to make the nexus one but se ceo Bert Nordberg turned it down cause he didnt want to share the brand. lool hypocritical when they share their brand now. Company is just arrogant when they have no right to be cause they are not even at the top! This guy needs to go need a refresh approach he is clearly clueless I listened to one of his web conferences to the press and he is probably as clueless about the products as anyone else lol

  50. Im so with kal.. it was a choice of this and the desire and oh god i desire that desire now. Can not express how much i dislike sony ericsson as a brand now.

  55. I have officially informed that the XPERIA X10 will not have multitouch. The same for the amount of colors, even when upgrading the OS, because the issue is HARDWARE!

  56. well apparently 02-uk has there hands on 2.2 for the x10 and are testing it on x10’s already. sounds as if phone companys have had the android updates for x10s for a long time and testing them out to see them come out when scheduled so there are no delays

  57. By far the worst thing about the x10 is the fact that Mediascape is a laggy piece of junk. It didn’t look any better with this update. Since I am in Canada I get to wait a little bit longer to be disappointed by this lackluster update.

  58. i already have one paid one hundred for it brand new in the box its nice to know people ….features are awsome i got rid of my iphone 3gs for it

  60. I used this phone during the last 2 weeks of August and the first week of September as a loaner from Rogers Canada. The software it came with had some very serious flaws. Although the screen was sensitive enough to register input, the software designers made the trigger areas so small and close together it was almost impossible to operate the phone on the go. It consistently triggered wrong input unless I sat down in a quiet, stabile, place and paid close attention to where my fingers were. If I have to go to a computer workstation area to use this phone, why do I need the phone?
    Make the bundled app buttons more user friendly, and put a scroll stripe down the side so that we don’t trigger commands instead of scrolling then maybe this phone would be something that does not make you feel like throwing it at the nearest wall.

  62. hey ppl the new android 2.1 update is not working o my xperia x10. can anyone help? I have did everything according 2 the instructions given but it dnt change.

  63. Its just me or what!! After upgraded my x10 OS to 2.1, my x10 is restarting by it self over n over. Its usually happened when theres a phone call. And some times in standby mode. Do i need to reinstall it or what. My x10 doenst works fine now

  64. senthoor November 3, 2010 at 10:58 AM
    hey ppl the new android 2.1 update is not working o my xperia x10. can anyone help? I have did everything according 2 the instructions given but it dnt change.

    I had to do mine 4 or 5 times before it went the whole way through the upgrade. Keep trying

  65. I’m sick of SE being way too late with their updates and pissing peoples off, just because they want to have their own gags on a android phone. Don’t do android then!!

    God is it so hard to get an update, I’m from belgium and I still haven’t recieved a 2.1 update. It’s time I buy a real phone, maybe the HTC DESIRE!!

    Because in 2 weeks the HTC desire is getting the 2.3 update, what about that huh!!

    It sucks that SE doesn’t put any pressure behind their updates, I’m sick of waiting, I’ll buy a HTC Desire or any other android phone, It’s lame it takes SE so long to get a new update

  66. Ok It’s finally here, it’s a lot faster and looks better. Still I’m buying another phone :p