Pages

Search Technology News

Monday, April 11, 2011

review: Sony Ericsson Xperia Play


Almost eight years ago, Nokia attempted to merge a smartphone with a gaming console with the N-Gage . More recently, Sony Ericsson attempted to merge motion-sensing gaming with telephony in the Yari.

But these never did very well, so a certain amount of cynicism was inevitable when Sony Ericsson announced the Xperia Play - a smartphone that ran Android 2.3 with a slideout gamepad featuring controls similar to those seen on Sony's legendary PlayStation consoles.

It is admittedly difficult to be impressed when you see the Xperia Play. In this era of uber-sleek , subcentimetre width devices, the Xperia Play comes across as chunky (16mm thick) with rounded, oval edges rather than sharp ones.

The front is dominated by a 4-inch touchscreen, but the real star is the slide out gamepad, complete with direction keys (the triangle-square-circle-cross control buttons that are the trademark of PlayStation controllers), a touchpad, and buttons for menu, select and start. The volume rocker of the phone is unusually in the middle of the right side of the phone, a placement necessitated by the left and right gamepad buttons. The back is plastic and you'll see a 5MP camera with a flash.

But if the looks of the Xperia Play are about ordinary, its innards are not. The phone packs in a 1GHz Snapdragon processor, graphics based on the Adreno 205 GPU, 512 MB RAM, a 8GB memory card (memory expandable to 32 GB), and every connectivity option you can think of. And all of them perform very well too. Used just as a smartphone, the Xperia Play turns in a sterling performance - the large display, although a bit on the dim side, is great for browsing the Web and the specs allow Android to flex its mail and social networking muscle.


Mind you, Sony Ericsson's Android layer is not in the same league as HTC Sense in terms of ease of use. The Timescape tool for accessing social networks, messages and calendars might look cool with updates appearing in the form of flickable cards, but can get to be a pain if you are the type that gets frequent updates (there is only so much flicking one can do). Another let-down is the camera. The less than sharp images and a tendency to forget the presence of a memory card are strange, especially in a high-end Sony Ericsson device.

Where the Play really comes into its own, appropriately, is in gaming. The slideout gamepad works very well indeed, although the touchpad takes some getting used to. The handset comes preloaded with some very decent games such as FIFA 10, Star Battalion, The Sims 3, Tetris, Bruce Lee and Crash Bandicoot. The graphics for the most part look good and the sound quality is excellent. Best of all, you do not need to touch the screen, allowing you so much more viewing space! Games pause when you get calls and let you resume from where they left off once you have finished talking.

A big disappointment was the relative lack of titles at the moment in the PlayStation Pocket (which links to supported games on the Android Market and publisher sites) and the fact that most of the games on offer also seemed targeted more at the hardcore gamer than the casual one - we downloaded Angry Birds from the Android Market but could not use the controller to play it, alas. But that should change in the coming days.

The Xperia Play will appeal to hardcore gaming fans who have a soft corner for the PlayStation, and want an Android phone too. The price, alas, will prove to be a massive deterrent for those looking to buy it as a smartphone that can also entertain . You can get a PS3, PS2 and a PSP for the same amount as a Play!

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play
Price: 35,000

Features 
RATING 4.0-inch , 480x854 capacitive touch screen, Android 2.3, 1Ghz processor, 512MB RAM, 5MP camera, Wi-Fi , GPS, Bluetooth, FM, 1500mAh battery, 175 grams

PROS: Android 2.3, excellent touchscreen, dedicated gaming keypad

CONS: Limited PlayStation games available, disappointing camera
Disclaimer: All information on this blog has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Chitika

Tags

.xxx domain (1) 'super' computer (1) `Bionic eye` (1) `Sparsh` (1) 000 toxic chemicals (1) 10 (1) 100 tablet launches (1) 19 near-Earth asteroids (1) 29 websites (1) 3-D films (1) 3-D holographic video (1) 3-D TV (1) 3D cameras (1) 3D microscope (1) 3D tablet (1) 3D TV (1) 3G connection (1) 3G Plans (1) 3G/ 4G technologies (1) 4G (1) 4G tablet (1) A19 LEDs (1) Acer (2) Acer CEO (1) Aegis (1) Agni-III (1) Air laser (1) Air Liquide (1) Airtel (1) Alternative Fuel Technology (1) Alzheimer's detection (1) Amazon (1) AMD (4) AMD flagship hexa processors (1) Android (7) Android Dual SIM (1) Android and BlackBerry (1) Android and Symbian Apps (1) Android e-reader (1) Android phones (3) Android Price Wars (1) Android software (1) Answer engines (1) Anti-virus (2) apan (1) APJ Abdul Kalam (1) App (1) APP STORE (1) Appia (1) Apple (38) Apple and Google (1) Apple App Store (1) Apple CEO Steve Jobs (1) Apple Control (1) Apple iOS 4.3 (1) Apple iPad (6) Apple iPad 2 (2) Apple iPhone (2) Apple iPhone 4 (1) Apple iPhone 4 Moblie (1) Apple sues Amazon.com (1) Apple tablet (1) Apple's App (2) Apple's E-Books (1) Apple's iOS (1) Apple's iPad (3) Apple's iPad 2 (3) Apple's iPad2 (1) Apple’s iPhone (1) Apple's Jobs (2) Apple's new iPad (1) Apple's sales Mystery helps (1) Apps (1) apps for iPad (1) April Fool's (1) AT and T (4) AT and T Buys T-Mobile (1) Bacteria-free (1) Bans users (1) Battery (1) Bell (1) Big Bang (1) Big threat (1) Bing (2) Bing Search (1) Black Hole (1) BlackBerr (1) BlackBerry (14) BlackBerry app (1) BlackBerry Bold 978 mobile phone (1) BlackBerry Messenger (1) BlackBerry PlayBook tablet (1) BlackBerry tablet (2) Blackberry thumb (1) blind (1) Bloggers (1) Blood chip (1) Bluetooth (1) Bombs (1) Breath test (1) British mobile internet (1) Broadband (1) Browsers Hackers (1) Browsers' life public (1) Budget (1) Bug (1) Bullet Train (2) Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) (1) Buzz cash (1) Cablevision (1) Camera (1) cameras (1) Canada cyber attack (1) Canon EOS Rebel T2i camera (1) Caparo India (1) car (1) Car reads emails (1) Cards (1) Cell Phone (3) Cellphone (1) Chairman J.T. Wang (1) Charge cell phones (1) Cheap (1) check pulse (1) China (12) China GPS (1) Chinese Supercomputers (1) Chinese voices (1) Chip (1) Chips Makers (1) Chrome (2) CIA New website (1) Cloud Computing (1) cockpits (1) College Admissions (1) communication (2) Computer commands (1) Computers (4) Confess via iPhone (1) costlier (1) credit card (1) Credit Suisse (1) Cricket (1) Cricket with music service (1) Crowdsourcing (1) CSS Corp (1) Cyber attack (1) Cyber attacks (2) Cyber crimes (1) Cyber criminals (1) Cyber Sunday (1) Cyber Threats (1) Cyber warriors (1) Cyber world (1) Cyber-warfare (1) Cybercrooks (1) Data transfer (1) Day and night equal (1) Defaced Govt Websites (1) delete drunken message (1) Dell (5) Dell XPS laptops (1) Denmark (1) detect LPG gas leaks (1) Device (1) Diagnoses diseases (1) Digital Camera (1) Digitized (1) Disaster alert app (1) discovered (1) Discovery (2) Disposable cameras (1) DJ Kadhafi (1) DNA (1) Documents go online (1) Dreampark (1) DSLR (1) e-commerce (1) E-Waste (1) E7 smartphone (1) EADS (1) Earth-observation satellite (1) Earth's data (1) Earth's value (1) Earthquake (1) Earthquakes (1) Eclipse Live Online (1) Eco-friendly cars (1) Egypt (4) Egypt govt (1) Egyptian protesters (1) Einstein (1) electricity (1) Electronic rickshaw (1) elite (1) Email (1) Emails (1) Endeavour (1) energy efficient (1) EU (1) EU competition complaint (1) European Broadband (1) Everio GZ-HM340 Handy Camera (1) Ex-Apple (1) ex-boyfriends (1) Expired Tablet (1) extraterrestrials (1) FaceBook (69) Facebook crime (1) Facebook discount service (1) FaceBook News (2) Facebook Samaritans (1) Facebook Third Party Commenting Platform (1) Facebook updates (1) Facebook's mobile phone (1) Fake A/Cs of Sonia (1) FarmVille's new offering (1) fingerprint (1) fingerprints from fabric (2) Firefox (2) FireFox Mozilla (1) Force10 (1) France fines Google (1) Fuel consumption (1) Fusion processor (1) Future electric cars (1) Gadget (2) Gadgets (4) GadgetTrak (1) Galaxy (1) Game (1) game changer (1) Game download (1) Games (2) Gartner (1) geek. Google Boss (1) Genetic testing (1) GLONASS (1) Gmail accounts (2) Gmail data safe (1) Gmail Motion (1) Gmail service (1) Google (79) Google accuses Chinese government (1) Google Android (1) Google apps (1) Google books settlement (1) Google Bookstore (1) Google Buzz (3) Google Chrome (3) Google Circles (1) Google Earth (2) Google Inc. (1) Google Maps (1) Google Search (3) Google Searches (1) Google subscription service (1) Google TV (1) Google Virtual Museums (1) Google vs China (1) Google-Facebook takeover (1) Google.Groupon (1) Google's 3D browser (1) Google's Android (2) Google's Android operating system (1) Google's Cloud (1) Google's new phone (1) Googleganger (1) Government (1) Greatest spying machine (1) Green Parrot (1) GSAT-5P (1) GSLV failure (1) GSLV-F06 (1) hack-free software (1) hackers (2) Hadron Collider (1) HCL Infosystems (1) HCL Laptop (1) HCL staff left Japan (1) HCL Tech (1) HCL Technologies Japan (1) heartbeat (1) Helmet Gadget (1) Hi-tech (1) High-capacity (1) High-end gadgets (1) High-tech hairnet (1) Hire (1) Hitachi (1) Hong Kong (1) Hotmail (2) HP (2) HP PalmPad tablet (1) HTC (4) HTC 5 smartphone (1) HTC 7 Mozart (1) HTC Desire HD (1) HTC Incredible S (1) HTC Mobile (1) HTC Unveils Desire Z (1) HTTPS (1) Human tissue (1) human-shaped mobile phone (1) Hydrogen storage (1) IAF (1) IBM (3) iGate-Apax (1) India (1) Indian (1) Indian IT companies (1) Indian IT in 2011 (1) Indian IT sector (2) Indian techies (1) Indian-led company (1) Information and CommunicationTechnology industry (1) Information technology (1) Infosys (2) Infy (1) Ink-jet printers (1) innovation (1) Intel (11) Intel chip (2) Intel Insider (1) Internet (12) Internet addresses (1) Internet Explorer 9 (1) Internet protocol (1) Internet services (1) Iomega ScreenPlay TV Link MX HD (1) IP addresses (2) iPad (18) iPad "Galaxy Tablet" (1) iPad 2 (3) iPad 2 price (1) iPad app TV (2) iPad Apps and Android (1) iPad hacking (1) iPad newspaper (1) iPad's Price (1) iPad2 (1) iPads App (1) iPhone (17) iPhone 3GS (1) iPhone app (5) iPhone Mobile (1) iPhones (1) iPhones App (1) iPod (1) iPods (1) IPTV software (1) Iran (1) IT investment (1) IT trade fair (1) ITA Software (1) Itanium processor (1) Japan (5) Japan disaster (1) Japan disaster donators (1) Japan earthquake (1) Japan plant Blast (1) Japan quake (3) Japan's DoCoMo (1) Japan's N-reactors (1) Japanese phone (1) JooJoo Tablet PC (1) Kindle (1) Kindle for BlackBerry (1) Kodak (1) laptop (1) laptops (3) Larry Page (1) Laser (1) Laser diodes (2) laser sensing technology (1) Lava (1) LAVA A9 Mobile (1) LED (1) lemon (1) Lenovo (5) Lenovo launches new PCs (1) LePad tablet (1) LG (5) LG GD880 (1) LG Mini (1) LG Optimus (1) LG Optimus 2X (1) LG's tablet (1) Life capsule (1) LinkedIn (2) LMZ12003 (1) lunar eclipse (1) M-E crisis (1) MacBook (1) MAFIA II Game (1) Magic cap (1) Malicious attack (1) Malware (1) Managing traffic (1) Map application (1) market value (1) McAfee (3) Meego phone (1) Memory chips (1) Mercury (1) Message (1) micro-blogs (1) Microblogs (1) microchips (1) microcontroller development (1) Micromax (1) Microsoft (34) Microsoft web browser (1) Microsoft Window (2) Microsoft Windows Phone 7 (1) Microsoft's Kinect (1) million Web pages (1) MindTree (3) MIT (1) Mobiado 712ZAF (1) mobile (2) Mobile ads privacy concerns (1) Mobile airwaves (1) Mobile app (3) Mobile apps (1) Mobile battery (1) Mobile browsers (1) Mobile Fair (1) Mobile iPhone (1) Mobile Makers (1) Mobile News (1) Mobile Nokia N8 (1) Mobile payment technology (1) mobile phone (2) mobile phone charger (1) Mobile Phone Samsung i5700 (1) Mobile phones (1) Mobile software (1) mobile system (1) mobile tech (1) Mobile to pay (1) mobile wi-fi device (1) Mobile-App (1) Mohali (1) Money transfer business (1) Monster.com (1) Morpho (1) Motorola (5) Motorola Xoom (1) Motorola Defy (1) Motorola Droid X Mobile (1) Motorola Mobile (2) Motorola Tablet (1) MOTOROLA XT800 (1) Mozilla (1) Mozilla Firefox (1) MP3 (1) MS Office (1) MS Office web apps (1) MS Windows (1) MSI U160DX (1) MSI Wind U135 Laptop Review (1) MTS (2) multi-million dollar contract (1) Multimedia (1) Murdoch's iPad (1) MySpace (1) Mythology (1) N-contaminated (1) Nanoscale whiskers (1) NASA (7) NASA's Endeavour (1) Navigation charts (1) Nehru Place (1) NeST Software (1) Netbook makers (1) New app (1) New cheapest iPad (1) New device (1) New iPad app (1) New social networking (1) News (4) News Corp (1) News industry (1) Night Sky (1) Nintendo (1) Nintendo's 3DS (1) Nobel Peace Prize (1) Nokia (20) Nokia 5233 (1) Nokia 6600i Mobile (1) Nokia and Microsoft (1) Nokia E7 (3) Nokia jobs (1) Nokia N97 (1) Nokia software (1) Nokia Windows phone (1) Nokia X5 (1) Nokia X7-00 (1) Nokia's Microsoft alliance (1) Nokia's smartphone (1) Nokia's Symbian (1) Notebook (1) NSA (1) Nuclear technology (1) NZ quake (1) Obama (1) Olive (1) Olive Nexus VR-9 (1) Online Fight Against Terrorism (1) online game (1) Online gaming (1) Online health (1) Online image editing (1) Online orders (1) Online social game (1) online stores (1) online users (1) Opera (2) Opera 11 (1) operating system (1) operating systems iOS and Mac OS X (1) Oracle (1) orbit (2) Outsourcing (1) Overweight (1) Ovi Store (1) Pad App (1) PALRO Humanoid Robot (1) Panasonic (2) Panic button (1) Parrot (1) PayPal (1) PC (2) PC market (1) PCs (1) Phone (2) Phones (2) Photos (1) pineapple (1) Piracy (1) PlayStation (1) PlayStation app for iPhone and Android (1) Popular Language (1) Power Ministry (1) Privacy breach (1) PS1 telescope (1) PS3s seizure (1) Quake (1) Quake-hit Japan (1) Qualcomm (1) Quantum computers (1) Quash Cyber Crimes (1) recharge (1) recruit (1) Reliance Communications (1) retinitis pigmentosa (1) Review (1) RIM (10) RIM's PlayBook (2) Rising Costs (1) Robot (1) Robot system (1) Robotic Hand (1) Robots (1) Rocket (1) RSS wallpaper (1) Russia (1) Russian (1) Russian satnav (1) SAIC's energy technology (1) Saline wipes (1) Samsung (9) Samsung tablet computer (1) Samsung Galaxy S Android 2.2 (1) Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 (1) Samsung Galaxy Tab Mobile (1) Samsung Wave II (1) Samsung WiFi Camera (1) Samsung's Galaxy Tab (1) Samsung's ultra-slim notebook (1) SATA (1) satellite (1) satellite in space (1) Sci-Tech (3) Scientists (2) Second generation processor (1) send ambulance (1) Sensors (1) severe health hazard (1) skin (1) skin cancer (1) Skype (6) smart and sleek in 2010 (1) Smart Browsers (1) smart house (1) smart phone (1) Smart phones (1) smarter phones (1) Smartphone (1) Smartphones (10) Snaptu (1) Social Media (2) Social network (2) Social networking (2) Social networking sites (2) Software (4) software for mobile payments (1) software for police (1) Software Technology Parks (1) Solar car (1) Sony (5) Sony Alpha SLT-A33L (1) Sony Ericsson PlayStation phone (1) Sony Ericsson Xperia (1) Sony Q3 (1) Soota (1) space (1) Space shuttle Discovery (1) Spacecraft spies (1) Spacecraft Stardust (1) Spain (1) Spam e-mail (1) Spam emails shut down (1) spy (1) stand-alone reset timers (1) Stanford (1) Star Wars helmet (1) Star Zynga (1) Street View (1) Strong IP (1) Study (1) Super Mario Game (2) super-fast quantum computer (1) Super-tablets (1) Supercharging (1) supernova (1) SuperSpeed USB (1) Swipe (1) Swiss court (2) Symantec (1) Symbian (2) T-Mobile (4) Tab race (1) Tablet (5) tablet apps (1) tablet boom (1) Tablets (4) Taiwan fair (1) Taiwan research (1) Taiwan's Acer (1) Talking Car (1) TCS (2) Tech Fair (1) Tech Initiatives (1) Tech sharing (1) Technology in 2011 (1) Technology research (1) Telepresence (1) The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) (1) The Flying Car (1) Time machine (1) TinyHippos (1) TOI (1) Toshiba (3) Tostitos (1) touch screen (1) Track heart-attack damage (1) Tracking device (1) Traffic jams (1) Transcend RAM (1) TRANSPARENT CEMENT (1) Trojan horses (1) Tsunami alert (1) Tsunami alerts (1) TV (2) TVs (1) Twitter (30) Twitter data (1) Twitter workaround (1) Twitter-WikiLeaks case (1) U.S. sellout (1) UberMedia apps (1) UK (1) Ultrafast broadband (1) Unique identity people (1) up (1) US (2) US face cyber attack (1) US networks (1) USB drive (1) used iPads (1) UV gadget (1) V-Day computer viruses (1) VeriFone Systems (1) Verizon (1) Verizon iPhone (4) Verizon new iPhone (1) Verizon Wireless (3) Verizon Wireless iPhone (1) Verizon Wireless Mobile (1) Viacom vs Youtube (1) video games (3) Violation complaint (1) virtual (1) virus (2) Virus hacks (1) Viruses (2) Vision (1) Vodafone (2) Vodafone's Cheapest Mobile (1) Voice-based browse (1) Vscan (1) Walt Disney (1) water (1) weathers (1) web (1) Web Addresses (1) Web Attacks (4) Web search (1) Web Telephony (1) Websites (1) Weed-eating fish ke (1) Wi-Fi (1) Wi-Fi router (1) WiFi hotspot with 3G (1) WikiLeakes (10) WikiLeaks (12) WikiLeaks case (1) WikiLeaks probe (1) Wikipedia (4) Windows 7 (1) Windows 8 (1) Windows phone (1) Windows Phone “Mango” (1) Windows Phone 7 (1) Windows Phone software (1) Wipro (2) Wireless (1) Wireless service (1) WLED LED (1) World Cup (2) world's finest museums (1) world's largest rocket production base (1) World's Smallest Computer (1) worldwide reaches (1) wrinkles (1) WWW2011 (1) X6 Mobile (1) Xbox 360 (1) Yahoo (3) YouTube (4) YouTube movie (1) zombie ant (1) ZTE (1) Zune player (1) Zynga (1)