For most markets there is now an free application called “Equalizer” available on PlayNow in the music category under applications. This equalizer will give you the following different options: Off, Classical, Jazz, Dance, Party, Pop, Rock, Spoken Word, Loudness, Mega Bass and Treble Boost. As I understood it it will equalize all music played in the phone, also the setting it makes is global and stay there if the Equalizer application is closed and also even stays after rebooting the phone. There are two important notes though: First of all this application needs the latest update to work on Satio (on Vivaz it works on the launch SW of course) and also since it’s a separate application it needs to be started separately when you want to start using it i.e. it’s not included under options in e.g. the music player. When an equalizer setting has been chosen it should stay even if the application is closed or the phone rebooted.

I’m well aware that it would have been even better to have a fully integrated equalizer and I’m sorry that we don’t have that. Still I hope that this solution will work for those of you that really feel that an equalizer has been missed a lot.

Here are some screenshots and a short video I shot to show you how it works. (Sorry for the shaky video – I didn’t have my tripod in the office today so I had to navigate the Satio with one hand while filming with a Vivaz with the other hand)

The clip is shot with Vivaz so to get an HD-experience remember to click Watch on YouTube and select 720p. (This will also show a bit on the continous auto focus working, it struggles a bit from time to time in indoor lighting but I think it does quite a good job! This time I also set white balance manually)

As for the earlier unboxings I’d like to remind about the fact that kit content differs between markets and service providers so there might be more things in the kit that will be available on your market.

The update will be available through the Update Service client found at www.sonyericsson.com/update

A software update is important from many perspectives, of course it should rectify some issues, optimize performance even further etc but for this case I’m glad to announce that it will also add and improve some features.

Here’s the list of highlights:

• Support for WVGA video recording – The already great video recording will be enhanced to fit the wide screen format and hence resolution is also slightly increased to 864 * 480 pixles. (the preset size will still be VGA, user has to change to get WVGA)
• Upload of pictures to Facebook – It will be possible to upload pictures directly from the picture menu you have on the home screen or from the Media UI.
• Youtube video uploading – It will be possible to upload videos to Youtube directly from the Media UI.
• Conversational messaging – “Conversations” will be nicely integrated in the messaging menu in order to easily find and inspire to more conversations with your friends.
• DLNA support – The new software will support DLNA media server for easy transfer of audio and still pictures. (Note that video is not supported)
• UI improvements – On top of above, several minor UI improvements have been done in order to optimize the user experience.
• The Facebook application that is now available on PlayNow for free download will be included in the sw.

So in a few days time I think that at least many of you will be able to try this new update out. Please let us know how it turns out in the comments section.

Have a great weekend all!

To get started, the only thing you have to do is to register an account with Youtube. This can also be done directly from the phone itself. Then it runs increadibly smoothly.

Enjoy!

BTW – we just realized that Rikard’s previous post was the 100th post on this blog since we started 7 September last year – we will celebrate that with some apple cake after lunch today

Of course there are lots of other services out there besides these two, both local and global but at least it should give you an idea on what to expect from the screen and the video decoding and streaming capabilities. In my opinion it looks great!

As always please remember that these demos are on prototype hardware and pre-releae software so things might change until release.

The video below is unedited and shot with the Sony Ericsson Vivaz so it also gives you a feel for the 720 HD recording offered there! (remember to click “watch on Youtube and select 720p to see it in full quality)

Hi all,

Great response and again sorry for the limitations. Thanks all for taking the time to apply. This is not the same context as for Satio, which was a test pilot programme to allow you to try the phone and blog about your hands on. Ambition is to do larger scale going forward. The original plan was to run conventional research programme only, exploring “average” user behaviour and knowledge. I incorporated you as an addition with the condition that I manage it on my own and that is why there are restrictions as per my physical presence. What I will do is to contact my team in local markets and ask if they can contact you for test pilot programmes in your country. I can´t tell the outcome, but is worth a shot from my side to try. 

@Rzay Rza, North Cape. Sounds awesome. The research is aiming to be used for longer term evolution, no impact for launch. My ambition is of course to pick up key things from you and drive that to implementation as soon as possible. Maybe since products gets updates, also within a products life cycle. I want to listen to start with and we take it from there. This is a pilot.
@Freddy. Nice blog. I used to be quite good at Spanish, but hasn´t used it for a long time. Think I will read your blog to brush it up again  and Bogata is such a nice city.
@Noc and Manish, same goes for you. Maybe a local programme.
@Brad, thanks for the invite. I was in Sidney and Melbourne last summer. Loved it. Will send a note to MU Australia and to others as per above…
@Pierce, China is indeed interesting. If you don´t mind me asking, could you make a post about what is top of mind with regards to consumer insights on smart phone usage in China? You chose what to write. Really interested and we take it from there.

Impressed by the flexibility offered, and there are so many of you that I could opt for. The selected candidates that fulfil the research programme criteria in terms of agreed engagement will be able to keep their units after the research. However, with a device like X10 it is recommended that you are on a data plan which is something that I should have informed about from the very beginning. So hope that will work with the candidates that I announce below as I didn´t specify that for the application. Looking forward to working with you. The conventional research programme is closed for feedback to the public domain, but here you will be able to follow the participants reports for sure.

Cheers,
S.

Ps. I see that colors are still discussed due to unclear information from our side. The Xperia X10, X10 mini, X10 mini pro all support 16M colors, hardware wise. Software wise there are limitations from the OS and what the future upgrades will imply on leveraging screen capability is not visible to me at this point. We will let you know as soon I have something to share.

The selected research candidates:

Peter Löfström
Hi,
First of the facts:
Age 27
Location central stockholm Sweden
Work Part-time at Car Phone Ware House / The Phone House, Study economics, and full time blogger: Daily iPhone, Daily Android & Daily Mobile
Bloggs:
DailyiPhone.se : My own
DailyAndroid.se : My own, at rest right now(waiting for more models and Google PR)
DailyMobile.se : My partners, help out whit stories, test and reviews.
I have been working whit phones for 6 year, i know them by heart. I place a lot of hope in this series from Sony Ericsson.
Regards
//Peter

Matt Davis
Name: Matt Davis
Location: London
Occupation: Owner and chief editor
Blog: http://www.tracyandmatt.co.uk
Short motivation: Beta tester, blogger and reviewer for more than 5 years. With android since the beginning.

Tej Randhawa
Age: 32
Location: London, UK
Occupation: Analyst
Blogs: http://www.xperiax10.net/
http://www.htcheroblog.com/
http://www.samsungomniahd.com/
Motivation: Passionate about smartphones. Experienced blogger/reviewer using Twitter & YouTube to connect with readership. Android familiarity and dedicated Xperia X10 blog.

Andreas L
Age: 34
Location: Stockholm
Occupation: Student (Bachelor in game development), Stockholm University
Blog or equivalent if applicable: NA
I have a great sense of understanding how people will experience, interact and feel about an artefact and have been working with user experience/usability since 2000.
I’m currently working on a Bachelor’s thesis (text input on mobile devices) and my focus is HCI/Android and AR applications.
Oh, I’m really great and super awesome.

Linda Bjuväng
Age: 22
Location: Malmö, Sweden
Occupation: Bachelor Programme in Social Work Focusing Disability and Aging
Blog or equivalent if applicable: I have a blog, I use facebook and youtube daily.
I have always been using Sony Ericsson and right now i have a Jalou and i love it. I am a very social person and i can promote the phone to a lot of people in a fun and affective way. And i am just crazy about new technology!

Emil Jönsson
February 21, 2010 at 9:02 am (Edit)
Complete name: Emil Jönsson
Age: 32
Location: Malmö, Sweden
Occupation: Student in interaction design, last semester of bachelor degree
Blog or equivalent if applicable: wordpress
motivation: I am using several internet and mobile services and like to test new technology. I have just started to use the android platform and I am familiar with beta testing. I think I would be a great asset to you.

Spent the week in Barcelona for MWC and you probably have followed the reporting. Massive interest in Xperia X10 and overwhelming positive introduction of X10 mini and X10 mini pro, which I can´t help to reiterate.

Back to X10.

One Sony Ericsson research programme that is about to start relates to user experience. From the very first moment of opening up the box, the first period of getting started and  views after a weeks usage. This in order to learn from user behaviour and get valuable feedback as input for future releases.

We will run a conventional research programme by recruiting users through our agencies. In addition, I am very happy to announce that we will for the very first time allow recruitment among yourself as I believe you are such a great representation of knowledge and passion. We will be looking for 2-4 persons that are interested to use the device and are committed to give constructive feedback.

However I am at the same time sorry to say that there are some limitations about this recruitment. It will require a face to face meeting and since I am driving this as an additional pilot, we can only cope with Sweden (Stockholm and south Sweden) and UK, greater London area. I am really sorry for that as there as so many of you that I would like to give this opportunity to as you are great contributors to this forum. Your interest about the device is evident from your activeness on the blog to date, which will of course be considered but at the same time I would like to see who else might be interested.

This is a pilot and going further, we might be able to do this in somewhat greater scale for the upcoming products based on interest etc.

The candidate will be needed to answer questions/send a report on the usage a couple of times over course of months time and be willing to meet face to face for a deep interview, either at our premises or even at their resident.

If, you are interested please post a short introduction of yourself in the comments section below, please include the following:

-          Complete name

-          Age

-          Location

-          Occupation

-          Blog or equivalent if applicable

-          Short motivation why you would be a suitable candidate in less than twenty words

I would appreciate If I could close the application process by Tuesday next week.

Have a great weekend

Sumit

Please note that the scene with all the snow was a bit tricky for exposure so for some of the clips I pumped up the exposure one step manually.

First some pics shot by me and my friend Josef (first two from X10 and the rest from Vivaz):

 And then some video clips, all show in 720p HD with Vivaz:

As some of you have already seen we have a set up a specific blog for the MWC that will run this week. So for regular updates on what is happening in Barcelona this week, please visit: http://blogs.sonyericsson.com/mobileworldcongress/

Tonight at 19.00 CET we are hosting a press conference in Barcelona to present some exiting news and products. The sun is shining in Barcelona (even if it is a bit chilly) and we have more than 800 people registered for the event, so we are really excited! Those of you that cannot join us here in Spain (a majority I guess ) can follow the press conference live via a webcast:

http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/corporate/press/pressreleases/pressreleasedetails/mobileworldcongress2010-20100214

Enjoy!