Do You Think This is Sony Ericsson’s Answer to the iPhone? Idou!

By  |  Sunday, February 15, 2009 at 1:29 pm

iDouI’m in Barcelona for Mobile World Congress, the world’s biggest show on phones and other things wireless and portable, and while the conference doesn’t get underway until tomorrow, the town is already bristling with parties and product launches. I attended Sony Ericsson’s bash, at which it unveiled a new Walkman phone called the W995 and a “just one more thing” which is code-named Idou. The latter (which I keep wanting to spell iDou) won’t show up until sometime in the second half of this year, and it’s an iPhone-like critter with a 3.5-inch touch screen, an emphasis on entertainment, and–this feature isn’t the least bit iPhone-like–a 12.1-megapixel camera with flash.

The Idou (which will be called something else when it appears) runs the next-generation open-source version of the Symbian OS, and part of an initiative Sony Ericsson calls “Entertainment Unlimited”–the details of which it was vague about, except to say that it represents “the true fusion of communication and entertainment.” Other than that, the company wasn’t talking much about specs and features tonight. (No word on whether the interface is multi-touch–a S-E rep called it “full touch.)  After the jump, one photo by me of a Sony Ericsson exec onstage, just to prove I was there, and some beauty shots provided by the company.

Idou

Idou

Idou

Idou

Idou

 
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59 Comments For This Post

  1. Tom B Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 3:07 pm

    It’s Symbian– better than Win Mobile perhaps, but nothing to get excited about.

  2. Ben Goodsell Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 6:39 pm

    What about the keyboard?… most important feature.

  3. David Berlind Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 6:59 pm

    Next thing you’re going to tell us Harry is that its camera is capable of 12x zoom. Optical. Cool stuff. Thanks for the tweet.

  4. hmm Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 8:06 pm

    the display quality looks pretty bad…

    i have a (dumb) question: does this phone have an operating system?

  5. Jamaipanese Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 8:10 pm

    wow this looks like a great phone by SE

    the second half of this year will be a battlefield for smart phones

  6. Ali Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 8:14 pm

    Shit looks ugly, man. You people are your iPhone killers…

  7. Ali Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 8:20 pm

    I love my iphone and will always be loyal to it no matter what. It is the coolest looking phone in the world.

  8. snotrag Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 8:24 pm

    quote:
    i have a (dumb) question: does this phone have an operating system?

    You’re right it is a dumb question. I guess you can’t read

  9. John Smith Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 8:29 pm

    I like my iPhone very much, but the features on this thing are very nice!
    The only concern I have is, how intuitive will it be? The comfort level I have achieved with the iPhone has surpassed any phone I have ever used.

    I love competition!

  10. p3ngwin Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 8:45 pm

    **the display quality looks pretty bad…**

    if you look at the whole pic, you’ll notice it’s in a VERY low colour depth. probably 64 or maybe 256 colours maximum.

    the rest of the phone is also “grainy”, but it’s harder to notice on the device’s grey casing compared to the colourful screen image.

  11. Jon Lyles Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 8:47 pm

    12.1mp camera doesn’t get too excited until there’s an optical lens. Competition will be good for the consumer.

  12. R Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 8:53 pm

    Retards who talk about screen quality: the images are simulated :/

    Idiot with the dumb question about the OS: yes, it’s Symbian

    Still, 12.1 f’ing megapixels….

  13. Nano Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 9:13 pm

    “i have a (dumb) question: does this phone have an operating system?”

    If a gadget does not have an Operating System, how will the software interface with the hardware?

  14. Anon Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 9:23 pm

    yea but can i play mafia live on it?????

  15. kevin Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 9:29 pm

    I like it,I might upgrade from my g1. I’m not trendy enough for an iphone. And the features on the g1 are better than the iphone. And to the person who is to loyal to apple, think for yourself. Are you so retarded you need Steve Jobs to tell you what to buy?

  16. Monty - Sensonize.com Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 9:34 pm

    Sony has not yet released it guys!! LOL Take a chill pill.. When Sony releases it you guys won’t have anything to complain abt coz this phone is gonna beat iPhone hands down! 😉

  17. Jason Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 9:58 pm

    I think the iPhone could use a better camera and some core features, but still, ease of use is unsurpassed IMHO. But one thing to keep in mind, more megapixels does not equal better quality. I’ve seen some really crappy 12 megapixel cameras. Plus you need to store those huge images on a small device so you limit how many you can take. What storage does this thing have? That plus it’s ugly.

  18. JabraTheHutt Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 10:39 pm

    I’m surprised no one has made the obvious joke: Idou-bt it is the answer to anything much less the iPhone. At least in the US it won’t be.

    Just on price alone there is no way they can compete with iPhone unless a major carrier like AT&T or T-mobile offer it for under $299 with a contract. XPeria costs around $800US and you can’t buy it discounted with a contract from any carrier. Idou-bt this will be different.

  19. jakeZ Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 10:45 pm

    Just a couple of notes to all the naysayers here. First this phone should have plenty of space to store large images. The Nokia N95 is several years old and supports memory cards up to 16 GB. As far as how it looks, no it’s not as sleek as the iPhone but there’s no way it could be. 2 Megapixels vs 12. You need a lot more room for the lens. This looks like it’s going to be sweet. Keep your iPhones in your purse.

  20. Brian Roberts Says:
    February 15th, 2009 at 10:53 pm

    Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

    There’s ONE game-ender for every other manufacturer:

    over 500,000 iPhone apps programmed already.

    Do you really think that all of those programmers are going to re-do all those apps for every iPhone-clone that comes along?

    Doubt it.

    12.1 MP camera? Big deal! Who REALLY needs that kind of resolution? Anyone out there recently blow up a picture to larger than 8.5 x 11? 12.1 MP could allow you to blow up the picture as large as your LIVING ROOM WALL. It’s just DUMB.

  21. Henrik Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 12:41 am

    It’s not going to run Symbian, it’s going to run Android.

  22. Harry McCracken Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 1:09 am

    Henrik: Unless Sony is confused about its own phone, the Idou runs Symbian, not Android…

  23. funkimunk Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 1:20 am

    Although it may be powered by an Android or Symbian operating system there is quite a good chance that this will be windows mobile based.

    I am basing my thoughts on the fact that the latest Sony Ericcson touchable Uber-Phone, the x1, is WinMo Based to which SE have went to considerable expense to code a decent interface for, an expense that they would probably like to recoup.

    As for the 12.1 MP camera, don’t make be laugh as it doesn’t matter how many sensing pixels that you cram onto the tiny sensor as this increases the sensor noise, it would be better to provide a larger aperture and a lower pixel count. (before I get slammed remember Hubble is 1 megapixel and produced amazing pictures)

  24. Socceroos Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 1:55 am

    “Although it may be powered by an Android or Symbian operating system there is quite a good chance that this will be windows mobile based.”

    I’m speechless.

  25. Kartoffelklaus Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 2:30 am

    Some guys come always late!
    Sorry but Sony have to bring some prove that this late masterpiece is real iPhone killer.
    …so many other tried…

  26. Harry McCracken Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 2:49 am

    Folks, it’s Symbian. Symbian. Symbian. Got that? 🙂

    –Harry

  27. Mylo Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 3:29 am

    Sony, or some other manufactuer who designs stylish handsets, better unveil an Android phone, otherwise they’ll never be an iPhone contender…

  28. Zac Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 3:31 am

    I’m most interested in the pricing on this thing. It looks good, but it’ll be hard to compete with the iPhone unless it packs a multi-touch screen and accelerometer.

  29. SLEZE Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 6:48 am

    And when is this going to show up in the US? Never? I thought so…

  30. Gajendra Ratnam Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 7:44 am

    Looks very impressive. But I hope Sony will not take too long to release this phone like they did with the X1. When the X1 came out there were to many phones around with better specs.

  31. Drew Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 8:13 am

    This phone is not 12megapixles but rather only 8. Get your facts straight…

  32. Harry McCracken Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 8:34 am

    Drew: I have pretty conclusive proof the Idou’s camera is 12.1 megapixels–check the last image I included. The W995, which Sony Ericsson also announced last night, is 8.1 megapixels.

    –Harry

  33. DT Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 9:04 am

    Can a manufacturer ever release a phone without people talking about it being an “iPhone Killer”? Is the phone market so immature that people still think like this? When the Aston Martin came out with the DB5, did they refer to ever sports car afterwards as a DB5 killer? No.

    Operators have been holding back UI development for years by trying to define consistent interfaces which took innovation out of the hands of the manufacturers. Apple has done all the manufacturs a favour and jumped the gap that they were unable to cross to guarantee an operator picking up their phone, and now that the iPhone has broken that terrible cycle and in doing so has created new trends which are highly sought after, every manufacturer that has generated a phone based on those trends (again now being urged by the operators to do so this time) are being labelled as trying to generate an iPhone Killer.

    The fact is, this is a Symbian Touchscreen Smartphone from Sony Ericsson, they have been making them since the R380, some 8 years ago. This is just the latest version of a long line of touchscreen Smartphones that span back many years. As for multitouch, I’m not convinced it is better than a 5 way jog-dial for phone operation and the old SE touch phones had that on there too. In fact, personally I ignore multitouch, when Apple come up with a device with a 5 way jog dial and decent handwriting recognition, I’ll buy one! I’ve tried both, and I know which I prefer.

  34. Tim Lussier Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 11:13 am

    Beautiful phone

  35. kb Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 3:04 pm

    This might be a bit of a dumb question but i’ve gota know WAP or HTML?
    It will only be a real iphone killer if it can run HTML

  36. me Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 7:52 pm

    *gapes* does that say 12.1 megapixels?…
    MUST HAVE IT!!!!!!

  37. me Says:
    February 16th, 2009 at 7:56 pm

    omg, how did i miss the open-source OS part?
    As soon as this comes out, I’m getting it.

  38. Andy Says:
    February 17th, 2009 at 11:04 am

    So this phone will run Red OS right?

  39. Jen P. Says:
    February 17th, 2009 at 12:28 pm

    looks heavy.

  40. DA Says:
    February 18th, 2009 at 8:00 am

    First to declare my loyalty: I’ve been hooked on Sony Ericsson since they were plain Ericsson.

    DT has it right that this is more of a return to Symbian form from SE after the brief flirtation with Windows for Xperia.

    Why the loyalty? best camera phones since the K7501 in 2005 – they have the same software as the Sony DSC camera’s and a proper flash, good usability (as a phone iPhone fans – try sending a text mid call while also looking in the address book, with one hand) and connectivity (HSPA, bluetooth 2.0 stereo, activesync Outlook push email on almost all their devices for years now) leaving the mystery as to why IT depts spend all that money on Blackberry.

    Zac, new mid range SE’s and up have accelerometers and tons of games that use them (e.g. C902).

    Jason, latest SEs handle 8GB memory stick micro, some operators ship them with this thrown in; this will likely support 16GB.

    KB, probably full Opera browser so not just html but support for flash, java cookies and the rest too.

    As someone who works for an operator I’ll be hoping we get this one!

  41. werio Says:
    February 19th, 2009 at 6:08 am

    Folks, it’s Symbian. Symbian. Symbian. Got that? :-))

  42. Sara Says:
    February 20th, 2009 at 12:50 am

    I’m surprised no one has made the obvious joke: Idou-bt it is the answer to anything much less the iPhone. At least in the US it won’t be.

    Just on price alone there is no way they can compete with iPhone unless a major carrier like AT&T or T-mobile offer it for under $299 with a contract. XPeria costs around $800US and you can’t buy it discounted with a contract from any carrier. Idou-bt this will be different..

  43. darth phone Says:
    February 23rd, 2009 at 2:51 pm

    for all you ignorant people SE is not iphone killers , i phone is great but not that great is so big it doesnt fit in many parts…and the camera on the iphone sucks plus i know its cool that it can be used as an i pod but lets face it with the technology we hvae eny kind of phone can be use as an ipod making the iphne trash of course im not saying is not cool but comarin thaa t a slim phone which has 12,1 mpxls … where do you leave the iphone… DEAD of course as you can connect to wifi , as the ihpone , you have a touch screen like the phone, moving sensation on photos like the iphone, smaller whic is better and a better camera, SE idou doesnr have an i pod but can sure be play wherever u want as one with the correct aux it can, so that answer the question on all i phone lovers, at this moment iphone sucks , when we get out of the resecion and mac makes a better iphone with a beter camera and a smaller phone maybe it will outop again many phone but right now the iphone in other words is usless…

  44. JuMJuM Says:
    February 25th, 2009 at 5:00 am

    Idou features are cool but i should look it physically i think it’s very thick .
    other thing i sould know more about messaging feature in Idou !

  45. Henry Says:
    February 25th, 2009 at 7:01 am

    It’s not going to run Symbian, it’s going to run Android..

  46. obi Says:
    February 26th, 2009 at 2:42 am

    well i love Sony Ericsson espically this one
    but the problom is i am in afghanistan
    and i wanna buy SE
    can any one do something for me

  47. Henrya Says:
    March 3rd, 2009 at 8:53 am

    Idou features are cool but i should look it physically i think it’s very thick .
    other thing i sould know more about messaging feature in Idou !!

  48. Steven Says:
    March 12th, 2009 at 9:57 am

    Finally ! A phone that could well make Apple realize that the iPhone could do with some improvement. Nothing else comes close to the iPhone’s simplicity and user interface, and as I am a die-hard Apple fan, I know this 😉 However, SE’s phone multimedia interface is quite good, and well, Apple really is eons behind where the camera is concerned. Apple software deserves better. I am really anxious to see this phone in final production, as my already capable C905 might be up for replacement when that happens, and the iPhone might no longer be a consideration ! All SE has to do now is make it’s phones more Mac friendly !

  49. madhusudan Says:
    March 15th, 2009 at 9:58 pm

    it is really nice .im waiting 4 sell.i think it overcome digital camera but i dont know about its keys

  50. rahit Says:
    April 4th, 2009 at 11:21 pm

    i like this phone Sony Ericsson’s Idou………………

  51. joel Says:
    April 12th, 2009 at 5:45 am

    Mostly,luxury phone makers (For example,Sony and SE )need help from PDA and poketPC makers like HTC tomake a phone running from the latest OS,Anroid .

  52. joel Says:
    April 12th, 2009 at 5:49 am

    So,SE is going to release their P10i Idou in August 2nd 2010 .

  53. noelle Says:
    April 12th, 2009 at 5:50 am

    But how ?

  54. joel Says:
    April 12th, 2009 at 6:01 am

    By mixing P1i and c903 to form p10i

  55. Alex Says:
    April 16th, 2009 at 1:22 am

    I’m happy to see answer to iPhone. It means, that best phone ever (iPhone) going to get even better.

  56. technogal Says:
    April 16th, 2009 at 11:32 am

    When do you think Sony will release this phone?

  57. anigalla.net Says:
    June 2nd, 2009 at 12:56 am

    cool and lovely.. Is this available in the asian market now?

  58. honey bee Says:
    October 1st, 2009 at 9:42 pm

    what is the price of it in uk?

  59. tech84 Says:
    April 4th, 2011 at 5:57 am

    It looks like crap actually, the new "Xperia" is the one that has a better chance for Sony as an Iphone killer, (not really even close to an iphone killer, just a strong competitor maybe)

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