Latest Reviews: Verizon Omnia and Sony Ericsson Xperia; The Promise of Live Mesh

More reviews of the latest devices are appearing, in this case the Verizon Omnia and Sony Ericsson Xperia X1a, and this week I wanted to point you to them. Plus I want to talk briefly about Live Mesh, Microsoft’s foray into the exciting arena of cloud computing.

Verizon Omnia

As we noted last week, Verizon has now released the Samsung Omnia, which has a touch interface and competes with devices such as the HTC Touch. After I wrote that column, Engadget reported that Verizon dropped the price to $199 (after rebate). Apparently some who who purchased at the higher price of $249 have been successful when asking Verizon to credit their account for $50.

The reviews are starting to appear, including a very helpful review and video on CNet. Reviewer Bonnie Cha says that she recommends the Omnia over the new Blackberry Storm, RIM’s first device with an iPhone-like touch interface.

PocketNow has an interesting post comparing the video performance of the Omnia to the HTC Touch Pro and finds that the Omnia is much better — in part because the Touch Pro is apparently hamstrung by inadequate drivers.

Sony Ericsson Xperia X1a

The news on the Xperia is quite odd. According to a couple forum comments on Pocket PC Thoughts, this device has been recalled by Sony after being available for a short time and will be available in the first quarter of 2009 at the earliest. It was released in North America as the Xperia X1a (the “a” apparently standing for “America”). Let’s hope it reappears soon, since it seems like a great device.

You can read an excellent review on MobileTechReview. Reviewer Lisa Gade says that the hardware is “impeccable” and overall says that the device “has that special sauce where the whole is greater than just the sum of its features. It’s fun, it’s cool and it offers very good entertainment possibilities while also being a very good business device thanks to Windows Mobile, the hardware keyboard and push email.”

Also, Mobility Today posted an unboxing video in mid-November.

Live Mesh from Microsoft

Cloud computing is necessary. I need it, I want it, I’ve got to have it. But I haven’t yet tried Microsoft’s Live Mesh.

The idea behind cloud computing is that it automatically keeps all your devices in sync. Your data resides “out there” in the cloud someplace. Make a change on one computer or device, and it’s registered everywhere.

Microsoft released a Live Mesh client for Windows Mobile over a month ago. You can download it by pointing your mobile browser at m.mesh.com. This is beta software, so you might notice bugs. A post on PocketNow late last month tells what to do if you get an error message when trying to install it.

According to this post on Microsoft’s forums, a new version was released last week. Also, Microsoft has a dedicated forum for discussion of the Windows Mobile version of Live Mesh.