What kind of smart phone can Rs 44,500 buy? The luxe Xperia X1 from Sony Ericsson. At this price, it probably appeals only to recession-resistant gadget lovers, but it says something about what some gadget makers think the rest of us would want if money were no object.
Here's reviewing the new iPhone rival on the block.
Straight specs
Out of the box, the device is pure eye candy, with a black or silver metal-and-plastic body, crisp 3-inch touch screen and slightly curved QWERTY keyboard that slides out smoothly with a satisfying click. The X1 has minimal included memory, so you'll need a sizable microSD card if you want to access lots of songs, videos and photos on it; I used a 4 gigabyte card during my testing, which was enough for plenty of content.
But even before I turned it on, I started to get nervous about the whopping number of choices I'd have to make. I felt more confused about the phone's operations than excited about the freedom to use it as I pleased.
11 buttons and a joystick
There is assortment of 11 buttons on the X1's face, including a center button that can select items or work as an optical joystick, which scrolls with a finger swipe. I often used the buttons for starting and ending phonecalls, but tended to forget about the rest of the controls, including the joystick.
Beyond the button bounty, you can navigate the X1 by tapping its screen with your finger or with a stylus. The stylus was often the best way to go, as the device's many options are often presented in small text that is difficult to accurately jab at with an index finger.
Customised apps
The X1 uses Windows Mobile 6.1 as its operating system, but Sony Ericsson developed a variety of customised enhancements that run on top of it. Most notable is the stylish panel interface, which consists of up to nine small rectangles you can customise and use to view different applications or media on the device in different ways.
The panel idea is cool, and it's a nice way to differentiate the X1 from the slew of touchscreen phones that have been released this year, since each rectangle leads to a variety of options, instead of just a single application. I used panels for conducting Google searches, listening to the built-in FM radio and checking out the songs and videos I stored on the X1.
However, the panel interface still sits atop Windows Mobile, which offers its own methods for listening to tunes or watching videos. I couldn't understand why anyone would want so many options.
Business mail
That said, the inclusion of Windows Mobile does mean that if you're familiar with it you won't have much trouble navigating the X1 once you find and click the "Start" tab in the upper right corner of one of the panels.
Business users can synchronise the phone with their PCs and get e-mail from their Microsoft Outlook account pushed straight to the phone -- something that can make it difficult to switch to a more consumer-friendly phone like the iPhone or the G1, which uses Google Inc's Android operating system.
Better resolution than iPhone
And there are several cool features on the X1. Though the iPhone has a larger screen, the X1's touch screen sports a sharper resolution. As such, videos look quite good. You can also stream some content from the Internet, such as videos from YouTube, and adjust video sizes to make lesser-quality clips look more palatable.
The X1 also has a standard headphone jack, which is becoming increasingly common on smart phones and makes a big difference to music fans like myself.
Surfing the Web is easy on the X1, and, as with videos, online content looks very good on the screen. The phone includes the Internet Explorer Mobile and Opera Mobile browsers, and I did appreciate having more than one option here.
The built-in 3.2 megapixel camera takes good photos and can also be used for videos. The phone also has a video calling option.
Applications slow
Still, my issues with the X1 often overshadowed the fun. Many times it seemed fairly slow to open applications or complete actions, displaying the multicolored Windows processing icon while I waited.
Even without slowdown, it usually took me several steps to complete a simple action. When I wanted to change the panels on the device, I had to click a little tools icon, click the panel I wanted to change, click it again to confirm I really did want to alter it, choose a new panel, and click again to select it. After all this clicking, I could barely remember what I was trying to do in the first place.
The X1 is a gorgeous device. But even if you can afford it, dealing with its overabundance of choices would, in the words of Dewey Finn from "School of Rock," test your head and your mind and your brain, too.
Here's reviewing the new iPhone rival on the block.
Straight specs
Out of the box, the device is pure eye candy, with a black or silver metal-and-plastic body, crisp 3-inch touch screen and slightly curved QWERTY keyboard that slides out smoothly with a satisfying click. The X1 has minimal included memory, so you'll need a sizable microSD card if you want to access lots of songs, videos and photos on it; I used a 4 gigabyte card during my testing, which was enough for plenty of content.But even before I turned it on, I started to get nervous about the whopping number of choices I'd have to make. I felt more confused about the phone's operations than excited about the freedom to use it as I pleased.
11 buttons and a joystick
There is assortment of 11 buttons on the X1's face, including a center button that can select items or work as an optical joystick, which scrolls with a finger swipe. I often used the buttons for starting and ending phonecalls, but tended to forget about the rest of the controls, including the joystick.
Beyond the button bounty, you can navigate the X1 by tapping its screen with your finger or with a stylus. The stylus was often the best way to go, as the device's many options are often presented in small text that is difficult to accurately jab at with an index finger.
Customised apps
The X1 uses Windows Mobile 6.1 as its operating system, but Sony Ericsson developed a variety of customised enhancements that run on top of it. Most notable is the stylish panel interface, which consists of up to nine small rectangles you can customise and use to view different applications or media on the device in different ways.The panel idea is cool, and it's a nice way to differentiate the X1 from the slew of touchscreen phones that have been released this year, since each rectangle leads to a variety of options, instead of just a single application. I used panels for conducting Google searches, listening to the built-in FM radio and checking out the songs and videos I stored on the X1.
However, the panel interface still sits atop Windows Mobile, which offers its own methods for listening to tunes or watching videos. I couldn't understand why anyone would want so many options.
Business mail
That said, the inclusion of Windows Mobile does mean that if you're familiar with it you won't have much trouble navigating the X1 once you find and click the "Start" tab in the upper right corner of one of the panels.
Business users can synchronise the phone with their PCs and get e-mail from their Microsoft Outlook account pushed straight to the phone -- something that can make it difficult to switch to a more consumer-friendly phone like the iPhone or the G1, which uses Google Inc's Android operating system.
Better resolution than iPhone
And there are several cool features on the X1. Though the iPhone has a larger screen, the X1's touch screen sports a sharper resolution. As such, videos look quite good. You can also stream some content from the Internet, such as videos from YouTube, and adjust video sizes to make lesser-quality clips look more palatable.The X1 also has a standard headphone jack, which is becoming increasingly common on smart phones and makes a big difference to music fans like myself.
Surfing the Web is easy on the X1, and, as with videos, online content looks very good on the screen. The phone includes the Internet Explorer Mobile and Opera Mobile browsers, and I did appreciate having more than one option here.
The built-in 3.2 megapixel camera takes good photos and can also be used for videos. The phone also has a video calling option.
Applications slow
Still, my issues with the X1 often overshadowed the fun. Many times it seemed fairly slow to open applications or complete actions, displaying the multicolored Windows processing icon while I waited.Even without slowdown, it usually took me several steps to complete a simple action. When I wanted to change the panels on the device, I had to click a little tools icon, click the panel I wanted to change, click it again to confirm I really did want to alter it, choose a new panel, and click again to select it. After all this clicking, I could barely remember what I was trying to do in the first place.
The X1 is a gorgeous device. But even if you can afford it, dealing with its overabundance of choices would, in the words of Dewey Finn from "School of Rock," test your head and your mind and your brain, too.
The past few months have seen the launch of a surfeit of high-end smart phones beginning with Apple's iPhone, followed by Nokia's N96, HTC Touch Diamond, Blackberry Bold and Samsung Omnia.
Nokia 96: The phone's 24GB of memory consists of 16GB internal memory and an optional 8GB microSD card which can be purchased with the phone. According to Nokia, the phone can store up to 60 hours of video or 20 full-length movies. The 24GB memory of N96 can store up to 18000 songs, up to 20000 images.
Nokia N96: N96 boasts of a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, flash and video light. The video camera captures at 30 frames per second. Images can be stored in both JPEG and EXIF format. With the integrated A-GPS, users can geotag their pictures with location data. The dual-slider Nokia N96 supports standard video formats including MPEG-4, Windows Media Video and Flash Video.
Nokia N96: It has media keys, 3.5 mm headphone connector and built-in 3D stereo speakers. Users can access digital video broadcasting, wireless Internet and Bluetooth. The phone offers music playback time of 14 hours and video playback time of 5 hours. The N96 is loaded with the N-Games application, Asphalt 3: Street Rules. N96 offers Nokia Maps 2.0 with voice directions for India as well.
Nokia N96: No touchscreen. It has a 2.8-inch TFT screen.
Nokia N96: Nokia N96 retails at Rs 35,000 for 16GB.
Nokia N96: No operator lock, you can use it on any service provider's network.
Nokia N96: N96 comes preloaded with Wave Secure, a S60 security application that allows consumers to track their handset in the event it is lost or stolen. It also allows them to backup their phone data over the Internet. N96 comes bundled with a full-length Hindi feature film -- Om Shanti Om, 50 music videos, and a mix of 100 Hindi and 100 English songs.
Nokia is all set to steal Apple's iPhone thunder. In a first global launch in India, the world's largest cell phone maker, Nokia has unveiled its 'killer product' N96.
Here's a phone sans touchscreen, however, still billed as the toughest iPhone rival. Nokia's N96 is seen as a hot competition to iPhone, though the company is also reported to be working on a touchscreen rival reportedly called Tube.
Nokia N96 boasts of a 5 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, flash and video light. The video camera captures at 30 frames per second. The images can be stored in both JPEG and EXIF format.
The dual-slider Nokia N96 supports standard video formats including MPEG-4, Windows Media Video and Flash Video. The phone offers support for high-speed USB 2.0 connection, WLAN and HSDPA.
For music lovers, the phone has media keys, 3.5 mm headphone connector and built-in 3D stereo speakers. The phone offers music playback time of 14 hours and video playback time of 5 hours.
In comparison to Nokia N96, iPhone is likely to cost about Rs 31,000 for the 8 GB version and between Rs 35,000-37,000 for the 16 GB. But if the iPhone is bundled with a carrier's service, the price could be half this amount.
Ever thought that a phone can cost a whopping Rs 4 crore? Not one, but there are many phones who breach the crore-mark. These limited-edition phones adorn the wallets and pockets of who's who from the corporate and glamour world.
The world of wireless came together in San Francisco last week for CTIA Wireless IT & Entertainment 2007 show. The three-day conference witnessed a slew of launches and announcements from global cell phone manufacturers. 
This one's hottest from LG's Q4 line-up. LG Voyager has a large external touch-screen and opens laterally to reveal a full QWERTY keypad.
The Nokia N81, with a price around $479, has built-in maps and satellite navigation for getting directions, a high-resolution camera, instant messaging, and a 10 GB memory card that store up to 7,500 songs in compressed format.
The upgraded version of Samsung i730, Samsung i760, comes with both a traditional phone keypad and full QWERTY keyboard. 
The flagship handset in i-mate's line-up of Windows Mobile devices, i-mate Ultimate 9502 is pitched directly against high-end smartphones such as the Nokia E90 Ultimate 9502 has a large 2.8" 640 x 480 pixel (VGA resolution) touchscreen. Underneath, this is a quad-band GSM device with GPRS and EDGE, tri-band UMTS (3G) with HSDPA high-speed data plus WiFi.
Successor to Samsung's popular BlackJack, BlackJack II is a thin and lightweight QWERTY smartphone with 2.4-inch screen with a 320 x 240 pixel screen.
Motorola launched its new music phone, called the Moto U9. Featuring a built-in speaker, dedicated music key with integrated Bluetooth wireless technology, the phone is an ideal device for music lovers.
LG Rumour The phone's display is a 2.0" 262k color TFT, 176x220 pixel resolution screen with 3D graphics support for gaming. Measuring 4.3 x 2 x 0.7 inches and weighing 116 gm the phone comes with a built-in hidden QWERTY keyboard for easy messaging.
Motorola's two-year run of success from the trend-setting Razr phone started crumbling about a year ago when sales eased off. Analysts expect the company to also benefit from other new phones such as the Rokr Z6m and Z6tv and the Moto U9.