Sony Ericsson Satio first impressions

(Update JAN 2011: don't buy this phone anymore! It's old by now - opt for Sony Ericsson Arc)

Finally Satio was released and became Wife's early Christmas present. While I stick to my C905 for now, let me give you some information on the perfect looking device. (Übersetzung, siehe unten)

The phone itself has the look of a high-value device, has good usability and very good display. No multi touch but surprisingly I don't miss that at all.
I won't write much, because it has all been covered in this review at gsmarena in great detail and with superb screenshots! I recommend that you read through the whole review, since it's been written in a balanced tone.

I can only add the following:

>> the S60WebKit browser is better than described in the review. While in a bus or train I prefer the news site's mobile versions a lot! It doesn't make sense to download and show the complete homepage of let's say washingtonpost.com; to big, to much commercial, to colorful, distracting. Why should my tiny mobile device care to render 500kB+ of data? That just doesn't make sense. This mobile version is what I want to see, and that's exactly what Satio presents by default. A major plus to me.

>> the xenon flash is phenomenal

>> the review states that Satio's on-screen QWERTY fares well. Me? I think it works like a charm, a lot better than I hoped for.

>> the high resolution screen is absolutely superb! Google maps and all the other apps have a lot of space to render onto.

>> unbelievable: while this might not be important to you, the phone even showed a correct thai font rendering for our thai mp3 tags!


What can be done better by Satio's successor?

• better menu look & feel > more logical and prettier as we are used to by Sony Ericsson, less conservative and square à la Nokia.
• the homescreen should offer more options (customizable icons at top and bottom)
• divx & xvid support out of the box
• hdmi out
• 720p video recording
• current camera is to grainy in low light (high iso) conditions

Currently there's no better cell phone available. Don't hesitate, it doesn't even cost all to much. Just be aware that you have to reload it every 48 hours.

Update: For me this has already changed in April 2010 > the HTC Desire is the recommended device!

Satio Sony Ericsson Theme Creator

(Updated May 18, 2010)
Of course we all purchased a Satio and are eager to create themes for it!

You too? Argh, Theme Creator 4.08 through 4.12 don't support Satio's Symbian OS yet. You might be interested in the following thread over at developer.sonyericsson.com.

For the moment we have to stick to Carbide.ui Theme Edition. read more here or in the Satio section at developer.symbian wiki

...without custom themes it already looks quite fine though!

(Update Feb 27, 2010)

A beta version is available for some days now.

Get the Beta Version 5.0.6.4 here http://creations.sonyericsson.com/download

You should read Gseth' comment before using it.

(Update May, 2010)
Sony Ericsson made a new Beta Release available on it's Developer World site. It's given version 4.16 for now and can create themes for Satio and Vivaz. For description and download link go here.

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What is pnaico.exe

You ran msconfig to check your Windows7's startup programs and found pnaico.exe.20FBBF0A_A7E5_4BDE_9798_9811C3D135AC.exe ? huh?
Of course you googled for pnaico.exe and only found rather weird answers.

This is what I found: It's all about having "Citrix Online plug-in" v11 installed on your system (program neighbourhood agent ico). This is by no means caused by malware. Most likely you installed this program to connect remotely to your work or campus.

and again: run "msconfig" and deactivate the two automatic startup commands as shown in the screenshot, but don't assume an attack on your comp.

That's how you get rid of the annoying Change Server dialog shown below.
You can always start the app from the start menu if you're in need later.

Core i5 System

(leises core i5 system, siehe hier)

Die Intel Core2 Duo sind in den Regalen der Händler bald Geschichte...

Seit Dienstag 08.02. sind die neuen bezahlbaren CPUs in der Schweiz lieferbar, höchste Zeit für ein Update der empfohlenen PC-Konfiguration. Das Paket ist eher teuer - kauft nur so ein Ding, wenn ihr den PC auch zum Geldverdienen nutzt! mehr Infos in diesem Posting

Tipp: Steigt nicht auf den nobrainer Vier-Kern-Hype auf, noch immer nutzen 95% der normalen Apps nicht sinnvoll mehrere CPU-Kerne simultan. Gib es zu - DU kennst keine einzige, der in den Benchmarks gennanten Programmen... ?

Trotz den neuen Compilern ist es in vielen Fällen noch immer sehr schwierig, eine Applikation auf viele Rechenkerne zu verteilen - natürlich wird diese Geschichte in Intels Pressemappen nicht thematisiert, stattdessen vergleichen sie die neuen CPUs mit einem Pentium E5300 - das kann schon fast in der Kategorie Gehirnwäsche angesiedelt werden. Haltet euch da lieber an eure bewährte Fachpublikation. [heise] (oder Anandtech, PcPerspective, etc.)

Vergleich der Fact Sheets [intel] - deine alte CPU vs die neuen bezahlbaren Core i5 & i7



Warum Core i5?

• ähnlich günstiger Preis wie die bisher aktuellen Core2 Duo
• macht nichts schlechter als die bisherigen CPUs
• falls du sie abrufen kannst: viel Leistung pro Watt
• die zugehörigen Motherboards bieten viel, sind erstaunlich günstig
• in 1-2 Jahren skalieren viele Programme gut mit der Anzahl CPU Kerne
• die Schachtel sieht cool aus

Warum nicht Core i5?

• die bisher erhältlichen Core2Duo Systeme bieten schon sehr sehr viel Speed
  
• heutige Sockel 775 Boards sind extrem ausgereift
• Kannst du alle 4 Kerne auslasten? > i5 50% mehr Abwärme, noch leise kühlbar? (Update: wehe du startest ein Game. Der i5 default Lüfter schraubt auf 2500 U/Min hoch. Yup dann wird er laut! Der Lüfter wird immer sofort laut, sobald die CPU einen oder zwei Kerne in den Turbomodus schaltet. Jetzt ist er leise! Mehr Infos hier.)
  
• zurzeit noch keine Boards mit SATA3, USB3
  

Beispiel Core i5 System Preise digitec.ch

CPU, Intel Core i5 - 239
Board, ASUS P7P55D - 175
RAM, 2x 2GB - 115
HD Samsung F3 1TB - 99
GPU, Nvidia GTX275 - 269 read
DVD Writer - 35
Case, any Case u like - 130
Power, any Brand- 100
-------------------------------
totals ~ CHF 1162.-


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Logitech Performance Mouse MX

Beginning to look around for new mice because I want to replace my MX600. My current favorite is the upcoming Logitech Performance Mouse MX. It is overpriced but I simply need 8 to 10 mouse buttons while working in photoshop.

[image source: logitech]

Gaming mice always feature many buttons, but I hate the (zero delay) cord. THEN uuuugh their design often ranges from ugly to grotesque...
I also very disliked Logitech's MicroGear scroll wheel [pdf] when it was introduced two years ago: middle mouse button used a lot of force, tilting the wheel left and right was a pain. Now things seem to look better, tried the recent mice which come with a plastic wheel instead of one made of metal and the usability was quite ok.

Now I hope that the mouse won't weigh to much. At least it's design is very appealing, don't you think so too?
update1: In the video below something weird is announced though > "The side scroll is pressure sensitive - the harder you press the faster it scrolls sideways."
Now who the heck needs such a feature? I already keep hoping that we all can modify the driver's xml so everyone can assign whatever function to side scroll
update2: in this 9min review, a guy compares the mouse to his previous MX Revolution

track price in Switzerland [digitec]

Sony Ericsson Android

Android will be a winner in the end, but the OS is still at an early stage. So it wasn't a surprise when Sony Ericsson announced that they would go for the 2nd gen release and skip v1.1 (& 1.5?).

We have to notice that the Android market currently hosts VERY few applications, plus we all dislike the hidden bomb called google kraken - but even more we dislike the apple cult >> an overpriced mass product, from a company with questionable methodology (solved in phone's v3 though but oh you also payed twice to unlock your MP3s, plus the craziness [flickr])

What the heck am I talking about? Well the rumors around Sony Ericsson Rachael are very promising...

maybe it looks like this

eventually it hosts a snapdragon chipset

the user interface might look really cool [youtube]

UPDATE1: the product will be announced Nov. 3rd [youtube]

Sony Ericsson Satio

(Update JAN 2011: don't buy this phone anymore! It's old by now - opt for Sony Ericsson Arc)
The release date is nearing! Meanwhile you've all realized that it's project name Idou has been dropped for "Satio"
I really hope things turn out fine, since Frank, Stooves & Wife seem to be hooked on the device. Some URLs for the crowds:

good images [eprice taiwan]

long video [youtube, 6min]

internet on satio video [youtube]

fact sheet [sony ericsson]

digitec price in switzerland

interesting to me: fm radio / high resolution cam with xenon flash / microSD / can play youtube / webkit based browser / exchange active sync / no multitouch / no 720p output / unaestethic icons call for a mod / good design / good looking media browser

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Winamp theme Ebonite

There's this great looking winamp theme

Ebonite 2

a major plus is the built-in color editor, which let's you adapt winamp's colors to your wallpaper within seconds...
give it a try