By I’ve been waiting for something like the Sony Ericsson Liveview for quite some time and am extremely excited that it will soon be out in the United States. It will work with any Android Phone, has an SDK so devs can build interesting apps that work with it, and its already got a bunch of downloads available such as SportyPal to track your fitness endeavors.
We told you about the Liveview a couple days ago but wanted to share the promo video Sony Ericsson just posted:
I have a review unit from Sony Ericsson so I’m eager to start downloading apps for it and testing it out. I’ll have a full review once I get back from Barcelona and have had some time to fully develop an opinion.
Wear it as a watch, take it on a bike ride, hold it while you’re running, keep it on your desk – it’s so small yet the screen is large enough to bring you important information and updates that you don’t need your full phone to view. The Motorola Atrix has really sparked an interest in Android accessories and the usefulness and affordability of the Liveview has me particularly interested.
I think affordability is a key word when discussing accessories. While the Motorola Atrix docks and laptop are cool, I think of popular accessories as extras and paying as much for your accessories as your phone seems counter-intuitive. What affordable Android accessories would you like to see pop up on the mass market?
nice! oh, and first!!
if they could just take micro-usb, mini-hdmi and miniplug and have them spaced apart in a standardized way, then the sky is the limit for accessories. it’s not the most elegant solution and it takes up more space on the circuit board but it works everywhere.
I wasn’t sure about this at first, but actually I think it would be super useful to mount on my bike handlebars. That way I could keep my phone somewhere safer and more out of the way but still use it’s GPS, etc.
i got mine off ebay, make sure that you update the fireware before you post a review otherwise connection will be a big issue
Is it my monitor? I had trouble seeing the outline of the unit. A black object on a black background… not always a good idea.
I have a SE Liveview. I ordered it online, from a US retailer that imported it from abroad. I hope they have figured some ways to improve the experience before they release it, as it has it’s fare share of issues.
The main issue isn’t even the SE Liveview device. That in itself is good. The problem is it’s reliant on a piece of software for android called “Liveview application”. As long as the application stays open the Liveview device stays connected. The minute Android closes the app to free up memory though, the Liveview device disconnects. You then can’t pull up any of your info sans the time/date until it’s connected again. You can’t reconnect until you open up the Liveview App again, as Android closed it to conserve memory. So far the only way around this is to keep the Liveview app as the highest priority app by keeping it opened on screen (even when the screen is off).
Sony Ericsson needs to fix the app so it uses services and intents instead of being reliant on the app being open and in memory, otherwise this second release of the Liveview will have the same problems that the current release has.
I think if they could get the price around $50 this would sell pretty well. As long as the connection issues have been fixed I would buy this for more than $50 but I’m not sure the average consumer would.
It’s too bad it will only work with Sony phones. I’d love this device…
The LIVEVIEW Will work with most android cells. CHeck on there site for compatibility. Also this version with have latest update being sold in USA. Will work perfect without drop syncs. ITS a great buy and even for those few phones that still might drop syncs. YOu can always install juice defender and not only will that increase your battery life from 1X to 5X more but you can set priorities for certain apps. Hence you can put top priority to let liveview always stay on.
PS. Everyone i hate sony products but this is the first sony thing i am buying in years. Hands down beats any bluetooth watch , even with few faults. Kinda chunky, already used euro version on samsung epic.
PSS. They will be making a second sleaker better version since so many developers are creating apps for it probably christmas time. Same apps will work on current one and new one coming end of year v2.0. Just might have new features , sexier, thinner. More compatible with all cells
It’s too bad adman’s reading comprehension skills are beyond dismal! It’s not like the reviewer didn’t mention in the first 3 lines that it is available for “all Android phones”.
I’m still waiting for the dick tracy watch.
Rob, It’s been a while since you said you will do a review of LiveView with the review unit you got. Eager to see the review. When can we expect it?