Don’t let the recent XPERIA announcement blind you - SE still is on the UIQ ship along with Motorola’s touchscreenless Zx phones…and has just announced two new mid-range UIQ3 phones(with touchscreen):
G700
If I understand the press release correctly, this device somewhat resembles the late Sony Clie’s - most of the announcement looks at the included calendar software, which is said to be completely scribble-driven. It looks like this device is targeted at the same market Palm’s classic low-end Zires targeted - except with more “multimedia bling” and an included phone.
G900
Sony Ericsson’s official press release describes the G900 as a G700+5MP touch autofocus camera - touch AF means that the camera can focus on any area in the picture(you choose the area by tapping it). Additionally, it seems to have WiFi.
As of now, the specification pages for both devices generate 404 errors.
Martin Winkler, Director Global Marketing and Head of Multimedia Web at Sony Ericsson’s, describes the devices as following:
“Sony Ericsson is delivering touchscreen and innovative organiser capabilities to a wide audience without compromising on the size or shape of the phone. Both the G700 and G900 have regular keyboards and are no larger than a regular phone. These phones are ideal for users that are only interested in making their lives simpler. It’s not about technology for the sake of it.”
While I personally doubt that these devices will have a big influence on the overall fate of the UIQ economy(folks…get OFF UIQ), they will probably breathe some extra life into the platform, allowing existing developers to earn some extra money off the few users who actually decide to purchase third-party applications(emphasis is on few).
If you wish for a review, I can probably arrange one!
Further reading:
Official announcement
