14 DAY TRIAL // A new software update has just started to arrive on Xperia X10 and X8 devices from Sony Ericsson, just as the handset vendor promised a few months ago, expanding the capabilities of these devices with some new features.
The new software update was made available for download both over the air and via the PC-companion software. The roll-out should be completed in stages, just as before. While X10 devices can be updated now, the other handsets would receive it in about a week.
“It brings optimizations and bugfixes along with some language additions and Pinch Zoom touch for X10,” a recent post on the Sony Ericsson product blog reads:
- Addition of some bi-directional languages (Arabic, Farsi, Thai and Hebrew) – All products. - Pinch/zoom touch for mobile Internet and Google Maps. – Only Xperia X10.
Undoubtedly, the Pinch Zoom support for Xperia X10 was the most anticipated features that this update would include.
Initially, Sony Ericsson announced that the handset won't support multi-touch, but returned to this statement back in November, and announced that a software update will enable the feature on the handset in a certain manner.
The aforementioned blog post also notes that a series of other improvements that the new software update might include would emerge on handsets depending on markets and wireless carriers.
These improvements would include:
- Moxier in an updated version (2.7.13) that includes a great overview widget for e-mail, calendar and tasks. - Moxier e-mail shown in Timescape. - Possibilities of trimming videos in the phone. - Videos are transcoded to fit into MMS-messages even if they were recorded in high quality. - Minor changes to Mediascape with access to “Now Playing” in the top right corner. The Xperia X10 mini and X10 mini pro, as well as the Xperia X8, have got ANT+ support enabled in the chipset following this software update. For those who are not familiar with the term, we should note that ANT+ is a standard for short-range communication with various devices, including heart rate monitors.
Hopefully, the software will be delivered to all users as soon as possible, although the previous update did not land on all handsets out there as of yet.
“[T]here are still a few kits remaining and I just want to confirm that we are working on it with our partners to get those approved and ready as soon as we can. I am monitoring your specific kit requests among the comments here and try to find out details when I can,” Sony Ericsson's Rikard Skogberg notes in the said blog post.