14 DAY TRIAL // Japanese-Swedish mobile phone maker Sony Ericsson should release to the market in the very near future its first handset running under Google's Android operating system, the Xperia X10, and it seems that this phone might hit the shelves with a great deal of capabilities that one might not expect. We already know that it is powered by a 1GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, and that the handset comes with a lot of raw power, which seems to be enough to allow it to run some 3D maps quite smoothly.
The maps come from the Ericsson Labs, which is demonstrating an API that offers navigation through a three-dimensional interpretation of the world. The solution is based on imagery delivered by C3 Technologies, and has been showcased on the Android-based Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 mobile phone. The demonstration can be seen in the video below, and one will observe right from the start that it all looks pretty impressive in the end.
For the time being, it seems that the solution is not ready for delivery, but that it is only a proof of concept. However, the handset seems to be dealing with the application pretty well. There are a wide range of controls users can enjoy, including panning, tilting and more, yet the responsiveness of the device seems not to suffer. That high-end processor is showing its capabilities here, that's for sure.
As stated above, the solution is only in its early stages, and there are no details on when it might actually be delivered to handset owners for mass usage. Those who would like to learn additional details on the matter can find more info on the Ericsson Labs website. Here's what they say on the solution: “The SDK libraries uses unique maps in 3D and fast methods for rendering the maps which makes it possible to show realtime 3D maps in high quality. The maps for the SDK:s are downloaded from a backend server and buffered in the mobile as needed. We currently provide a limited set of maps for Stockholm, but more will be added later. The web service API is designed to provide images in a fast and simple way.”