Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc

MANILA, Philippines -- I fell in love with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc because it is such a looker. Ever opened the window in your house and thanking all of creation because it is  a lovely summer day? Now imagine opening the same window (supposing you're a man) to a warm, sunny day but with the bonus of a bikini-clad woman skating past you? Yowza! That is exactly how I felt as I unboxed the Xperia Arc and held its steely curve in my hand. More so when its wide 4.2 inch screen unravelled before me in its glorious brightness.

Perhaps love is indeed sweeter the second time around. It's been a long time since I hooked up with an SE. I remember during my K700i days how I was impressed with this brand's camera. Back in the SE K700i days, there weren't Androids and iPhones yet surrounding the telecom landscape.

They say this brand has been sort of left behind. With Xperia Arc and Neo now, I'd like to believe Sony Ericsson is out to recover lost ground and stand head-to-head with the competition.

It helps if you've had experience with an Android phone when you're using the Arc, although it's also no problem if you're a first-time user of the OS. The Xperia Arc runs the Android 2.3 Gingerbread version with 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8250 Snapdragon computing power.

Default applications that go with this smartphone include Youtube, Google Maps, Office Suite (for viewing office documents), Google Talk, Media Server, Track ID and countless more  in the Android market.

I tried playing the built-in games Let's Golf and Asphalt 5 which looked larger-than-life in the 480 x 854 pixel screen with multi-touch. I just have to say that the big 4.2 inch screen in this phone is one of its assets and it makes me feel that am carrying a high-def TV in my pocket. I believe the SE folks call this Reality Display.

They've also put in the phone features that used to be found only in their highly-acclaimed Sony TVs like the Mobile Bravia Engine for superior image quality whether you're viewing Youtube or engaged in Angry Birds.

The next best thing about this phone is its 8.1 megapixel camera which is capable of shooting great photos even under low-light conditions, thanks to Sony’s Exmor R CMOS camera sensor.

The cam in the phone is already as good as having a separate entry-level  digital camera with features like crop, rotate, and share to social networking sites like Facebook. My only complaint really is the camera button which is hard to press. It is also a pity that such a great cam phone cannot zoom in or out because it is auto focus.

The browser interface in this phone is also a breeze since I can just pinch, zoom and swish like I do with my iPod Touch or current entry-level Android. Timescape is worth mentioning since it aggregates feeds from my social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook and they appear like a deck of cards on the main screen. However, this can also be quite discomforting since there are some unnecessary feeds from friends I don't like to get updates on.

Battery life of this phone was an issue for me as I seemed to be charging earlier than expected, even with minimal usage.

Having said enough, here are the other specifications of the Xperia Arc: weight of 117 grams, dimensions of 2.5 x 4.9x 0.34 inches, screen with shatter proof sheet on scratch-resistant mineral glass, quadband GSM, 8GB microSD expandable to 32GB, ports for microUSB, microHDMI and 3.5 mm headphone jack, as well as the usual Bluetooth, wifi and aGPS.

A sad note: This new device from SE has a hard time gaining ground as their rivals came out with more sophisticated gadgets for the more discerning users.

You see, looking good is just not enough in this cutthroat market.