Xperia Duo

The rumour mill kicked into overdrive this afternoon with the publication of an article from International Business Times, detailing the much-rumoured Xperia Duo. It's picking up enough buzz to have made the news on Techradar, who claim the specs are a little outlandish. I don't think so, at all:

• A 4.5 screen is a pinch bigger than the HTC Sensation. So, it probably can be done.
• A 1.4 GHz DC processor? The best (HTC Sensation/Samsung Galaxy S2) are running at 1.2 but the natural evolution of technology means it can be done.
• LED Flash? Done
• 1080p video recording on a mobile? Done – HTC Sensation setting the benchmark again.
• 1.5GB of RAM? Not done, probably possible but given SE don't like to give too much RAM, I'd say this is at least 500MB over the top.
• 2500mAh battery? Mugen Power offer significant battery upgrades but these come at a cost of an increase size to the handset, which SE won't want to compromise on.
• Rumours abound of 8GB or 16GB memory cards with the phones. Personally I hope it's the latter as 12MP stills and full-HD videos are going to eat space like there's no tomorrow.

It's all interesting stuff, the vast majority of which may be bullshit. Bearing this is mind, even though the story only broke today, it's generating significant enough buzz to have warranted a full story on Techradar this very afternoon. And a post here on my blog. And probably a load more stories (one here) as well before the week is out.

I really hope this phone turns out to be more than just a rumour. Consumer reports indicate the Play hasn't sold very well at all which, seeing as though SE appear to have pinned their hopes on the Play more than say, the Arc or Neo, isn't really the success story they're hoping for. 

With the release of the HTC Sensation, the Motorola Atrix and LG Optimus 2X having occurred from March – June, the time is right for SE to bring out a handset to quite thoroughly trounce the aforementioned handsets – and wrestle the iPhone 5 for the position of the best and most desirable handset of the year. SE - it's over to you.

Data Monitor

At the Test Lab meet last week we were shown some new phones; the Ray and the two new Minis. Inspecting the software for these I found a couple new apps in the app drawer. One that caught my attention is Data Monitor.

It basically does exactly what it says on the tin, monitors the mobile data going to and from your phone. You can set alarms and things to notify you when you go over your allowance. For those on small data plans this is a very useful tool.

There are other apps out there that can do the same thing, but I think it's interesting SE have developed this app and I get the feeling this is the first in a line of in-house apps that I think are going to compete with other third-party apps on the Market.