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Sony Mylo Challenges Nokia 770
An anonymous reader writes "Tomshardware says Sony's Tiny Mylo Internet Communicator is out. "The first page of MobilityGuru's July 2006 review of Nokia's 770 WiFi powered Internet based communicator was titled "In A Class Of Its Own." One Month later the title is no longer correct. With the recent announcement of its Mylo (for My life online) personal communicator Sony joined the battle for the hearts, minds and pocketbooks of people whose major means of communication is instant messaging and Web based phone calling."" I've got a 770 on my desk right now (review forthcoming) so I'm curious to see other takes on the genre.
Does this Sony Mylolife preinstall with its rootkit?
Correct link
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
The keys on the keyboard are really small. I wonder how hard it is to type without having small fingers and not hitting two keys next to the one you intended to press. Reaching over to hit the Q key also looks hard.
More informative article at Tom's Hardware
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
I wonder which one is better in general use. The 770's large legible crisp 800x480 colour display, or a PDA-esque 320x240 colour display. The former is good for web browsing, the latter is pretty awful. Now if Sony price it significantly lower than the 770 they might have a chance.
Never mind it is Sony that makes it, a company that can do no good these days.
The strongest competitor in a market segment that no one wants and where no one is buying. Bravo, Sony? On the same note, I've just designed what may be the world's best hydraulic pogo stick. I'll be rich!
Hardly.
Nokia: 800x480 screen resolution.
Mylo: 320x240 screen resolution.
When will these companies learn to view the modern web with any sort of comfort you need, at the very least 640x480.
--- I do not moderate.
You forgot soul.
Oh wait, I forgot that people who use text messaging as a primary means of communication don't have souls. My bad.
"Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
There's no release date for where I am, the UK, and I suspect it'll be the same for most countries not called USA or China. We always have the same thing happen with gadgets, get 'em while they're old. Yet another link to a preview as well.
I thought that both the Nokia 770 and the Mylo were wireless information access devices, not phones?
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
Why would sony release something like this and NOT release a generation 2 PSP with all of this capability? :( not that the PSP is the greatest thing ever but still why have to handhelds like this and not one kick ass one that has all this.. ?
I can buy a PSP with that? Why not just release a UMD with Skype/other IM software?
Wow, I should not post when knackered.
the Mylo has two advantages over the nokia, the ability to play wma secured(if you can call that an advantage), and increased battery life(still in need of independant real world testing).
No touch screen, a keyboard only a teenager can use(good thing they designed it for teenagers), limited image formats, smaller screen siz & resolution, etc.
Just another product in search of a market.
i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
Palm Trio, Motorola Q, etc.... And you don't have to be near a free/open WiFi spot.
Next to UMD and Betamax, Worst....Sony....Product....Ever
Future ruler of a small Asian-Pacific island
Besides, why didn't they stick this functionality into the PSP. A PSP costs nearly half what this Mylo does. I'm sure a revamped PSP could feature a thumb board, or a connector to stick one on. This in addition to being able to play music, games, video, stream video, browse the web etc.
I only use the number pad on my keypad to dial a phone number about once a month, if that. Most everyone I call is in my address book, or recent calls if I'm calling someone back.
So I don't think it's a big deal to "learn" a new button layout, especially since a phone number is only ten digits anyway.
I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
So does this device have the rootkit built in, or do you still need to buy Sony Music separately?
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
Nokia 770 allows for wireless keyboards via Bluetooth, and hence real typing. Mylo is destine to be doomed for lack of ergonomics: bad viewing and bad typing.
does it run Linux?
I've been blogging about the 770 since shortly after it's release and know it pretty intimately. the Mylo has no chance as a direct competitor. The 800x480 touchscreen just isn't there on the Mylo. Neither is Bluetooth or (a hackable) USB host port. The 770 is for mobile web browsing. The Mylo is for teens and tweens who want to chat with their buddies after their mothers told them to go to bed.
Really... saying the Mylo is a competitor to the Nokia 770 is like saying a Honda Fit is a competitor to a Rolls Royce. Sure, they're both cars. Sure, it's not likely people will own both. The target markets, however, are very different.
I have a new UMPC blog, by the way. Therein is a four part head-to-head comparison of the TabletKiosk eo UMPC and the Nokia 770.
Few people today use devices of this type, especially as compared to the use of mobile phones. Now however that Nokia has a direct competitor in another industry giant, consumers will see alternatives among the features the devices offer. This means that more people are likely to become consumers of these types of devices, leading to market acceptance and therefore to even greater diversity amonst services and features. Eventually there should be something for everybody, but this probably lies a generation of devices or two away still.
All rites reversed 2010
What kind of community support is Mylo going to have? The 770 already has a community at Maemo.org. In addition, since the 770 is based on Debian, several Linux apps have been ported to the device. If Mylo isn't as open a platform as the 770, it will never catch on with geeks (the early adopters).
I spend a lot of time on public transportation in the Seattle area. They have wifi on the ferries and it's being rolled out as a trial on certain bus routes. All this is good news because I want to do a little surfing, chatting, and email while I'm riding. I was excited to see the Nokia and the Sony products coming to market, but I couldn't justify the purchase price for something my phone will do, albiet with a clunky interface. I also refuse to carry a laptop. I had given up, until I heard about Opera for the DS.
I'm just waiting for the US release. It's a cheaper solution, and the DS plays games. Brain Age, anyone?
This space for rent.
and the resolution sucks. Which brings up a few points: recently /. had an article on the Samsung Q1 vs. the Newton MP 2100, i.e. a modern UMPC vs. a ten year old brick with great software. Both the Nokia 770 and the Q1 offer nice 800x480 color screens, WiFi, USB, Bluetooth, etc. The Newton has two pcmcia slots which can take cards to offer similar i/o capabilities.
So, other than predictable hardware improvements over the last ten years, why is it that both the Linux handheld 770 and XP Tablet edition Q1 suck so bad at the software? It just seems like we're taking a huge step back in usability in order to gain that "convergence" factor between desktop and handheld. Is it really worth it? After looking at the Newton and comparing it to these competitors, my feeling is that Mameo on the 770 and XP on the Q1 just don't come close to meeting the functionality of a handheld. Convergence seems not worth the trouble. Desktop PCs will always be faster than a handheld, and software bloat always seems to meet -- and exceed -- recent hardware advances. When will handhelds ever have the CPU horsepower to "converge" with their desktop brethren?
The Newton is dead. Documentation and source at Apple are long lost. Perhaps a good alternative would be a small system based on Smalltalk using Squeak. Better yet if it could be hacked paint directly to the framebuffer, rather than using X on the handheld.
*shrug* - just a thought.
Well, if you want to hack around the nokia has an sdk so you can write your own software. I'm betting the sony is a closed system, where you can web browse but I bet you can't run your own software on it. The same problem the ps3 will have, now that MS is releasing an sdk for making games on both xboxlive and pc, with a system for sharing. But the nokia is even better, its all for free, so you have not just a gadget, but a software platform.
"Mylo" when voiced in Russian (had /. been able to handle Unicode properly, I'd even write it here) means "soap." It is a bit amusing that a phone does look its Russian name...
--AP
The 770 has a keyboard - you can either use the onscreen keypad with the stylus, use handwriting recognition with the stylus, or use a full-screen keypad with your thumbs.
Why would I *want* to have a fold-out keyboard (one more moving part to break) to access itty-bitty keys (more breakable things)?
And lastly - if you *want* a real keyboard, get a Bluetooth keyboard and you are all set.
www.eFax.com are spammers
... not only will it root your box but, afterwards, the battery will burst into flames.
...
Sounds like an old Mission Impossible episode
The little guy just ain't getting it, is he?
No really, no cellular phone ability...
Deleted
The reason I have a '770 is that it runs Linux + X11, and so is easy to develop for, making it an ideal testbed for prototyping mobile applications. I can't see a Sony device competing there, considering how much they tend to lock down their hardware.
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Sure it doesn't have a gigantic screen, not does it have high res but it can playback videos at 30fps at 320*240 in Mpeg4 which is more than you can say for the 770.
It also comes with 1 gig of flash ram, plus expansion port.
Nevermind that you don't look as dorky making a SIP call with this thing as you do with your 770 against your ear.
If they deliver gmail compatibility, IM, video playback, SIP etc... this thing might well challenge the 770 and other gadgets a little more than you think.
Wi-FI sip phones are already +$150, this thing would probably retail for under $300, which in my book is quite nice. Nevermind that this thing is almost pocketable where the 770 clearly isn't.
Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity
Too many proprietary formats (memory stick, mini-discs), too rigid with the "security" of the device (PSP), too many root-kits, and in general over-priced compared to the competition.
The only Sony gadget I have is a PSP, and I am wishing I had a DS.
Sound quality is excellent, I really like this device in that role.
This seems ridiculous to me. I get that wi-fi has some advantages and I think it's great that it supports internet based phone calls but what about when I'm not near a wifi connection? Wouldn't it make more sense to at least include an option to have standard service? I'd be interested in getting a phone like this if I could use it with my Cingular service. Let it use wi-fi when it can find a connection and Cingular when it has to.
Another downside of it not supporting standard mobile service is that no mobile service provider is going to subsidize the device. How many people pay full price for mobile phones? You can almost alway save a lot on whatever phone you are interested in through deals that the various carriers offer. I've actually never paid a dime for any of my phones, after rebates at least.
How is it that one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?
it takes pictures, plays music, plays videos, browses the web.. everything that a midrange mobile phone would do. So why not just buy the phone and avoid carrying around excess gadgets?
Here's a short comparison I made between the two products with a side by side specification chart of them both. The Sony comes out somewhat weaker in many areas.
The Nokia 770 (250 MHZ ARM-based CPU w/ 64MB RAM) uses a hildon + gnome desktop. it's a really poor choice because their implementation of gnome is bloated/slow where the 770 only needs a basic lightweight app selector. it does not take much to drag down performance on a 770 because of gnome being on it. ive seen it. if they used something other than hildon + gnome for the gui, something like photon or whatever, people would buy them in droves.
And, since my Dell notebook battery that's being recalled verily is made by Sony - should I get the phone a flame retardant mini-briefcase?
I don't see any plans for free SDK, or open developers community, no support for open source and freeware applications. It's not even close to Trolltech Geenphone.
There is no way I'd buy one of these... the screen's about half the size of the 770, the whole thing is laid out like a game console, and it's made by Sony. Three strikes in my book... I'm keeping rebekah (my 770), thanks.
Oh, and RTFA says that it's got about a third the functionality of a 770, to boot. Ugh.
Need a Linux consultant in New Orleans?
Why? Because the Nokia 770 has pretty much become junk. Yes it's a nice piece of hardware, yes it has a nice screen. But the software on it sucks, there is no support, no new releases (the last new release broke more than it fixed) in short, Nokia could care less about supporting it. The 770 showed a lot of promise, Nokia could have (but didn't) released a keyboard for it (the on screen one sucks, lots of issues).
I bought the 770 5 months ago to for a special use. Now that the use is over it'll never come out of the desk again. When I got it I thought I'd be able to do all sorts of things with it as Nokia added features and fixed bugs.
Sadly, no such luck. Nokia isn't fixing bugs, and isn't adding features. The lack of support by Nokia has also translated to vendors who once considered selling things for it, and now realize it's a dead platform and won't touch it.
Maybe the Sony device will cause the people at Nokia to wake up and go back to work on the 770, I hope so but I sincerely doubt it. Nokia dropped the ball on this, which is a shame.
(BTW, I do know about Maemo and do have xterm, ssh, and a few other apps installed. Excessive Lag however makes the 770 a poor internet device)
The onscreen keyboard sucks. It's tiny, suffers from input errors often enough to be frustrating, and switching it on and off for use often causes random data in the input strings.
Also the bluetooth keyboard isn't standard, it's a hack, and only a few will work with it. Do I want a fold out keyboard? YES!!! Give me something like the sidekick's and I'd be happy.
Also remember that the onscreen keyboard obscures at least half the screen. (I haven't tried the bigger one, because the new OS version breaks more things than it fixed and I use the things it broke, so for me it's worthless).
This was a good device idea wise. Dropping all development support for it however was a bad idea. Nokia seems to have abandoned the platform. I suspect the Sony one will be far better supported and implemented.
http://www.maemo.org/platform/docs/tutorials/Maemo _tutorial.html#overview
'Once scientists, even the dim-witted social scientists, get muzzled, the Western Civilization is finished.' - oldhack
Does anyone have one? Are there any cool hacks for it? (Can I remotely control a linux box, for example?)
I'm thinking Mythtv remote...
It's not a selling point.
Great for people willing to hack and muck around, but for someone who just wants to connect a USB keyboard (yes, I know Nokia believes bluetooth is the future) or a thumb drive, they'll look elsewhere.
Yes, the system can use a Bluetooth keyboard - in fact I have a very nice one I carry for when I need to do a lot of shell work.
The "keyboards" that don't implement the Bluetooth keyboard protocol, and rather implement some bastard non-standard fake serial protocol don't work as well, but then again, if the manufacturer of the keyboard cannot be bothered to actually read the Bluetooth standards and implement the correct profile, then who needs their product.
www.eFax.com are spammers
What do you mean, "dropping all development support"? They just released a new software image, the maemo.org site is very active, the Nokia developers are regularly posting both to the Nokia forums as well as to the freedesktop forums for both basic X as well as Cairo and GTK.
If that is "dropping all development support" then I would certainly like to see what you consider active development.
And as for you assertion that - again, I don't know quite what you mean. If you mean "many packages are not available for the new build" - then yes, but most of them have been ported. Or do you mean the second 2005 code drop - which was buggy, and was replaced by the 2006 image. Otherwise, I have the IT2006 build loaded, and it improved many things and I haven't really found anything that it "broke". Please give specifics.
www.eFax.com are spammers
I fully admit that what I described is not a selling point for the vast majority ... there a dozens of other selling points that would appeal to the general public. I was just answering your question. If you need something that acts as a USB host out of the box for most devices then the 770 is certainly not ideal. You are best to look elsewhere. However, you likely won't find it in Sony's offering and it will likely be 4-5x the cost like the OQO. However, if the market was big enough, it would be a no-brainer for a company to offer, to those people who don't want to deal with that stuff, something 770 specific to power USB devices and software to support many common devices.
The 770's strength is in its flexibility and openness. Some people need to be given one option to choose from and that defines what they need if the marketting is strong enough. Other people want a tool that is a good fit for most jobs and want something that will evolve beyond what it was initially built for to fit future needs. I would say the 770 is an affordable tool that fits most jobs well and you can stretch its functionality quite far.
I use mine regularly for:
- SIP voice chats and IM
- quickly checking my Gmail or a web site
- portable digital photo album for friends
- mp3 music player
- Bluetooth GPS compatible map viewer
- jotting down some notes
- drawing a sketch for later drafting
- viewing a calendar and recording appointments
- ebook reader (its high pixel density and button layout makes it *fantastic* for this)
I am very happy with the functionality during the tasks above and I find having this funtionality (that *does* fit in your back pocket) great. I find that $400 is a reasonable amount for the above list. Others may disagree.
Funny, I haven't seen any new releases of the OS on Nokia's USA website. You know, since the release that broke the timezone clock, (among other things).
The Maemo.org site is NOT Nokia. I have no real interest in loading Alpha and Beta test versions on my system. So as far as I and most other users can tell, Nokia isn't supporting the device anymore and isn't fixing the new bugs. If you have some nice new fixed OS version why the heck isn't it on the USA website?????
When the new version of the OS came out on the Nokia site, I DL'd it. I got the timezone bug (Where my clock would only give me Finland time) and all support for my T-Mobile phone was gone. So I reflashed the previous version. Now unless Nokia recently put up a new image on the USA website, then no, Nokia hasn't released anything.
I don't care what is on any other site at the OS level, because that's NOT Nokia's official release, and Nokia will not support it, or be responsible if it ruins the device (according to Nokia's tech support on the phone).
I have gone to several of the sites mentioned above (though not since June) and asked if there were any new official releases by Nokia. No one said a word. Again, I really don't want to play with Alpha or Beta releases. I want a production release that works and works well that I don't have to install some fix for (that I was told I had to hack root to install) to make something like the clock work properly.
Don't think I would buy a sony, too many problems with an arrogant company. I am putting my money were my mouth is, sick and tired of proprietary systems which lock you into Sony gear!
http://www.realtechnews.com/posts/3355 Sony Mylo: 5 Reasons Why the Sony Mylo is Doomed to Failure By Alice Hill RealTechNews 1. Expensive. $350 is a lot of money for a device that isn't a cell phone and doesn't play games, especially when that product is targeted to younger buyers. After the PlayStation 3 pricing debacle, you'd think Sony would hire a pricing analyst and come back to earth. 2. Ever heard of AIM or MSN? If you want to IM all the time, then why is the unit missing two of the biggest instant messaging platforms? AOL's AIM and Microsoft's MSN Messenger are simply too big 2 B 4gotten. 3. NO Games?? Sony botched the PSP by focusing on games, games, games and stranding users who wanted to use the PSP for its other built in features like viewing movies and listening to music. With all the hoops and hacks needed to enjoy the PSP, most people gave up and thus, Sony squandered another great shot at Walkman-level fame by crippling the PSP with a very limited focus. We mention this here because the Mylo is missing games all together. So now you can view movies and listen to music and so on, but a little Grand Theft Auto or Lemmings? No chance. Game over. 4. WiFI hotspots are No Picnic. In the golden era when most hotspots were unsecured, hopping on and off all over town (heck, all over the country) was fun and easy. Now you need a T-mobile account or a credit card to access the many hotspots in popular public areas. A college may have free WiFi, but for a device to be truly useful, you have to be able to fire it up all over the place - airports and so on. And that means the annoying act of getting online. At that point it is just easier to text, and you can bet this demographic owns a cell phone. 5. No Adult Crossover. As much as a handheld targeted to younger buyers sounds good on paper, adults actually make up a hidden demographic of users with very deep pockets. That means if you can get Mom and Dad to fire one up, the whole family is on board. (Think iPod and all the adults happily listening to music and watching video and so forth.) Even if adults choose not to IM all day, Sony is shooting the legs out from under that potential market by designing cartoony looking units that are missing that sleek design oomph that an adult will be proud to flaunt. Bottom line: An old associate of mine, Preston Grallla said it best: "So let's sum this up. It's a device for people who are devoted to instant messaging, but won't work with biggest IM networks in the world. It costs as much or more than handheld gaming devices, but won't let you play games. And the Skype capabilities are nice, but the target audience already has cellphones."
I went to the website last night and saw that Nokia did indeed release a new version of the OS at the end of last month. So I was wrong, there is a new release. Hopefully this will work better than the old one, I know it paired with my phone easily (I haven't checked the timezone thing yet). So my Apologies, I was wrong.
I found I was wrong, there was a new release that came out on the Nokia site at the end of last month. I've loaded it and am trying it and hopefully it has the bugs fixed (it is labeled as the final release). So my apologies to all.
So far sony have not specified any hardware details. I was just wondering if anyone here have come across processor platform (Intel Xscale, TI-OMAP, or some other) and is the media subsystem (the voice codecs - g.729, ILBC...etc) of all these guys running on in this device?