6 [nology] Review: Sony Xperia Ion Bulky deSIgn, outdated software overpowers deSIgn By Ryan Kamphuis EDITOR-IN-CHIEF It was with great excitement that I got a hold of the Sony Xperia lon to review For years Sony has released cell phones as Sony Ericsson, a joint venture between Sony and Swedish telecom Ericsson The Xperia lon is one of the first smartphones produced by Sony after buying out Ericsson’s stake in the company and going out on its own. Billed as Sony’s first LTE device and the perfect device for HD content, the Xperia lon is sold as atopetier smartphone to compete with the likes of the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy S 111. On the hardware side of things, the Xperia Ion is a sleek, black phone with a 4.6” HD display, a 12emegapixel camera, and a frontefacing camera. The Xperia lon’s display is dropedead gorgeous; it is amazingly clear and detailed, and the colors it produces are vivid and Vibrant. When I compared the Xp eria lon’s screen with that of the Galaxy S III, the Xperia lon won out. The camera onthe Xperia lonwas also very good, snapping photos that looked just as good as those taken by an iPhone 4, which is widely regarded to be the best cell phone camera available. The 12emegapixel camera also has a cool panorama mode that allows the user to take panorama pictures simply by sweeping the camera through the air. Despite the excellent screen and camera, the rest of the Xperia lon’s hardware doesn’t measure up. The design of the phone is quite awkward, which makes the phone very uncomfortable to hold. I found that if I held the phone for any longer than 15 minutes, it began to hurt my hand. This became extremely annoying when I needed to respond to many emails, or whenl wanted to watch a TV show or movie on Netflix The location of the headphone port on the Xp eria lon is also very awkwardiit is located on top of the phone, exactly in the middle of the device. This makes holding the phone in the landscape orientation unbearably uncomfortable if you have headphones plugged in Let’s move onto the software on the Xperialon. The Xperia lon runs a Sonyecustomized version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The customizations that Sony has put onto Android work to boost Android’s media offerings and make Android look more HD. Most of the additions that Sony adds are pretty cool. They add an interesting Social Network aggregator, several services for obtaining music and movies, and an application that allows you to View all of your media on an HDTV using a micro HDMl port on the phone. Despite these cool additions and the standard features given by Android, 1 still found myself extremely underwhelmed by the software experience on the Xperia Ion. The fact of the matter is that Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is now the standard for Android devices, and it is simply unacceptable for topetier smartphones to be released based on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. The added features and performance boost provided by Android 4.0 are amazing; in fact, many of the features that Sony added to Android 2.3, such as the panorama camera mode, became standard features in Android 4.0. It really amazes me that when HTC and Samsung are releasing phones with Android 4.0 on them, and when Android 4.0 has been available to OEMs for over 8 months, that Sony would still release a phone with Android 2. 3. Frankly, it comes off as very lazy. They are deliberately weakening their phone by releasing it with Android 2.3 on it, making it impossible to compete with the likes of the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy Ill. The software experience onthe Xperia Ion is not particularly bad; it just pales in comparison to that provided by other phones that run Android 4.0. There’s a lot to like about the Sony Review: Plantronics BackBeat Go Headphones Quality practical use, improvements needed By Ryan Kamphuis EDITOR-IN-CHIEF While Bluetooth headsets have become very popular in past years, stereo Bluetooth headsetsrtheir music playing brethrenrhave never been able to catch on quite as well. Plantronics plans to change this with the release of their new BackBeat Go earbuds. The BackBeat Go is comprised of two fairly large black earbuds connected by a flat wire with an inline microphone and control unit. The design of the BackBeat Go is both fantastic and annoying. On one hand, the earbuds look good and are very comfortable to wear, on the other hand, connecting the two earbuds with a flat wire kind of makes these things pointless. The whole reason to buy a pair of stereo Bluetooth headphones is to cut cables, and these earbuds have one that is almost more annoying than a standard cable. Almost every time the cable connecting these earbuds rubs against somethinglike your shirt or your skin, that rubbing sound is easily heard bythe wearer. The cable is also needlessly long, making it uncomfortable. I wish Plantronics had either found a way to make the earbuds wireless from each other or had connected them using solid plastic, turning them into a pair of headphones. Utilizing Bluetooth technology, the Backbeat Go earbuds allow the user to connect to their phone or tablet to make phone calls or listen to music. Audio quality is very good during calls. Calls are crisp, with almost no static or background noise. It can be a little interesting listening to phone calls in static, but this is a very minor complaint. When I asked people I was talking to how I sounded, they said that I came in clear, that my voice sounded a little bit like I was talking on a speaker phone, but that it wasn’t a detriment to our conversation. When listening to music, the sound quality is passable. While the music comes through very clear, the music’s treble and bass are very weak This doesn’t really have anything to do with the earbuds themselves, but with stereo Bluetooth technology. Stereo Bluetooth just doesn’t have enough bandwidth to allow for the kind of data transfer necessary for exceptional sound quality. In the end, the Plantronics BackBeat Go does its job well. You can make phone calls and listen to media with them, and the sound quality while doing this is pretty good compared to other stereo Bluetooth headsets. Really, the only caveat to the BackBeat Go is the cable connecting the earbuds; I can’t express how stronglyl despise this cable. It is the only thing holding me back from calling these earbuds perfect. The cable is just too long, annoying, and detrimental to the overall experience provided by these earbuds. Hopefully, Plantronics realizes this and finds a new way to connect the BackB eat Go’s earbuds and releases an updated product soonrthey’d have a real winner on their hands if they did. The Plantronics BackBeat Go earbuds are available at many electronics stores and wireless retailers across the country and retail for $99.99. TechNewsl g amt i035 Thursday, September i7 Ema-i (aiendar caiisu an no Browser Mum; Marie: PM"? (mum Xperia Ion; it has a gorgeous screen and an excellent camera, but between hardware and software missteps, it doesn’t even come close to its competition. At this point in time, buying a phone still running Android 2.3 is about the worst thing you can do, making the Xperia lon an extremely tough sell. It becomes an even tougher sell when you consider that it costs $99.99 from AT&T on a twoeyear contract. That same price can net you a HTC One X or a Motorola Atrix HD, both of which run Android Trying to find a Tuesday, August 28, 2012 ) XPERIA [m age courtesy 0fn0ypigeeks.mm 4.0 and are guaranteed to give you a far better software experience because of it. The fact of the matter is that I feel guilty recommending any phone with Android 2.3; Android 4.0 is here, and buying a phone running anything else is just locking yourself in the past. If Sony wants to compete with the big boys like HTC, Motorola, and Samsung, they’re going to have to realize that they can’t power their topetier devices on a version of Android that is out of date. GREAT starting point for: Uri-Campus Non—Federal Work Study Jo'os \ \ Jin‘terr is'nips Try iiiACEiini/ii \ JPositions posted daii/ JAii Majors Domestic and Internationai \