Just to be clear, Sony Ericsson’s upcoming kitchen-sink phone is codenamed “Rachael”, not “Rachel”. So far all info on this phone found online is still unofficial, remaining rumors until made official by Sony Ericsson. That includes the UI demo video below:

What do you think of the rumored interface? It looks too flashy for its own good, taking too much time to animate elements unnecessarily. No doubt the eye candy is sweet, but as our source says, it will probably grow old quickly. Maybe there will be an option to disable the more complicated UI animations? In any case, word on the virtual streets is that the Sony Ericsson “Rachael” will:

• Be part of the Sony Ericsson Xperia family, joining the Xperia X1
• Run on a modified Android OS interface
• Use the Qualcomm QSD8250 Snapdragon platform. The processor-chipset setup promises speeds of up to 1 GHz, and is apparently capable of 3D graphics
• Support HSPA
• Feature an 8 megapixel camera with auto-focus
• Boast a 4″ touchscreen with WVGA (800 x 480) resolution
• Make use of a 3.5mm standard earphone jack and a miniUSB port

Updates to follow as they become available, so stay tuned!

In attempt to get more people to their website BillShrink recently came out with this well-made digital flyer that compares the so-called “new generation” smartphones:

Courtesy BillShrink

Here’s that table in real-text form:

In the video below, you can see the Android OS—originally designed for mobile phones—boot up relatively quickly and take full advantage of the laptop’s built-in HSDPA. Yes, you heard that right, a laptop:

Featured at the recently concluded Computex, it’s obvious that Google needs to change at least one thing: you don’t tell a laptop owner to turn of his or her “phone”. Interesting though how the apparently unvarnished version of the OS automatically adapts to a laptop’s larger-than-mobile resolution. According to the video’s uploader, Asus was publicizing their own Android-based laptop, but reportedly chose not to showcase a demo unit.

Compal, the company behind the laptop, is known as the outsourced manufacturer for big brands like Dell and HP. It specializes in the production of notebooks and computer displays.

Finally, Android G1 owners can now edit their Google Doc spreadsheets on their mobile browser, reports TechCrunch. Jonathan Rochelle, the senior product manager Google Spreadhseets, proudly showed off his team’s latest creation. Read more

Imagine typing out a text message, tapping in “reboot”, and wondering why your phone actually rebooted. That’s a quirk caused by a hilarious—but serious—bug affecting G1’s running on the RC29 firmware revision. I totally understand why Ed Burnette called this the “Worst. Bug. Ever.” over at zdnet.com. A bug that ultimately gives a casual user complete access to your smartphone if you happen to leave it unattended is a very bad thing indeed.

At the same time however, Ed’s discussion of the issue also shows the advantages of open source, and why being able to share info quickly over the internet is a great thing:

Because Android is open source, the problem was quickly tracked down by users to a couple lines in the system file init.rc. My guess is that this was accidentally left in during device debugging. Thankfully the fix is trivial; you can probably even make it yourself if you’re so inclined (just comment out the offending lines described in the reports above and reboot).

Here’s a workaround I just discovered: Open the keyboard and type these 5 keystrokes: -c-a-t-. That will cause the phantom shell to not listen to commands any more, at least until the next reboot. [italics mine]

Let’s go over that again, shall we? First, Ed highlights the open-source nature of Google’s Android OS, facilitating the discovery of the problem’s source by users. At the same time, through his own blog, Ed quickly shares his own solution to the problem. Now, what more could you ask for?

By the way, a fix for this is part of RC30. So any (legit) G1 users out there, feel free to update as soon as possible.

Seriously, can you call this anything else but ugly?

The G1 Phone is $179, and will be out on October 22. Good thing the price is low, and let’s hope that it doesn’t come with some two-year strings attached. (techcrunch.com)