01.jpgWe recently acquired the Sony Ericsson LiveView product, which is effectively a small remote control and display for any compatible Android phone that you can clip to your belt or wear on your wrist like a watch.
The device offers a few useful applications, the incoming call ID (with option to mute the ring-tone), calendar, RSS reader, email and various social networking functions like Twitter and Facebook. You can also it to control the music player on your phone, with all the standard functions that you’d expect.
I think the LiveViews intended audience is for when it’s impractical to remove your phone from your pocket, be it on a busy train, exercising and you still want to stay in touch with your tech or you just don’t want any more missed calls. One small problem we found is battery life we found with constant use it didn’t last a full day and with it being connected via Blue-tooth the Phones battery also started to suffer. In today’s age we expected a full touch screen (like the iPod Nano), whilst the LiveView has 2 hard buttons on the top and 4 invisable soft buttons on screen which took a while to figure out (we’re blokes we only read manuals as an absolute last resort).
In summary it’s a cool little gadget aimed at a niche market. I’m sure later versions will bring more functionality (touch-screen please) and more useful apps. The current version is priced at $159.99 but is available with an amazing saving from Amazon for $78.96.
