Is Xperia the New iPhone Killer?

The new XPERIA X1 from Sony Ericsson launched last week at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. With a full QWERTY keyboard running the latest Windows Mobile 6 operating system it takes multimedia and mobile web communication on the Windows Mobile platform to a new level. But is it good enough to take away the Apple crown?

The Xperia comes with a sophisticated touch screen that slides smoothly along slightly curved rails "arc-sliding" to reveal a QWERTY keyboard. With a 4-way key and optical joystick it also comes with WiFi, 3G and High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) technology for fast wireless internet when you are roaming outside a WiFi zone.

Apple re-defined the mobile user experience with arguably the best touch-driven smartphone on the market. However the current iPhone handset lacks 3G or HSPA which means slower performace if you are browsing over a standard cell­ular network instead of from a WiFi zone.

The Xperia X1 is packed with several advanced features including a widescreen VGA-quality display that can show DVD-quality video.

The first Sony Ericsson smartphone to feature Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system, the Xperia could deliver the most powerful challenge to the iPhone to date.