Update: Mojang has released a video of Minecraft Pocket Edition running on the Xperia Play. We can see here some Creative-mode play:

In what is undoubtedly an important step for the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, the mobile version of the indie-hit game Minecraft will be released on the game-centric smartphone before any others.

Minecraft is an open-world building and survival game that has taken the gaming world by storm since it’s release in 2009. It’s hard to explain exactly what Minecraft is, but the developers offer this video on their site to attempt to convey the game to newcomers:

Not only is Minecraft a major success, it’s also unique because it’s developed by Mojang, a company made up of a few indie developers, rather than being backed by a major publisher. The desktop version of the game, which runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux, is still in beta but has sold more than 2.3 million copies. Needless to say, Minecraft is big, and securing it as an exclusive launch for the Xperia Play is a big deal for a phone centered around mobile gaming.

Mojang founder, Markus “Notch inch Persson mentioned back in March that work on a mobile version of Minecraft had begun and later news indicated that it would be available for iOS and Android when launched.

Now, Gamasutra is reporting that a Mojang representative has confirmed that Minecraft mobile will be released first on the Xperia Play and presumably have some duration of exclusivity on the phone. The version made for the Xperia Play will reportedly have controls optimized for the phone’s unique gaming buttons and control pads.

It’s unclear whether or not the release will be exclusive to all phones, or Android devices only.

It sounds as though Minecraft Mobile will not be an exact recreation of Minecraft as we know it on the desktop. Gamasutra has a quote from the company noting that the game will be tuned specially for mobile devices:

When playing on smartphones you will have a different screen size compared to PC, different hardware, different attention spans and thus the game needs to be customized to fit the mobile specifications

As a Minecraft player, I’m not sure exactly what to think of this. I’d love to be able to connect to my server and play the game on the go from a device that could fit in my pocket. If I’m forced to play a single player version of the game, or one that is incompatible with the desktop version, the allure of Minecraft Mobile will be greatly reduced for me and perhaps many others. Here’s to hoping that the mobile version sees feature parity and compatibility with the desktop version!

More info about Minecraft Mboile is expected at this year’s E3 which will be held in just a few days from June 7th to the 10th.

Perhaps once Minecraft Mobile is release across numerous platforms, people can all stop ranting about Angry Birds and start playing a game that’s actually good (yeah, I said it).

Back in October, I urged Sony to get back to innovating in the handheld market and inspiring us once again. For a company whose tagline is “Make. Believe.” They’ve certainly done that lately – making me believe that they want to copy a company like HP rather than being innovative and imaginative like they once were.

I looked toward the whispers of the so called “PSP Phone” that’s recently made the rounds with leaked photos and videos as a glimmer of hope. The PSP Phone has been a concept wished for by PSP fans for a long time, but recently we’ve seen legitimate evidence that it will exist. The most recent information I’ve read regarding the release of the device is from Pocket-lint, reporting that Sony will launch the PSP Phone at Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona, rather than next month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

If Sony’s past gives us any indication, they’re capable of making great handheld devices. For the unique situation of combining a flagship gaming device with a phone, they are going to have to do two specific things in order to make the union a success.

Second Generation PSP Gaming

The first thing is designing the hardware to not be just a PSP + phone, but a PSP 2 + phone. The device needs to represent a new benchmark for mobile gaming. Designing the PSP Phone to simply play existing PSP games will not only be unimpressive, but it won’t sell well.

Why? Because the market is already saturated with PSP devices which have been on the market for almost 7 years and Sony has yet to introduce a next generation version of the device! A whopping 62 million PSP systems have been sold worldwide as of September 2010. Several iterations have been released over the years, and all of them are capable of playing the same games. Releasing a device that can play the same old PSP games while there’s already 62 million devices that do so out there is naturally going to limit your demographic to those who don’t already have a PSP but want one, and perhaps some of those who already have one but want to combine their phone and their gaming device. The world has been waiting for the PSP 2, and now would be a great time to make that happen.

Others who are mostly uninterested in gaming won’t pick up the device over other phones because it will likely be more expensive than the competition which would be able to get away with less powerful hardware and thus cheaper prices (lacking the requirement to play serious games, not casual handheld ones) while still running the same Android version.

Additionally, creating a phone that can only play existing PSP games would also needlessly underuse the rumored specifications of the upcoming PSP Phone. Existing PSP devices have a 333MHz CPU, 32MB or 64MB of RAM, and an underwhelming 480×272 resolution screen. Scaling these games up to a presumed 854×480 screen would make them look even more outdated, and running them without allowing developers to take advantage of the rumored 1GHz Snapdragon CPU and 512MB of RAM would be nearly criminal.

So why not let developers take advantage of the hardware and create games that are “PSP 2” worthy? Doing this alone and abandoning all of the other PSP devices that can currently run any game in the vast library would be a bad move that would break a gaming eco-system that stretches 6 years. This is why Sony needs to launch two devices.

Launch the PSP 2 Along With the PSP Phone

Sony needs to launch a phoneless PSP 2 device alongside a PSP 2 Phone. Without it, suddenly a prerequisite for the most modern handheld gaming experience would be a cellular contract. That’s like requiring that you subscribe to the gym in order to own a car – the two simply shouldn’t be connected. Not only would a cellular contract be required, but you might also need to be on a specific carrier.

If a PSP 2 Phone launches and a phoneless PSP 2 doesn’t launch alongside it, what happens if the PSP 2 Phone is only available on GSM carriers (as they commonly are, here in the US)? That would rule out the entire Sprint/Verizon demographic. Suddenly, if you are a Sprint/Verizon customer, and you want to play the latest handheld games, you have to switch cellular carriers?! That’s asking absolutely way too much of customers and is not going to get the PSP 2 Phone sold.

A PSP 2 could very simply be the same Android powered device, but lacking the cellular hardware and hopefully bringing down the cost to be even less than the PSP Phone (subsidized, a PSP 2 Phone would likely be less expensive than an unsubsidized PSP 2, assuming same hardware). Even if the two were priced the same, it would still open up the demographic of people who have carriers that won’t support the PSP 2 Phone, to people who don’t have any control over their wireless choices (ie: teens), and of course to those who can’t afford (or use alternatives to) cellular contracts.

What’s the big deal if the people willing to pay for cellular contracts (specifically, GSM carriers) are the only ones able to play the latest handheld games on the PSP 2 Phone? Developers are the big deal. Without a mass-media audience to sell to, you’ll never get the AAA developer support you need to differentiate between a hardcore gaming device and casual iPhone/Android gaming.

Continue reading on page 2… “The Precedent”

Back in October, I urged Sony to get back to innovating in the handheld market and inspiring us once again. For a company whose tagline is “Make. Believe. inch They’ve certainly done that lately making me believe that they want to copy a company like HP rather than being innovative and imaginative like they once were.

I looked toward the whispers of the so called “PSP Phone inch that’s recently made the rounds with leaked photos and videos as a glimmer of hope. The PSP Phone has been a concept wished for by PSP fans for a long time, but recently we’ve seen legitimate evidence that it will exist. The most recent information I’ve read regarding the release of the device is from Pocket-lint, reporting that Sony will launch the PSP Phone at Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona, rather than next month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

If Sony’s past gives us any indication, they’re capable of making great handheld devices. For the unique situation of combining a flagship gaming device with a phone, they are going to have to do two specific things in order to make the union a success.

Second Generation PSP Gaming

The first thing is designing the hardware to not be just a PSP + phone, but a PSP 2 + phone. The device needs to represent a new benchmark for mobile gaming. Designing the PSP Phone to simply play existing PSP games will not only be unimpressive, but it won’t sell well.

Why? Because the market is already saturated with PSP devices which have been on the market for almost 7 years and Sony has yet to introduce a next generation version of the device! A whopping 62 million PSP systems have been sold worldwide as of September 2010. Several iterations have been released over the years, and all of them are capable of playing the same games. Releasing a device that can play the same old PSP games while there’s already 62 million devices that do so out there is naturally going to limit your demographic to those who don’t already have a PSP but want one, and perhaps some of those who already have one but want to combine their phone and their gaming device. The world has been waiting for the PSP 2, and now would be a great time to make that happen.

Others who are mostly uninterested in gaming won’t pick up the device over other phones because it will likely be more expensive than the competition which would be able to get away with less powerful hardware and thus cheaper prices (lacking the requirement to play serious games, not casual handheld ones) while still running the same Android version.

Additionally, creating a phone that can only play existing PSP games would also needlessly underuse the rumored specifications of the upcoming PSP Phone. Existing PSP devices have a 333MHz CPU, 32MB or 64MB of RAM, and an underwhelming 480×272 resolution screen. Scaling these games up to a presumed 854×480 screen would make them look even more outdated, and running them without allowing developers to take advantage of the rumored 1GHz Snapdragon CPU and 512MB of RAM would be nearly criminal.

So why not let developers take advantage of the hardware and create games that are “PSP 2 inch worthy? Doing this alone and abandoning all of the other PSP devices that can currently run any game in the vast library would be a bad move that would break a gaming eco-system that stretches 6 years. This is why Sony needs to launch two devices.

Launch the PSP 2 Along With the PSP Phone

Sony needs to launch a phoneless PSP 2 device alongside a PSP 2 Phone. Without it, suddenly a prerequisite for the most modern handheld gaming experience would be a cellular contract. That’s like requiring that you subscribe to the gym in order to own a car the two simply shouldn’t be connected. Not only would a cellular contract be required, but you might also need to be on a specific carrier.

If a PSP 2 Phone launches and a phoneless PSP 2 doesn’t launch alongside it, what happens if the PSP 2 Phone is only available on GSM carriers (as they commonly are, here in the US)? That would rule out the entire Sprint/Verizon demographic. Suddenly, if you are a Sprint/Verizon customer, and you want to play the latest handheld games, you have to switch cellular carriers?! That’s asking absolutely way too much of customers and is not going to get the PSP 2 Phone sold.

A PSP 2 could very simply be the same Android powered device, but lacking the cellular hardware and hopefully bringing down the cost to be even less than the PSP Phone (subsidized, a PSP 2 Phone would likely be less expensive than an unsubsidized PSP 2, assuming same hardware). Even if the two were priced the same, it would still open up the demographic of people who have carriers that won’t support the PSP 2 Phone, to people who don’t have any control over their wireless choices (ie: teens), and of course to those who can’t afford (or use alternatives to) cellular contracts.

What’s the big deal if the people willing to pay for cellular contracts (specifically, GSM carriers) are the only ones able to play the latest handheld games on the PSP 2 Phone? Developers are the big deal. Without a mass-media audience to sell to, you’ll never get the AAA developer support you need to differentiate between a hardcore gaming device and casual iPhone/Android gaming.

Continue reading on page 2… “The Precedent”

The guys at Micro PC Talk will not give up. We’ve seen some amazing mods for the coveted (but cancelled) Sony VAIO UX ultra mobile PC [portal page] in the past. This time, modder Anh packs a UX390 to the brim with four additional devices, all without modifying the original body of the UMPC. The challenge here is that the VAIO UX only has two internal USB ports. Anh had to install an extremely tiny 4-port USB hub inside of the UX in order to be able to connect all the devices to the computer:

Dear Sony,

You’ve made some of the coolest handheld devices that I’ve ever owned. From your Clie PDA line, I owned the Clie NR70 and the Clie UX50. From your VAIO UX line, I’ve owned the incredible UX180. I’ve owned a PSP which was stolen years ago and I recently purchased another one because I regard it as the best mobile gaming device on the market.

All four of these devices (and certainly many others in your handheld lines) emitted a blinding light of quality, reeked of design excellence, and were bathed in awesomeness. Each of these devices inspired wonder within me. They were true gadgets. Holding them in my hands made me think “wow, this is the future! inch. In school, I used to use the Clie UX50 to type notes and assignments in class, then I’d print it out in the library through the infrared port. That was awesome. And even if it did make me look like a total geek, it made people say “Wow, what is that thing? inch. The Clie UX50 had WiFi and Bluetooth before most people even knew what those terms meant. And a 3.2MP camera built-in (rotating camera, no less) that was on par with digital cameras of the time, and was just one feature of a rich and useful device that I used for years.

You didn’t actually call your Clie line of devices “PDAs inch, you called them Entertainment Organizers, and for good reason. But most of the world wasn’t ready. They weren’t ready to embrace mobile. They weren’t ready to carry entertainment and productivity in their pockets. You’ve since canned your line of Clie PDAs, your UX UMPCs, and your Mylos. The PSP is great, but it becomes outdated with each passing day and is threatened by the likes of the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Those that did accept your devices loved them. There’s a surprisingly active community of VAIO UX fans who have modded and enhanced the UX series beyond what some thought possible, but it can only be taken so far. They keep modding because they don’t want to let go of your awesome device. They don’t want it to fade away and be supplanted by something that doesn’t inspire the same awe.

Things have changed though. You’ve changed, Sony. The blame can no longer be placed on the world. You’ve entered a dark age.

Continue Reading on Page 2…

Sony, Samsung and Nokia have been leading the market for high quality cameraphones for years now and if you’ve been following my N82 story, you’ll know that even after 2.5 years I’m still finding it hard to find a replacement for the amazing optics, sensor, flash and mechanics of the N82 camera.

It’s not just about mega-pixels. It’s never about the megapixels. 12MP might bring you some digital zoom le-way and a better large-format print but that’s about it. I wrote a semi-private article about assessing smartphone cameras [reproduced below] a few months ago and you’ll see how complex the situation can become if you’re really looking to replace that compact camera; And many people are.

It’s not just about image quality either. It’s about ease-of use, sharing, longevity, geotagging, communities and having a camera and video cam with you at every opportunity. I have literally thousands of pictures that I’ve taken with the N82 that I would never have had the chance to take with a compact camera. There are thousands of people out there that have used smartphone cameras in difficult situations too. Car accidents, citizen journalism, wars and then there’s the possibility to go live to thousands of people with applications like Qik and Ustream. Compact cameras generally have better quality optics and the very important mechanical zoom but there are still good reasons to have a cameraphone.

The new player on the block is the Apple iPhone 4 and I have to confess that I’m interested. It comes at a time when I’m deep in the middle of looking for a new cameraphone solution before my N82 dies. I’ve done some analysis on the iPhone4 pictures and although I can’t comment on the new software yet, I can comment on the sensor. It doesn’t seem to be a huge leap forward in quality. In sensitivity terms it appears to have a 1-stop advantage over the 3GS and of course, with the high resolution, is likely to product better prints but that’s not significant for most people. In fact, it’s rather disappointing given the hype that came from Apple on the backlit sensor. [Update: I estimate that the iPhone 4 is only giving users 1 f-stop advantage. That’s double the sensitivity but not a huge difference in the real world] We’re talking ‘good’ and ‘top quartile’ here but not top 5. I’ve seen better results from the N82, N86, Satio, N8, XT720, Omnia Pro, N900 and I suspect there are a few other Samsung and Sony phones out there that will beat it.  For me, the iPhone 4 brings software rather than quality and that’s a valid reason to choose it if the image quality is acceptable to you. Ignore this report though. It compares the iPhone 4 to some superphones for sure but if you’re interested in quality cameraphones, that’s not the list you need to be looking at.

The Samsung Omnia Pro had an excellent camera but fell short in a few important areas. Windows 6.5 is not exactly the best OS for photographers, it only comes with LED flash and, as with many smartphones, the open lens proved a grease-magnet and long-term quality issue. The Xperia X10 is a similar story too. Then there’s the Sony Ericsson Satio which had a good camera and flash but turned out to be a terrible phone. Currently it looks like the Nokia N8 is going to set new standards but for me, that Symbian operating system isn’t something I’m getting too excited about now that I’ve had some good time with Android. Again, the lens is open on that N8.

Given that I’ve settled on Android as the best mobile OS for me (I’m a Google user, I’d be stupid to choose anything else!) there’s one phone coming up that might take the title for me. I don’t expect it to have the quality of the Nokia N8, a phone likely to raise the bar significantly, but it looks to be a nice all-round solution. You can check out some Flickr galleries taken by Asian owners of the XT720. I’m a little worried about what could be a plastic lens (this image looks either smudged with finger grease or the result of a plastic lens) but as far as Android phones go, it looks to be good enough that it could replace the N82 although I have promised myself that I will test the N8 too.

Here’s my list of things to think about when choosing a cameraphone:

• General image quality (lens quality and sensor quality more important than megapixels)
• Low-light photography (without flash) A sensitive sensor means not having to use flash. A natural lighting wash is often better than a pinpoint flash. It also means that the camera can choose higher shutter speeds and therefore produce sharper images.
• Flash. For very low light images, flash is required. Xenon flash make a great choice not just for its power but for it’s short duration that can ‘freeze’ images. A long duration LED flash can result in blurry images if the subject is moving. LED lamps are the only choice for low-light video work.
• Preview screen (both indoor and outdoor) I make a lot of mistakes on my N82 purely because I can’t see what is in focus and what isn’t. A big, high-brightness screen is a superb way to secure a better ‘hit’ rate.
• Access to controls. Touchscreen devices can make accessing camera options easy. Check out how many presses you need to make to turn the flash from ‘auto’ to ‘red eye.’ for example.
• Type of controls.  If you want to get creative you’ll need access to focus controls, ISO, aperture, shutter speed and white balance but there are some other features that are good. How about automatically taking 6 shots at a time? Or being able to detect movement. Some of these features are gimmicks, some are useful.
• Pre-focus. Make sure that the camera is able to pre-focus by pushing the shutter release button down half-way. If you’re able to prepare for a shot like this, the duration between pressing the shutter release button and the camera taking the image can drop dramatically. A near instantaneous press/capture is obviously ideal.
• Touch capture. With touch-capture, you can tap on an area of the (touch) screen to influence the focal point. It can also be less ‘shaky’ than using a mechanical shutter release button. Be aware that touch-capture will not give you the ability to preview the focus.
• Speed to remove device from pocket and start camera. THere’s nothing worse than waiting for a device to come out of standby and waiting for the camera application to start. Having a shutter cover rather than a case saves time. Having a quick unlock feature saves time. Fast software saves time.
• Quick review. Being able to see the photo you’ve taken is critical. Often the shutter sound does not correspond exactly to the time the image was taken. If the preview takes 2 or 3 seconds to appear it’s annoying for both you and your subject.
• Transfer of photos (online, usb bluetooth, tv) Think about where you need to send your photos. Do you use Flickr. If so, think about a phone that uses 3G with a fast upload speed (HSUPA or HSPA for example.) Make sure the transfer process can be run in the background. Also think about USB transfer speed. For Facebook, make sure you can install an application that supports image uploading or that the Facebook website allows you to upload from the phone.
• Lens cover.  The value of a lens cover can not be overstated. A greasy, scratched, dusty lens is the last thing you want.
• Geotagging. Geotagging isnt just for fun, it helps you to organise your photos based on places. A fast GPS lock or use of network location services can help.
• Overall size of device. If it’s too big you might have to put it in your bag.
• Price. Clearly price is a major consideration.
• Apps. Think about third party software. The iPhone has a number of good camera applications that can be used for different scenarios. On-cam video editing is becoming a theme too as processing power increases.
• Future. Phones can often get better over time. Firmware gets improved and a phone that may have been slow on first release might get upgraded. A phone older than 18 months is not likely to get regular firmware updates.
• Build quality. A cameraphone WILL take a beating. Think about moving parts and exposed ports.

Choosing a mobile phone based on camera capabilities is not how most people will go about the process of choosing their next mobile phone but I know that there are many of you out there that put the camera capabilities high on the list. I hope the tips help you and if you’ve got any other Super CameraPhone tips or thoughts (how’s that Evo, DroidX doing?) please let me know in the comments section below.

If you are interested in cameraphones, check out these two bloggers. They’re as mad about mobile phone camera’s as I am!

Steve Litchfield – All About Symbian, Twitter

Tnkgrl – Tnkgrl Mobile, Twitter

Our pal Jenn over at Pocketables.net already has her hands on the refreshed Sony VAIO P [Portal page]. Though the US Sony Style site doesn’t even have the new VAIO P for sale yet, Jenn has plenty of detailed images for your perusal. She’s also taken the older Sony VAIO P [Portal page] and put it face to face with the new one in a comparison photo-shoot.

The fine folks over at MicroPCTalk are racking up an ever impressive list of mods for the Sony Vaio UX series.

This time around, user audioz33 has decided to trick out his UX490 with some sweet street-glow LED backlighting. All UX-series UMPCs come with a blue backlit keyboard, but it seems that audioz33 wanted his UX490 to stand out from the pack. And through a rather sweet looking modification to the keyboard’s LEDs, it definitely does:

Audioz33 appears to have hand-soldered 26 green LEDs in place of the original blue ones. He says that the project took him around 2 hours to complete. Not bad for those of you who like to start a project and finish it the same day. Though the modder mentions that you may not wish to attempt this mod without a decent amount of soldering experience.

If I had this done to my UX, I think I’d probably go with orange LEDs to pay homage to the Sony Clie UX-series which had an awesome thumb-board with orange backlit keys.