Sony Ericsson Liveview & Desire HD

[Hoodeddeathman]

This is a review of the Sony Ericsson Live view and the Desire HD

Ordered about a month ago from Play.com for £40 but due to the holiday period I received it yesterday!

Upon first impressions the device has some impressive ideas behind it, watch sized display receiving a bunch of notifications from the phone, 4 capacitive buttons for the directions and 2 hardware keys, interchangeable carry devices, plugins and a phone finding feature.

Here are some size comparisons to the Desire HD

Front on

Side on

Straight out of the box the unit wasn't behaving nicely, I paired it and used the LiveView application to connect. I may have slipped up by already having the application and a bunch of plugins installed in anticipation and by not charging the unit. After a charge and reinstalling the application it started behaving. After playing for a bit I found that only 6 plugins can be installed at one time and that it's best to restart the unit after installing a plugin. It froze my phone otherwise.

Luckily those were the only troubles I had, now the LiveView is working great. There are several nifty plugins for example this calendar app that shows a full month and an agenda view too!

Now out of the box the liveview doesn't support HTC music but vith the poweramp controller plugin the controls and even song information and album art!

Out of the box the unit supports facebook, twitter, rss feeds, texts, and missed calls.
Other plugins on the market include Glob which shows your speed and traffic camera warnings with the app on the phone, Sportypal, Moon Phase, Weather, Location, Contact call, Ringer mode, Gmail, Launcher, Watch and shopping list.

Other great things about the device are that the wrist strap mount has 20mm watch pins so the strap can actually be changed. I've ordered a fossil strap for mine
http://www.fossil.com/en_US/shop/32/build_a_watch/mens/fsscbuildawatchmensstraps/eagle_strap-jr9193p.html?departmentCategoryId=201001&N=32&Va=53&Ns=p_ms0|0||p_weight|0&rec=23&pn=c&imagePath=JR9193
Coming from amazon germany, should be interesting.
The unit also vibrates if you set it too gently alerting the user to notifications.

for this price I couldn't say no and I am happy with my purchase.

 

[dazultra2000]

Excellent! I'm getting one for my birthday in 11 days, so this has made me feel a lot better about it! And with the apparent software update that is coming soon from SE this should be kick ass!

Thank you for your review - especially the pictures!

 

[THE MACHINE]

Great review!

I´m glad it´s working on DHD.

 

[DN41]

thanks for that
i think this is the most usable accessoir
what about power comsumption with bt on?

DN41

 

[audiobookman]

i actually have a different take on this awlful device.
i was impressed with the specs, but in the real world found it serverly lacking.
it would constantly lose connection, and then would freeze the phone up. only a restart would solve it.
i wish i had waited to see what other had said before buying, sony have released a beta product thats no where near ready for the open market - they are not forth coming with any firmware updates either, and sadly enough that is what is needed to sort out the problems everyone seems to have with the bluetooth radio on the device.

 

[ElmarK]

I have the LV since 4 weeks with my DHD. All the problems which are described in several forums. Not usable at all.

Beside the software issues, which are solvable from SE, the worst issue is that it is not possible to recharge the beast in the arm clip.Construction fault.

Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

 

[Hoodeddeathman]

At first I did have the freeze issues but after removing and reinstalling the software and using liveware as per the instruction manual the phone no longer froze. I strongly suggest restarting the liveview after installing a plugin too.

 

[Hoodeddeathman]

thanks for that
i think this is the most usable accessoir
what about power comsumption with bt on?

DN41

Drain on the phone isn't that noticeable, liveview lasts around 8 hours on a single charge. Perhaps not enough for some but it is a tiny device.

 

[DeathJester]

8 hours?! Is there a way to turn of the screen when not in use, or some other battery-saving feature? I'd look at this as a method to keep phone battery going for longer as you don't need to power up that massive screen the DHD is famous for. If it lasts less time than the phone, it's next to useless as far as I'm concerned. A crying shame, really.

 

[Hoodeddeathman]

That's 8 hours you don't have to power your phone screen on for. It's great for running with the Sportypal plugin and also for driving with the Glob plugin, just clip the phone onto your car somewhere and you get live speed and speed camera warnings.

 

[dazultra2000]

Mines arrived today and initially it was working ok - but then I tried to add a plugin and it's all gone wrong. It won't connect at all.

I have removed the LiveWare Manager, the LiveView application, all plugins and deleted the bluetooth pairing.
Then I installed the LiveWare Manager again, then re-paired, then reinstalled the LiveView app, and it still won't connect.

I'm about to fuzz it out a window. Any ideas?

 

[Hoodeddeathman]

Make sure it's 100% charged first time. It won't connect if there's no charge

 

[dazultra2000]

Problems kinda solved!

The SonyEricsson update is out! It's just hidden.

Here's what I did:

Went onto the SE website and downloaded the Update Service package for any phone (they're all the same).

The software currently doesn't have a selection for the liveview (though the front page mentions the LiveView Update!).

I selected the SE X10 as my phone, and clicked next. The software gives you a load of instructions to follow which obviously don't apply.

Instead, switch the liveview off, plug it into the USB, and then hold down the 2 physical buttons. The display shows a USB plug and the letters "DFT" and then the update software reacts and informs that there is new software.

Click to install it and it will download and install, but subsequently say it failed. Restart the LV by holding down the left button for 15 seconds and it will be updated!

Nothing visual has changed, but mine is maintaining connection continuously!

Only problem is that it doesn't seem to update my facebook or twitter feeds...

EDIT: restarted LV and everything has come to life! Wahoo!

 

[dazultra2000]

I spoke too soon.About an hour after I posted it all fell apart again and stopped working properly.

I'm thinking this is more down to the liveview app rather than the device now. I'm gonna do a full wipe today and see if it helps.

 

[dazultra2000]

Still no joy. It connects, works for about a minute, and then disconnects and I have to restart the phone and LV to get it to work again.

Seems to make it very, very angry when I get a text message too.

 

[ElmarK]

I just have updated my LV. Same sh.. as before :-(

The only difference is that the timeout of the display is in 2 steps. At least I haven't recognized this before.

Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

 

[dazultra2000]

So after a weekend of using it I can give some more impressions.

In general, if you want to do something with the LiveView it will disconnect and be very angry at you for the rest of the day.

However, if you switch it on and just leave it, and let it update you when it wants to, then generally it's pretty solid. I have mine updating every 15 mins and it will buzz with my latest updates. I read them, turn the screen off and then 15 mins later will get another buzz. In this respect it works very well.

If I try to show anyone what it does (because it seems to get a LOT of interest) then it does not play well and just gives up.

I'm almost certain a lot of this is to do with the shoddy LV app though. Sometimes my LV will be off and I will be miles away from it, but the LV app decides to lock up the phone and I have to pull the battery.
Annoying.

EDIT: Just a quick note about the battery. I haven't had it on for long, but I can safely say that battery life far exceeds the 8 hours previously quoted.

Maybe 8 hours constantly on, but the screen dims and then turns itself off after a certain timeout anyway.

 

[wiseman95]

Is your DHD silver? (dazultra2000)

 

[dazultra2000]

Is your DHD silver? (dazultra2000)

Nope. Same as everyone elses. I've not yet updated my sigpic with the DHD yet.

In the pic it's:

Canary, Typhoon, Hurricane, BlueAngel, Universal, Kaiser, Rhodium

 

[wiseman95]

Wow, really? In the comparison photo it looks silver. It must just be like a reflection or something.