Sony Ericsson has really conceptualized a wonderful gadget with the LiveView, for its aim is a central portable watch that keeps you in touch with your Online and Offline world on your wrist. So, does the LiveView live up to its concept’s hopes?
The LiveView is a miniature Bluetooth Watch that is able to connect with Android Devices running 2.1 OS and higher. Its aim is to sync Via bluetooth with your Android and keep you updated with Time, Location, Call Log, Facebook and Twitter Updates, Gmail and more features via additional plugins/apps. Its miniature size is extremely attractive, especially for those who are heavy Android, Online and Social users.
At only 35 x 35 x 11 mm, it is extremely mobile, lightweight and gets your attention by its sleek looks. The LiveView has only two actual buttons on the top left and right corners for power and select. In addition, its face hides 4 additional ones for left/right, and up/down, which seem touch sensitive…but really aren’t. Within its box contents, Sony also provides a clip attachment and a watch clip as to attach the LiveView with the provided strap, so it may truly be worn as a watch, keeping you updated on the important things with just a glimpse at your wrist.
The LiveView provides great hopes on paper, combining notifications of your calls, twitter updates, facebook messages, calendar alerts, text messages and much more. Unfortunately, while all these are provided, they have not properly worked to make the entire experience an exciting one.
First off, the LiveView isn’t as intuitive as one would expect out of the box. In order to pair it with your phone, you need two separate apps from the Market. It doesn’t seem difficult, but in this digital age, I didn’t expect to have to really open the manual to find out I need to download something else to make it work. Moreover, throughout its use, it continues to try and re-pair itself with your Android, as if making sure it is close by.
Secondly, you would expect an Out of the Box app to work properly, but the Facebook simply disappointed.
Third, the ongoing connectivity issues encountered have broken the sync and made the LiveView a no-go. While this was rather frustrating, it was even more so when it was realized that the actual Watch’s time is also by sync, so even the basic Time of Day cannot be maintained if the sync was broken.
All in all, The LiveView is great for minimal use as in call logs, texts or so, but not for the overall hope it aimed at. Basically, for those who are actually interested in such mobile connectivity at all times, the LiveView wasn’t consistent and functional enough to provide it. With that, it seems like we would have to rely on our phones for the major info for the time being, which all in all doesn’t seem like it was such a hassle to begin with.
For more details and specs about the LiveView, check out the Official LiveView Tech Specs.
We have reviewed other Ericsson products before, with a few highly advantageous, such as the MW600 Wireless Headset and the MS430 Media Speaker Stand both delivering as required.
