MONEY SPECIALIST

Sony Ericsson promised us a 3G smartphone that could rival the Apple iPhone, with incredible fancy interface and animated custom screens over a plain Windows Mobile menus. Now that it is out in Malaysia, it is really a great gadget to own?

Based on first impression, the size of the phone is just nice, not too big or small. Its slim body makes it easy to slip into pocket without much buldge. On the front, the phone has the usual Windows Mobile buttons arranged in a sort of double-X pattern on either side of the ­ directional pad.

While the directional pad functions as you would expect, where you navigate by pressing the up, down, left, right and centre buttons, it actually functions like a notebook’s touchpad as well, allowing you to scroll by just running your finger along the surface.

Turn on the X1 and you’ll be presented with a gorgeous screen — the display is a ­really high-resolution 800 x 480pixel screen, one of the highest currently available on any smartphone. Thanks to its high-resolution and relatively small size, the screen looks silky smooth with pixels that are really invisible to the naked eye.

The size of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 keyboard is good, but the keys are too flat for comfortable use.

The X1 mimics the iPhone’s “flick-to-scroll” feature and allows you to scroll through the entire interface by just flicking your finger on the screen. On top of that, Sony Ericsson has included a few applications of its own including a replacement Today screen with a large analogue clock on the front. There’s also a flashy X Panel application that gives you a list of animated shortcuts to a number of applications, including the custom Xperia Today screen.

The software bundle include Google Maps that works together with the built-in GPS in the X1 and best of all, the very latest Opera 9.5 browser for Windows Mobile. Opera is a very solid browser, allowing you to view ­ webpages and zoom in and out of columns much like Safari does on the iPhone.

The 3.2-megapixel digital camera with autofocus produces pretty good photos especially when shooting in bright daylight. Nothing special to make note off.

Having the Sony brand name attached to this phone means that you get a music and media player that looks better than plain old Windows Media Player Mobile as well as a nice radio tuner application that works with the built-in FM tuner. One great thing is that the X1 comes with a regular 3.5mm stereo jack input so you can use third party earphones.

Battery life on the Xperia X1 is just average — you can get about a day and a half if you don’t use WiFi at all. If you do a little surfing via WiFi for an hour or two, however, expect to have to charge the X1 at the end of the day.

Unfortunately, the thing that really lets down the X1 seems to be the Windows Mobile operating system itself, as Sony Ericsson just doesn’t go far enough with its customisations to minimise the problems with the operating system.

My conclusion? The hardware is nice, but for the price over RM3000, Sony Ericsson really needs to look at where HTC is now with its latest Touch ­ handhelds and really bring the X1 up to speed both in terms of performance and cost.

Blogging has rapidly gained in popularity since 1999 by the arrival of blogger.com. There are more than 112 million blogs hosted on the internet according to blog search engine Technorati. So don’t be surprised that millions of blog entries are being posted daily.

These days blogs are created because people wants to share their opinion on something. But there are some business-minded people, who have found a way to use blogs to bring in a little extra cash too.

During the economy downturn, you might want to start a blog as an additional way to make passive income online. Here are five tips that could turn your blog into money money money.

A cheque received from money making activity online

1. Sell advertising.
This is likely the most common means of leveraging a blog to generate income. For lesser-known blogs, services such as Google’s AdSense or BlogAds enable bloggers to establish ad programs. AdSense’s — which lets you select several ads that are consistent with the content of your blog — pays you based on how many readers click on the ads for further information. BlogAds, on the other hand, hooks bloggers up with would-be advertisers and levies a commission in return for any ad placements that result. The nice thing is that the ads are relatively unobtrusive.

2. Help sell others’ products.
Here is another click-through opportunity. Affiliate programs enable your blog to serve as a conduit between readers and online sites offering various goods and services. One popular choice is Amazon.com. If, for instance, you offer book reviews or even just mention a book in passing in your blog, an affiliate program provides a means for your readers to click directly from your blog to Amazon to obtain further information about the book.

3. Solicit contributions.
Not every blog-related income opportunity involves hawking goods or services. You may ask for contributions. If, for instance, your small-business blog supports a cause or issue, you can always ask for reader support. Even if you’ve attracted a group of regular followers who simply enjoy reading what you have to say, they may be willing to underwrite their loyalty with a little financial help. Programs such as PayPal make it easy to establish a simple on-site contribution collection button. There are lots of worthy ’cause’ blogs that would qualify for donations from grateful members of the blog community.

4. Market your services in your blog.
Many people associate blogs exclusively as a place to shout your opinions and little more than that. Granted, blogs are an ideal venue to share your thoughts with others, but don’t overlook their capacity to generate new business as well. Instead of short commentaries that begin a dialogue with readers, as many blogs do, try write the equivalent of journal articles that demonstrate your abilities, strategies and perspectives on specific issues. When it resonates, it means money money money.

5. Use a blog to deepen your existing customer relationships.
Nor does any marketing material inserted in blog content have to be limited to bringing in completely new business. By using a blog to regularly communicate with existing clients as well as other readers, you can take advantage of the opportunity to fully inform them about everything your business does. That may expand your readers’ understanding of the full scope of your products or services.