Nothing earth-shattering to report here, but I just noticed that Sony Style is now selling the Sony mylo 2 (COM-2) personal communicator as the mylo Internet Device.
The "personal communicator" moniker that Sony has been using since 2006 was well suited for the original COM-1, which according to the press release was "designed for people who use instant messaging as a primary form of communication and networking for their social life." The COM-2, on the other hand, marked a shift of focus to mobile web browsing, which explains why Sony uses the "fun of a PC in your pocket" tagline in its marketing campaigns
Given the recent software update and direct video uploading to YouTube feature, the unannounced name change makes sense and is a smart move by Sony. The fact that "mylo Internet Device" could easily be shortened to "MID" isn’t lost on me either.
And since "personal communicator" doesn’t have the same mainstream appeal as "internet device," especially these days, maybe the $300 device will see a healthy boost in sales.
I want one of these soo bad. But the price is just too much. 300$ is a lot of money to put into a device that’s been out for as long as the mylo 2. If they hit that 200$ mark, I’ll pick it up in a second.
I was toying with getting one recently, as the Mylo seemed like it could be a replacement to my ol’ reliable, Zaurus SL-C3200…but since they’re not really hackable like the Z’s (running Debian on it now…), and don’t really have much in the way of software available, they seem extremely limited functionally, at least for me…besides web browsing (which is great feature…), I’d want a good PIM available, etc…if there was one, I’d buy one for fun….
They sincerely are too expensive at $299.99. Especially if Apple drops the price of the iPod Touch to $199.99 in September, which I have a feeling they will… Oh, don’t get me wrong… I OWN BOTH!!! But the Mylo 2 isn’t exactly a speed demon in comparison and Sony hasn’t done anything especially amazing in the last few firmware updates. I’m still waiting for Location Free to come to the Mylo! But if they’re already changing the name, it’s probably a pipe-dream… I do like that I can download from AmazonMP3.com and that it shows up as a Mass Storage device compatible with the PS3, though!!!