[XPERIA X1 ROM Development] Howshall:
Initial flash review of Energy.XPERIA.21903.Sense2.5.Cookie.May.09

Had just flashed my X1 to Energy.XPERIA.21903.Sense2.5.Cookie.May.01 the day 9th May versions were announced (of course ;-) so here's a joint initial review of both of those:

Energy.XPERIA.21903.Sense2.5.Cookie.May.09

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Loves:

- Energy default look and feel, theme, quality and completeness!

- Cookie Home Tab is amazing add-on to Sense

- [Update 2] Forgot to mention Full Landscape support!

- Google Maps with voice search and layers

- Included tools inc BsB Tweaks panel

- Included Swype 'finger drag' keyboard

Issues:

- [Update 4] Had confirmed Standby of Death (SOD) this morning having been using the phone in the morning, put phone on desk and left for 30mins (not connected to Power or USB).

Tried to bring phone back out of standby and no response from screen, LEDs or light up front keys (as if phone was fully powered off) however could call my mobile number and it rang as normal (still no activity from phone) before eventually pushing me to voicemail, but network believed phone was still active and expected to be able to answer confirming phone was still powered up.

Only solution was stylus reset inside battery compartment.

- [Update 1] Just had major persistent 'tearing' graphics glitch in all Sense and HTC app screens like Contacts etc (not affecting non-HTC like Opera, Action Menu, WM 6.5 Start Menu) following end of incoming phone call that was cut off when signal dropped. Going into settings and adding back Stocks tab to re-trigger Sense restart still didn't fix. Had to do Soft Reset which did fix. - Touchscreen and programs still fully functional and running but graphically shifted in sloping stripes so difficult to read text.

[Update 4] Have not had further graphics glitches in 24hrs so will consider this isolated/occasional glitch. Certainly much better than 01 May version.

- All Battery indicators seemed stuck reporting 100% since flash. Still at 100% after extensive use setting up and playing for 4+ hours including multiple Soft Resets (Fixed by complete power off, remove battery, restart. Power came back shown as down to 27%)

- While Sense 2.5 itself feels very fast, rest of main apps feel sluggish in use?

[Update 2] Other apps feeling faster now at 7-8hr point so maybe background tasks have finished - HTC Contacts still slower than liked, but believe that's common on X1 level hardware.

- Facebook Sense Tab never fills out other people's updates?

[Update 3] Appears to require two saved Facebook logins to work: 1) Sense UI 2) MS Facebook App via tab menu option - More info

- Contact's 'Online Albums' does not return any photos except maybe profile pic?

[Update 4] HTC Contacts Facebook sync'd 'Online Albums' functionality now partially working after dual Sense and MS Facebook App remembered logins

- Included Opera 9 does not work correctly with X1 hardware keyboard entry in web text fields. (Keeps loosing field focus on 1st hardware key press - Fix would be Opera 10

[Update 2] Latest Opera 10 from http://m.opera.com fixes hardware keyboard text entry issues and seems to run fast and stable soo far)

Energy.XPERIA.21903.Sense2.5.Cookie.May.01

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Loved all of the above for 9th May

Issues:

- Standby of Death (SOD) experienced at second wake from standby in morning after successfully silencing HTC standard alarm while on mains power all night (Not yet tested under 9th May)

- Frequent and varying graphics glitches including 1px permanent edging to parts of screen and other times scrambled text across multiple applications and Sense until soft reset (Seems fixed in 9th May)

- Default HTC keyboard got stuck in numbers view and wouldn't allow toggle back to QWERTY layout (Not fixed by Soft Reset. Not yet problem in 9th May)

- Frequent temporary pauses/hangs when using software keyboards (Seems fixed in 9th May)

Background info:

- 1st May flashed via SD Card method after Task29 format

- 9th May flashed via USB after Task29 and then immediate Hard Reset

- Network, Regional and Time/Date settings all done to UK T-Mobile on 1st boot then soft reset before rest of configuration

- Setup to sync with corporate Exchange Email and Calendar which forces strong password

- Setup to sync Contacts with home PC

- Texts and Call History restored from PIM Backup

- No extra Apps, Utils, CABs, or Reg edits installed except licensed CoPilot Live 8 GPS Software

Will keep testing this 9th May Cookie ROM overnight to see if trigger SOD issue.