I’ve had SonyEricsson’s LiveView notification module for a week now and it’s time to make my mind up about it. Having used it thoroughly both for it’s out-of-the-box features and for it’s plug in bonuses. The later being why I wanted to try LiveView in the first place, taking advantage of SportyPal Pro notifications integration. SportyPal Pro beta for Android 2.x+up was simultaneously released when LiveView went to market last week and is an important upgrade to CreationPal’s suite of sports apps as it now incorporates Zephyr’s HxM heart rate monitor information.

Before I proceed I want to applaud the innovative effort that LiveView is. I think a device like this has good potential that requires further development from SonyEricsson, and ideally from other manufacturers. LiveView is an early-adopter product and there’s no mistaking it, feeling entirely like a market tester with hints of compromise on many facets of my user experience. Here’s my take:

Hardware
While LiveView is certainly not a toy, if you compare it’s basic look, construction and UI to any Android 2.1+ device, then it sort of feels like one.

The hard key actions are not solid and don’t feel like they’re made to last. To power the unit on and off, as well a waking it from sleep mode (which happens in seconds), you need to press the left hard key. To fire off each notification’s functions, you need to press the left hard key. I mention these basic user moves because you will need them every single time you want to get use out of the module. With that in mind they should be easier to press, larger, softer and should definitely be water resistant. Instead, the hard keys were a bit of pain to constantly have to fuss with and I got no sense that this is a device I would want to use where moisture was a factor. Again, with the approach that I’m using it with a sports tracking app.

The screen should be larger and with better resolution. As it is, it’s just okay. Everything is clearly visible, all the way down to the minuscule text within the Twitter, Facebook and RSS feeds. However, for a device that’s presumably going to keep me from checking my mobile as often, then I shouldn’t be reminded that I’m staring into a compromise. It’s a tiny screen that doesn’t need to be much larger than it is, given what it does. But a larger screen with better resolution would make this feel more like a part of a user experience enhancement, rather than a reminder that I’m too lazy to grab my mobile that remains within 10 meters of the module.

Accessory wise, the included wrist band is nothing more than a temporary solution while you shop for a better one. The module comes with a clip attached for fixing to anything from clothing to the book you’re reading. You can remove this clip and pop the module into an included watch frame, fixing it to appropriately sized third-party watch bands you can get at malls using two spring pins, also included.

Software

LiveView becomes functional with your Android 2.1+up device with two apps available in the Android Marketplace; LiveView and LiveWare. The LiveView app provides connectivity options to the module and the LiveWare app brings search and support for compatible plug ins. Out of the box, you get support for these notifications: Incoming/Missed calls, Calendar, Twitter, Facebook, RSS and Text msg. You can set up polling frequency and exactly which notifications you want to see and disabling those you don’t. Twitter and Facebook messages are shown one at a time and you have to scroll down to see most messages in full, as well as to activate a “send to phone” command where your Twitter or Facebook app on your mobile is launched, taking you directly to that message. For most Twitter/Facebook users this seems totally impractical unless you choose to see only direct messages. None of the LiveView’s notifications are searchable and you only see messages that arrive from the time you connect, i.e. there is no call and message history to find. Again, each time you receive a notification, you have to wake the screen, select the service and open it.

SportyPal Pro Integration

I don’t want to do a review of the app at this time, rather focusing on the SportyPal Pro LiveView notifications. However, I will say that this new app version works nicely; Reliable functionality, pleasing graphics and competitive feature-set. Zephyr’s HxM integration was a cinch to set up and performed well. Moving on to what gets displayed on the LiveView, you get a set of screens to scroll over, including one screen for heart rate stats. The problems I had with this experience were: To see SportyPal Pro stats you have to wake the screen, choose the plugins folder, choose SportyPal Pro, then cross-scroll to your desired stat. This means you’ll be making a lot of button presses on your run. This is not the accessory I’ve been wishing for to complete my sports tracking experience.

Overall impressions

Many mobile phone sport trackers, like myself, have talked about this idea of adding a watch accessory for convenient access to running stats for a while now. The idea being that our mobiles are far more capable computers than traditional wrist-top monitors, offering access to maps and navigation, real-time uploading, media for entertainment (I’m addicted to audio books), voice cues and the important lifeline in case trouble arises. Moreover, the ecosystems of mobile sport tracking are modular, with each component interchangeable and transferrable. That said, our mobiles aren’t so good in bright sunlight, access to functions can be awkward and can’t be worn in a way for easy access to stats. Traditional monitors are still the best choice for the elite athlete who needs immediate access to raw data. The LiveView idea potentially bridges this gap between traditional monitor and sports app and, again, I’m happy to see SonyEricsson’s attempt here. Unfortunately, this first-generation of LiveView has quite a few problems.

Bugs

If you’re planning on purchasing LiveView, note that the Android development community is showing interest in it as well. From app devs planning to add their own LiveView plugins soon, to creative hackers looking to do entirely new things with it. For now, there seems to be more problems than solutions. Most importantly, the connection between phone and LiveView seems to fail with regularity. Sometimes reconnecting is as simple as a press of the right hard key, other times a hard reset of the module is required (hold left hard key down for 20 seconds).

Final thoughts

LiveView probably isn’t the sport tracking solution I thought it might be. For that, I think we need an always-on option for the screen with a focus remaining on sport tracker stats. We also need the SportyPal plugin to at least provide starting and stopping of the parent app, ideally with a lap marker command. I’m not sure what SportyPal is planning to charge for this app version, but they should consider to keep it free while in beta (currently on 30 day trail). Out of the box, the only feature I found in LiveView that seemed practical was remote media player control. The rest of LiveView’s features makes me question why I wouldn’t just go to my phone in the first place.

Not recommended for sports use. Software updates and new, innovative plugins will be key factors in LiveView’s survival. SonyEricsson and other mobile manufacturers should explore this idea further. There are millions of casual athletes using their mobile phones with sport tracking apps right now.

*I planned on adding a followup video but I’m having LiveView connection issues. I’ll add that video to this post if I can get it working again. In case you missed it from my last post, here’s my LiveView first look.