Type 1 Active Galactic Nuclei: spectroscopy and timing.

We briefly review a few open questions on the interpretation of the X-ray spectra of unobscured Active Galactic Nuclei and their rapid variability. We discuss the so-called soft excess problem, and we present a few recent results which point out the importance of relativistic X-ray reflection from the inner accretion disc in shaping the X-ray spectrum of some sources and driving some of their timing properties. We conclude by pointing out that the study of a few extreme sources such as the most peculiar NLS1 galaxies may well provide a template which improves our understanding of unobscured AGN as a population, once the physical properties and parameters that make these sources so extreme are rescaled to standard values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]