Detail on Sony's new M2 card format got rather lost in the Sony Ericsson announcements at 3GSM, but they've now got proper details online and have been emailing journos with the page URL. Only 15mm long! Is this good or bad?
I've updated the 3-Lib smartphone comparison Grid again - see which device it recommends for you! Also updated is my A list page, with a surprising winner. At least I give my reasons...
Programme 5 in the popular TV-style Smartphones Show is now online, with a feature on what makes smartphones smart and cool things to do with them, a look at the competition, in the form of the Orange SPV C600, video from our Rafe from 3GSM and some basic Symbian UIQ/generic tips.
Steve Litchfield explores the goodies that Google Local for Mobile brings to any Symbian (or Windows Mobile, come to that) smartphone. Free mapping, aerial photography and route planning for anywhere in the world? Yup, but watch your GPRS bill...
Over on Phone Scoop's 3GSM coverage, there are more pics of the M600i and W950i, and even a good video of the latter, demonstrating music playback, selection, multitasking and message sending. I'm sure Rafe will be along soon with his own scoop, though...
Moving away from Handango, Sony Ericsson have launched their Application Shop powered by Motricity (the company behind the Gear sites, including PalmGear and SymbianGear). The shop will support the Pxxx series of phones, from P800 to the P990, and the newly announced Walkman W950 and M600i.
Sony Ericsson have announced changes to their developer network. As well as reducing the tiered membership structure to just two categories (Community, which is free, and Premier Partner, which is by invitation only) there are new feedback and commenting systems for articles, and a Forum Ranking system to highlight the work of active members.
The W950 takes UIQ, adds the Walkman brand, and turns out the most desirable Music Phone yet. Now Rafe has had a chance to get a hold of a device, and Ewan's thought about the market implications, it's time to take a first look at the Sony Ericsson W950i.
Since debuting the UIQ3 SDK back in October 2005 developers have been working on porting and developing titles to run under Symbian OS 9.1. A number of them have been chosen by Sony Ericsson to have "try and buy" demo version pre-installed on the Memory Stick supplied with the P990 and other UIQ devices. The lucky eleven include ZingMagic, Epocware and Amazon's MobiPocket.
Late on the first day of 3GSM, Sony Ericsson announced the W950 Walkman Smartphone. Adding the Walkman brand brings a distinct marketing edge to the smartphone market, and while it may not look much in the pictures, in person it's a great looking phone.
The phone itself is Symbian OS 9.1 using UIQ3. It comes with 4 Gigabytes of internal storage (which will hold 4,000 tracks on SE's figures), and similar installed software to the M600i - if you're thinking that this is the M600i with Walkman and Megabase branding then you would be right, but you're forgetting the dedicated one-touch music keys and side volume controls augmenting the regular UIQ interface. More pictures and specs after the break...
News from 3GSM is that Sony Ericsson have a big announcement to make tonight... while over at the SE-NSE Forum Boards, someone's found details on the SE W950i, a Symbian 9 device, powered by UIQ3, under the Walkman brand. Could this 'stylishly purple phone with 4 gigabytes of onboard storage' be in any way connected to the event tonight? We'll know for sure in a few hours.
Symbian's David Wood talks up Symbian's prospects (with good reason) and seems positive about the Sony Ericsson M600i ('wider appeal', although without a camera, some would disagree), in his latest Insight article.
Zi has announced details of the latest version of its Decuma product, available on UIQ phones as Decuma Alphabetic. New in version 4 is predictive input, more supported languages, dual language support (use more than one language at once), used word dictionary (tracks, learns and prioritise words you write), personal dictionary, and user defined shortcuts.
Zi Corporation has announced that it has extened its Qix service is now available on UIQ. Zi will be demonstrating Qix on UIQ 2.1 devices at 3GSM and plans to support UIQ 3 devices later in the year. Qix is an innovative service that helps users 'discover' services on their phone. Users start dialing a number or a word and Qix shows a list of matching contacts, services and programs.
Steve Litchfield explores the goodies that Google Local for Mobile brings to any Symbian (or Windows Mobile, come to that) smartphone. Free mapping, aerial photography and route planning for anywhere in the world? Yup, but watch your GPRS bill...