Sony-Ericsson P900 Released

phil-trick writes "The Sony-Ericsson P900 was released today. Here is a detailed P900 Review. Also, to make linux oriented, here is a pice on how it Syncs with Linux"

Comments

Good... time to upgrade

[Anonymous Coward]

Good... now I finally can replace my old antique P800.

Re:Good... time to upgrade

[Basehart]

All of a sudden my T68i looks like one of those rotary telephones with a crank handle and two big bells on top!

Re:Good... time to upgrade

[Ulven]

My p800 arrived only arrived today, and I need to upgrade already?

Now that is bad timing.

Re:Good... time to upgrade

[tolan-b]

yeah, i bought my p800 not so long ago either :(

hmm.. insurance...

Re:Good... time to upgrade

[Ulven]

Someone remind me, is the p800 waterproof? ;)

Re:Good... time to upgrade

[dezoe]

Move along - nothing much new here. Think I'll have to stick to my P800 for a while (P1000 soon?).

Thanks

[tmark]

Also, to make linux oriented, here is a pice on how it Syncs with Linux

Thank you for that, I had absolutely no interest in reading an article if there isn't some sort of tie-in to Linux.

Re:Thanks

[thryllkill]

at least they didn't say:

Also the p900 is aweful linuxy, here is a pice on how it Syncs with Linux

Re:Thanks

[Linuxthess]

Only Linux?

As a cultured /.'er, the words ogg vorbis probably sends shivers down your spineless back.

Yes, there is ogg vorbis support thru a skinnable app boringly called "Ogg Player". The only downside is that you can't use them as ringtones.
It should also interest you to know that there is a SCUMM emulator port for SymbianOS called escummvm.

The P900 is signifigantly better than the P800. You might even want to say that the P800 was an expensive beta test. The improvements include, but are not limited to:
1- Higher screen resolution
2- Landscape mode
3- Downloadable firmware updates
4- A full length, real stylus
5- A faster processor
6- More internal memory, plus support for Memory Stick Duo Pro
7- Real buttons on the non-removable keypad
8- More glorified business style; it doesnt look like a child's cheesy toy like the P800
9- Has video camera software with sound-in support
10- Includes the latest rev of the UIQ interface
11- Camera now has mirror so you can take self-potraits

All in all, it was an upgrade to the P800, and they were originally going to name it the P810, but marketing thought that this would raise the ire of thousands of P800 who would demand the free upgrades.

Re:Thanks

[Nogami_Saeko]

I own a P800, but I don't plan on upgrading to a P900 - the improvements just aren't that significant in my book to warrant the hundreds of dollars of money, not to mention the time to sell-off the old unit and upgrade.

1 - the screen resolution is the same, but looks larger because the flip is smaller. I have my flip removed anyway, so no big deal.

2 - landscape mode is nice, though there's only a few apps that I need that use it.

3 - firmware can be uploaded into the P800 as well, but it must be done at a dealer. I havn't heard anywhere yet that the P900 is user-upgradable without a trip to the SE service center though that would be very, very nice.

4 through 11 - Nice, but nothing that I'd pay hundreds of dollars to obtain.

I'm going to skip the P900 and probably pick up whatever they're releasing next summer/fall.

I'm supremely dissapointed that they didn't put a better camera into the P900 because the model from the 800 (and which is in the 900) is just barely acceptable in terms of quality. Even a one-megapixel camera would've been very, very nice.

N.

'Death of the PDA?' question revisited.

[rastakid]

Geez, with this many features one starts to wonder if it's still possible to call with this thing ;-)

Seriously though, this brings back the same question as posed on last Monday, in this article: Death of the PDA?

Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited.

[AppyPappy]

Even worse. Imagine people fooling with this thing while they drive down the road.

Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited.

[macrom]

It does make me wonder if a lot of these new phones are designed without American transportation habits in mind (not that the world should cater to our habits, mind you). It seems to me that all of the features on these new "smart" phones cater more to a population that relies on public transporation, ie, someone else is doing the driving.

Personally, I'd rather see phones with more emphasis on less expensive wireless headsets, better voice dialing (the ones I've used all suck) and bigger buttons so you can dial by touch while watching the road. The Nokia 3650 is a good example of a phone not really catered to people who shouldn't look at the phone while dialing.

Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited.

[zmooc]

How does "integrating a phone in a PDA" classify as the Death of the PDA? I think it's the dead of the cellphone.

Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited.

[WinterSolstice]

Heh. Kinda reminds me of that old Ritchey-Rich watch with the phone, walkie-talkie, calculator, etc. that didn't tell time :)

-WS

Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited.

[f97tosc]

Seriously though, this brings back the same question as posed on last Monday, in this article: Death of the PDA?

For me, the key problem, which seems hard to engineer around, is this:
1)I would like the device to be so small that I can put it in my pocket
2)I would like the display to be bigger than would fit in my pocket.

Even if the device has both a phone and a to-do list it can only do either 1) or 2) for me, not both. Those that only do 1) we can call cell phones and those that can only do 2) PDAs. This new Sony Ericsson seems to be somewhere in between; display on the small side (for a PDA) and uncomfortable in a pocket (compared to a cell phone)...

Tor

Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited.

[mazevedo]

Are there any "fundamental" differences with American transportation habits and other transportation habits around the world (namely Europe)?

Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited.

[Basehart]

It seems to me that all of the features on these new "smart" phones cater more to a population that relies on public transporation...

This is a really good point. I was travelling back from doing some location vido work yesterday on the bus (I use public transit whenever possible for this...it's cheaper, easier, more relaible and safer than driving...for me anyway) and spent the whole 30 minute trip back to the office updating contacts on my cell, IM'ing a business partner and checking email, all while barreling down I90 from Issaquah to Seattle in torrential rain on a state of the art bus.

Oh, and I made a couple of phone calls too, which is all I imagine folks to the left and right of me driving through blinding mist could manage to do.

With a phone/PDA like the P900 I would also be able to log into a system the UW is bulding called BusView which shows where all the buses are, including mine, so I don't have to stand waiting for more than a few minutes.

Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited.

[Moofie]

...so where do you carry your PDA?

If you don't use a PDA, you won't use a PDA. Therefore, you won't be interested in convergence devices. Nobody's going to take away your tiny tiny phone. Please stop worrying about this non-problem.

Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited.

[Christopher Bibbs]

This isn't the death of the phone, simply a new way of defining it. There was a time when a phone was simply the device to spoke into heard the response. Then they added the ability to dial your party directly. Eventually, we came to accept that this was a standard feature of telephones and part of the definition. Same with touch-tone and memory dial technologies. Now we're expanding the definition to include text messaging, date book functionality, and network access.

The phone won't die, just evolve.

Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited.

[The Notorious ASP]

Personally, I find myself doing without my PDA a lot of the time. I carry both PDA and Cell phone at work, but after hours I wind up junking the PDA and just carrying my much smaller cell phone. Even though it would be nice to have the PDA functionality all the time, it's just not worth lugging the thing around... quite the conundrum...

Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited.

[Moofie]

I require PDA functionality all the time. My needs are different from yours. My habits are different from yours. The products I choose will be different from the products you choose. I care much less about screen size than screen resolution. Since the difference between the smallest phone's screen vs. the largest PDA's screen can be eliminated by moving the phone six inches closer to my nose, this is not a substantial problem in my opinion.

Why is this threatening? Why do people insist on there being all-or-nothing solutions? Isn't that precisely what the free market is supposed to route around?

Oh, wait. Nobody likes free markets. Everybody wants everybody else to conform with their own preconceptions. How naive of me.

What I like about it

[robslimo]

is that it should easy enough to program to it.

Borland has announced a version of C++ Builder for the Symbian OS, so I should feel right at home. Now, anyone have ideas for a killer app?

Oh, wait. I don't have time for that kind of crap.

Re:What I like about it

[MoonFog]

Now, anyone have ideas for a killer app?

How about creating a Clippy to help people write their SMS.
"It appears u r trying to send an sms, do u w4nt me to check it for mistypings ?"

Re:What I like about it

[GR|MLOCK]

Visit my company's website, appforge.com, in the next few days to download MobileVB 4.0, an add-in to VB6 that lets you write applications for a wide range of handheld devices. We support the P800 and P900, and apps are very easy to create.

Re:What I like about it

[jtrascap]

Not to be too rude, but I'm not a fan of the AppForge Booster, the application he's speaking about, which lets you run Visual Basic apps on your P800/900. I've had a P800 for nearly 10 months now, and I've tried it many times because someone wrote the app to require Booster.

My problem is that Booster eats alot of precious RAM and makes the system unstable (I crash regularly with it installed). But worse - far worse, but not AppForge's fault - it unleashes crappy Basic programmers onto my phone. I'll install an app, play with it until I realize it 1) doesn't do what it claims, b) eats MORE ram, and iii) looks and works like 1988. Crap, crap, crap.

(This is /., so VB should never get any respect).

Re:What I like about it

[KarmaPolice]

Well pardon me for not bashing the paperclip, but that's not a bad idea. How about something like: "I can see on the AGPS reciever that you are not at your meeting that started 15 minutes ago. Do you want me to write a SMS telling John Doe that you are running late?". Or...it could do this automatically. "This is clippy from Brians cell phone. Brian will be with you in 20 minutes" ...on some 3G phones you can actually see where your friends are on a map if they have enabled the feature.

Re:What I like about it

[akb]

The killer app will be personal profile exchanges over wireless. Imagine, you walk into your local meat market / bar, glance down at your phone and you see the Friendster profiles of everyone overlaid of the picture the device took. Without the phone you would have spent the night following around that eye candy hot person that thinks Brittany Spears is deep. But with the phone you find that less flashy friend of a friend that likes the same books as you.

A bar is one example where personal profile exchange would be handy, but busy conferences are another. You could change what information you make available depending on where you are, a Friendster profile in a social situation, a resume and portfolio in a business setting.

Re:What I like about it

[Kenja]

This is just the Symbian SDK using the borland compiler. You dont realy get to use the interface builder to make the app. Whats more the SDK for Visual Studio is a bit better right now.

That being said I'm going to a Borland/Nokia dev con next month where I'll get the new version of the dev kit which uses C++BuilderX and is suposed to be much better.

Re:What I like about it

[fiddlesticks]

t-9 already does that (on european nokias, sonys, etc) -doesn't it on US phones?

it suggests words on input, you can add custom words to it, switch languages, etc

it has removed - save from l33t-journalist-style-cliche the sort of 'u r g8' langauge from SMSs - as it's harder to type the abbreviation than it is to type the real word.

Re:What I like about it

[jumpingfred]

All my recent phones in the US have had T9.

Re:What I like about it

[boysimple]

along the same lines, I read results from a similar idea earlier today. Much like Friendster, it seems to be more fun to subvert the system, than to actually use it for it's intended purpose.

MP3 support

[Dreadlord]

What I've found the most interesting after reading the article is MP3 support, both of Nokia's Symbian OS based phones (3650, 7650) don't have it, and it's even more cool to be able to use MP3's as ringtones.

Re:MP3 support

[DrEldarion]

MP3s as ringtones? This is not good news. My ears are already assaulted constantly by bad music - now I'll have to put up with listening to "Big Booty Hoes" whenever some trendy bastard's phone rings.

-- Dr. Eldarion --

Re:MP3 support

[ankit]

Both nokia 3650 and 7650 support mp3 playback. You need to buy the application to do it though. Also, music is only mono (hardware limitation)

Re:MP3 support

[n0wak]

I assume there'd be a size/length limit to the ringtones, but even then... I can imagine many, many people using Simpsons quotes as their ring tones. As if their constant verbal references aren't enough, we'll have phones saying things like "I bent my wookie!" or "We're sorry, the fingers you are using are too fat." oi.

Re:MP3 support

[Anonymous Coward]

See, I find MP3 support on a cell phone, or PDA, useless. Who wants to drain their battery down to listen to maybe (if they're lucky) a 4 minute MP3 on some tiny speaker? Not I. Having MP3 support is a novelty, its not practical.

Re:MP3 support

[bug-eyed monster]

Or you could use the feature to play a personalized message like "phone call for {unique-name}" so you know it's your phone ringing. That is, until your friends program their cell with the same mp3 and make you answer non-existent calls.

I've always wanted to put this as my ring tone: "bug-eyed, phone call for you... {pause} bug-eyed, please answer your phone! {pause} bug-eyed!! telephone!!!! {pause} BUG-EYED! PICK UP THE DAM PHONE!!!"

Re:MP3 support

[nahojd]

You know, it comes with stereo headphones that also functions as handsfree. And if it works similar to the P800 you can listen to music on it for hours without draining the battery. Bottom line, it replaces your mp3 player as well as your PDA.

Re:MP3 support

[otis wildflower]

IIRC MP3 ringers don't work on P800.. Though WAVs and AU files do, and mono 11khz AU files are pretty darned small, especially since you have to build loops that are essentially the audio equivalent of 256x256 wallpaper textures..

My last one was the Funky Drummer riff, I'm thinking the next one will be the piano intro to 'Take Five'.. Then again, there's at least 3 great 'ringer' tracks on Brubeck's 'Time Out'...

Re:MP3 support

[Goth Biker Babe]

Obviously you've never actually used such a facility. I have a clip-on MP3 player for my T68i. A 128Mb memory card is more than suffucient to supply enough music for an hour in the gym and only reduces the battery life by a couple of days out of ten.

Re:MP3 support

[stilwebm]

Too bad you can't bring the phone in most gyms with that camera if you have a P900.

Re:MP3 support

[Moofie]

I'm looking forward to being able to use the second movement of Hindemith's Symphony in B.

So you get the good with the bad.

Re:MP3 support

[Goth Biker Babe]

No problem at my gym. There's no ban on camera phones.

Nice URL

[DrEldarion]

I misread the URL as my-sybian.com, which made me think this phone must have a really nice feature that makes you WANT to carry it around in your pocket constantly...

-- Dr. Eldarion --

Re:Nice URL

[eoyount]

I read it as my-simian.com, which made me think of monkeys. I love monkeys.

Re:Nice URL

[DrEldarion]

Heh, I don't know about it from my browsing habits - my girlfriend has been bugging me for one for years. If only it weren't so expensive :/

-- Dr. Eldarion --

Re:Nice URL

[DrEldarion]

Go look at the price on one of those things, this isn't your everyday $20 sex toy...

-- Dr. Eldarion --

it's as pretty as a bitch, but

[Tibor the Hun]

how long can the battery last? i have my cell phone running pretty dark and quiet, and it still drains power like mad.

if one was to use this as advertised, what could we expect in terms of battery life before having to recharge it?

Re:it's as pretty as a bitch, but

[Dynamoo]

Advertised as up to 16 hours talktime and 20 hours standy which is a LOT. It also takes the Sony Memory Stick Duo which is scarce but easy to use.

Closest thing I've seen to the perfect phone/PDA/games machine/MP3 player yet. Looks like it has a much better screen than the N-Gage too.

Re:it's as pretty as a bitch, but

[Tibor the Hun]

thanx, i must have missed it on their page

Re:it's as pretty as a bitch, but

[bugnuts]

they said 20 DAYS standby.

Palm is dead in the water

[Anonymous Coward]

with devices that look this good with that amount of functionality to boot, iam sure there are some worried faces in Palm computing

services in the u.s.

[simpl3x]

does anybody use the p800 with services in the us? i assume these would be t-mobile and att&t. the p900 is supposed to be available here in january, but i have never seen anybody with a p800.

i imagine that the linux version would be a requirement for the chinese market, since thay have a chinese specific version--p908. apple needs to get itunes (lite where required) everwhere, including linux and devices. beat sony to the punch with their mobile initiatives.

more memory would have been nice!

Re:services in the u.s.

[jake_the_blue_spruce]

Yeah, I've got a p800 with T-Mobile service, but it's not locked, so any GSM provider will work. T-Mobile was the cheapest that had coverage out here. I sync it with Evolution using Multisync (multisync.sourceforge.net)

Re:services in the u.s.

[4iedBandit]

I have a P800 with T-mobile in the US. They don't officially support the phone, but then again I don't care. I just want the service. The phone is GSM/GPRS, so all T-Mobile does is activate the service. I took the SIM card out of the free phone they gave me, plopped it into the P800 and it works like a charm.

I've been impressed with T-Mobile's coverage, compared to Nextel which was my previous provider.

It sync's to my work laptop and lotus notes, and also to my home Mac's without a problem. Bluetooth is fantastic too. I have a wireless headset that alone is worth the price of the phone. I love doing conference calls with both hands free.

Battery life is phenominal. Sony rates it as 13 hour of TALK time. I've used it heavily and only gotten it down to half a charge with a full day's use. My Nextel phone would give up the ghost after just one, two hour conference call.

The P900 looks nice and some nifty features, but I'm not going to buy it for mostly cosmetic features like theme support. Although if anything happens to my P800, I'd buy a P900 without a second thought.

Re:services in the u.s.

[Nakiko]

I have the P800 with AT&T. Got it replace my t68i and so I would be able to stop carrying around my iPaq. Longest I've gone on battery charge is almost 5 days with moderate usage with the BT chip turned off. I'll probably get the P900 when its released, but I really like the styling of the P800 =P The new screen in the P900 seems pretty good.

Re:services in the u.s.

[Oopsz]

Not exactly true. The P800/P900 only support one north american GSM band, GSM1900. AT&T and Cingular have GSM1900 and GSM850, because they've converted some of their TDMA spectrum to GSM. If you use the P800/P900 on AT&T or cingular, you won't be able to utilize all of their coverage footprint.

T-Mobile has an all 1900mhz network. Stick with them.

Re:services in the u.s.

[firippu]

I've been using my p800 on both t-mobile and att networks (in the NY tristate area). I bought mine unlocked in Indonesia (for a much cheaper price than can be found here in the states). Since I do a lot of international travel, I buy pre-paid service to avoid getting caught in a yearly contract - I'm not even in the country for half the year. I have to say that ATT's service is by far outstanding compared to T-mobile; cheaper, more service options provided (i.e. access to gprs), and friendler customer service. I have yet to see another person in the States with a p800, but then again it only sets you back about $700 *cough*

4 days

[RMH101]

if it's anything like the P800. and it *is* like the P800.
when you first get it, you'll get a day's life, then when the novelty of all the toys wear off and you're just using it for the odd call, reading slashdot whilst on the motorway, and then taking pictures of the ensuing pileup and mailing them to "America's Dumbest Road Users" you'll get more like 4-5 days worth.

Re:Nokia 6600

[TonkaTown]

The Sendo X has the same functionality as the Nokia 6600 and is smaller and prettier. There's a load of cool new Symbian phones coming out now.

Re:Wow

[Durdle]

I'm bet due to the moderation on this, that the mod'er doesnt like people who buy these devices. Remind me not to buy one, I don't want to me modded down.

Re:Nokia 6600

[TonkaTown]

The Nokia 6600 is way smarter than the T610, it too is a full on smartphone with gui, like the P900 it uses Symbian's OS, the big difference from a user POV being the screen size (the P900's is bigger) and input methods.

Both allow you to develop software in Java, C++, OPL, and even Basic. They're full-on networked computers that fit your pocket.

Re:Ugly

[Johnny Mozzarella]

Designwise it reminds me of the older Kyocera SmartPhone. Large screen, flip down keypad, attractive brick shape.

I have a Sony EricssonT68i on AT&T and my wife has a Sony Ericcson T316 with Cingular. This will probably be my next phone if Cingular supports it.

Best hybrid device yet?

[Dynamoo]

Is this the best hybrid device yet? To quote from elsewhere..

The large screen and powerful processor on the Sony Ericsson P900 make it a great games platform too. The screen has 80% more pixels than the Nokia N-Gage offering better gameplay.

It's quite a large phone overall, but the Sony Ericsson P900 does have excellent battery life, with a maximum of 16 hours talk time and 20 days standby. The large screen on the P900 makes it ideal for organising data, appointments and contacts. The Sony Ericsson P900's PDA functions run on the Symbian OS, to give maximum performance from a mobile device.

Plus it plays MP3s, and with 128Mb memory sticks that should squeeze two full CDs into the P900.

I guess it's pretty good for a Symbian PDA/phone. However, the real competition might come from devices like the Voq Professional which has the backing of Micro$oft (and a clever keypad to boot).

All we need now is a decent megapixel digital camera rather than the rather lame 640x480 one in the P900.

Pricepoint

[W33dz]

Ok...it is way cool.
But how much is the damn thing going to cost me?

Re:Pricepoint

[Oopsz]

The P800 is currently running $950 canadian with new activation on fido/microcell, the only gsm network in canada that supports it.

I figure the P900 would probably come in about $200 more, unless there's some fancy early adopter rebate.

Re:Ugly

[fondue]

I think it looks nicer than the P800, which had a severe case of iMac case styling disease. It's still a bit on the chunky side though.

Yikes..

[thatguywhoiam]

Anyone else starting to get nervous about carting around all this expensive stuff?

On the subway the other day I did a little monetary tally of what I carry around usually.. it adds up quick! Just between my iPod and my phone its almost $1k. I find I have to be extra-careful whenever putting my phone in my pocket, as just dropping the bloody thing would require a 2nd mortgage...

If I add anymore expensive devices, I'm not gonna need a fancy case for the phone, I'm gonna need a fancy case for me.

Re:Yikes..

[stm42]

Yeah I was thinking about that the other day too.

When I add the cost of my Zippo lighter, Leatherman Wave multitool, Tungsten C PDA, Motorola V60 cell phone, Titan III-Flex pager and 256 MB Lexar jump drive together, it gets pretty scary.

Damn I hope I don't get mugged

Re:Yikes..

[Jarnis]

You americans are slow - in Finland operators are already offering special insurance policies that cover your mega-expensive cellphones against just about everything (including theft, accidental fall off a great height to a concrete surface.. ya name it), with special service to ensure that you get a new phone quickly. Sure, it costs money, but what doesn't?

Anyway, people have also figured out that any good home insurance should cover these things already - check the small print on your policy...

Re:Yikes..

[thatguywhoiam]

You americans are slow - in Finland operators are already offering special insurance policies...

You Finns are slow.. I'm a Canadian with Home Insurance. :)

Re:Yikes..

[Jarnis]

As I noted, these are _special_ policies which are designed to be as hassle-free as possible. Let's see;

Mobile phone stolen
- With 'special' insurance, you walk to the closest customer service location, give your details and watch the rep dig out your insurance details + IMEI of your phone to get it blocked, file a notice about the theft (which is usually FAXed on the spot to the police so there is an official report filed in case the phone later turns up), and then get a new phone + new SIM card.

- With home insurance, you file a claim, dig out receipts showing how much you paid for it, then insurance company deducts from that based on how old the phone was, and then there is a portion of the loss that the consumer pays himself. Once all the paperwork has gone thru, you get money that doesn't cover the full cost of buying a new one - which you actually had to buy few weeks earlier or you would have been without a phone for quite a while. Then you need to go thru the hassle of getting your SIM card replaced separately.

It's called 'a specialized value-added insurance policy to minimize the hassle of being without a phone'. Also this way your phone's IMEI is always known as it's written into the insurance details, so the phone gets automatically blocked - of course around here most stolen phones end up in russia, but...

Re:Yikes..

[bugnuts]

Agreed... When I add in the cost of my cellphone/pda ($400) with the cost of my SIG 223 9mm auto with hollowpoints and pre-ban 13+1 clip ($750) I shudder at the thought of getting mugged.

Re:Yikes..

[thatguywhoiam]

Agreed... When I add in the cost of my cellphone/pda ($400) with the cost of my SIG 223 9mm auto with hollowpoints and pre-ban 13+1 clip ($750) I shudder at the thought of getting mugged.

Who said anything about getting mugged? I'm worried about just dropping the damn thing(s).

Re:Yikes..

[electrichamster]

I was cycling home from university the other day, and thinking about exactly this issue - I worked out that at that moment (including the bike) I had around 2000 worth of posessions on me.

Needless to say I was paranoid about getting mugged for the next ten minutes and I've since cut down on the gadgetry I carry with me drastically....

Re:Yikes..

[twaltari]

I agree. I think there is a real market for virtually undestroyable cadgets. Sure, it'll cost way more to produce a digital camera with with a magnesium case and mechanics to enclose all the components inside the case when the device is inactive. But I'm willing to pay for that. Make them cameras, PDAs and phones water, dirt and concrete -proof and you'll have a total killer product.

As far as I know there aren't such products. There's been a few water resistant cell phone models, but what I really want is something even more durable than those.

To me 'released' means...

[Anonymous Coward]

I can buy it.

'Coming Soon' means I can not buy it.

Thank you.

Re:To me 'released' means...

[FatherOfONe]

If I could mod you up I would. It is very difficult to buy an 800 in the U.S.A. Let alone this model.

My question for the U.S. people is
"Will this work with anyone but T-mobile?"

I hate T-mobile and would never use them again.

Treo 600 killer?

[rjrjr]

Anyone more knowledgable than I care to compare and contrast this thing and the Treo 600? I know the Treo will have teeming hordes of PalmOS s/w available. Any other important distinctions?

Re:Treo 600 killer?

[Jedi Holocron]

Rabid die-hard handspring/visor/treo hordes of drooling fans just dying to get their hands on a Treo 600... ...might be an important distinction.

Re:Treo 600 killer?

[lp_bugman]

built in keyboard. At beginin you think is over kill because gratiffy is so nice and you love it. Think again. The keyboard is realy nice and If you are a IM user then it's realy cool been able to install VeriChat . Thera tons of other cool thinkgs you can do. I have a Kyocera 7150 and a Treo 180. The 7150 is cool and looks like a phone but the Treo has te keyboard that's the one I use.
I great complement for the Treo 180 is JOT.

No Palm = No go

[cardozo]

This phone does look great. But since it's not Palm compatible, I doubt it will take off.

For me, at least, the availability of software, the integration with desktop apps (on Windows), and the ubiquity (and maybe therefore compatibility) of the Palm platform makes this phone much less attractive.

Perhaps technical people can put this phone to great use through their own programming, integration, etc. But mainstream people just aren't going to do that.

I don't mean this to be flamebait, but why would anyone get on to a platform with so little software, compatibility, etc?

Re:No Palm = No go

[TonkaTown]

Maybe it won't take off in the US, but the Palm platform is pretty much invisible in Europe too.

One thing to remember is that the P800 is the biggest selling PDA right now, so the Symbian UIQ platform is hardly a rarity...

number portability

[tomdarch]

Once number portability kicks in, skanky old Sprint has lost a customer, and T-Mobile or ATT (whoever has the best GSM/GPRS coverage in the states) has gained one. Ahhh, competition!

Re:number portability

[Oopsz]

Remember, the P900 only supports GSM1900, not GSM850 (gsm that was converted from TDMA spectrum.) That means the old tdma providers who are rolling over to GSM (AT&T and Cingular) will likely not offer or support the P900, because it won't be able to utilize half their network.

If you want the P900, you're going to want a network that has pure 1900mhz gsm.. that's T-mobile in america and Fido/Microcell in canada.

Re:number portability

[SealBeater]

Man, you ain't kidding...
I'm for T-Mobile cause I heard they have a $45 a month plan that includes unlimited GPRS with unlimited nights and weekends.

SealBeater

Re:number portability

[lp_bugman]

I was wondering why ATT skiped that phone. Treo 600 looks even more appealing now!

Re:number portability

[thammoud]

That is simply not true. AT&T sells the P800 and many other phones that are not 850.

Guess what I bought over the weekend..

[rf0]

yes thats right a P800. Now being a geek I've got to go an upgrade for no good reason

Rus

Re:Guess what I bought over the weekend..

[otis wildflower]

Here's hoping the 900 software is available as a firmware upgrade on the P800...

Re:Guess what I bought over the weekend..

[electrichamster]

I went to buy myself a p800 the other day because my contract with o2 is terminating in a week.
I got halfway through the registration process when we got to the subject of number porting over to my new network - at which point I discovered o2 would force me to wait till my contract terminates before allowing me to port my number.
So I sulked off home, girlfriend in tow, wishing that I had a new toy to play with.

Two days later I come home from university and read slashdot, only to discover that the new model is being released (I thought it was out after christmas). Needless to say, I'm one very happy geek - even if this will cost me more than the p800 would have :)

Javascript required?

[tliston]

Hmmm...

"Warning, your browser does not seem to support javascript! Javascript must be enabled to view this site."

Why? Why, why, why??
Just to look?

Re:Windows-centric development environments?

[Raphael]

Although the official development kits are available for Windows, you can easily develop Symbian applications with the Linux tools provided by the GnuPoc project. So you will not only be able to build the Java applications (J2ME or MIDP), but also the native C++ applications using Linux.

So you can have a 100% Linux-based development environment for Symbian. Considering that the official Symbian SDK for Windows uses perl and gcc, so it is no surprise that most of the tools can work with Linux. It was probably a business decision to distribute the SDK for Windows only (it makes sense, because this is what most developers will be using anyway) but the Linux developers are not excluded.

Even the Symbian installer (the makesis utility) was released as open source by Symbian a few months ago. You can probably google for it.

Re:What about OGGs?

[nahojd]

How about this one:
http://www.geocities.com/p800tools/

I've been using it for my P800 for months, it works brilliantly. Although I have not, for obvious reasons, tried it on the P900, I assume that it will work, since they have the same basic operating system (UIQ on Symbian 7).

Actually, that second link is for hacking...

[Edd_Dumbill]

First, thanks for linking to the Google cache of my site, I'm grateful.

Second, the link that was posted was my how-to for hacking for the P800, not the syncing as the link advertised. Syncing is a little more difficult, but I also wrote that up here: Synchronizing a P800 with Evolution

-- Edd

Re:Actually, that second link is for hacking...

[phil-trick]

Hi Edd,

Yeah, between looking at the cache, and pasting it into the article, I got it mixed up!

I nervously checked your site this morning hoping it was still up!

Yeah, but is it a phone?

[ptomblin]

I can't find anywhere on that first link, the Sony site, that actually mentions whether it's a phone or not - the only clue is a link that says "Try the phone".

Apple Newton

[ayeco]

Is it me, or does this thing look like an apple newton. The dimensions aren't too far off.

Re:Apple Newton

[otis wildflower]

dude, what've you been schmoking?

My P800 is a smidge larger than P900.

My Newton 2100 is fucking HUGE compared to either of them. It's got two PC-card slots. SIDE BY SIDE.

Then again, it's got proper HWR (no choking on periods, 'k's, 'f's, and '!'s like the servicable P800's jot) and a bigger screen, but the paperwhite, battery life and application support on my P800 is superior.

Re:Ugly

[Oopsz]

You wouldn't want it on cingular. The P900 is a triband phone that supports 900/1800mhz (Overseas) and 1900mhz (north america) GSM. Cingular has GSM on the 850mhz and 1900mhz bands, depending on where they're licensed in the area, and how much of the TDMA spectrum they've cannibalized for GSM. If you got a P900, you'd only be able to use it in cingular areas that have 1900mhz gsm..

If you want the P900, use T-mobile. Their network is pure 1900mhz gsm.

full screen video is the killer update feature

[otis wildflower]

I haven't seen that on my P800, and that's IMHO a SERIOUS bonus.. I couldn't give two poops for the skinned interface, but getting even fixed-res fullscreen landscape video would be a super win..

Less'n there's been firmware updates to P800 that I can't get in the US :(

Re:full screen video is the killer update feature

[ichthius]

There *is* a firmware update that gives full-screen video.

My P800 (R2A16) doesn't have it. I know that R2B03 does have it. I'm getting mine updated soon.

It should be available in the US. Ask your local friendly phone shop.

SSH?

[sleeeper]

I am guessing you can pull up a virtual keyboard, and use an SSH client on this phone. Am I right? Details (i.e., SSH v.2, open source?).

Re:SSH?

[otis wildflower]

There's a pretty buggy SSH1 version AFAICR.

I tried it, wasn't too impressed, didn't do landscape which is pretty critical imho.

Still, it beats a kick in the balls. and it beats anything _I_'ve written for P800...

Re:SSH?

[tolan-b]

there's an app which *i think* is called telnet, but also does ssh. my boss says it's much better than the half arsed port of putty.

not sure if it's open source or not sorry.

Re:SSH?

[dwayrynen]

Hands down, the best ssh app for the P800 is Mocha Telnet which you can obtain from www.mochasoft.dk

It's not free, but the demo mode works great.

Re:SSH?

[TV-SET]

Yup. You can use PuTTY. You'll have few limitations with the keyboard though, since [ESC], [CTRL] and all the [F] keys are not there. You can, of course use an alternative keyboard buy someone will have to code it for you. :) I use the one which comes with Ruskey (Russian support) - it's much more comfortable, but still lacks a bunch of staff. Simple command line staff works though. :)

Apple

[bombadillo]

This Sony product looks great!! Just when I was about to finally buy a PDA, I thought of Apple. I would imagine Apple is going to get into this market soon. Anyone have any good info on Apple and possible PDAs in the pipeline?

Re:Apple

[lp_bugman]

Jobs is a little scared about Apples big failure Newton.

Re:Nokia 6600

[otis wildflower]

Does it fully support standard Bluetooth profiles interoperably, or is it crippled by requiring Nokia accessory junk?

Has Nokia seen the light, or are they still stupid about BT?

Battery Time

[Inebrius]

This is for the P800 from the Sony/Ericsson Website. The p900 should be similar.

Performance talk time
up to 13 hrs

Standby talk time
up to 400 hrs

400 hours is about 16 days. This seems reasonable. Ericsson phones are pretty efficient. My T39M will go about 15 days between charges with about 1.5 hours talk time, or about 8 hours of straight talk time with a little standby. The P900 page did not list details on talk/standby, but the article does point out the p900 and p800 use the same battery.

Re:Battery Time

[Tony Hoyle]

The claimed battery life is a bunch of dingos kidneys.

If you don't use it, and kill every app you don't use (with switcher) you can get 5-7 days of standby time.

If you use it for the occasional phone call that'll drop quite rapidly. A regular user (I call about 10-15 minutes a day) can expect to get up to 72 hours battery life.

If you forget to terminate the apps (or you haven't downloaded switcher) the standby time will rapidly degrade - my wifes hit 3 hours at one point (you could actually watch the battery indicator falling!). Basically the P800 sucks power for every app you've ever run (there's no 'close' in most apps)... I really hope they've fixed that bug!

I've never heard of anyone claiming to get 400 hours out of the thing... I'm surprised they get away with claiming that.

Why no 1 MPixel camera?

[sleight]

Honestly, I'm quite confused by their steadfast attachment to 640x480 camera phones. On my recent trip to Japan, I noted at least one PDA-Phone that had a 1.3 MPixel camera attached. Perhaps European/American/Chinese users are considered less demanding camera-phone users than the Japanese? How much more would a 1.3 have cost SE to include versus the puny 640x480?

Re:Why no 1 MPixel camera?

[Tony Hoyle]

TBH that's a showstopper for me. The camera on the P800 just plain sucks (it's *much* worse than the Nokia I had before that) - I was expecting at least a 1.3MPixel camera.

Re:Why no 1 MPixel camera?

[juhaz]

Probably it would cost quite a bit more with quality camera (not only the resolution but optics and all, flash probably should be there as well). And it already costs so damn much I'm surprised anyone is buying these.

And they're designed to be puny, for sending those stupid picture messages etc, it's not like cameraphones are supposed to compete with digital cameras.

it's time for me to upgrade from p800 to p900

[john_uy]

can't wait to get on the new phone.

basically, it improves much of the miscomings from the p800 (as a p800 user myself and basing this on reviews.) one drawback would still be the memory stick duo (not sure if it is compatible with the pro.)

but it is a great phone. it is a phone with pda functionalities and not the other way so it is easy to call with it (and it doesn't seem to be very awkward to call like a big pda.) with apps, there are now lots of apps available (both free and commercial) so it levels off with the regular pda.

for those camera freaks, a 640x480 is fine. what do you expect, a 4 megapixel camera fit in a phone with full flash and removable lens? i just want to take a picture anytime and send it to someone like mms or bluetooth. having a very high resolution camera will eat up lots of storage space and will be very difficult to send it to other people (so the camera will no longer work well with mobility) (gprs is already slow in our country, so i don't expect sending someone 400kb image file to be very convenient.)

one thing i like is the ability to play mp3 as alerts over the existing midi and wav combo (and the old formats.)

i don't also need to carry a pda with me (though i did not own one ever because it is pointless to carry too much gadgets in your pocket!)

the keypad also helps to allow you to do things on the go. unlike a pda, it will allow you to type if every you are in a car or something that is moving. as for me, i can send a text message without looking at the screen while crossing the street. time saving.

my last note, it is very helpful to me. i heavily use the calendar, task list and jotter. so i almost never forget anything and keep my schedule organized and allows me to do whatever i still need to do at work (or at home.) bonus is the synchronization with outlook (where the secretary just creates the schedule and i synch the phone to get the updated schedule.) other people will also be able to check my availability. so it increases my productivity.

recommendation, it is a good phone to invest to (unless maybe you already have a pda.) the money i invested in p800 already paid off for me in less than a year (through increased productivity.) i'll just give it to my sister.

sexist image

[akb]

I was amazed that they included this image in the review. I realize that in technical circles it helps to pander to immature males but that seems to go quite a bit past the usual T and A.

Am I so out of touch that with how sexist the mainstream media has become that that image is acceptable?

Re:sexist image

[Billy Donahue]

It's not sexist, that's just a screenshot of the
phone detecting an incoming booty call.
It's a VERY smart phone...

Re:sexist image

[juhaz]

Am I so out of touch that with how sexist the mainstream media has become that that image is acceptable?

Mainstream media? Since when is relatively unknown website (I've never even heard of my-symbian.com before) mainstream media?

P800 battery life - or MTBF

[ichthius]

I've no idea what the full battery life is on my P800. It rarely goes more than 2 or 3 days between crashing. (i.e. backlight comes on and an animated logo tells you to hold the power button for 10 seconds).

A couple of my colleagues have the same phone and same problems.

Re:P800 battery life - or MTBF

[Aydsman]

I used to get the occaisonal crash with my P800 but I got the firmware upgraded (currently using Phone firmware R2F) and it's run almost constantly ever since.

I suggest you look into that, unless you have already.

the voq has not been reviewed well...

[simpl3x]

i do agree that ms smart phone is going to give symbian a run for the money, but not with that phone. as the mobiles begin to become limited computers with office-like applications and docking capabilities (larger screen and a mouse for home or school), ms might have a distinct advantage. i wish psion still had a symbian netbook. i single platform would really aid in development across different devices, and symbian is not helping.

Are Java Apps usable ?

[OMG]

It does support Java, great!
But what does "support mean?

Can I run a Java application (J2ME/MIDP ?) after one or two buttons pressed ? A lot of phones I saw with Java support force you to navigate through dozens of menus until you are able to start a Java application.

Can the application run in the background? What happens if the application runs and the phone rings? If I use it for ICQ or such stuff, do I need to stop the application before beeing able to look at my address book?

Thanks for any insights on these questions.

Re:Best hybrid device yet? Just one deficiency

[CowBovNeal]

Its camera is not still 640x480.
Sony Ericsson can do better in this dept.

When most people get camera phones, their picture taking interest drops exponentially after the first 1-2 weeks. If the camera resolution is higher(1 megapixel), like the 505i, FOMA terminals that NTTDocomo offers (nttdocomo.com), then it might make the camera offering worthwhile.

Other than that, I'd say its a decent phone.

Alloy, hallo

[G3ckoG33k]

The article states: "Although its casing is still made of plastic, it looks like if it was made of aluminium or similiar alloy."

Duh? Since when did aluminum (or aluminium) become an alloy? Bronze, steel, or brass are alloys, but aluminum never was. Yes, aluminum is mostly used in aluminum alloys, but, still...

Hey, this is /., isn't it? ;)

You can't use it on an aeroplane

[Mr_Silver]

Well, you can - but you'll find it extremely difficult to persuade an air hostess that "flight mode" means that the phone part isn't on.

I've seen someone argue the toss with an air hostess about it. Eventually he agreed to turn it off and keep it off through-out the entire flight when she requested security come and eject him from the aeroplane.

(No it wasn't airborne before you ask ...)

Bleh, too big.

[Kenja]

I think I like the Nokia 3650 better. Smaller lower res screen but its cell phone size. This thing looks like its bigger then my PDA.

Re:Bleh, too big.

[TonkaTown]

If you're concerned about phone size then the new generation of Symbian phones are a fair bit smaller than the Nokia 3650.

I wrote about smartphone sizes on Mobitopia the other day with a table of sizes here.

The P900 is slightly smaller than the "elderly" P800, the real surprise is the new Sendo X which is only marginally bigger than a Sony Ericsson T610 and packs far more capabilities.

Re:Windows-centric development environments?

[SealBeater]

Maybe this would help.

SealBeater

Best plans?

[SealBeater]

For all of us (myself included) who are seriously planning on getting this phone, can any current owners of the P800 sound off on who has the best plans and/or supports the most features of which service, etc?

SealBeater

Re:Best plans?

[SPYvSPY]

Depends on where you are. I use T-Mobile in New York City with my P800 and it is flawless--lots of talk time and data allowance for about 100 bucks a month. There are plenty of less expensive plans that would work with this phone.

Software...

[SealBeater]

What are some good sites to check out to get an idea of what kind of software is available for this phone?

SealBeater

Re:Software...

[TonkaTown]

All About Symbian is a good starting point for everything in the Symbian World. That's the SonyEricsson P800 and P900, Nokia's 3650, 7650, 6600 and 9210, Motorola A920, Siemens SX1, Samsung SGH-D700, Sendo X etc.

Symbian's own site has some good background on the OS and developing for it too.

Mobitopia has plenty of news and analysis of mobile and wireless tech and a *big* list of links to other mobile sites.

Why not PalmOS?

[One More Troll]

Sony already makes Clies. Why don't they base the phone off that?

And for that matter, why Memory Stick Duos? What's the difference between that and a regular memory stick?

Re:Why not PalmOS?

[TonkaTown]

Conversely why did they use a broken antique OS for the Clie when they already had a share in the Symbian consortium? Horses for courses I guess.

Memory Stick Duos are about half the length of regular memory sticks, so it's a packaging consideration (as it was on the P800).

Re:Typo alert

[gregarican]

And this parent was modded Offtopic? WTF? The fact that basic spelling and grammar apparently isn't edited before posting things for the world to see? I work in the technical field as well, and I know that a lot of programmer types are a bit illiterate for sure. But at least some spell checking. Jeeeezus.

Of course the fact that I state a critical opinion I'm sure will leave me modded down as well. *Sigh*

What will they think of next?

[jabber01]

So, the PDA is dead, because Ericsson put one in a cell-phone? The reincarnation of the PDA should then be simple. Put a cell-phone in a PDA.

Oh wait... Treo's already done that.

how much?

[miracles]

just how much is it? the treo 600 is about $600 and the SGH-I500 is about $699.

how much is this?

YES!

[RMH101]

i was responding to the previous comment who claimed it ran Windows CE. I *HAVE* a P800, and YES, Symbian is great. WinCE, however, blows goats.

Re:Nokia 6600

[Linux Ate My Dog!]

Other way round: accessory makers have started implementing Nokia specs, not the other way round. You can get Jabra's that work with Nokia now.

(BTW, Sony-Ericsson also required accessory makers to implement the Bluetooth Handsfree profile, instead of the Headset profile accessory-makers first implemented.)

Re:looks like shit

[O2dude]

Actually my z7 sony mobile is the single besterest designed mobile ever, barring the nokia 3120 'truncheon' model. Small, square, no protruding airial, light, great UI. Excellent all round.

Re:Amazing. Just Amazing.

[mabinogi]

you know what's truly amazing?

the number of people on the planet with such one dimensional thinking.....

it's truly disturbing.

You do realize, that apart from black and white, there are also an infinite number of shades of grey, and even colours!

In the real world "A" does not imply "!B"
you CAN have both.

Crappy lens

[Namarrgon]

Frankly, there's not much point having a higher resolution - if the P900's camera is similar to my P800's, then it's limited by more than just the resolution of the sensor. The lens is tiny (and crappy), and the sensor is slow.

The pictures are grainy and blurry round the edges, and the subject should be very well lit to have any hope of looking clear (no flash, of course). Once they put a quality lens in there, a quality sensor might be more useful.

And I'm told that even so, the P800's pictures are as good or better than the majority of cameraphones.

Yes

[Namarrgon]

Java apps can be started & used just like C++ apps - just tap the icon (or select it with the jogdial & click, or press a shortcut button or whatever).

If the phone rings, the phone app pops to the front, but the other apps are still there, running in the background. On the P800 at least, GPRS data connections are suspended and (other) sounds are muted, but the apps keep going and you can browse the address book or anything else.

Not that bad

[Namarrgon]

my wifes hit 3 hours at one point

I've only seen one app that would continue to suck down power like that - the leaked beta camcorder app. It would drain my battery in about 3 hours, because it kept doing MPEG4 compression even in the background. That's why it wasn't released officially.

That aside, I can have as many apps as I like sitting idle without draining power. It's only when they're being actively used that the battery life goes. You don't need to close them, regardless of what switcher claims (the memory used to store them is powered on regardless - only accessing it uses the juice).

I don't get 400 hours by any means, but I get at least a couple of days of frequent usage (I read books & play [CPU intensive] ogg files each day). If I turn off the phone side (Flight mode), battery life goes up noticeably, or if I only use it as a phone (not a PDA), it's a lot better.

I'd say battery life was pretty good, for an equivalent PDA, though low for a simple phone. But it only takes 60-90m to charge anyway, so I have no problem with it.

So ignorant.

[SPYvSPY]

Symbian rules all over Palm. Give it a chance. Of course it doesn't have the installed user base or applications yet. Arguments like yours are what keeps Microsoft in business.

Re:So ignorant.

[cardozo]

Saying, "Give it a Chance. Of course it doesn't have the installed user base or applications yet.", isn't cutting it. Remember Symbian has been around for a long time. The platform has never had much software (enough to make the thing useful? Yes. Enough to get people to switch from Palm? No way).

I was a big fan of Symbian I had a Psion for many years and loved it. But what made me switch to Palm was the huge availability of software, the better design of apps, the synching, and increasing utility of the hardware (though this phone is a step in the right direction!).

It's all about choice, to me, if I go Symbian, I have to use the one datbase (for instance) that runs on it, with Palm I have the choice of a dozen, at least.

The problem with the firmware update...

[SPYvSPY]

...in the US is that it requires you to send your phone to Sony and let them keep it for like three weeks.

Who listens to MP3s? OGG!

[Namarrgon]

I have around 3 hours (two full albums) on my P800, in Ogg Vorbis format (in addition to a dozen books & a large range of useful and less-useful apps). All fits nicely on a 128MB Memory Stick Duo, and sounds just fine through the supplied stereo headset.

I listen to music through it every day. When my kids broke my laptop's line-out jack, I used my P800 for music instead. It's better than your average MP3 player because it supports other formats (such as the above mentioned Ogg Vorbis), and it's always there. Anywhere I take my phone, I'm also taking my music player (and my books, addresses, a few games, a cheapo camera, a notepad, a dictionary, a planetarium etc etc etc).

That reminds me...

[SPYvSPY]

Is there some way to exploit the nexus between strict DMCA controls and lax gun laws in America to integrate an MP3 player into a gun without violating the RIAA's rights?

How so fast?

[slapout]

"The Sony-Ericsson P900 was released today. Here is a detailed P900 Review."

Ummm...if it was just released today, how can you have a detailed review already?

Conflict with Sony's PDA business?

[wskellenger]

Does anyone find it strange that Sony's PDA business is completely based on PalmOS, but this new phone uses Symbian?

Kind of like ... Sony manufactures MP3 players, but they are also a recording giant?

Not "Death of PDA"

[iamhassi]

Ok quit with the "Death of PDA" comments. This doesn't spell the death of PDAs, this is just another form of PDA. Calling a PDA with a phone built-in the "Death of PDAs" is like calling a PDA with a built-in camera the "Death of PDAs" and declaring that cameras are replacing PDAs because it has a camera built-in. Um, no. Just because PDAs have a new feature doesn't mean they've suddenly disappeared.

In 10 years every PDA will probably have a built-in cellphone, it doesn't mean cellphones OR PDAs have "died", it's just the same device with more features.

This is way better...

[sdugoten2]

Check this out. It is about 30% smaller than P900. It runs Palm OS 4.1 with 30 million resolution camera, 256K color screen and it only cost around US $470.