In the period of December 13-14 2005, Sony Ericsson, the leading global mobile and wireless communications giant participated at the 3rd Middle East Mobility and Wireless Broadband Summit at the Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai. It was also the first time that the company participated at the event as one of the summit's sponsors. This seemed to be the perfect occasion to showcast one of the latest sony ericsson mobile phones, which is also the latest in a series of successful Sony Ericsson SmartPhones - the eagerly anticipated P990i model.
As with its predecessors, the P990i was designed to be the first and foremost great mobile phone. To start off with, this is a 3G UMTS device in addition to tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900) and GPRS. It also has 802.11b Wireless Ethernet (WiFi) support, making it one of only a few WiFi capable phones. The screen resolution is now 240x320 pixel touchscreen in 262,000 colours, and on the back of the Sony Ericsson P990i is a 2 megapixel digital camera. Internal memory is 80Mb, and this is expandable through Sony Memory Stick Pro Duo cards (64Mb is included, 2Gb maximum, with a VPN client and trial version of a virus scan package). As you'd expect, the P990i comes with Bluetooth, but there's also an FM radio as an added bonus. Thus, the new handset offers video calling, high-bandwidth multi-media downloads and the ability to browse the Internet with full HTML pages. These are viewed in landscape on the new Opera 8 browser. In addition, the P990i is prepared for all major push e-mail clients enabling full e-mail access with attachments, providing the ability to edit Microsoft Word and Excel documents, and additionally comes with a viewer for PowerPoint and PDF files - which is a big plus for business users.
The P990i has multiple text input methods enabling it to support all users' needs and preferences. When compared to the previous models of sony ericsson mobile phones, one immediately noticeable change is the keyboard, which is fixed to the phone body and is revealed by flipping down the number pad. This particular location of the keyboard is much appreciated by those who may want to lose the flip but still have QWERTY input in hand for emails and documents. Immediately about the QWERTY keyboard is a 2.6" 240x320 pixel display. When the number pad is in use, it appears to cover around 80 pixels or so from the bottom of the display, which gives the P990i both "open" and "closed" display modes. Reading text is made simpler on the large 2.8 inch QVGA touch screen. The P990i is a multi-tasking device, being able to browse the Internet, send and receive files at the same time as talking - which is now possible due to the enhanced capabilities of its 9.1 OS and UIQ 3 software platform.
Other new features include automatic time zone change to the Calendar diary and updated PC sync software with extended synchronization possibilities. Additionally, the 2 Megapixel camera with autofocus, digital zoom, photo light plus the bright TFT screen and video recording provide a high quality imaging experience. The P990i is set to debut in the market in the first quarter of 2006. But judging from the pre-release buzz, expect the P990i to be a best-seller next year.
Earlier this year Sony Ericsson was also showcasting the W900i, a 3G Walkman branded phone. While the Walkman brand is still known to most of us as a portable tape player, sony ericsson mobile phones kept on upgrading until some devices became fully fledged MP3 players. Music phones are all the rage this year, so we were excited to get a look at this handset.
Having just hit shelves of sony ericsson mobile phones, the company's latest multimedia marvel received the name of W900i. This is a versatile phone with a swivel-based style of opening, which has everything you need to enjoy your music on the move. It is also the first Walkman-branded device to support the latest and most advanced 3G network services. An impressive large 262K colour screen, at a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, makes mobile video viewing pure pleasure, and the audio quality is what you would expect from an advanced digital music player. A 0.3 Megapixel camera has also been added for true video call support, shooting video of decent quality. The video call aplication itself is easily reached by a hardware shortcut button, offering a range of options such as picture sharing and 2x digital zoom.
The W900i phone is ready for your music, and getting music to your phone is easy with music transfer software (supplied in kit). With 470 MB inside and expandable memory of up to 2GB, you can have hours of your music wherever you go (which is up to 1000 tracks). Dedicated hardware buttons for play, pause and volume control are of course available, and the Walkman application relies on tag data to let users browse music by artists and tracks, as well as the ability to create playlists. A graphic equalizer with several presets proved excellent for optimizing sound.
When it comes to mobile phone related features, the W900i supports GSM 900/1800/1900 MHz and WCDMA 2100 (UMTS/3G) networks, as well as HSCSD and GPRS. Bluetooth and Infrared are also present to offer a short-range connectivity. Furthermore, the W900i includes an FM radio, supports poliphonic and MP3 ringtones, SMS and MMS, instant messaging and e-mail, and lastly Java MIDP 2.0 as well as WAP 2.0 support. Other features include a speakerphone and a web browser capable of reading ordinary web pages, both of which proved to be adequate at their assigned tasks. The 2-megapixel camera at the back is now complemented by a VGA camera upfront, immediately marking the W900i as a 3G-capable handset. A handsfree with quality earbud-type earphones is supplied, with one difference: a remote control with LCD panel. Depending on how you view appendages, we thought the remote at least gives you the option to operate the W900i without having to take it out from where you keep it.
Reception and voice quality for the Sony Ericsson W900i both proved excellent, while the battery offered approximatively 3.5 hours of talktime and 5 days of standby. When using the W900i exclusively in Walkman mode, the battery was found to last about 12 hours
Compared to the P990i model, the W900i is already available in some European countries and judging by its unique multimedia features and some user reviews, this handset resonates with sufficient emotional appeal that is likely to form its own cult followers. Still, both models promise to be formidable devices in terms of hardware and software specifications, having everything necessary to do business and communicate with friends and colleagues. All these facts make Sony Ericsson one of the admotors favorite manufacturer, also pushing this brand to dominate the entire telecommunications industry.