Sony-Ericsson P900 Released 218
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"
There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about. -- John von Neumann
Good... time to upgrade (Score:3, Funny)
Good... now I finally can replace my old antique P800.
Re:Good... time to upgrade (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Good... time to upgrade (Score:2)
hmm.. insurance...
Thanks (Score:5, Funny)
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 (Score:2, Informative)
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" [geocities.com]. 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 [dreo.org].
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 limite
Re:Thanks (Score:2)
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
'Death of the PDA?' question revisited. (Score:4, Interesting)
Seriously though, this brings back the same question as posed on last Monday, in this article [slashdot.org]: Death of the PDA?
Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited. (Score:2)
Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited. (Score:3, Interesting)
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 ca
Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited. (Score:2, Redundant)
Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited. (Score:3, Insightful)
The phone won't die, just evolve.
Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited. (Score:2)
-WS
Re:'Death of the PDA?' question revisited. (Score:2)
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) PDA
What I like about it (Score:4, Funny)
Borland has announced [symbian.com] 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 (Score:5, Funny)
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 (Score:2)
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 (Score:1)
Re:What I like about it (Score:2)
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 insta
Re:What I like about it (Score:2)
A bar is one example where personal profile excha
Re:What I like about it (Score:2)
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.
MP3 support (Score:2, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:MP3 support (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:MP3 support (Score:1)
Re:MP3 support (Score:1)
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 (Score:2)
Re:MP3 support (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:MP3 support (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:MP3 support (Score:2)
Re:MP3 support (Score:2)
Who listens to MP3s? OGG! (Score:2)
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
Comment removed (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Nice URL (Score:1)
Re: (Score:1)
it's as pretty as a bitch, but (Score:2, Interesting)
if one was to use this as advertised, what could we expect in terms of battery life before having to recharge it?
4 days (Score:5, Funny)
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:it's as pretty as a bitch, but (Score:2)
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 (Score:1)
Re:it's as pretty as a bitch, but (Score:2)
Re:Battery Time (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Not that bad (Score:2)
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 (t
Palm is dead in the water (Score:2, Interesting)
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. (Score:3, Interesting)
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. (Score:2)
Re:services in the u.s. (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Ugly (Score:1)
Re:Ugly (Score:1)
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.
Re:Ugly (Score:2)
Best hybrid device yet? (Score:4, Informative)
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 [voq.com] 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.
Why no 1 MPixel camera? (Score:2)
Re:Why no 1 MPixel camera? (Score:2)
Re:Why no 1 MPixel camera? (Score:2)
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.
the voq has not been reviewed well... (Score:2)
Re:Best hybrid device yet? Just one deficiency (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Crappy lens (Score:2)
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 g
Pricepoint (Score:4, Interesting)
But how much is the damn thing going to cost me?
Yikes.. (Score:5, Insightful)
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. [adage.com]
Re:Yikes.. (Score:3, Insightful)
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.. (Score:2)
You Finns are slow.. I'm a Canadian with Home Insurance. :)
Re:Yikes.. (Score:2)
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 ho
Re:Yikes.. (Score:2)
Re:Yikes.. (Score:2)
Who said anything about getting mugged? I'm worried about just dropping the damn thing(s).
That reminds me... (Score:2)
To me 'released' means... (Score:1, Insightful)
'Coming Soon' means I can not buy it.
Thank you.
Re:To me 'released' means... (Score:2)
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? (Score:2)
Re:Treo 600 killer? (Score:2)
No Palm = No go (Score:1)
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 anyo
So ignorant. (Score:2)
number portability (Score:2)
Re:number portability (Score:2)
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
Guess what I bought over the weekend.. (Score:2, Funny)
Rus
Javascript required? (Score:1)
Why? Why, why, why??
Just to look?
Yeah, but is it a phone? (Score:2)
SSH? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:SSH? (Score:2)
Re:SSH? (Score:2)
not sure if it's open source or not sorry.
it's time for me to upgrade from p800 to p900 (Score:4, Informative)
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 (Score:5, Insightful)
Am I so out of touch that with how sexist the mainstream media has become that that image is acceptable?
Re:sexist image (Score:2)
phone detecting an incoming booty call.
It's a VERY smart phone...
Re:sexist image (Score:2)
Mainstream media? Since when is relatively unknown website (I've never even heard of my-symbian.com before) mainstream media?
Are Java Apps usable ? (Score:3, Interesting)
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.
Yes (Score:2)
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.
Alloy, hallo (Score:3, Informative)
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
You can't use it on an aeroplane (Score:2)
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. (Score:2)
Re:Bleh, too big. (Score:2, Interesting)
I wrote about smartphone sizes on Mobitopia the other day [mobitopia.com] with a table of sizes here. [mobitopia.com]
The P900 is slightly smaller than the "elderly" P800, the real surprise is the new Sendo X [mobitopia.com] which is only marginally bigger than a Sony Ericsson T610 and packs far more capabilities.
Best plans? (Score:2)
SealBeater
Re:Best plans? (Score:2)
Software... (Score:2)
SealBeater
crap (Score:1)
YES! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Nokia 6600 (Score:1)
Re:Nokia 6600 (Score:1)
Both allow you to develop software in Java, C++, OPL, and even Basic. They're full-on networked computers that fit your pocket.
Re:Nokia 6600 (Score:2)
(BTW, Sony-Ericsson also required accessory makers to implement the Bluetooth Handsfree profile, instead of the Headset profile accessory-makers first implemented.)
Re:Wow (Score:1)
Re:Windows-centric development environments? (Score:2)
Although the official development kits are available for Windows, you can easily develop Symbian applications with the Linux tools provided by the GnuPoc [sourceforge.net] 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 pr
Re:Windows-centric development environments? (Score:2)
SealBeater
Re:Amazing. Just Amazing. (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
The problem with the firmware update... (Score:2)