Mobile phones

Wednesday, September 1. 2010

How MyPhoneExplorer helps Android / HTC / Droid / X10 owners

Last week I was faced with the not-so-simple task of moving a lot of stuff from my old SonyEricsson C905 mobile phone (Symbian) to my brand new, shining, and spiffy HTC Wildfire. As reported previously, this task isn't as simple as it sounds. Parting with the C905 is hard. It is the one phone I've owned over the years that has never let me down, and its camera still beats most cell phone cameras, past and present. Parting with something you've gotten used to and come to like is always hard, and when the conversion process to another piece of equipment presents you with a massive mountain to climb, things don't get any easier :-)

Moving from a Symbian based cell phone to a "smart" Android phone is not a straight forward process.

MyPhoneExplorer to the rescue. Oh do read on .. :-)

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Thursday, January 8. 2009

You don't have to install SonyEricsson's PC Suite!

Are you the owner of a SonyEricsson phone and tired of the bloated PC Suite set of applications? Don't want to use Outlook to synchronize with? Want to synchronize your SonyEricsson with Google's Calendar or Thunderbird? If any of the above is you, you may want to give MyPhoneExplorer from FJ Software Development a go.

Synchronizing, editing, backup and restore, batch modification to entries, and holiday calendar entries are just some of its features.

MyPhoneExplorer is a relatively lightweight Windows application that will knock you off your feet. For Vista users, it includes a Sidebar-Gadget that can handle calls and write SMS. Since version 1.7, it's also fully compatible with UIQ3-phones (P990i, P1i, M600i, W950i, W960i, G700, G900), apart from other SE phones like the fairly recent C905.

In the FJ Software Support forum, you will also find an FAQ on how to get MyPhoneExplorer to work under Linux using Wine.

Sunday, November 2. 2008

The SonyEricsson Xperia X1: First impressions

It's been some time since SonyEricsson had this sort of media presence and coverage due to a product release. Needless to say, at the mind boggling rate they're releasing new mobile phone products, it's easy to get the impression that the wheels are spinning at bit too fast at times. SonyEricsson's latest flagship product, the Xperia X1, does warrant some extended coverage; partially since it's the first product from the company that is based on the Windows Mobile platform.

Opening the box unveils the standard stuff; a charger, headphone/handsfree, a battery, some product documentation, and obviously the Xperia X1 phone. Inserting the SIM card, and the battery is easy. Replacing the external memory card (MicroSD) with the 8GB add-on I purchased is a little bit tricky, mainly due to the size of MicroSD cards, but after a few seconds I find a paper clip to help me in my task. The one thing that I'm missing at a first glance is a screen protector. I keep my phone in a pocket, usually in my pants or possibly my jacket. I can't possibly fit a "carrying case" into either of those places. For a phone of this type, and at this price, I'd expect a suitable screen protector to be included in the box.

Holding the Xperia X1 in my hand, it feels solid, and it looks good. It's not an Iphone, nor do I think it wants to be one, but it feels like a solid piece of hardware. Sliding out the keyboard feels "just right".


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Wednesday, October 22. 2008

The SonyEricsson W980 Walkman Phone

My wife recently got a new cellphone. After having spent hours reading specifications to her, she finally decided on a W980 from SonyEricsson. As far as a "plain" mobile phone goes, this one hits very close to perfect. My first thought when I opened the box (yes, I need to inspect all toys :-) was "Helllloooo Mr Gadget!". The W980 is the latest in SonyEricsson's Walkman-series. It's a flip-up type construction, which means it's very nice and small when folded. It features two screens; one is used when the the phone is folded, to notify of new messages, show which song is playing and so on. The larger screen is used when you flip the phone open to actually "use" it.

Unlike some other non-smartphones, the SonyEricsson W980 features some intelligent connectivity in the form of SyncML (allows you to synchronize contacts, calendars, and so on with a remote server), RSS-feeds, and Java. This makes it harder to dismiss the product as a toy or "just a phone". It does have some "fun" features as well; PictBridge, Camera (3.2mpx) w/support for video, Photoblogging, Radio; obviously, the W980 being a "walkman phone", it features a great music player. The phone comes with 8GB of internal memory, with no support for an external memory card. Sure, I'd like to have seen 16GB or 32GB of internal memory, or support for an external memory card. But to be fair, 8GB is fairly sufficient for a good mix of tunes.

What makes the SonyEricsson W980 such a nice product can be summarized with one word: BALANCE

It's small, but not too small. It's lightweight (100g/3.5oz). It's flip-up design protects the phone and makes it fit nicely in your pocket. The buttons are just right for people with normal hands. The headphones/handsfree that comes with the phone delivers good-enough sound for a music player. It's 3G (UMTS and HSDPA), it's quad-band GSM (use it in most places on the globe).

I think the only "bad" thing about it that I've found is the camera. Not that it doesn't do nice photos, but it's not 100%.

Go check it our for yourself on SonyEricsson.com

Saturday, August 11. 2007

Sony Ericsson P1i - first impressions

Having used the Sony Ericsson P990 smartphone for some time, it was with some anticipation I opened the box to the new Sony Ericsson P1i. The P1i is, or appears to be, a M600i with "smart phone add-ons". For those having used the P-series (P8xx, P9xx), the P1i makes for a welcome change in its much slimmer appearance and handling.

One of the most irritating things with the previous P-series is that Sony Ericsson insisted on enabling "animation effects" in the operating system; sliding selectors, fade-in, fade-out, icon effects, and so on. Later versions of the P9xx firmware allowed for an option to disable this. Why anybody who has half a finger in the right place would want these stupid effect in a telephone is way beyond my comprehension. To make a long story short, the P1i comes equipped with an option to disable the fireworks.


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