BengalBoy "Bitch Slaps Howard Forums" & Reviews Sony Ericsson's P990i!! Is Symbian's UIQ 3.0 Operating System a "WiZard Killer"??






Well, I finally got around to playing with the New Sony Ericsson P990i Cell Phone a few weeks ago. Its the New Weapon in Symbian's War against the MicroSoft Windows Mobile Devices and is the first Symbian UIQ 3.0 Operating System Device to come to market. It is a Tri-Band GSM Cell Phone with support for 3G Data Services on the UMTS 2100 frequency. It supports Video Calls, has On-Board WiFi, Super Clear and Bright 2.8 inch 262k Color LCD with Touch Screen, 2.0 Ultra Impressive Digi-Cam, FM Radio with Record Feature, MP3 Player, Business Card Scanner Software, Flight Mode with WiFi Support, and a True One-Handed QWERTY Board built into the housing of the device instead of the flimsy and silly keyboard used with the flip of the P910i.



Its direct competition from my perspective is the HTC WiZard Devices running Windows Mobile 2005 as well as the upcoming Treo 700. All of these devices have similar form factors and hardware sets...but how does the P990i stack up against the MicroSoft OS WiZard????? Inquiring Minds want to know... but first.... a few shots of my P990i with Celestrelle..... My Kitten..... My Goddess .... My... My.... oh yeah Baby Kitten..... My... My......











I've been using this device for some time and although its a Proto-type I'm very impressed with its performance. I am offering this thread as a "Preview" of its appearance and hardware comparisons to the HTC WiZard Devices such as the K-JAM and others. My full review of it will be later this month before CES and will consist of a "Head to Head" against the Best from MicroSoft a'la my old "Road Warriors" review from 2 years ago when I picked the MicroSoft Operating System over the then new Sony Ericsson P900 and Symbian UIQ Operating System...... As always, I was right then..... but will I be right this time around???? Come back to see it and my New Kitten...... Star'La.......



Sony Ericsson P990i vs. HTC WiZard!!

The P990i is one Sexy Device!! Personally, it looks so Fucking Hott with the Keypad Removed I would never have even sold it with the "Phone KeyPad" if I were Sony Ericsson... at least not attached to it in the box.... I'll show those photos to you later, but trust me when I tell you this Device is to other Convergence Devices as Carmen Electra is to other Hotties!! Its just got that "It" that the WiZard Does not have in "Eye Candy"!!













Like Sony's Ultra Sexy Vio series of laptops, the quality of materials and construction are just a bit above those of the WiZard which looks and feels cheaper to the eye and hand.






Okay.... can't wait.... just look at it with the phone keypad removed!! DAMN THATS A HOT LOOKING PHONE!!










First I would like to say that the P990i has the most beautiful screen of any small form factor convergence device I've used to date!! I am of the opinion that the W900i I just tested and the P990 share the same LCD and its just amazing when you put the two devices side by side...



The brightness on both devices is turned to max and the clarity and detail of the P990i's screen simply "BLOWS AWAY" the "Wicked WiZard" ..... which had a far superior screen to the K-JAM version I long since got rid of...... what a disappointment it was.....


















The QWERTY keys are raised "hard rubber" pads that are tiny and designed for true "One-Handed" use. This keypad again makes the P990i a "One-Handed" device no matter whether you are using the phone keypad or changing data input to QWERTY which is entirely different from the WiZard Device's two-handed input. Really its a matter of taste for those who like using their one thumb on the P990's "Drop Top" vs. using both hands and two thumbs with the WiZards "Slip & Slide" keyboard. I really have enjoyed learning to use the P990's one handed QWERTY board, but I will need practice to get faster then my Universal's desktop 4 finger input. The keys very raised and hard tacky feel are certainly superior to my tastes than the WiZard's thin, hard, plastic feeling keys. Again, it just feels better and more expensive to hold and use than the WiZard.





The only place I think the WiZard's keypad construction is superior to the P990 is the differnt key colors for the identification of the secondary symbols. The Blue BackLighting of the P990 just washes all of these out like those Blue Keys on the K-JAM.....but my Proto-"Wicked WiZard" has the white/orange balance of the primary symbols/secondary symbols..



The Stylus of the P990i is longer and a bit heavier than the older P900 stylus. It has plastic tips that screw on/off and a polished metal shaft. It is heavier and much nicer to use than the "Piece of Shit" Stylus that comes on the WiZard... That stylus officially wins my award for "Absolute Crap!!"....












The stylus holder is located on the opposite side of the device as compared to the current P900/910 devices..... My "Platinum & Gold Bengal's Eye" PimP'In Stick fits nicely....although not as long as the standard P990i stylus.





The sizes of these devices is almost identical. The Sony Ericsson P990 is about an ounce lighter and just seems sligtly larger with the phone keypad attached...... but significantly smaller when the keypad is removed!! But here are a few shots for you to see yourself....
















Photos of the Sony Ericsson P990i Compared to Other Convergence Devices!!

Sony Ericsson P990i and iMate JAM with 2000mAh Battery...









Sony Ericsson P990i and HTC Universal "iMate JasJar"...











Sony Ericsson P990i Phone Features, Menus & Performance.



The Sony Ericsson P990i is a "Tri-Band" UMTS supported GSM mobile device. It operates on the 900/1800/1900 frequencies and on the 2100Mhz UMTS frequency. Its UMTS 3G data speeds cannot be used in the United States. There are no official announcements yet regarding a North American version of this device, but, I believe that once Cingular has its 1900Mhz UMTS support up and running, you will see a P990a for North America.



Sony Ericsson P990 SmartPhone Official Specifications!!
Quote:

You can enter your number on the P990's touch screen....



Using the "Phone Keypad"...



or finally..... the P990i's QWERTY Board.... Calling Mom..... Hey, even "Bleeding EDGE" P.I.M.P.s need to call their Mom!!! The P990i supports Photo ID during a call, individual ringtones in MP3 format as well as most others.





Phone menus.....






At this time, I cannot comment on whether you will be able to record a phone conversation during a call. I cannot do that on my unit currently and wanted to wait until a more recent firmware update was installed before commenting, however, I am not ignoring those members who are curious about the feature, simply trying to get the update installed prior to posting. At this time no, but in the future firmware, most likely???

Voice Quality and RF performance in my units is great. The RF still needs some tweaking... not as good as the Motorola RaZr and the current W900i which was fantastic as hell!! The P990i simply cannot hold the signal in my "Elevator of RF Hell" test where I ride the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse Elevator from bottom to top during a call for 6 floors. The RaZr, K700, and W900i are the only ones to not lose a signal during that ride. Stability in my P990i during call is wonderful and again it appears that like bluetooth, phone radio implementation in the P990i is ready for market.



Camera & Video Settings, Menus & Performance..



The Sony Ericsson P990i has an onboard 2.0 MegaPixel Digital Camera of exceptional quality and performance. It is one of the most impressive features of this device and follows up on the excellent CMOS sensor camera from the W800i/K750 units and more recently with the W900i. The P990i like the W900i records video in the 320 X 240 resolution and at up to 30 frames per second. The format for video recording is the Mp4.3gpp standard for video phones. This format results in an extrememly small file size, howerver, the quality suffers greatly when compared to Mp4 format video taken with a Pocket PC phone. It works and its nice..but not nearly as good as the Universal or WiZard video because of the compression.... Photos, though, are incredible... It really doesn't require you to give up much from a dedicated Digital Camera only except the need for larger pockets or 3 hands.....

The P990i camera has "Auto-Focus" and "Macro" settings for very clear and sharp photos..no matter how near or far... it has an LED Light for low lighting or nightime photos as well... Here are the menus for the Video and Camera Settings.....

Camera Settings...

Shoot Mode.... Video, Camera, or Burst...



Resolution Size....



Normal or Macro....



White Balance....



LED Light ....



The LED comes on when you depress the camera button instead of staying on as long as the camera is being used..



Effects...



Quality of Photo....



Night Mode...




Storage Selection...



Auto Review.... this shows photo after shot on screen or deselect it to just continue with the viewfinder and camera application...



Shutter Sound...



Automatic Timer...



Reset File Number ....




The P990i's screen during camera operation... You see all the information displayed on the screen and the crystal clear operation of the screen as a viewfinder.....



You can choose to remove the "Information" from the screen so that the viewfinder just displays your subject in the viewfinder with no distractions....



Video Menus.....

Use the "Jog Dial" for moving between camera/video operation... now the different menus for the Video Camera...

Frames Size..... Maximum of 320 X 240 is now supported.. improving on the old UIQ video support...




Video Length...



White Balance..



Microphone Mute....



Effects...





Quality....




Shutter Sound.....





Shoot Mode..... select the "i" icon at the top right of the screen/viewfinder for an explanation of what each setting means or will do......



So, that is pretty much all the menus for the Sony Ericsson P990i's Camera and Video operations.....



Photos Taken with the Sony Ericsson P990i....


The New line of Sony Ericsson phones beginning with the W800i/K750 handsets are some of the very best camera/phone handsets you can buy. The W900i and now the P990i continue that superior combination of phone and camera convergence with these new 2.0 Megapixel CMOS sensors and superior features for a camera/phone such as Macro, Auto Focus, White Balance, etc... This device take better photos than alot of dedicated digicams!!

Indoor Low Light/Setting Automatic with Flash.



Outdoors Low Light/Setting Automatic no Flash.








Indoors Very Low Light/ Macro & Night Setting with Flash





Outdoors Great Light/Auto & Macro Setting, No Flash...




Outdoors Great Light/Setting Automatic No Flash...






Videos Taken with the Sony Ericsson P990i....

Requires Apple QuickTime. Please go to preferences, and turn on RTSP streaming. If you have difficulty viewing from within your browser, you can manually enter the URL from within the QuickTime Player by typing CNTL+U and entering the URL (rtsp://)

Sony Ericsson P990i Video at Harry's Bar (absense of proper lightling)
rtsp://stream.bengalboy.com/stream.bengalboy.com/P990i-Bar.MOV



Sony Ericsson P990i Video of BengalBoy's Dodge Viper
rtsp://stream.bengalboy.com/stream.bengalboy.com/P990i-Viper.MOV



Sony Ericsson P990i Video of Roxanne (the Rottweiler)
rtsp://stream.bengalboy.com/stream.bengalboy.com/P990i-Roxanne.MOV


Picture Editor Application.....

The Sony Ericsson P990i also has a "Picture Editor" that I find noteworthy for mention. It is one of the most sophisticated "Photo Editors" I have used on a mobile device..including 3rd party Pocket PC applications. I believe the operations and features found on this embedded OS application are hints of Very Powerful Applications being developed for this UIQ 3.0 Operating System.... Its also a Great Indication of the Power of the New Processor being used in the P990i....





The "Edit" menu....








More than just a simple "Rotate Image" and "Tint" type application, it allows the insertion of text into a photo, creating custom effects and other advanced editing features. It ain't PhotoShop, but its pretty sophisticated for something that you pull out of your pocket and use on a 2 MegaPixel Photo.....




Effects Menu..







Corrections Menu...





Photo Information...




Preferences.....





Using it you can decrease image size, add a custom message in the photo, special effects, etc, etc....... and then send it via email or MMS all within the application.... Very Nice, Very Powerful and much more complicated than the old embedded "Picture Editor" found on the P900/910.....

"MultiMedia" FM Radio, Media Player & Video Playback!!

FM Radio Menus & Performance..

The Sony Ericsson P990i has a FM Radio as part of its MultiMedia Software which is a nice addition to the new UIQ 3.0 firmware. The FM Radio feature has been a part of the Sony Ericsson phones since I first tested the K700i back over a year ago but was not included on the past P910i.



Using the FM Radio requires that you plug in the included Stereo Earbuds before the application will open. You are then given the option of using the Radio or the Media Player...




The P990i's FM Radion will automatically search and program your presets if you want it to....



Menus in the FM Radio application...the best one is the "Record" feature which allows you to record songs directly from the radio to your P990i for later playback on your Media Player!! Great to keep that song you just heard and dont have the Mp3 for yet.....





The FM Radio is a very nice feature and the ability to record songs directly to the P990i is another example of the extra processing power available to the users of this device. It is very simple to use offering scan, 20 station presets and loud volume. Simple to use and with great reception, the FM Radio is a nice and long overdue feature for the Devotees of the Sony Ericsson Pseries devices.



Media Player..

The Media Player is not the "WalkMan" Software found on the w800i, W600 and W900 mobile devices but a Symbian software with a dedicated hardkey for starting playback and pausing located on the side of the P990i just above the "Jog Dial".... I don't have any synch software available at this time so all songs were loaded by me onto my Memory Stick Duo via "Card Reader/Writer" ...... expect some type of Media Software to bundle with the P990i for easy transfer from your computer to the P990i..



Several different file types are available for playback but since the most common is Mp3 format, I will limit my experience to those files.... plus I'm just lazy and got some other reviews to complete before CES...

The software is very similar to the "WalkMan" software though, and with the exception of the pretty splash screens and labeling on the phone.... it could just as well be the same as the "WalkMan" series phones....

Here you see that you can organize playlists as follows...by artist, albums, etc..... but see "My Recordings".... thats for songs that you record from the FM radio application .... that's right... you can record directly from live radio broadcasts on the P990i!!



To get started.....From the Music Drop Down menu select "Update Library"....



The P990i locates and updates the play list .......



Information regarding the recording is scrolled across the screen during playback as well as in view.....



The "Media Player" software..... looks great and you can see the "Jog Dial" controls to the left of the screen in the shape of a wheel for volume up/down and pause.... in addition to the dedicated "Play/Pause" button....



Drop Down menus........



The "Transfer Sound" menu is new to me and my belief is that it is the menu for transferring to a Stereo Bluetooth Headset... I had my AX2 paired at the time of this shot....but it is not showing up in the available devices to transfer to?? Definitely for a bluetooth device and most likely evidence that the P990i will indeed support the "stereo" bluetooth profile...



The "Equalizer" and the available "Digital Signal Processing" profiles.......






Using the "Jog Dial" to activate the volume menu on the P990i....... Looks Pretty don't It????




Playback with the "Flip On" and closed....... the Song Information scrolls across the screen for easy viewing....
Just a nice thoughtful touch to the Operating System and Media Player software......



Music DJ Application!!



This little appication can be found on most of Sony Ericsson's current phones.... it is designed to allow the user to create their on ringtones and tunes... I have played with it a bit and find it somewhat interesting....maybe if I weren't so lazy I would learn to use it to its potential..but it sure looks good on the P990's large screen compared to the smaller devices such as the w800i have used it on before...








Video Player...

The Sony Ericsson P990i supports video playback in 320 X 240 resolution. With its external memory support of up to 2GB on Memory Stick Pro Duo, you can have encoded movies for your viewing pleasure or download them from a site encoded for your P990i...



Here a preloaded movie is being played in "Portrait" mode.... on the P990i's Video Player...



And the movie being displayed in "Landscape" full screen mode...




I am unable to load any movies encoded on PVAuthor or SmartMovie to the P990i at this time. I receive a "Corrupt File" error and it will not open the movie file. The pre-loaded movie is not in full resolution and I don't think my current firmware is fully supporting the video function of the P990i at this time, although movies taken with the P990i in 320 X 240 resolution are displayed in full screen properly. The preloaded movie and the format of the movies taken with the P990i is in the familiar Mp4.3gpp extention

Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth, Infrared & Over-Air Synch.

WiFi Menus, Setup & Operation on the Sony Ericsson P990i..



One of the biggest complaints I had with the old UIQ Operating System on the P900i was that this device was released at the same time as the new MicroSoft Pocket PC Devices running Windows Mobile 2003 SE which among other things, supported WiFi Radio on-board the device. Its so nice to be able to surf the net, check messages, and send emails over a WiFi connection vs. GPRS. If you are on a carrier that supports 3G data speeds, it is also nice to have to avoid charges to your data account in an area where you can use WiFi for free!! The New Sony Ericsson P990i has changed all that with the New UIQ 3.0 Operating System and now you "Bleeding EDGE P.I.M.P.s" don't have to do without the easy one-handed operation of the Pseries devices at the sacrifice of "Bleeding EDGE" hardware.... The New Sony Ericsson P990i has WiFi ON-BOARD!!



Start by setting up your WiFi connection when you first receive your Sony Ericsson P990i by opening the "Connections" menu from "Control Panel"......



Select "WLAN" and the following screen appears.....



First tap the "WLAN" icon at the top of the screen,,, the following drop down box will appear....Check the box "Enable WLAN" and tap "Start"...



Now select "Scan" and the Sony Ericsson P990i will begin to "sniff out" WiFi networks within its range. I find the device to be very sensitive and with my LinkSys MIMO Router I have Excellent strength all through my home....signal strength is always pegged at Excellent whether downstairs or upstairs..



Here is my Connection... see the "Lock" icon to the right??? That means this connection is encrypted and you must know a passkey in order to use the connection... That and the fact that for every WiFi connection you find you must setup an account before using it with the P990i... at least with this firmware set I'm using.....



Tap "Yes" for setting up your WLAN account and this screen appears... All the information about the WiFi connection is identified by the P990i for the setup ...



You don't have to with every connection, but the Symbian UIQ 3.0 Operating System's WLAN incorporates some very advanced menus for WiFi network setup....much more so than the Windows Mobile 2005 OS I use daily... If you have to you can tap the "WLAN" icon at the top of the screen at this point in setup for the following advanced menu setup.... but it is not necessary at least in my experience so far???



"Power Save" menu for conserving the P990i's battery life...



TCP/IP Advanced menus for setup.... Just select "Automatic"..





Authentication Menu for encrypted networks.... I use WEP so I had to use the advanced setup menus in order to setup my WiFi connection.... follow me now through it.....



Network Mode on my setup is "Infrastructure"......



My Data Encryption is "WEP" ......



Advanced "WEP" menu.... here is where you enter your "Pass Code" to enable a connection with the secured network....



Select your "Key Type".....



Now enter your "Pass Key" into the "Key" field.... it will not display it and then disappear.... so you must be careful when entering it in especially if you are using the QWERTY Board...



Now, as the Sony Ericsson P990i has just informed me..... My WLAN Connection is "ALMOST DONE"!! Just select "Save".....



In order for the new connection to be used by the Sony Ericsson P990i it must be placed in an internet connection group account.. the WLAN setup takes you there automatically.... just tap "YES"....



I chose to select "Internet" for my WiFi connection to be used in.... Tap "Save" and your finished......



Now, see the new "STAR" to the right of the "LOCK" .... that means your Sony Ericsson P990i is provisioned to use this connection.....



Don't believe me??? Then tap the "WLAN" icon at the top of the screen and from the drop down box tap "Information"..... As you can see I'm all provisioned with excellent signal strength and ready to WI-FI!!



So..... What are you Waiting For???? Tap the "Connect" icon next to the "Scan" button at the bottom of the P990i's screen... the one with the two arrows pointing at each other....



And There You Freak'n, Fuck'n HAVE IT!! WIFI on the New Sony Ericsson P990i!!!

But I still got more for you about the Sony Ericsson P990i's WiFi secrets and Symbian UIQ 3.0.... Some icon shots .....

WiFi icon at bottom of screen with "Phone Keypad" removed or open....



At the top of the screen with "Phone Keypad" on and closed...



Now DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!



Notice how the above screen shot shows that there is no network present???? Hmmmmm how the heck is it gonna work????



Thats right..... the Sony Ericsson P990i Supports WiFi Connections while the Device is placed in "Flight Mode"!!



Now.... I wonder what Website I want to Wi-Fi on First?????? Hmmmmmm, could it be the site that always has the "Bleeding EDGE" Devices first??? The first Site to Have the Motorola "Q", the W800i, the W520a, W600, W900i, Motorola V8 SlVR, SamSung I730 Pocket PC Phone, NextLink I"Invisio Mobile" Jawbone Mic & AX2 Bluetooth Headsets, Co-Pilot 6 Bluetooth GPS Mapping Software for the new Windows Mobile 2005 Operating System... Hell YEAH!! Thats the one I'm gonna go to.... Oh yeah.... its Got "Hotties" and "Free Phone" Give Aways!!




BlueTooth Connectivity, Menus & Performance!!



The Sony Ericsson P990i Smartphone has in addition to WiFi, Infrared, and UMTS/GPRS suppport, a bluetooth radio in Version 1.2. My unit has exceptional bluetooth performance with all devices supported and great stability in a Proto-Type.
Some menu shots of it are very familiar to the current Pseries owners...







Locating my "Wicked WiZard". The Sony Ericsson P990i had no problem finding and transferring files with my WiZard's MicroSoft Stack Bluetooth.



Checking the services that my "Wicked WiZard's Bluetooth Stack will support with the Sony Ericsson P990i...




Establishing a "bond" with my Universal....




Transferring a Photo between the devices....







Transferring "Contacts Files" from my P900 to the Sony Ericsson P990i was also very simple and the only data specific to the old UIQ OS that was accepted by the P990i with ZERO problems....

















And finally all my contacts are Transferred to the P990i...



Bluetooth setup of your favorite headset is simple and easy with the Sony Ericsson P990i Smartphone......

Here I setup my Nextlink AX2 Bluetooth Headset.... while placing your headset in pairing mode... tap "Scan" on the Sony Ericsson P990i... It will locate all bluetooth devices nearby... now highlight your headset and tap next...



Enter the "Pass Code" for you make of Headset.. On the AX2 the code is "0000" and tap "Done" on the P990i...




Now tap the settins menu...



Check the boxes "Trust this Device" and "Enable as Audio"..



Finally from menu you can check the services supported by this bluetooth device....



My Nextlink AX2 Bluetooth Headset has performed flawlessly with my P990i and I have excellent range and connectivity. No "line of sight" issues whether my P990i is in my pocket or on a desk somewhere. Excellent voice clarity and range... the Sony Ericsson P990i is an excellent bluetooth headset device... Can't wait to test my "Spider" with it!! Hehe... Yeah.... another "Bleeding EDGE" device no one has... HoFo Has-Beens can read about it here,,,,,FIRST,,,,, AGAIN!! :lol

Bonding and transferring files with my computer which uses a WidComm Bluetooth Stack was also extremely simple....














I got to give the P990i excellent scores on its Bluetooth implementation even given the Proto-Tupe nature of my P990i. It is ready for market with regard to this particular feature. This doesn't seem that big of a deal unless you have used devices in the past ....cough... cough (P800) that took months even in commercial units to solve the most basic of bluetooth features such as headset performance.....

Black Berry "Over-Air" Connect..

The Sony Ericsson P990i comes with pre-installed software onboard for customers of RIM's popular Black Berry Push Email service. Users can synch their P990i's contacts/calander over-air for the Ulitimate in Connectivity.... Preloaded connection settings on my Sony Ericsson P990i for BlackBerry.net push email client.....







BlackBerry Application Screen Shots......







There you Go!!

Email Client on the Sony Ericsson P990i..Menus & Performance...




The Sony Ericsson P990i has an on-board Email Client in addition to the standard MMS & SMS Messaging clients.




You can setup multimple email accounts to be checked automatically by the P990i at set intervals in addition to the Black Berry "Push Email" client for subscribers to that service. My P990i does a superb job of checking my PoP3 email accounts and downloading messages... here are some shots of the menus and application at work...











Viewing email in "Full Screen"...







Creating a Message gives you the option of using SMS, MMS, Email or Synchemail accounts.......




SMS menus.... As you can see, the T9 (Predictive Text) entry supports 2 different languages so you can easily move between ...... say.... English & Spanish ..... for messaging your non-bi-lingual friends and associates...





SMS can be sent as email or fax .....




Creating a SMS from Messaging Menu.... tons of Smilys & Animations....










All in All the Sony Ericsson P990i has all you need and then some for the email addict or business person on the go who has to have immediate and reliable email connectivity...


Symbian UIQ 3.0 "Business Card Scanner" Application & Operation...



The New Symbian UIQ 3.0 Operating System is more powerful and supports some more sophisticated software applications than the old UIQ OS.... One of the suprising features I discovered on my New P990i is the "Business Card Scanner" application. It works like this.... open the application from the "Office Folder" in Menus.....



Tap the "Card Scanner" Icon at the top of the screen and a drop down box will appear giving you the option of "English Cards" or "English European Card" .... based on where you are in the world, select the appropriate option....




Tap the "Capture" button and the camera application will open.... be sure your lens cover is open and the viewfinder will take over the screen of your P990i....




Be sure you have your settings to "Macro" in the camera application and I recommend the 640 X 480 resolution for best and quickest results....



Once you take the photo the card will be stored in photos.... Now I believe the final application will just skip this step and go straight to the processing menu in "Card Scanner".... but my P990i currently forces me to go back and select "Browse" to locate my business card photo....





Now you see the 2nd step in the "Card Scanner" application and the menu buttons have changed from "Capture" "Browse" to "Process" & "Cancel" .......




The "Image Blurred" error menu comes up everytime I do it... no matter if I take it in 2.0 megapixel or VGA resolution... Maybe if I took the photos near the Twin Suns that are Celestrelle's Glorious Breasts the lighting would be sufficient to avoid this menu.... neverless...... it always works when you just tap "Yes".....



You will then see the application begin to process the image and strip its information, recognize & organize the data into the proper fields of your "Contacts" data base...... and once it finishes... it takes you immediately to the "View" menu in "Contacts"......



Review the information as transferred..... I've done 3 cards so far without having to edit any of the information from the fields that the "Business Card Scanner" automatically placed it in... SIMPLY AMAZING!!











Add voice tags & a special ringtone if you like and your Done!!



This entire process takes about 45 seconds if you are quick and use a VGA resolution photo... I had a few problems with the "Blurred Image" error at the 320 X 240 resolution which would process even faster than the 640 X 480 (VGA) resolution and processing a 2 Megapixel image takes about a minute... so thats why I recommend the VGA size for using this application at this time....... Because the Business Card is used as a "Photo" in the Contacts data base I got to believe that once the application is groomed a bit more that the lower resolution settings in camera are what you are supposed to use when taking photos for "Business Card Scanner".... and thats a very sweet and easy thing to do now.... no more messy typing and shit.. Plus, the Contact immediately identifies you as "Bleeding EDGE" when you show this cool piece of technology!!


But wait..... for a Christmas Present to all those Sony Ericsson P990i Devotees.... I am including for the low, low price of free..... Instructions on how to immediately remove that unsightly and distasteful "Phone Keypad" so your Ultra Sexy P990i can show her Top-Less Beauty to Everyone!!

How to Remove the Phone Keypad From the Sony Ericsson P990i ....



Removing the keypad from the Sony Ericson P990i is a very simple process using the included "Magnetic Tip" screwdriver. Its a 2 screw process but the results are truely magnificent!!.... My unit came with an extra set of screws,,,but they are very tiny and I recommend that you do this in the middler of the floor on a hard surface so that it you drop one it won't be difficult to retrieve.....

First take off the back battery cover..... and locate the 2 "Red" screws at the Bottom corners of the P990's housing...see where my screw driver is located...



Remove them and be sure to place them where they won't be easily scattered...



Now, slide the Sony Ericsson P990i's "Phone Keypad" out...you'll see the little circuit board on the end but its just extremely simple..... Even "Campari Connesieur Dave Evans" could complete this without Googleing my tutorial....



Now slide the included "cover" into the slot and replace the screws...... and Wa'La!! Your Sony Ericsson P990 has gone from "Plain Jane"......



To "Bleeding EDGE" PDA PORN!!..... Yeah Baby... I love that Tight, Toned, Casing you got there!!











So all of you have a "Merry Christmas".... I just got a call its time to rub a "Kitten's Back" Hehe......



Stay tuned for more about the Sony Ericsson P990i... and let me know what you would like to see next????



BengalBoy.Com Where the P.I.M.P.s Come for the "Bleeding EDGE"!!!

Wow! Thanks for the preview. I just made the jump from a P900 to a JasJar, and now I am thinking I may want to jump back. I hope software developers have a chance to update their products for the new UIQ in time for the release of this phone.

Could you clear-up the conflicting reports I have heard about the jog dial: Is it a 5-way jog dial like previous Pxxx models, or only 3-way?

Thanks! Oh, and the new kitten deserves a "Wow!" too (as do the others).

i saw this on esato.com a couple months ago, very nice indeed but from having a bad experience from the p800 i didnt take a second though on this device. and plus i have alot of video clips which is a wmv and wma format, will this play on the p990 mark? if not is it possible to convert it so it can play on the p990? what kind of formats does it play in video and in audio please?

many thanks

Unfortunately, the "Thumb Wheel" has only a 3-way movement in the P990i. When I first got the device I kept pushing down & pulling up to move through the menus a'la P800/900/910 with no success. So, the P990i is only capeable of scrolling up/down and pushing in to "select" a menu item.

The P990i supports 30 frames/sec video playback and video playback on this Gorgeous screen is very smooth and detailed with the preloaded video, however, my unit will not play a video I encoded using either PV Author or Smart Video. I receive a "corrupt file" error when trying to open a file transferred via bluetooth or inserted on a memory stick. I can only report that the preloaded video is a Mpg4.3gpp file and that is the format the P990i records in as well. Maybe a future firmware upgrade will allow me to test the video playback of different formats somemore prior to commercial release.

Mp3 playback with the Media Player and headphones is great, although I prefer the "WalkMan" software of SE's other phones....the P990i does have dedicated hardware button to begin play/pause playback.... Extremely detailed descriotions of the Artist/song etc. is displayed on the P990i during playback and it has no issues recognizing and playing my MP3s loaded to Memory Stick Duo.

Fantastic preview as per usual.

Can you confirm the quality of video it takes? Is it 30fps? I'd love to see some video footage taken with the P990 posted online. Some photos taken with the P990 would be great too. I'm guessing unless you have 2 P990's that those photos in the preview weren't taken with a P990.

Do you know if transfer speed has increased any? Meaning while the phone is on the dock can you transfer items any quicker than the P910 or P800?

Another question that will be hard to quantify is address book speed. A minor gripe of mine with the P910a is the pause when accessing the contact list. I've got 512 contacts. I've seen pauses of up to 3 seconds when accessing the contacts. I know 3 seconds doesn't sound like much, but to me it's like someone tapping me on the forehead.

Well, actually I may indeed have 2 P990i devices..... shit just keeps coming my way lately..... But back to your question... The video capture is 320 X 240 with 30fps supported. Yes I have many videos taken with the P990 and they are great for what they are ...... but not as good as a Universal's Mp4 capture... No substitute for processing power and the better quality of Mp4 vs. Mp4.3gpp format.

I plan to put my comparisons in the upcoming "Road Warrior" review..... or would some of you like to see this thread become a full "P990i Review"??? In which case I can add as I go.... Regardless, I got to put the videos I've taken up on the server..some night, some day.... etc... Here are a few photos taken with the P990i... It is EXCEPTIONAL as a Phone/DigiCam and with the external memory support and Smart Features and Hardware..... I am definitely keeping mine for weekends, parties and vacations... Its damn near as good as a dedicated camera in quality.. The W900i and P990i seem to be the best at this in my opinion.... I prefer the larger viewfinder over the W800i and crisper, larger screen, helps me frame my subject easier... Go up to the Preview to see the other photos...but this should give you an idea of what I'm talking about here Chip!! I will leave the original resolution of 2 megapixel up on my server for a few days before compressing it if you would like to download the actual photo to see just how good it is!! Macro is particularly impressive!!



Contacts works great and is faster opening and seeking than the WiZard.... Also, with the jog dial I can quickly roll through my 174 contacts with ease..... It ain't a Universal..... but it ain't no Slow Ass WiZard either..... I told those fucking Idiots that the OMAP sucked!!

As for the transfer speeds, that is currently an unknown because there is no software currently available to synch the P990i to my computer. Basically I took my P900 and synched it then transferred all my contacts to the P990 via bluetooth transfer. Any application that you used before on the P800/900/910 cannot be opened on the P990 and files that were created specifically for these devices will be seen as "corrupt" by the P990's New UIQ 3.0 Operating System.

no 850 and edge = deal buster.....im still holding out for the N80 or something better that might come along.....holding on to my wizard for now, even though im getting frustrated with it..it SUCKS AS A FUCKING PHONE...oh yea more pics of aurora's booty please, that thing is amazing...

Stop Shaking those Things at me Pitt!! Here.....take this!!



And THIS!!



I WIN!!



Makes Me Want to Write BAD CHECKS!!

Another awesome review, my first smart phone was P800 I bought that after reading your review on HOFO, loved it and than bought P900. I now have Jam and was thinking about purchasing Wizard, but after reading your review of P990i I think I might get this phone . Hopefully there is a enough software available for it.

Thanks Remo!! I've always enjoyed this and the P800 was the very first convergence device that was worth a shit in my opinion....the Nokia Communicator was prior but very limited and huge by todays standards....whereas the P800 was perfect in form and Super in Performance.... then along came the MicroSoft Imate Pocket PC/XDA II and I was off to bigger and faster things....... A photo for you of "The Day"!!





Here is a photo of the P990i next to the JAM and other phones of importance....




















The WiFi and more powerful OS make the P990 a much improved device in terms of "Bleeding EDGE" users. For instance the "Business Card/Contacts Application" is very powerful piece of code.... it really is super nice and a great show piece for the UIQ 3.0 Operating Systems extra power... I don't believe this could have been developed to work with the old UIQ OS... just too many operations going on...

Remember though, this is just a "Pre-View" I'm gonna do a ful review in the "Road Warriors" comparison of the P990 to the current Windows Mobile 2005 Devices... the Universal & WiZard....

Or.... I could start doing it in this thread??? As people ask questions I can photograph and answer them as best I can and organize it into the current thread... What do you think?