Stereo Headset HPM-62

Desk Stand CDS-65

512MB Memory Stick Micro M2

PC Software USB Cable

Extra Stylus (for touchscreen use)

Protective Pouch

Standard Phone Charger

The Sony Ericsson P1 was announced on 8th May 2007 and is a relatively slim 3G smartphone. It is a fifth-generation P-series smartphone which builds on the success of its predecessors, yet offers some major differences. One of the most noticeable differences is that it is 25% smaller than the Sony Ericsson P990.

The Sony Ericsson P1 has been designed to offer efficient communication and messaging, whilst offering the most versatile ways of entering text.

A quick summary of features of the P1 is : a 3.2 Megapixel camera, a large QVGA touch screen with a transreflective display and dual-function keyboard. Multimedia and business connectivity is provided via integrated WLAN, VoIP enabled, secure push email with ActiveSync and BlackBerry Connect, Opera 8 web browser with horizontal wide-screen browsing, RSS feed support, picture blogging, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint or Excel document management. . A well featured handset for sure.

The P1 expands the number of Sony Ericsson phones based on Symbian OS v9.1 and UIQ 3.0 to four. Thus increasing the potential market for UIQ 3-based applications - more on this below.

The handset comes in one colour which is silver and black. This colour suits the handset considering the type of user which will buy this handset. You could say it has a contemporary look and feel to it. In terms of size and weight a good way to assess its chunkiness or not is to compare it to a current competitor such as the Nokia E61i :

Nokia E61i : 117 x 70 x 13.9 mm  150 g

Sony Ericsson  P1 : 106 x 55 x 17 mm 124 grams

P990 users who have downloaded the latest firmware will have noticed that previous bugs and stability issues are now fixed so that the UIQ 3.0 platform environment is a whole lot more stable. Sony Ericsson say that this stability has been a crucial component on which to build the new P1 and thereby improving the P1’s performance.

Sony Ericsson have improved system performance in a number of areas for the P1 such as improved start-up. A new desktop icon called "More applications" raises the profile of applications, making it much easier for end-users to download applications and improves the visibility of third-party developers' products.

Switch the phone on and the Standby view appears on the screen. The Standby view acts as your starting point for performing a variety of tasks and for accessing applications via the Main menu. The Standby view is highly customizable.

The P1 offers a large, bright touchscreen with 262.000 colours (2.6" QVGA TFT ) that supports landscape view for imaging and browsing. To navigate menus and select items the user taps the screen using a fingertip or the supplied stylus.

Easy and versatile messaging can be achieved via the on-screen keyboard, handwriting recognition as well as the dual function keyboard.

Confirmation of the screen specification is :

Display type TFT, transflective
Display size 2.6”
Pixel size 240 x 320
Colour resolution 262 k
Screen surface Touch-sensitive
Illumination Variable intensity backlight

The browser on the P1 is an integrated Opera 8 browser so you can access web pages via what is primarily a HTML browser.

You can switch between portrait and landscape mode as well as change from a normal view with scroll bars to a full screen view. Using the stylus allows you to slide the page on the screen.

The camera comes in at 3.2 megapixel camera located on the back of the phone. The camera has an LED photo light which acts as a flash. Images can be sent as an attachment in an email or as a picture message. Pictures can also be sent via an infrared, WLAN, USB or Bluetooth connection.

The vital statistics for the camera are :

The still picture resolution :
• QXGA (2048 x 1536)
• UXGA (1600 x 1200 pixels)
• SXGA (1280 x 960 pixels)

Image quality settings :
• Fine (low compression)
• Normal (medium compression)

The camera has auto focus functionality as well as Macro mode for close-ups.

In addition for close-ups, it has a 3.0 x digital smart zoom, working in 22 steps. When the zoom level is increased, the frame size is reduced – smart zoom.

Burst mode can be deployed to take four pictures in rapid succession.
Built-in compensation for bright scenes automatically adjusts the brightness of your pictures.

The P1 has a Business Card Reader option to scan a card and then save it as a contact.

Just to confirm that the Sony Ericsson P1 has three ways to input text. These are :

• The dual function keyboard located below the screen.

• On-screen keyboard located at the top of the screen when selected.

• Directly-on-the-screen writing, using the stylus.

The keyboard cottons and controls can be viewed in Photo 7 and are summarised below.
- 35 keyswitches
- 3 Way Jog Dial - up, down and inwards
- Browser button (programmable)
- On/Off button
- Camera button

As mentioned above, the P1 expands the number of Sony Ericsson phones based on Symbian OS™ v9.1 and UIQ 3.0 to four, increasing the potential market for UIQ 3-based applications. This currently includes over 30 third-party applications embedded on the smartphone or as Try & Buy versions. Some of these are detailed below :

AccuWeather, Boingo, Chess Professional, Ericsson Mobile Organizer, Google Mail, McAfee Firewall, Skype, Mobile McAfee VirusScan, Mobile Mobile Blogger, ShoZu 3.0, Wayfinder, Navigator WorldMate and more.

Sony Ericsson claim that the P1 is a true mobile email device. It supports full push email and allows for attachments handling. The push email solution Exchange ActiveSync is pre-installed on the P1. Other popular email solutions such as BlackBerry or Intellisync can also be used.

3G and integrated WLAN can be used for high-speed Web browsing and data downloads, plus email. The P1 is also VoIP enabled for making calls over the internet.

The P990 has 64MB of on-board RAM whilst the P1 has 128MB. Sony Ericsson says that the additional user RAM for applications has increased by 400%, which will make multitasking quicker and easier. Additional storage memory is via the supplied 512MB Memory Stick Micro with up to 4 GB size supported.

The 256 MB of flash memory is split into approx. 95 MB for operating purposes and up to approx. 160 MB for storage of user data, such as, audio files, pictures, documents, additional languages and settings such as the active theme.

Ringtones can be played in the Media player. Any file in a supported audio format can be used as a ringtone as long the operator has not disabled that format for ringtone use. Ringtones can be downloaded using PlayNow or created using MusicDJ.

PlayNow™ is a unique direct-link quality music download application. MusicDJ™ is touchscreen enabled and is a sampler music tool with MIDI drum, bass, chord and accent loops in different music styles, which can be combined to create polyphonic ringtones. The FM radio with RDS offers instant and easy access to FM radio channels.

3G's verdict on the Sony Ericsson P1.

The P1 has been designed to offer efficient communication and messaging and we cannot disagree that it works. The P1 has many improvements over the P990 such as : it's 25% smaller, has proven stable firmware, has many UIQ 3-based applications to try out, has a a 3.2 Megapixel camera and a large QVGA touch screen whilst increased memory makes multitasking quicker. This all adds up to a slick, well featured handset that all P990 users will be wanting and newcomers will be seeking to check out.