This report covers my experience upgrading from a Sony Ericsson (SE)
T616 to a SE W600i.
BLUF: Very nice phone (if you can get it). The W600i provides 99% of
the functionality I required of the T616 while adding capabilities
the T616 lacked. Bluetooth ( BT) integration with Address Book,
Salling Clicker (with a minor issue), Dodge UConnect, iSync and GPRS/
EDGE all work. Phone mounts on OS X desktop with the included USB
cable and the Sony Walkman functionality (FM Radio, music, and video
player) can play MP3/AAC (non-protected) and you can drag music and
videos (3GP) to the appropriate folder on the phone and it all works.
Oh yeah, it works well as a phone too :-)
Pros:
Great screen
Fast OS
Customizable hot keys (5 way navigation key)
iSync
Bluetooth
Salling Clicker
FM Radio with RDS
Plays MP3/AAC and 3GP
Distinctive swivel design
EDGE
Battery life
OS X Theme
Cool Java apps
Comes with USB cable
SMS remembers a number of the last addresses used so you don't have
to look them up for each message. A great time saver.
Speakerphone
Better antenna than T616
Cons:
A bit on the big side
Have to open the phone to mute it
Slide lock switch on side of phone to lock is easily unlocked in a
pocket
No native iTunes support (AppleScripts are available on the web to
move music to the phone)
Yet another power adapter and desk stand
Details:
I bought the SE T616 in 2004 and loved the form factor and the
functionality. I used the Salling Clicker to control all of my
presentations and for locking the screen and setting iChat status to
away when out of BT range. It worked great with the BT in my Dodge
and my Volvo. GPRS was nice for emergency connections to the
internet. Lots of goodness all around but some warts as well.
The interface on the T616 was dog slow, especially for SMS, and it
would lock up a lot requiring the battery to be taken out and put
back in to reset. I sent it to SE once and they returned it with no
problems found and said to turn it off more often (rather than let it
run for days and days). It still locked up and took a long time to
reboot. The camera was pretty weak as well. More of a novelty than a
useful tool.
I started searching for a replacement last year. My requirements were:
Bluetooth (taking advantage of all the BT features of OS X - Address
Book, iSync, and GPRS)
Salling Clicker support with phone events
iSync via Bluetooth
Not cost a small fortune
Candy bar form factor
Not be a Treo (had a 650 for 30 days and then passed it on to an
unlucky soul. If you missed my report on it send me a note)
SMS
Nice to have:
iTunes compatibility
Useable camera
The first phone I found that fit the requirements was the SE W600i.
Rant:
Realize you are not Motorola's (or any other manufacturers) customer
- Cingular, Verizon, et al are the customer and the manufacturers
cripple the phones at the request of the carrier. There was a
successful class action lawsuit against Verizon for the
misrepresentation of the BT capabilities of the Moto V710 but I digress.
End rant
I did not have any problem transferring my old AT&T account over to
Cingular and the phone showed up with a new SIM card (old one from
AT&T would not work) and programmed with my old number (though I
don't even know what it is. Have to look it up if someone needs it
since I use a unified messaging service).
Had to call into Cingular to activate the phone so left it charging
and within a few hours it was online and I could make and receive calls.
Set up the phone via the Bluetooth Assistant in OS X and iSync worked
perfectly (up to 1000 contacts on the new phone versus 500 on the old
one). Salling Clicker was installed by using the phone's WAP browser
to connect to Salling's site and download his Java app. I have the
Clicker set up to always keep Address Book connected, lock the screen
when away, and set iChat status to away. Everything works except
setting the iChat status. Posted to the Salling forum but no clue as
to why that does not seem to work correctly. Salling does say that
support for the W600i is problematic - sometimes everything works and
sometimes it does not.
I did have to hack Address Book (in 10.4.6) to get it to recognize
the phone via BT. I rely on the ability to send SMS via Address Book
and to respond to same coming in as well as using it to dial the
phone. Details on the hack are here:
Submitted a feature request via bugreport.apple.com for Address Book
support of the W600
GPRS/EDGE via BT was a little harder but I did get it working. Have
not tried it via USB.
Very nice instructions from Cingular (which are posted on their
support site as well) but they did not work for me. I post them here
in case you want to try them and then I'll tell you what did work:
From: email@hidden
Date: June 26, 2006 9:22:47 AM PDT
To: email@hidden
Subject: Configuring GPRS Modem Network Settings within Macintosh
OS X.
Reply-To: email@hidden
The following is a Cingular ATG(R) eServer solution:
ID: KB8604
Goal Configuring GPRS Modem Network Settings within Macintosh
OS X.
Goal Configuring Dial-Up Network Settings within Macintosh OS X.
Fact Macintosh OS X
Fact Bluetooth
Fact USB Cable
Symptom Modem / Tethering
Fix
Click on the Apple menu.
Select System Preferences...
Click on Network.
NOTE: A dialog box may appear at this point, indicating a new
device has been detected. This usually happens when configuring a
USB connection for the first time. Press OK to continue if this
occurs.
Select the connection to be configured and press Configure.
NOTE: This is typically "Bluetooth" for Bluetooth connections, or
the name of the phone for USB connections, such as "Motorola Phone
(V600)".
Select Using PPP in the "Configure IPv4" drop down menu.
Click Configure IPv6.
Select Off in the "Configure IPv6" drop down menu, then press OK.
Click the PPP tab.
Enter the following information:
CINGULAR WIRELESS CUSTOMERS:
Account name: email@hidden or email@hidden
Password: CINGULAR1
Telephone Number: *99***1# or *99# or *99***3#
Service Provider: Optional, but it is recommended to recognize the
connection.
FORMER AT&T WIRELESS CUSTOMERS:
Account Name: Leave Blank
Password: Leave Blank
Telephone Number: *99***1# or *99# or *99***3#
Service Provider: Optional, but it is recommended to recognize the
connection.
Click PPP Options...
Ensure that the following boxes are unchecked.
Send PPP echo packets.
Use TCP header compression.
Connect using a terminal window (command line).
Press OK.
Select the Modem or Bluetooth Modem tab, depending on the type of
connection being configured.
Select the appropriate modem script in the "Modem" drop-down menu.
Uncheck Enable error correction and compression in modem.
Uncheck Wait for dial tone before dialing.
Click Apply Now.
Here is how I got it working:
Download the Sony Ericsson 3G Scripts from: http://
www.taniwha.org.uk/ and install CID2.
Follow the Cingular instructions except as noted in these screen
shots (keep in mind I was a former AT&T customer and that seems to
have some bearing on this connection process):
There are 5 different scripts that are installed as part of the
package. CID1 does not work. CID2 works and I got connected at 68
Kbps according to <http://reviews.cnet.com/7004-7254_7-0.html>. CID3
works but connected at 54 Kbps. The other CIDs don't work and in fact
will CHANGE the account settings on the phone disabling the Media Net
account (WAP). If that happens here is how you put them back:
SUBJECT:
Accessing the browser settings on the Sony Ericsson W600i.
Accessing MEdia Net settings on the Sony Ericsson W600i.
FACT:
Sony Ericsson W600i
SYMPTOM:
Internet access
Accessing WAP or MEdia Net
FIX:
Sony Ericsson W600i Keypad Layout
From the standby screen, press the center of the 5-Way Navigation key.
Highlight "Settings," press Select.
Using the 5-way navigation keys, scroll to "Connectivity" tab.
Scroll to "Data Comm." and press Select.
Scroll to "Data Accounts" and press Select.
Scroll to "MEdia Net" and press Edit.
Verify the following settings:
APN: wap.cingular
Username: email@hidden
Password: CINGULAR1
Login Request: Off
Allow Calls: Automatic
IP Address: Leave blank
DNS Address: Leave blank
Authentication: CHAP
Data Compression: Off
Header Compression: Off
I sent my Cingular rep a copy of my changes so she could get them to
the right folks in support.
The MediaNet WAP browser is very nice. I am impressed with the
quality of the graphics and the overall speed. The included Java apps
(especially the one for checking the weather) are quite nice and
there some useful free ones available on the SE site (Converter for
distance, weight, volume, etc).
The phone comes with some eye catching themes and you can download a
nice OS X theme at <http://www.esato.com/archive/t.php/t-93444> Mac
OS X 'Tiger' Themes for Sony Ericsson phones
Use BT File Transfer to send the file to the phone. The phone will
say it does not recognize the file but it does and you can then
select the OS X theme. Very nice.
I picked a SE carrying case for it at the local Cingular store since
I can't carry it in my pocket like the T616 because of the slide lock
button getting hit and the phone activating. While at the store the
clerk showed me the SE 810 which is the next version up from the W600
and the evolution of the T616. It has a 2 mega pixel camera compared
to the 1.3 in the W600 and it has a removable media slot and the same
form factor as the T616. Sounds great until you get the price - $400
and not carried by Cingular yet. In fact, in my area Cingular only
sells the W600 and the Sony Ericsson Z520a.
An After Action Review (AAR) is a process the U.S. Army uses after an
event to capture what was supposed to happen, what did happen, and
how to make it better next time. I use them to capture the results of
meetings and other events that I attend as a way to share not only
what happened but other relevant information (places to eat, stay,
visit, and other ancillary information that may be of use to someone
else doing the same thing). These reports usually begin with an
overview of what the event was to include date, time, location, etc.
The next section is like an executive overview (called a BLUF for
Bottom Line Up Front - meaning tell me the most important stuff first).
Dave Hale
Government Systems Engineer, Apple Computer
email@hidden 888-257-2685 (voice/fax/mobile)
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