Sony Ericsson G900 Controls & Operations

Standby view

Once the phone is started the Standby view automatically appears on the screen.

The Standby view acts as the starting point for performing a variety of tasks and for accessing applications via the Main menu. The Standby view is highly customizable, just about every aspect of its appearance, content, navigation methods and behaviour can be changed.

Panels

The new Panels feature in G900 offers shortcuts to the user’s favourites in different areas, for example, Bookmarks, RSS feeds, and Contacts. Users can also add their own shortcuts to applications and functions in the phone. The Panels feature is accessible directly from Standby view by pressing left or right on the navigation key.

Touchscreen

G900 offers a large 262 k colour touchscreen, supporting landscape view for imaging and browsing. To navigate menus and select items the user taps the screen using a fingertip or the included stylus. Text input methods

Text inut methods

G900 offers three text input methods:

• Directly-on-the-screen writing, using the stylus
  (handwriting recognition).
• The on-screen keyboard (virtual keyboard)
  located at the top of the screen in certain dialogs.
• The numeric keypad below the screen. This provides keypad-based prediction and multitap input. Keypad prediction allows words to be entered by a single keypress for each letter (as opposed to the multiple keypress).

Text options supported:

• Auto-capitalization
• Word completion
• Next word prediction
• Spelling suggestions
• Dual language prediction dictionaries for bi-lingual users

Enhanced text prediction

For the input methods of the on-screen keyboard and handwriting recognition, enhanced text prediction can be used. The primary word or next word prediction suggestion is presented, with additional suggestions in a pre-edit box at the top of the screen. If a word is misspelled, the pre-edit box may also suggest closely matching words in the selected language dictionaries, words that have been typed previously, or items that have been stored in the ‘My words’ personal dictionary.

Note: While entering text, the user has the option to either select any of the word suggestions displayed, or to ignore them and continue entering text via the chosen method. If a prediction suggestion is shown when sending/saving the input text, this word will not be sent/saved.

Flight mode

UMTS, GSM or Bluetooth connection from a mobile phone may be harmful to the safe operation of an aircraft. Flight mode is a special mode that disables all radio functions, but still allows the user to listen to music, use PIM applications and play games. At startup of the phone the default setting has been changed from previous

Sony Ericsson Symbian phones. In G900 there is no longer any question to the user whether to start the phone in Flight mode or Normal mode. The Flight mode menu is thus only available as a manual setting.

 

10 reasons to buy the Sony Ericsson G900

We have compiled a top 10 list of reasons to purchase the Sony Ericsson G900 mobile phone. If you can think of any other reasons to purchase the mobile phone, let us know by leaving a comment using the form at the bottom of this post and we’ll consider adding them. Here goes:

1 - Touchscreen Technology - the Sony Ericsson G900 is the first mobile phone to bring touchscreen technology to the masses at an affordable price. Simply run your finger across the screen to navigate through menus, select options, and much more.

2  - Handwriting Recognition - the G900 is capable of recognising your handwriting. Use the stylus pen (included) and write down those important reminders, dates, and times. As Sony Ericsson so simply put it “What you can do with pen and paper, you can do with your G900. Press the Notes key and use the stylus to write in your own handwriting. Quick and easy, no keyboard needed“.

3 - 5 Megapixel Camera - the G900 comes with enough pixel power to allow amateur photographers to consider ditching their stand alone cameras altogether. Other impressive camera features include; auto focus, digital zoom up to 16x, image & video stabiliser which enables you to avoid blurriness caused by slight hand movements, photo fix which enables you to adjust light balance and contrast after your photo has been taken, photo light - handy for those nights out, picture blogging which lets you send photos directly to your blog, red-eye reduction - no more devil eye photos, and video light which enables you to spruce up the brightness of your recorded videos. The Sony Ericsson G900 also intelligently integrates touchscreen technology into the camera allowing you to set the focus area of your photos by touching the screen with your finger.

4 - WI-FI Enabled (WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g) - Use the G900 to connect directly to your wireless home / office network and avoid paying extravagant data fees charged by network operators. With WI-FI, the G900 really does bring broadband speed internet to your mobile phone. Whether its emails, eBay, or Facebook, rest assured that with the G900 you can put down the newspaper and pickup your mobile phone during those toilet breaks - just remember to keep your eye on the clock. 

5 - 3G Enabled - The G900 comes equipped with 3G allowing you to make and receive video calls, video messages, stream video and audio, and surf the mobile internet at a much faster rate that GPRS or standard WAP which is what you’ll find on older mobile phones. Although equipped with WI-FI, the importance of 3G for browsing the web cannot be disregarded as you’ll often find yourselves in areas where WI-FI is either not available or costs an arm and a leg to connect to - £5 per hour? No thanks.

6 - Integrated MP3 Player - Sony Ericsson have been integrating MP3 players into their mobile phones for years now so you can rest assured that with the G900 you’re not getting a mobile phone plus an average joe MP3 player. Granted, it is not as good as the iPhone+iPod (all bow down), however the integrated Walkman MP3 player does sound great and comes with loads of cool features such as Mega Bass™ which significantly increases the amount of bass that can be transferred through small headphones without damaging audio quality. In addition to this, the G900 also comes with TrackID™ which is capable of recognising the artist, song title, and album of a track that is played. Click here to see a 30 second demo of how it works.

7 - 10.6 x 4.9 x 1.3 cm - it’s not how big it is, it’s what you do with it that counts. Size does matter with a mobile phone and were pleased to see that big things really do come in small packages. Besides, there are lots and lots of things to do with a Sony Ericsson G900 anyway! And don’t forget the weight - at 99g you won’t know it’s there until it rings.

8 - Expandable memory - it would be unfair to say that the G900 doesn’t come with adequate memory for the average Joe user. However, if you have a million friends or are planning to really take advantage of the integrated MP3 player we recommend you visit Amazon where you can add up to 2GB memory (approx 500 MP3s) for less than a tenner, 4GB memory (approx 1000 MP3s) for under £20, or 8GB memory (approx 2000 MP3s) for about £25. Bargain!

9 - It’s FREE!! £0.00 - That’s right - when the Sony Ericsson G900 launches in July 2008 it will be free on a significant amount of pay monthly contracts (we expect it to cost approx £249-£299 on PAYG / Sim Free). Check out our where to buy section for the latest deals.

10 - We’ll let you decide - we can think of a million and one other reasons to buy the Sony Ericsson G900 but were gonna let you decide on number 10. Let us know what you think by leaving us a comment below and we’ll add our favourite(s) to the list.

- Click here to view Pay As You Go (PAYG) and sim free deals -

- Click here to view contract / pay monthly deals -

Sony Ericsson G900 Specification & Features

Below is a summary of the specification of the Sony Ericsson G900 as confirmed by Sony Ericcson.

Network
GSM 900
GSM 1800
GSM 1900
3G (UMTS 2100)

Size
106 x 49 x 13 mm
10.6 x 4.9 x 1.3 cm
4.2 x 1.9 x 0.5 inches

Weight
99g (grams)
3.5oz (ounces)

Available Colours
Dark Red
Dark Brown (yes - we thought it looked black in the photos too!)

Display / Screen
TFT Touchscreen
2.4 inches
240×320 pixel
262k color TFT - displays over quarter of a million colours!

Memory
Memory Stick Micro^TM (M2^TM) support
Phone memory 160MB* - stores practically endless amounts of contacts!

Battery
Standard battery - Li-Ion 950 mAh (BST-33)
Standby time up to 380 hours
Talk time up to 12 hours
Video calling up to 2.5 hours

[Read more]

Sony Ericsson G900 Key Features

Finger-friendly UI

With its touch-screen and larger font sizes and hit areas the user interface of G900 is truly finger-friendly - “only touch can do”. On side of the screen there are scrolling dots to be used as an enlarged area for scrolling. Finger scrolling can be used in the Media Center and Browser.

Keylock key

G900 is equipped with a dedicated keylock key.

Media center

Media is a unified presentation for all multimedia applications, like music, pictures, and video. It is the result of the implementation of the XrossMediaBar concept, developed by Sony for its Playstations.

Messaging hardware key

This hardware key offers a shortcut to the Messaging function. It is appealing, practical and easy to use, and it is a perfect solution for an in-touch-organizer, who can select between email, push email, Web mail, and instant messaging.

Panels

Panels is a new convenient feature in G900 offering shortcuts to the user’s favourites in different areas. The Panels feature is accessible directly from Standby view.

Push email

The push email clients for the major Operator solutions are supported in G900. Exchange ActiveSync^TM is pre-installed.

Note-it hardware key

This hardware key offers a shortcut to the new and innovative Note-it function. When pressing the key, the screen turns into a yellow sticker, on which a note can be written either using the stylus or the keypad.

Torch always at hand

When this feature is switched on the camera LED is lit, and it is never no more than two presses away. Without having to activate the camera the phone has turned into a torch.

Touch calendar

G900’s calendar function has been improved compared to the calendar function in previous Symbian phones, and is now called “Touch calendar”. The new calendar function is even more intuitive and user-friendly.

2.4-inch transflective colour touchscreen

The large 2.4-inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixels) full graphic 262k touch-sensitive colour screen communicates both advanced multi-functionality and ease of use. It enhances and facilitates navigation and viewing, for example, as it comes to high-quality multimedia and entertainment.

A transflective screen is significantly easier to use when the phone is held in direct sunlight.

Wireless LAN, WLAN

The G900 WLAN functionality may be used as an alternative to any other type of network connection, such as, a GSM, UMTS, or Bluetooth^TM connection, and it may be chosen as the preferred connection method for any of the G900 data applications. The G900 WLAN functionality is compliant with the IEEE 802.11b/g standard (54 Mbit/s).

Bluetooth^TM wireless technology

Several devices can be connected to G900 using Bluetooth wireless technology up to 10 metres away (simultaneous Bluetooth^TM connections). For example, the phone can be answered with a Bluetooth headset when it rings and images can be beamed to another phone at the same time. Several mobile phones can take part in a Bluetooth-supported game and the phone and a computer can exchange data such as images, video clips, business e-cards, music files and calendar data. G900 also supports real time transferring of stereo audio to, for example, a stereo Bluetooth headset.

Email setup wizard

Setting up the phone for email has never been simpler. The user just enters his or her email address, user name and password - that is all. Seconds later G900 has been configured for email and is ready to send and receive email messages (works for POP as well as IMAP accounts).

FM Radio with RDS

The FM radio with RDS (radio data system) offers instant and easy access to FM radio channels. Users just plug in their handsfree headsets (works as an antenna) and can start listening to their favourite stations. The radio can also be started by the alarm clock. RDS information, which is sent out by the currently tuned-in radio station, is displayed directly on the screen.

Front and rear cameras

A 5 MP touch auto focus camera for digital still images and video recording, and a VGA camera for video telephony are included in G900. The video camera records video at QVGA resolution (320×240) at 30 FPS. For still images the camera has Photo fix functionality, which means that an under-exposed picture can be improved by letting the camera calculate and adjust the light balance. Using picture and video blogging, email or MMS users can easily share their photos and videos with others. Note: Video blogging will be enabled in maintenance release 1 of the software.

Gaming

Gaming is still a very popular feature in mobile phones, and with Advanced Java, users can add new games and skill levels to further enhance the entertainment value of the phone. There are several embedded games included in the phone at delivery.

Instant Messaging (IM)

An integrated Instant Messaging application is available to Operators and their community partners.

JAVA^TM

Download extra content with Java^TM, for example, new information and entertainment-based applications. This gives users a possibility to personalize the functions and features in their phones. Developers get the opportunity to create new applications.

Memory Stick Micro^TM (M2^TM) slot

G900 is equipped with a slot for Memory Stick Micro^TM (M2^TM) memory cards of sizes up to 8 GB. This is equal to 8000 songs in eAAC+ format, equal to 700 CDs, or around 2000 songs in MP3 format. A memory card is accessible from a PC using USB 2.0 High-speed. This permits a transfer of files at 480 Mbps, meaning that 1 GB of data can be transferred in about 3 minutes!

Music recognition - TrackID^TM

A music clip is recorded from the FM radio or Sound recorder, and sent to the TrackID^TM Internet service. Song title, artist and album name, if available, is sent back to the user within seconds.

Opera^TM 8.0 Web browser

Opera^TM 8.0 allows full HTML browsing and supports all de facto standards. It features normal or small screen rendering as well as full screen view. Includes Flash Lite 3 support (from maintenance release 1 of the phone software).

Personal Information Management (PIM) data synchronization

A user can stay up-to-date with everyday events by synchronizing phone contacts, calendar
appointments and tasks in the phone with the corresponding data in a computer. The USB cable (which comes with the phone) and the built-in Bluetooth feature can be used together with the synchronization software available on the supplied CD.

Pictures and video blogging

Pictures and video blogging are integrated features, meaning that they are directly connected to the camera application and the video camera application respectively.

PlayNow^TM 3.0

PlayNow^TM is a direct-link download application. PlayNow^TM users can connect to a live list of top music hits, videos, games and pictures. Content can be previewed before purchasing.

RSS Reader

RSS provides a way for Web sites to distribute their content outside of a Web browser. With the RSS Feeds application the user gets information from selected sites on the Internet into an easy-to-view format without having to browse the Web.

Simplified multitasking

When Task manager is accessed, the screen from which the application is launched does not disappear. It will still be visible as a background screen in G900, while the list of recent applications pop-ups from the bottom of the screen. This has proven to be a more effective and user-friendly way of presenting the Task manager feature for the user.

Sony Ericsson Media Manager

Media Manager is music, photo and video clip management software, available on the CD which is included in the kit. Media Manager is used to transfer music, videos, and photos to and from the phone. Users can prepare files for transfer even when the phone is not connected to a PC. They can search for and select music on their PCs or audio CDs and convert existing audio tracks to formats that are suitable for mobile use before transferring them to their phones. They can also subscribe to feeds, such as video and music podcasts.

UIQ 3.0 / Symbian 9.1 operating system

UIQ 3.0 is a media-rich, flexible and customizable software platform, pre-integrated and tested with Symbian OS v9. The Symbian OS makes it possible to add useful applications to the phone including navigation, travel and organizer enhancements.

X-Pict Story

Brand new feature for creating professionally-looking slide shows including sound and impressive transitions.