Sorry, third-parties, all JAVA-enabled Sony Ericssons now have official support from Microsoft to run their new Windows Live Messenger Mobile application. MSN/Windows Messenger site Mess.be found this goodie in a chineese MSN website. Well, actually, functionality may be a little below some other JAVA clients, but if you’re like me and only need your contact list and being able to chat with some few emoticons, you’ll take this Windows Live themed instant messenger over anything else. Apparently these download links (be careful to chose the version for your model) are completely legal and free to download, but after a couple of months they will stop working unless you pay a small unknown monthly fee. Hmm, let’s just enjoy it in the meantime and we’ll talk again in January. Check some screenshots of it running on K800 inside this entry. [Via Mess.be].

For Sony Ericsson J300, K300, K310, K500, K510, Z520 and Z530, Download Windows Live Messenger Mobile 380

For Sony Ericsson K610, K700, K750, W550, W600, W700, W710, W800, W810, W850, Z550 and Z710, Download Windows Live Messenger Mobile 382

For Sony Ericsson K790, K800, S700, W850 and W900 (it should also work for Symbian smartphones), Download Windows Live Messenger Mobile 384

If your exact model number isn’t listed here, make sure your phone supports JAVA and then download the version of models using the same screen pixel size.

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UPDATE: Download links working again

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Straight out from the French Riviera, Noreve offers a series of high quality leather cases for almost all current mid-high Sony Ericssons, for those who don’t mind losing some portability in favor of protecting the precious device inside while adding a touch of style and personalization with the many leather colors available. I say losing portability because after trying these with my P990, it just won’t fit any comfortably in trousers any tighter than 50 Cent’s. It shouldn’t be a big problem for smaller models’ users though —the P990 itself isn’t very pocket-friendly anyway—, but it’s fair to say that these cases add considerable bulk to your phone, not to mention if you even attach the huge belt clip. This belt clip led McCoy, reviewer of the black M600/W950 and red P990 cases, to find a funny problem with the back screw, which you can check in the video (in all Superhandz style) after the jump, along with photos of those and my black and white P990 cases.

Go to Noreve’s Sony Ericsson leather cases product page

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Sony Ericsson last week unveiled another cool Bluetooth accesory: the MBW-100, which is the Sony Ericsson-styled, Sony Ericsson-branded result of the partnership with Fossil, which also gave birth to other Fossil-branded Bluetooth watches. No, it doesn’t integrate an earpiece or microphone to go all spy-agent, but it has an OLED display to check caller ID, battery life and received messages. It has buttons to mute/reject callso and to play/stop and skip MP3’s too! Sadly, the display isn’t big enough to display SMS’s or song titles. At ~$300€, it isn’t cheap either. Maybe next time.

Cnet Asia already has a hands-on preview (wait, isn’t that a review?) and here are some interesting excerpts:

A rather nifty feature on the MBW-100 is its out-of-range notification function. When the phone is moved out of Bluetooth wireless range, the watch vibrates to alert the wearer. We found this useful as a security feature since it tells you if someone is attempting to walk away with the phone. (…)

The Bluetooth watch comes with a mini cradle that charges the onboard battery via the contact points located at the back of the watch. It is rated for up to seven days of Bluetooth usage and an additional week for analog time-keeping. (…)

The watch is made of stainless steel with a scratch-resistant mineral crystal glass and anti-glare coating for improved clarity of the display. (…)

For full functionality, the Bluetooth watch is compatible with only specific models in Sony Ericsson’s current and upcoming lineup. This includes the K610i, K618i, K800i, W710i, W850i, Z610i and Z710i. (…)

Despite its chunky design and not-so-affordable sticker price, the Sony Ericsson MBW-100 remains one of the more innovative Bluetooth phone accessories we’ve come across so far. It is, however, not expected to appeal to the mainstream crowd.

Read the MBW-100 review in Cnet Asia (don’t forget to check the images section)
Go to the MBW-100 Official Page

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Tired of my K750’s remote control template for Media Player lacking a couple of functions, I have customized it a bit and thought I should share it with you. As you can see in the background image, it’s the same template but adding the Shuffle, Repeat, Full Screen and Mute functions of Windows Media Player. If your phone has a smaller screen resolution than 176x220 you can resample the image and edit the template with the Sony Ericsson Bluetooth Remote Control application.

Download SuperMediaPlayer.hid

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Now that we’ve added all the official photos to the W950 and K610, here’s the first batch of photos of our live coverage of Sony Ericsson’s party at the 3GSM Barcelona. A too-dark-for-great-photos event where 15-20 Sony Ericsson representatives wore W950’s around the neck, each, and where the music was played by a well known DJ Judge Jules from several Walkman Sony Ericssons! The new smatphone’s innovative keypads proved to be totally useable, with the M600’s actually having two presses per key (one for each letter, right press or left press) thus working as a proper Qwerty keyboard, and the W950’s being something not dissimilar to Motorola’s RAZR keypad, in a rubbery, more stylish way, yet very comfortable to use; whose color/graphic design they’re not all happy with, and might be changing before it goes on production, we were told. The negative point in the evening was to discover that only one P990 was hanging around with a really slow interface because the damn thing is still under development (smells like P800 spirit).

Here are other links to live galleries of the new phones:
- Phone Scoop live pics and W950 interface video, showing what lead the guys to the conclusion that the new Walkman “could be one of the most innovative mobile music experiences out there, even more so than the iPod”. [Thanks Eric]
- Mobile-review’s live pics, only in Russian for now, and showing the J100 we have not forgot about.
- Newmobile.nl’s live pictures gallery and videos.
- Mobileburn’s W950 live photos.

Discuss this in the W950, K610 or M600 forum threads

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Sony Ericsson has just unveiled at 3GSM Congress Barcelona what looks to me like a 3G version of a K750 —or a very much upgraded K600—, with a name that sounds quite familiar: K610. Will it live up to the success of the T610? Well, I don’t think it’s as good looking as the “T”, but at least it’s not short in features. In a very compact candy bar form factor (102 x 45.2 x 16.9mm and 92 grams; 2mm taller, 3mm thinner and 7 grams lighter than the K750) it packs UMTS and Triband GSM connectivity, the typical 1.9″ 262k color 176x220 pixel screen, a “basic” 2 megapixel camera without autofocus or flashlight, a frontal VGA camera for videocalls, Memory Stick Micro M2 slot, Bluetooth (we’re assuming it supports the A2D profile, just as the M600), and USB 2.0 connectivity at “Full Speed”, as the Press Release reads. You’ll be able to buy it at a yet price to be announced during Q2 in colors Evening Red and Urban Silver. Now I want a T610.

K610 Official Page
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UPDATE: All the official pics: Continue reading… (more photos)