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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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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We do have an excuse if you didn’t find news around here for a while, even if there was a lot of spy shooting lately (to which we have something to say about, but later on that) or you sent in news or cool stuff (all will get published); it’s been the holidays, our comeback to California, the yearly server slowdown/upgrade, and the resulting technical problems in the forum, altogether. So while we’re updating the latter, here’s a little trick I found myself the other day and will certainly surprise more than one or two readers out there. Were you, like me, furious about the first so called music phones, W800/K750 and W600, not having dedicated music buttons other than the pretty basic “music button”? Will I make your life happier if I suggest you to press-and-hold the volume buttons from any menu, keypad locked or not, during playback, and you found yourself skipping songs? Oh yes! now go tell everybody, you SE prophet!

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And if you already knew, why the heck didn’t you tell us!?

UPDATE: Steve tells us it also works in the V800, so it may also be a feature of the K600, K700 and S700?

Still no press releases or photos available in Sony Ericsson’s websites, but along with the W810 announcement they emailed to UCSE, they presented these couple of cool speaker sets, one more portable-ish, one more desktop-ish, to go with the known MDS-70 (which, numbering-wise, should sound better?). The MPS-60 is really really small and pocketable, at 30x55x42 mm, while the MDS-60 measures 54x120x200 mm. They will be available in the first quarter of 2006 at unknown price and in colors Silver, White and Orange.

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Let’s keep adding stuff to the Software section, do not hesitate to send in any cool program you know for use with Sony Ericssons, PC, Mac or Linux. This homemade W600/W550 iSync plug-in by Macncell.com will synchronize the phonebook and calendar (maybe more things, I can’t test it, I’m PC) of your W600 and W550 on any Mac, but I don’t see the reason why it wouldn’t work with any other Fast Port enabled SE (again, can’t test it myself, and don’t really know how iSync works). It was created following this tutorial for making iSync plugins for any unsupported phone.

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As an excuse to give you the oportunity to win a Sony Ericsson W600 (donated by the kind people at Sony Ericsson USA) and well, to celebrate the third year of this website of ours since the first headline reading “P800 ready for mass production”, we’re asking you all to use your Photoshop, drawing, 3D modelling or pottery skills to create that spy photo, that future phone we’re all expecting. The W600 would be your favourite Christmas present, so we’re setting the deadline on December 18th at 23:59 Central European Time to then give everyone the opportunity to vote the best five for one week. Send your entries to lgcc clubsonyericsson com with the subject “UCSE Fake Design Competition“, a brief description of its features and suggested model name (i.e. P200 ). Blurry low resolution images for enhanced credibility, as well as sense of humour, are welcome Checking the Rumours section is totally recommended for inspiration too. The standards have been really high since that T330, but if you think you don’t have design skills, try something just original and with sense of humour! YOU could win!

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Ready for a busy day of swiveling Walkman love?

Threegmobile’s W900 review is more of a preview after just a couple of hours of testing, but there is a video of the automatic opening mechanism and two sample photos featuring the girl on the right. They also have a W600 p/review.

Mobile-review’s W900 review, besides the usual funny translation bits, is the first one to include comprehensive comparison with the S700, especially of the screen, which is indeed a bit smaller (just by a milimeter or two) but a lot brighter; actually too much according to their opinion. Sample photos of the W900 and K750 show that they may be using the same hardware, but the firmware differences don’t make the photos turn out exactly the same. An good benchmark comparing these two phones shows the W900 (enabled with an nVidia GoForce 4800 chip) being a lot faster in 3D operations but slower in everything else. The speed of the menus is extremely slow, probably (and hopefuly) due to the unit being an unfinished-firmware prototype. Lots of videos at the end.

NOTE: Both W900 reviews mention something about the absence of RDS in the Radio FM, but it’s not clear if they’re referring to the phone or just the handsfree’s remote screen.

Mobiledia’s W600 “review”, not even having live photos or impressions at first-hand, is not really a review but an extended explanation of all the features and uses. Typical perfect read for anyone impatiently waiting to buy one/have it shipped.

Sefanatics’ W600 vs S700 review is a very recommended read, just what a good review should be: brief and straight to the point.

Infosyncworld’s W600 review is also short but has a couple of interesting facts like the battery life being great even playing MP3’s: 15 hours they say, but was it with the phone off or on?

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Discuss this in the W600 Forum Thread

The third product announced yesterday is another music accesory. The Walkman-branded MMR-60 is a music transmitter via FM, one of the most ready-to-go ways to connect portable music devices to bigger HiFi equipment like your home/car/party stereo, and one of the favourites of iPod users (isn’t it great to put iPod and Walkman in the same article and not feeling unfair competition anymore? Go SE Go!). If you’re not familiar with this, it’s as simple as choosing an FM band in your phone (in the menu that appears after connecting the MMR-60) and then selecting said FM band in your FM receiver, that must be within 10 metres of distance. Wireless music streaming at 43x27x11mm and a mere 9 grams, connecting to any Fast Port enabled Sony Ericsson, but leaving a replica of the port below if you want to use the charger. Despite being a basic device, Sony Ericsson has released even more official photos than they usually do with phones, and in some you can count up to 5 Walkman logos in the same photo. That’s what I call a comeback. By the way, the Press Release says it will be available in silver, white and black colors (to match your chosen W900) but the Official Product Page just mentions the silver and I haven’t found photos of the other two.
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With the help of Sony (who will be also selling the same product, Sony branded “Cradle Audio CPA-001″), Sony Ericsson has presented a set of speakers of an apparently high quality (RMS 25W output, S-master digital amplifier, neodymium magnet speaker units, shielded speakers and Surround mode) that you sit your Fast Port enabled Sony Ericsson on in order to listen to your Radio FM or MP3’s out loud while charging the battery. According to what I understand from the Press Release, it also has a standard “Line-In port” (3.5mm? RCA?) and Bass/Trebble controls, while the Product Page says something about a “Multi AC adaptor with subwoofer” which if it turns out to be an AC adaptor with an integrated subwoofer it will start to appeal to me seriously. There’s also a “Remote Control” but I can’t help putting it all between quotation marks if they don’t show it in photographs. So far I’ve only found high res pics of the main unit holding both black and white hot W900’s.
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What to rave about by a W550 live gallery if both interface and looks-wise it’s the same as the never-to-be-produced S600 in a different color? If you’re a real SE freak you’ll notice that they added a nice looking gray paint to the circular area where camera lens and mirror is (compare W550 in the photo on the right and S600 here), ain’t it exciting? Se-community.com has published a bunch of live photos, screenshots, videos and sample photos along with a short review in German to put you in the challenge of finding even more subtle differences… like the totally new animated menu!!! Yes! There IS a hot difference in there, just check out the videos!
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Maybe not in this confusing way, but it had to happen. We all knew Sony Ericsson had to release the 256mb-memory W600a (compared to the 64mb S600i) for Europe, and they’ve finally decided calling it W600i for a global release, adding another GSM band and EDGE connectity. In addition, we also get the W550i and W550c (c for China) as a triband W600i. All features remain the same as the W600 unveiled on June. Here’s a summary:

W600i: 256mb, Quadband 850/900/1800/1900 and EDGE for everyone (including Europe and America)
W550i: 256mb, Triband 900/1800/1900 for Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Hong Kong
W550c: 256mb, Triband 900/1800/1900 for China
S600i: 64mb, Triband 900/1800/1900 for Europe, Africa, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Hong Kong
S600c: 64mb, Triband 900/1800/1900 for China

All will be in the stores before Christmas.
Read the press release
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It’s been out for some time now, but in case you missed it, all-imaginable-accesory shop DomL.com has this useful 3.5mm jack adaptor for the new connector generation (K750/D750/W800/S600/W600/Z520). All these phones come with their own stereo headsets but for $9 or 7€ it’s nice to check if your beloved high end headphones sound actually better, plus you can plug some external speakers in. For HiFi and in-car connectivity you can even combine an 3.5mm-to-RCA cable, and if you like this idea but don’t mind the Sony Ericsson stereo headphones, you can totally forget everything you’ve just read and go for the official MMC-60 cable (pictured left). [Thanks Ed Xavier for the tip]
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UPDATE: Emil reminds us of the official HPM-70 Stereo Headset to which you can connect your desired 3.5mm headphones/speakers while keeping the microphone and the handsfree function. This is the one with the in-ear earpieces you get bundled with the W phones.

Just after my preview, Mobile-review publishes their S600 review.
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Last week Sony Ericsson gave me the opportunity to meet the new phones, take some pictures and play with what by all means are still early prototypes. Altough the status screen of the S600i unit showed an obvious “Model: K750i” label, many functions were malfunctioning and some just made the phone hang — just what we want! It’s always fun to rummage with early firmwares and find Easter eggs; both the S600 and Z520 prototypes had plenty. […]

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MartinFields, the creators of the famous screen protectors and other mobile phone and PDA accesories, have just released this retractable USB cable for all the Sony Ericssons with the new connectors (K750, D750, W800, S600, W600 and Z520 so far). The standard USB cable (pictured at the right) is a huge improvement from the old serial cables. It not only makes the Memory Stick DUO in your phone a Plug&Play sorage device: it also charges your phone. But it’s terribly bulky. 1 meter of 5mm-thick stiff cable plus one bulge on each end is just uncomfortable. MartinFields’ retractable cable, while small and light, is supposed to withstand heavy usage. [Thanks Ed for the tip]
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