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.

Discuss this in the forum

UPDATE: Download links working again

(more…)

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

Discuss this in the forum

And that isn’t exactly a good thing. From what I can recall, all reviews of Sony Ericsson phones by seriously serious review site Mobileburn have got a “Highly recommended rating”. But apparently the Z610 —one of past weeks’ newest models, all of which we will be covering little by little— is a bit too much on the stylish-not-so-functional side, and it’s a bit more expensive than usual aswell.

The curves and the color scheme give the device the look of a drop of mercury over a pebble (…). Of course, the bad thing is that the reflective surface attracts fingerprints like you have never seen before, and it is actually quite easy to scratch (…).

The screen is bright, but more pixilated than the K750i’s because of its larger size (…).

Sony Ericsson boasts one of the best, if not the best, looking user interface in the industry. The one on Z610 is similar to that of K610 and K800, which is a slight update from the K750i days. The biggest observable improvement would be its fonts: the letters are indeed much easier to read on small screens now. The company has also listened to market critics and decided to put the clock on the top bar at all times. Users also get to choose between a large or small clock on the standby screen (…).

The Z610 comes with a pretty big battery for such a small device. The 950mAh rating translates to approximately 3.5 days of what we consider average usage (…).

RSS feeds are also supported, but are grouped with your SMS, MMS, and email messages (…).

If you are looking strictly at functionality, the Z610 would not embarrass anyone either. With the excellent reception, full HTML browser, good battery life and multimedia capabilities, this device should be a reasonable companion during your day. The phone does everything reasonably well, but there really is not much that sets it apart other than the exterior design (…).

The Z610 is a mid-range uberglossy little 3G clamshell with an external hidden OLED 128×36pixel display, internal 2″ 176×220pixel, 262k color TFD screen, 2 megapixel camera without flash or autofocus, internal camera for videocalls, 16mb internal memory and Memory Stick Micro slot.

Go to the Z610 Review in Mobileburn
Go to the Z610 Official Page

Discuss this in the forum