It's been rather hard to get a replacement housing for my Sony Ericsson P1 after I got a huge dent from dropping the phone on the pavement by mistake. I went around the local computer and gadget mall in Hong Kong and there was only one place to that had the housing in stock - the bill ended up being something along the likes of HK$600 for a 'brand new' casing and a hefty installation fee (Yes, I probably got ripped off, but I was desperate).

So after some scouring of several websites, here are some sites that sell the Sony Ericsson P1 housing to you at a reasonable cost - not including the postage (although I would recommend getting it from your local mobile phone importers store; they should sell it for much cheaper and help your install it too):

Mobile Brando
eBay
eBay Malaysia
eBay Hong Kong

Good news! Now you can turn those barcodes containing swaths of (previously) unreadable dots and dashes in to readable data on your Sony Ericsson P1 smartphone. Simply go to http://www.i-nigma.mobi on your smartphone to download the free software; afterwards, why not decipher the following barcode below?

If you're in to hacking or modding files for smart phones, then here's a worthwhile task - try and mod/hack these SE G900 files to work on other UIQ smartphones.

I think the 4 apps below are what most P1 users wish to see on their UIQ smart phone:

1. 
   
   Touch Focus is excellent for those snapshots where you can show off the powers of your smart phone. Apart from being a gimmick-y function it's also quite useful, as occasionally the camera does get the focus slightly off (for small subjects I wish to focus on).
   
   
2. 
   
   Standby Panels could have made life so much easier if it was released much earlier. It's a brilliant idea and I have no idea why SE didn't release a patch or application for previous UIQ users.
   
   
3. 
   
   Notes is another useful utility app which only those lucky devils with their SE G900 or G700 get. And I have no idea why SE decided not to release it as a standalone app - it's just got so much potential for business and casual users, be it really taking notes in a meeting or just random doodling.
   
   
4. 
   
   Last but not least, I think more or less everyone wants to get a port of the Media player. It looks quite impressive and is definitely a step up from the default UIQ media player. To top it off a lot of K-series phones and other non-Walkman phones are now getting this newly improved, slick version of the media player so hopefully there will be a port available for the P1.

Any thoughts on my choices?

Maybe it's old news for some, but this is clearly a picture of Google's Android OS running on the SE P990. According to the article, this debuted at the 3GSM conference in Barcelona last February, so I do apologise to all readers for providing 'old' news.

Back to the article though - if Android can be installed on the P990, then it must be possible to get it running on the P1. I know I'll be first in line to get Android on my P1; no offense to the Symbian UIQ platform, but I think a change would be nice. Dual booting UIQ and the Android on the P1 would be even better. Who else wants to see Android running on their P1?

ares on the UIQ Evangelist has just posted an article taken from smart-se.ru - it's basically a hack to speed up the loading of the Messaging and the Contacts applications.

If you're curious as to how this hack works - the 2 applications that you install on your P1 are meant for porting applications by developers. The speed boost that was provided is a nice side effect of the applications, and currently there is no explanation for it yet. If you've got a theory, feel free to post it here!

swmail, a massive contributer to the UIQ community, has created a new hack to increase the headphone volume for the Sony Ericsson P1i. Establishing his reputation after his Walkman Player 3.0 hack for the P1i, this mod is another welcome enhancement to the P1i community, particularly as many others have claimed that the P1i headphones volume are way too quiet (or too safe for your ears).

Here are the instructions as from the Esato forum post he made:

1. Unlock access to system folders (look CapsSwitch)
   
2. Download the archive from http://www.agathosyne.de/files_ext/se_uiq3_sound_mod_lite.zip
   
3. Copy the file 'C:\Private\10202be9\persists\1020867a.cre' from the your phone to computer.
   
4. Run se_sound_patcher, select the file '1020867a.cre' copied from phone, press "Install".
   
5. Copy the patched file '1020867a.cre' back to your phone (in dir 'C:\Private\10202be9\persists').
   
6. Immediately restart your smartphone.

The standard disclaimers again: I am not responsible for any damage caused to your phone, and you're trying this at your own risk. If you've got any problems, I suggest taking it up with the developer swmail himself. He can be reached from his website - http://101swmail010.googlepages.com/uiq3mods - and it's definitely worth taking a look.

Oh and please don't forget to donate to his cause. I may sound like his employee or something for saying this, but seriously - he's been such a massive contributer to the UIQ community, so if you've got some spare change, do show some appreciation for his work :)

It's been a very exciting week with the hacking of the Walkman 3.0 for the P1i, but it seems now it can get even better with Skype's announcement to release their official client for selected phones. Although the Sony Ericsson P1i was not one of the targeted phones for release, I saw the above image under phones from Motorola.

The MotoRIZR Z8, as many of you may know, runs on the UIQ 3.1 platform, and shares many common elements with the Sony Ericsson P1i. With Skype's release of their official Skype client for the Z8, would that be the official UIQ 3 version of the Skype client? And in any case, why isn't there support for the P1i while the Z8 is offered a version to be downloaded? Questions, questions...

I'll take a fresh look at it later today - currently on my study leave and I've got to make good use of my time :)

Update:
Thanks for elidoperezmd for the tip - the version is Z8 specific because all the keys are mapped out according to the Z8 keypad, which is unfortunately not QWERTY style. Not that it''s too big of a problem, I'm sure I could find a way past it. But I think it's safe to say that most users won't need to try the app out - it's not of much use anyway (See my Nokia N82 review of the Skype client).

Yep, it's finally been cracked. Kudos to swmail for posting it up on the IPMart forums; now with Walkman 3.0, it comes with visualisations and Senseme music-mood choosing abilities, so basically the P1i = W960i + expandable memory.

Just a note on the Walkman 3.0 hack - it's solely exclusive for the P1i, and doesn't work with the W950, M600 or the P990. And as always, there can be potential problems with installing hacked applications like these on the root memory, so please backup your C:\ and all of your files before you attempt installation.

The UIQBlog has an news regarding a Walkman app hack that allows the Walkman app to be installed on to the UIQ 3.0 platform.

So basically it means that instead of doing some risky flashing to get a Sony Ericsson Walkman Player on to your P1i, all you need to do is install this Walkman application, and you're all set!

All this was available thanks to a hack earlier on which allowed the extraction of private data and applications from the older SE W950i Walkman UIQ phone. Please be aware that this Walkman application is the one from the SE W950 - which means it is Walkman v2.0 (without Senseme or the animated main menu).

Here's the instructions on how to install the Walkman app from the great man Moherowy who managed to hack the Walkman Player to other UIQ phones...(Yes, it's more than a couple of steps, but if you really want it, it's worth it):

-Unlock (hack) access to system folders (look for AppTRK or Capsswitch)

-Copy the contents of this archive to C drive on your mobile

-Restart your mobile

-Enjoy your walkman

You can obtain the Walkman app from the IPMart forum, where moherowy posted it. As for unlocking access to system folders, please take a look at this guide by ares from UIQBlog.

Today I spent quite a while at the computer mall trying to find a compatible Bluetooth keyboard for my Sony Ericsson P1. I've looked online and the only keyboard that seemed to be tested and available for the P1i was this one by iGo - which coincidentally, none of the vendors stocked at the computer center.

Luckily, I came across this set of instructions on My-Symbian which allowed me to set up the keyboard with the P1i:

1. Make the keyboard discoverable, by pressing Ctrl - Left Fn - Right Fn keys all at the same time, until the green LED above the "T" key flashes once per second.

2. From the P1i, go to Control Panel > Bluetooth > Connections, tap on the phone icon, which takes you to My Devices, and click on New Device. After a few seconds searching, "Think Outside Keyboard" should be shown. Select this device. After a few seconds, you will be prompted to enter a pairing code. Enter a code (numbers only: I used four digits). Then type the same numerical code on the Bluetooth keyboard (making sure that you keep the Left Fn key held down while pressing the number keys), followed by Enter. You should then receive a message on the P1i saying that bonding is successful.

3. The keyboard is now paired, and you can enter text into applications, such as Notes and Quickword. The shortcuts on the keyboard for various applications do not work, but the keyboard works perfectly well for general typing (although I cannot enter the pound sign yet).

My thanks to My-Symbian user acregan who discovered this method of pairing a Bluetooth keyboard with the P1i.

And no, I didn't buy it. The keyboard was from some obscure company from China who obviously didn't take any lessons in designing hardware.

Remember TWUIK? TWUIK is a UI technology based on Java, which can provide similar eye-candy sort of transitions and effects that you would normally expect with Flash media or even effects from the iPhone (see more from my previous post on it).

It seems as if TWUIK is now available for small scale developers - I spotted this tutorial from Tricastmedia demonstrating the basics of building a media application on the TWUIK platform - and it seems more like a guide for the small, independent developers to make their own TWUIK apps. Hopefully, it won't cost a fortune - it would be a shame that independent programmers won't be able to afford to try stuff with this excellent platform...

UIQ 4.0 running on a prototype unit above

In a shocking statement released today, Sony Ericsson has announced that all SE P1i users will be offered a free upgrade to the next generation, UIQ 4.0, when the operating system will be released.

The announcement comes after many users of the P1i (including some from this blog as well as major forums) have complained that the P1 is essentially "a P990i with a new shell and an extra 64MB of RAM".

UIQ 4.0 is widely expected to be a major rival against Apple's iPhone after the iPhone's debut to the smart phone market last summer. It's touted to be far more stable than the current generation of UIQ phones, and includes a host of features to mirror the user's desktop experience. Screenshots were released at the press conference as well.

The Sony Ericsson spokesman declined to comment on the additional features that will be coming up in the new platform, but laid down an expected 2008 Q3 release of the new platform for the P1i. Additionally, the spokesperson also added that WiMax upgrades will be offered to users who will still be under the 1-year warranty when the new platform is released.

The new OS and WiMax upgrade will only be available via the service centers.

With this in store, I honestly cannot wait for 2008 Q3 when all these cool stuff finally descends on my P1i.




(I hope I didn't dash anyone's hopes. Have a happy April Fools everyone!)

Seems like a security breach is kind of imminent, with the amount of UIQ 3 users running amok and hacking this and that on the UIQ platform. The UIQBlog has a full tutorial on how to see those hidden private files on your UIQ system, for that matter.

But this does raise a few eyebrows, as the UIQ platform prides itself on being secure and rather 'hack-proof' from its users. And if we can view these files today, who knows what a hacker or malicious application can do in the future?

Some of you might have realised that with the new update to firmware version R9K009, when pictures are taken with the Camera App, the shutter can no longer be muted. Yes, even when the phone's mode is set to "Silent", the shutter sound still goes off. This is presumably to let...others be aware when a photo is being taken of them.

Not that it can't be hacked. SE P1 enthusiasts from this Chinese forum have found a way to silence their shutters - it involves the simple process of making a phone call from your P1, and then starting the Camera application.