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?

Definitely something new - peer-to-peer technology is nothing special these days, but peer-to-peer positioning systems? Courtesy of a tip from Asri's UIQBlog, I decided to check it out for myself.

Can't say I was too impressed by the trial version of Navizon, which you can download by using your P1 browser and heading to http://www.navizon.com. It's got a clunky interface, and to top it off loading maps became a nightmare. Although there's a choice of loading maps from Ask.com, MSN VirtualMaps, Google Maps and Yahoo! Maps, the maps loaded as though I was on a 28.8k Modem instead of a 6M Wireless broadband line.

Furthermore, on the Navizon website, it states:

Navizon is a software-only wireless positioning system that triangulates signals broadcasted from Wi-Fi access points and Cellular towers to help the users find their way in most major metropolitan areas worldwide.

However, the application was unable to pinpoint my GPS position, even with a full GSM signal and with a WLAN network. I'm not sure if this was some application error or something, but it never got my position or loaded the maps of the city I was in. Note: Navizon doesn't have data in Hong Kong yet, so it's more or less unusable for me. If you're based in Europe or America, do have a go and see how accurate this feature is.


There is no online support even if you do run in to problems, so that's another reason why I'm not very impressed with the software. Perhaps it'll warrant another try if the above issues (slow loading of maps, not working even with full GSM signal, no online support) are sorted out - but for the time being I definitely won't recommend this application, especially since you have to pay to garner all the features for this software.

Note: For those querying about how @Web compares with Opera Mini, I'll do a further review soon. If you've got further requests, please don't hesitate to post it in the comments (i.e. reviewing an aspect that I left out); I will try and include it in the further review.

As promised, here's the review of the Digia @Web Browser (Beta) which I started instantly when I got my account:

Installation:
Very straightforward after getting your account. As soon as you enter your confirmation email, just enter your desired password, and you're off.

I downloaded the above file, then dragged and dropped it on to the memory stick, and the installation was completed without any issues.

First Impressions:


The browser loads very quickly, and it gives a general feeling that it's a very lightweight browser. A very simple interface is presented - there's none of those "Option" menus or anything, just a URL bar at the top and buttons at the bottom of the browser - perhaps that's why you'll have to go through the Read Me file, or you won't have any idea how to zoom in or out of webpages, nor how to start using the browser.

So after learning the basics, I did some browsing tests on the @Web browser. All the tests were conducted under a WLAN connection (router connected to a 6M dedicated line), just for your reference.

1. Browsing to this blog (Sony Ericsson P1i Blog):
   
   
   
   The above shows how it's rendered by @Web, while the image below shows how it's rendered by Opera 8.65...
   
   
   
   It's quite evident that there's a huge difference in the way the rendering engine on both browsers operate. Digia @Web renders the page in a way similar to most desktop browsers, while Opera v8.65 doesn't seem quite up to scratch. @Web is definitely the winner for this round.
   
   Both browsers managed to load the blog in roughly 26 seconds, so speedwise there isn't much difference between the 2 browsers.
   
   
2. Browsing to the BBC Homepage:
   I chose to do another test on the BBC homepage because it's notorious for loading slowly on smartphone browsers and it renders poorly on browsers other than the Big 4 (IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera), so this should be able to show whether @Web can really browse the web and provide a "Desktop-like" experience for the user.
   
   
   
   And again, the above is the page rendered under @Web, and below is the page loaded using Opera v8.65...
   
   
   It's quite evident that the built in Opera browser doesn't seem quite up to par compared to the @Web browser. One thing however was the loading time - Opera finished loading the (incomplete) page in just under a minute; but @Web took a whooping 1 minute and 30 seconds to load everything. 30 extra seconds is quite a long time, particularly when you're stuck in traffic and you just want to see something - although I do take in mind that @Web is still in its beta stages, and in the final version there probably would be improvement in loading times.
   

Annoying little things / Problems:

• While conducting the above said tests, one thing was apparent: the damned browser kept crashing on me. Yes, I know @Web is in it's beta stages, and it can't ever be perfect during Beta testing but this is just ridiculous. After 5 minutes browsing in landscape mode, @Web beta would crash on me, citing a system error. None of this ever happens on Portrait mode, so its better to stick with that when surfing the net, or just playing around with the browser.
  
  
• Lag; the lag is really bad for a beta browser. It's apparent whenever you're zooming in or out, or even just trying to scroll up or down the page. Everything takes at least a second or 2 to register - and I'm not exaggerating.
  
  
• Zooming in and out - nice concept, but poorly executed. I'm not sure whether it's the browser or the touch screen that has a problem; when I try to zoom in, I can repeat the same hand gesture 4 or 5 times and nothing happens. The same applies for zooming out; in fact sometimes the browser loads the linked page instead of zooming out. Even after you manage to get the gesture registered, it takes an extra few seconds to execute the actual zooming in/out.
  
  
• Scrolling is a pain; after you scroll up or down with your finger, the browser jumps back to where you were before you did the scrolling gesture - which is extremely frustrating.
  
  
• Knowing whether the page has finished loading or not - maybe it's a personal thing, but I want to know whether the entire page has loaded or not. Sometimes it's just not very apparent when its done yet or not.
  
  
• Tabbed browsing please - Opera has it, so there is no excuse why you don't have it. Or maybe it's just that I'm too demanding.
  
  
• Little things such as changing the homepage (now that I've mastered the main points in the read me file), or opting to turn images off when surfing to save up on data, or even choosing to avoid storing cookies or saving form data aren't present as options in the browser. This has to be changed or I'm not gonna be on the users of the final product.
  

Conclusion:
Impressive browser with plenty of potential, even though it's in its beta stages. However, the poorly programmed features (some of it, lets not be too critical) and lack of fundamental features found in the default browser tips the scale somewhat towards the Opera side. I presume once all these minor (and not so minor) things are sorted out, this should be the browser of choice for most users. For the time being though, I'd like to stick with the default Opera browser and wait for version 2 of the beta before committing myself to the new browser.

If you happen to be a devout Christian or Catholic, then this application may be quite useful for you. SymbianBible is a Bible Reader for Symbian handsets (including the UIQ 3 platform), originally ported from the Palm Bible Reader Bible+. Since it's been around for quite a while, there's many bible files available online for download.

Apart from English, some other languages are also supported; there's Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Chinese, etc; so you shouldn't rule it out even if you don't read an English Bible.

Further instructions are on the developer's site on how to load Bible verses in to your phone. It also happens to be free, so why not give it a try (for those who don't want to take their Bibles around)? You can download the UIQ version here.

So the big news this week is the eagerly anticipated announcement of the 3G iPhone - well, just how good is it when you put it next to Sony Ericsson's flagship product: the P1? This entry will compare the various aspects of both phones...based on previews of the 3G iPhone and the P1 which I own.

• Aesthetics:
  Apple is well known for it's creative and attractive designs of all of it's products, so it is hands down the winner in this department. I'm not saying SE's P1 looks bad or anything, but when you put the iPhone and the P1 side by side, I'm sure you know which one looks more attractive.
  
  According to various reviews online, including Engadget and Gizmodo, the 3G iPhone has a "solid build" and just comfortably and snugly fits in most people's hand. On the other hand, the P1 has a slight "plasticky" feel to it, but definitely looks the tougher of the 2 phones if you drop it from height.
  
  
• Operating System:
  Symbian users would have no trouble getting around and using the P1, as it runs on the UIQ platform - in fact they're probably screaming for joy because the P1 is a lot faster than it's predecessors, the M600 and the W950. It's also capable of multitasking to a certain extent. But it's also slightly clunky with the number of settings and options buried within layers and layers of menus.
  
  The iPhone needs no introduction - it runs a stripped down version of Mac OS X. Everything is conveniently located on the main screen, and the average user doesn't need to read an instructional manual to figure out where everything is. With simplicity in mind, the iPhone has the slight edge over the P1 in terms of the OS that the smart phones run on.
  
  
• Applications:
  There are definitely more applications catering for the P1, as it is essentially a business device. Not only does the P1 support Microsoft's ActiveSync, but also Blackberry's Push Email as well. Other useful applications also include the host of finance applications and QuickOffice for those quick document handling.
  
  The iPhone caters for a different type of audience - it's got many more free games and apps (if you hack it, that is), but less so for the business user. The lack of Blackberry and ActiveSync support is probably the defining factors for business users to lean towards the P1 though. And the fact that you need to hack it to install applications also makes it slightly unattractive for the users who want it simple and clean.
  
  
• Hardware:
  Apple's 3G iPhone sports an accelerometer, WLAN b/g, A-GPS, multi-touch screen, and an onboard keyboard. Triband UTMS and HSDPA is also prevalent on the iPhone, making SE's P1 look much inferior in comparison. And despite the 3G iPhone being very internationally oriented in mind, there are still aspects the 3G iPhone loses out to the P1 - the support for MMS, Asian Language input, as well as the 3.2 Megapixel Camera the P1 has.
  
  iPhone wins in this aspect hands down. We all know how much we crave to just have Triband UTMS support on our P1's...
  
  
• Multimedia:
  I think there's really not much to compare here. The iPhone definitely wins because it's an effing iPod as well.
  
  There are some issues to point out though - streaming isn't as well supported on the iPhone as it is with the P1, and the P1 can play a lot more audio and video formats (e.g. mp4, mp3, avi, divx, etc) if you install software such as CorePlayer or even the DivX player for UIQ. But overall the iPhone just gives a much better multimedia experience to the user.
  
  
• Messaging:
  This seems to be down to personal preference - whether you prefer the on screen keyboard on the iPhone or the semi-qwerty style on your P1. However, the P1 has the added advantage that it supports Asian language inputs, be it Korean, Japanese, or Chinese - which should be another major influencing factor if you do have the need (or you simply just do) text in those languages.
  
  
• 3G capabilities:
  The 3G iPhone strangely doesn't offer a front end camera to allow for 3G video calls, whilst the P1 does. Might be another one of those tipping points if you rely on the front camera for business meetings, or something along those lines...

So this is it! A preview of the upcoming battle between the P1 and Apple's brand new 3G iPhone. If I can acquire a unit of the 3G iPhone, I'll be doing a brand new comparison of the above said features as well as taking a look at the aspects I've missed.

In lieu of the hype surrounding the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1, let's see how well it fares against SE's current flagship and whether it's worthy for us Sony Ericsson P1 users to drop our P1's to get the X1...

First up, the physical size of the 2:


Both smart phones are more or less the same size, so P1 users won't find the transformation mindblowing or anything. The Xperia, however, clocks in at 145 grams (as opposed to the P1's 124 grams) so it should feel heaver and more solid as a whole. It might feel solid for some but a bit on the heavy side for others, so do beware of that.

Screen Resolution and Colours: Although the P1 isn't especially impressive in terms of the colour on the main screen, the Xperia X1 doesn't match up to the P1's standards. The P1 sports a 262K colour TFT screen - but on the other hand, the Xperia is 1 step back; it only sports a 65K colour TFT screen. Think back to the days of the Sony Ericsson T630 - not very impressive is it? Viewing 3.2 Megapixel photos on a 65K colour screen definitely doesn't do the photos any justice, so if you value photo viewing on your phone, then the X1 isn't for you. And considering that Nokia phones have 16 Million colour screens as the de facto standard, the X1 is definitely a disappointment in this department. I presume that a 65K colour screen was used to lower energy usage within the phone.

Apart from the colour issue, the X1 supports a screen resolution of 800 x 480. It's definitely a massive step up than the P1's 320 x 240. Screen size has also been enlarged to 3 inches from the P1's 2.6 inches. Much better for viewing multimedia files, so do take that in mind.

Connectivity:
The Xperia X1 is definitely a winner here. It supports virtually all the bands in every part of the world; from the American standard to the European standards - so this is definitely the traveller's choice. First there's Quad band GSM/EDGE - the P1 only has Tri band GSM (900/1800/1900) - then there's Quad band 3G/3.5G supporting the frequencies 900/1700/1900/2100 MHz; the US T-Mobile 3G spectrum is also supported there - the P1 only has European 3G, so it's a big turn off for Americans. The Xperia X1 IS the world phone, so it should appeal to those businessmen who require extensive travelling around the globe.

Operating System:
The Xperia X1 runs on Windows Mobile 6, while the P1 runs on Symbian UIQ 3.0. I'm really biased when it comes to commenting on Windows Mobile Platforms, with some poor past experiences, but it appears (from what I've seen at least) that the WM6 platform is solid in displaying its multimedia capabilities. Some of the readers may be more experienced in using the WM platform so please comment on your previous experiences!

Little Tidbits on the Xperia X1:
Both sport a 3.2 Megapixel camera but I can bet anything that the Xperia X1 won't have the notorious "Green Tint" issue plaguing many P1's so it should appear to be the better camera.

A host of Office apps come along as part of the WM platform so it's definitely a plus for the business users - but there doesn't appear to be a version of Blackberry support for the Xperia X1, unlike the P1, so many users may feel left out.

The X1 comes with Wireless B and G built-in while the P1 only supports the B standard, making it another tempting aspect for P1 users to upgrade to. There also doesn't seem to be an integrated GPS chip built-in to the X1 - surely Sony Ericsson should have put it in; it's becoming another de facto standard in the world of smart phones.

Conclusion:
Get it if you're a hardcore traveller and have plenty of money to burn. Otherwise, you might want to consider sticking to your P1 - although the Xperia X1 is really a magnificent phone, it's not really a massive upgrade from your P1. For those who use Blackberry Connect for their Push emails, you would want to stick around on the P1, as it supports both ActiveSync and Blackberry push emails.

This should be interesting for business users - both phones cater for the business audience. Sony Ericsson's flagship is known for it's business capabilities, such as handling documents, as well as it's all in one features. It's got a 3.2 Megapixel Camera, Wi-Fi, and "Blackberry Connect" (which counts as push e-mail). On the other hand, you've got Research in Motion's top of the line Blackberry Curve - incidentally challenging the P1's position as one of the top phones for businessmen and entrepreneurs. So which one should you get? Here's my take on the issue:

Sized Up:

Both share similar sizes, so don't expect anything drastically different when you're using one or the other. Similar thickness, similar height. Probably the largest difference when it comes down to it is the...

Screen: 2.5 inches on the BB Curve, against the 2.6 inches on the SE P1. Both have a resolution of 320 x 240 - however, the BB Curve still uses the older 65K colour screens, as opposed to Sony Ericsson's 262K screen. So you can definitely expect to see better colours on the P1 than on the Curve. And also, the P1 sports a touch screen, which may be a tipping factor for many business users who also need handwriting input for languages such as Chinese/Japanese.

Keyboard: Ah, the Blackberry's famous QWERTY style keyboard against the Sony Ericsson's new semi-QWERTY keyboard. I think it's down to personal preference again, but SE's implementation seems to save quite a bit of space compared to the Blackberry (or maybe I'm just slightly biased here). Think you have to try it out to see which one you'll prefer more in the end.

Operating System: Blackberry's proprietary OS against UIQ, developed by UIQ technology (owned by Motorola and SE). In terms of applications and functionality, UIQ has the edge simply because there are more apps for UIQ than for Blackberry. But UIQ also suffers from set backs such as not as stable as Blackberry's OS (although this is not such a huge issue on the P1 unless you constantly tweak it like I do), and having a steeper leaning curve, in my opinion, than Blackberry. But there are more games, applications, and themes to offer for a UIQ handset than a Blackberry one.

Networks: Unfortunately Blackberry's Curve is still on the 2G network, running on EDGE. SE's P1 runs on the 3G network, so if data is a must for you (such as for surfing in your free time) then the P1 has a distinct advantage over the Blackberry. However, the P1 only supports European 3G (3G 2100) - and it's only triband, as opposed to Blackberry's quadband Curve. That means that if you'll be travelling to America, then the P1 won't be able to take advantage of 3G, falling back to GPRS - which is slower than EDGE.

WiFi: The Blackberry Curve has built in WiFi for both 802.11b/g, giving it the slight edge compared to the P1's B-only WiFi. And Wireless G is up to 5x faster than Wireless B - so if you're always working in a WiFi hotspot, this might also be an important factor to consider.

Surfing: The P1 uses Opera 8.65 as it's browser, whilst Blackberry uses their own proprietary one. Opera is definitely the winner here - it's well know for it's browsing performance and speed.

Camera: 3.2 MP on the P1 against 2 MP on the Blackberry. Need I say more?

So here's the P1i pitted against the newest Blackberry. Stay tuned for more soon - I'll be 'borrowing' my friend's BB Curve for a hands on review. Oh, and that won't be for another week or so, so feel free to leave requests and comments on what I should test on.

ares over at the UIQ Evangelist revealed that v0.50 for the app iPhone Lock has just been released. It's a welcome update from the previous version that I covered on the blog sometime ago last year; fixed now is the massive battery leaching that occurred with the previous edition (it's more controlled now), and call and SMS notifications are also apparent in the app!

It's available for download on this page, as with all the the previous releases.

Here's a group of Sony Ericsson P1i enthusiasts banding together on Flickr: all the photos featuring in the group was taken using the P1i. It's great for those who want to evaluate the P1i camera features and quality of the camera before purchasing the smart phone, and also an excellent way to reach out to the P1i community.

Don't be fooled by the number of photos that you see initially; there are some hidden photos only viewable to members, so I do recommend everyone to join the group. And why not contribute some of the best in your collection as well?

It's been a while since the Mobile World Congress 2008 in Barcelona, but I kept forgetting to post this up. Basically it's a hands on first look at Opera Mobile 9.5...running on the P1i(!!)

I'm guessing that it's further evidence that Opera Mobile 9.5 will be offered to us P1i users - either for a fee or through an SE update. Hopefully we won't need to resort to hacks and all that to get it.

Yep, this software delivers everything that you'll actually want from your phone. Always getting calls at the wrong times, such as in the middle of a meeting, in school, etc? This app allows for the setting of several modes, such as:

• Accept all calls (inactive)
• Reject all calls
• Accept Phonebook only
• Reject from black list (you have to define the list in advance)
• Accept from white list (you have to define the list in advance)
• Reject all personal (e.g. send SMS to your wife or girlfriend if she calls)

In addition, you can also accept or reject all calls from callers calling with a hidden ID. Great for avoiding those pesky prank calls you might get for no reason during the wrong times too!

I honestly think these features should have been built in to the P1i platform a long time ago - but no worries, at least there's software to take care of the P1i's shortcomings. On the downside it costs US$20. But hey, it's definitely worth the price.

Never heard of it? Don't worry, I haven't until I saw the software myself. Primetech's Jot is a handwriting recognition application, a offers more than the standard handwriting recognition built in to the Sony Ericsson P1.

The defining feature of this app is the fact that it allows you (the user) to train the system to recognise and adapt to your specific handwriting. I think most of you would understand the frustration of jotting letters down furiously and the built-in original system just keeps choosing the wrong letter. Jot offers a solution to this problem and is definitely worth a further look.

Click here to get it now!

My heartfelt congratulations to Teknolog, AnotherGuest and Baronen4177 - their application, Escarpod, has won UIQ's Application of the Month award. Keep up the good work guys!

Here's the current look of the application at version 0.95, the last stable release. Escarpod is a freeware Podcatcher (a integrated player and downloader of podcasts) and runs on all UIQ phones. The latest features include:

• RSS feed updating and show downloading
• Built-in player
• Persistent position in shows between restarts
• Cover art
• Support for podcasts stored on flash card
• Automatic downloading of new shows

It's obviously gone an extremely long way since the very first version came out "a while ago".

Version 1.00 is projected to be released on April 30th, so mark that down on your calendar to get the first full release of Escarpod!

I'm guessing that most P1i users have owned or used a PDA in the past - remember those days where Astraware was the big daddy for games on your PDA?

Look no further. A few days ago Astraware announced the software called Boardgames, available for the UIQ, S60, Palm, WM and Pocket PC platforms.

8 board games are featured in this application, including Chess, Backgammon, Ludo, Checkers, Reversi, Nine Men's Morris, Snakes and Ladders and Tic Tac Toe.

Seems more for the casual player, I know; but I don't think anyone expected intense and hardcore gaming from a QWERTY business smart phone like the P1i.

It's going for US$20 (GBP 10) - but well worth the money in my opinion. After all, what better to spend your spare time on the bus than by playing a challenging game of chess?

Asri, who's also the blogger of the UIQ Evangelist, has published his review of Quickoffice v4 for UIQ 3.0 devices on AllAboutSymbian.

In short, his review points to the fact that Quickoffice seems to have lived up to its promises, as I posted some time ago. Even so, I'm already absolutely fed up with Quickoffice - to me, it's reputation is already ruined. It's hanged/frozen on me at least 5 times while I was taking notes in the middle of an important class.

I guess you could say that pen and paper is always more reliable than technology; but I half expected the P1i to be a proper business device, not a joke amongst the business sector.

What's your experience with Quickoffice? Maybe it's just isolated incidents, and the P1i happened to pick on me those few times...

Everyone who's been on My-Symbian forums should have seen the user Anotherguest, who's famous for porting games from their desktop versions to Symbian S60 and UIQ 3 compatible ones. Some of his excellent ports include:

• Lemmings
• Gnu-Go
• Open Transport Tycoon Deluxe
• Duke 3D
• Frozen Bubble
  

Now he's gone one up to port Wolfenstein 3D for the UIQ 3 platform; kudos to AnotherGuest for providing all these hours of entertainment while I spend it on transportation and those boring free periods in school.

All of his ports are free, so do take your time to try them all! You can access his archive of freeware ports here.

UIQ Technology released a press release today announcing an update to the UIQ platform - UIQ 3.3. How I'd love to see that on the P1i...

Basically the new features in this update include:

• Opera Mobile version 9.5
• Widget Manager running under Opera
• Feature rich messaging suite
• Better integration of Java via Java JSR 248

Hopefully Sony Ericsson will provide an update to the P1 users so we can have at least some of these features (such as the new browser). After all, we've seen the N95 users get their demand paging and many other major updates to their platform - I think it's time SE showed that they value and respect their high-end customers just as much as Nokia does.

Just to let everyone know that Quickoffice has quietly released version 4 of their Office Application Suite for UIQ devices. Apart from the usual host of features you can find on the previous Quickoffice version (Viewing and editing of Documents and Spreadsheets, view-only for Powerpoint files), this new version also allows for creation and editing of Powerpoint files.

Other new features include:

• Landscape viewing
• Display of both headers and footers in a Document
• Support of viewing multiple spreadsheets at once

Quickoffice 4.0 is available here for US$20, and it comes with complete Word, Excel and Powerpoint support. Note that it claims only the Motorola Z8 is supported - which should be an error on the part of Quickoffice, as the Z8 is also an UIQ 3 device.

I'm not sure if this is some ploy of Quickoffice to earn a bit more from SE users, but on the website it claims that the P1i only supports Quickoffice Premier 4.0 - which comes for US$50 - with a bit more features than the normal version (which only supports the Moto Z8). Definitely something that Quickoffice should clarify.

I don't think that the extra features (graphical editing, multiple viewing of documents, complex formula supporting) warrants an extra US$30 to the price tag. If it were an extra US$10, I might have understood...but US$30...

A user on My-Symbian has gotten Quickoffice 4.0 normal to work on his M600, so I don't think there's an issue with UIQ users for now.

Now with Powerpoint Slides fully editable, I would say it's complete in providing a mobile Office experience for all businessmen. And I wholeheartedly agree with the price tag (for Quickoffice 4, not the Premier version) - US$20 isn't that much to pay for for Microsoft Office on-the-go.

This handy application that I'm introducing today is called Tube 2, a commercial software which takes care of your utmost needs in the city. Yes, by providing a subway map for the user. No longer do you have to fret about how to reach a particular destination, ever again.


It's also quite useful how the user can select the station and get a view of the surrounding areas and roads.

Simply put, it's a like a mini map of the city. The software features sights of interest, surrounding commercial stores, route indication, etc; which are all similar to what Nokia Maps offers, but only on a smaller scale. And it supports the storage of maps on your memory stick too.

And it doesn't only just offer it for the London Underground - there's a huge choice of cities to choose from around Europe, Asia, and America.

Pity it isn't free, but that's the cost of getting great software I suppose. There's no word for pricing, but I don't think it comes cheap...

Here's a list that I've compiled for the top 10 free applications that's worth having on your P1i: (And by the way, it's not in order. I believe there's at least 5 apps that's going to tie for 1st place)

1. Fring - The only FREE Skype client supporting the P1i. It's a nifty app, supporting Skype calls via GPRS/3G/WiFi, and also acts as a instant messenger for MSN and GoogleTalk users. The only thing that might improve the software is if it supports video calling too...
   
   
2. Google Maps - I'm sure everyone knows what this is for; it keeps you from getting lost. And not to mention that now there's the "My Location" feature for the P1i too, which takes your providers mobile service towers to find your precise location, thereby providing a free GPS service for users. Only downside is that it needs a high usage/unlimited data plan.
   
   
3. Gmail App - Some people said it didn't work on their P1i, but it seems other users have found a way around it. Either way, it retains the neat Gmail interface on your P1i rather than using the default Messaging app for emails. Downside is that there is no Push feature even though you've got an unlimited data plan; but I'm sure Google will think of something really soon.
   
   
4. Widsets - Have I mentioned this before? Basically it's an app allowing the user to add "Widgets" in it. These "Widgets" provides content, any content; ranging from games, to email checking, RSS feeds, etc. Definitely recommended for any user wishing for Internet content. Any please do get a data plan, or things will get really expensive.
   
   
5. Opera Mini - Must I talk about why its on the list? It's superior over the built-in Opera v8.65 in almost every way. And it's a great alternative browser, very lightweight and speedy. A must get for all users.
   
   
6. Escarpod - A really excellent podcast and RSS player that works on the UIQ platform. Even though version 1 isn't out yet, I expect great things from this app. No longer do you have to get your podcasts through your PC, it's all available from this app at a click of the button!
   
   
7. GDesk - the highly customisable Desktop application. A must for everyone to get the most out of your P1i - you can implement a new interface looking like the iPhone one, the WM one, as well as other different designs. A great alternative than the default SE standby screen, that's for sure. It's surely a revolutionary application, I don't think any app like this exists on other mobile platforms.
   
   
8. eBuddy - need I say anymore? Excellent looking interface, supporting MSN, Yahoo, AIM services. Put that with the P1i and you'll get a happy user for certain.
   
   
9. Virtual Radio - For all the radio station lovers out there. The app has plenty of streams for Music radio stations. Despite being ad-enabled, it's much better than going online and looking for streams to play over the streaming Internet player. Personally, I only use this to listen to Virgin Radio...
   
   
10. Shozu - The one and only application combining Facebook, Flickr, Youtube, Blogger and many other web services. Best of all it's free too!

If you feel that I've missed anything, feel free to comment (I'm limited to only 10 apps afterall); post what you think the Top 10 should be too!