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?

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.

Remember a few posts back I mentioned the Digia Web Browser as a fresh, new browser worth trying out on your Sony Ericsson P1 smartphone? Well, it's finally out - and Asri over at UIQ Evangelist seems to have some nice first hand screenshots of browsing on the Digia Browser.

It's only available for registered users, so if you wish to give this beta web browser a shot, you can sign up via this link. I'll be writing a proper review of the beta software as soon as I am able to download it and try it out myself, so keep checking out this blog over the next few days!

The Digia @Web Beta Browser review is up! Click here to read it.

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!

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.

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).

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, 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.

A friend of mine showed off his new HTC TyTn Windows Mobile smart phone to me the other day, of which I noticed the ease of which he could type on his smart phone. Yes, I'm talking about the application for Windows Mobile smartphones to enable an iPhone-like virtual keyboard, so the user can just tap the screen to input characters.

And it seems like there's not only one free virtual keyboard app out there for Windows Mobile smartphones - there's a different one available here.

I think many of us would be raring to have an application like this on any of the UIQ 3 phones (except for the Motorolas and the P990 users); it's quite a pleasure to type by just taping your fingers on the screen, and not to mention, useful at times when you can't grip your P1i like a Gameboy to type because of shopping or other things you're holding on.

So any developer willing to have a shot? ;)

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.

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!

Just in case you're wondering what the image is all about, it's screenshots I captured from the upcoming Sony Ericsson G900's whitepaper. It's extremely interesting how SE mentioned "Flash Light 3" twice in the whitepaper (ignore the typo for the time being) - clearly it's Flash Lite 3 being mentioned here, as Flash can allow for the viewing of TV on the mobile phone.

The point I'm trying to get at is that the G900 runs on the UIQ 3.0 platform (Symbian OS v9.1), and if Flash Lite 3 will run on the G900, then it will run on all of SE's other UIQ 3.0 platforms - the P1, W960, M600, W950 and the P990.

You can obtain the SE G900 whitepaper here. Seems rather strange as to why Sony Ericsson took it down from their official site...

Many of us are impatient for it, Sony. And please, PLEASE, don't make us buy the G900 just to get that upgrade.

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...

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...