The t68i Replacement is Here

interdigitate writes "The new T610 was been unveiled today by Sony Ericsson. This is the t68i replacement and its supposed to improve on it in every aspect. It has a 16bit color screen, Polyphonic ringtones, a built in digital camera, GPRS, Bluetooth (ofcourse), and most importantly it has Synchronization which should mean it will work with apple's iSync! " So... pretty. Must... resist.

Read the specs

[rf0]

Looking at the Specs [sonyericsson.com] half way down there is apparently DRM (Digital Rights Management). Does this mean that I can't have WAV's as ringtones now? :P

Rus

But...

[Kshu]

How about a model that lets you chat via IRC? That one I'll buy for sure.

Finally!

[Mindjiver]

Finally a decent phone from Sony-Ericsson. Hopefully this will help to stop Ericsson from bleeding to death.

Too bad I can't afford this. But maybe it's just as good as I would just destroy it after too much beer.. =)

Java! Finally!

[Anonymous Coward]

Lack of java midlets was only thing to make me go Nokia last time. BTW T68i was nicer looking than this one.

this is why S-E is so far in front of Nokia

[hype7]

The thing I love about Sony-Ericsson, and the reason why I will continue to buy their phones over Nokia's which I otherwise prefer to use, boils down to this:

Bluetooth.

S-E are putting it in a lot of their phones; Nokia are putting it in very few. You haven't seen how cool Bluetooth is until you run iSync with a mac, or get Romeo [irowan.com] controlling your mac from the other side of the room through your phone.

It's very cool :)

-- james

A most disappointing "feature"

[no_such_user]

From the specifications [sonyericsson.com]:

Features
o DRM (Digital Rights Management)

Again, when did DRM become a *feature* for end users? And exactly what are they using DRM for here... ringtones?

Open Source & synchronization

[MnO-Raphael]

the T610 is fully compatible with any computer. Your phone books and calendars will stay synchronized and updated

Sounds promising, but is this also true for the various open-source calendar software? I've tentatively been looking for non-Windows synchronization software for my t39m without any luck.

Audio

[Anonymous Coward]

What, no Dolby 5.1?

The feature list doesn't look much more than what my t68i does (GPRS, Bluetooth, address book, organizer, calculator, games, and it can even be used to make phone calls!).

Now just hope that it does all those things better, because frankly, my old cheap T twenty-something was a better phone.
The only thing my t68i is good (and really good) at, is its battery life (at least if you turn bluetooth off when you're not using it).

Interesting ...

[Draoi]

From the specifications [sonyericsson.com];

DRM (Digital Rights Management)

It's got this 'Music DJ' function, but just how capable is it if it's got DRM. Is it crippled beyond belief? And with e-mail and Java built-in, how long before we see the first T610 virus?

Re:Read the specs

[b96miata]

Or you could get any phone from sprint that supports pcs vision [pcsvision.com]. Qualcomm makes a free tool [cdmatech.com] to convert wav's into ringers you can download right to your phone (they're bigger than midi ringers of course) Anyone who's into cool new phones and wants a service that won't charge you an arm and several legs for data use should check out the above. I don't wanna count the hundreds of dollars I'd owe if I'd used the same amount of data on at&t's network that I have on my $10 unlimited data plan.

I used to think Bluetooth was useless

[jht]

Then I got a T68i last fall. Now I have a Bluetooth adapter for my Mac, a Jabra Bluetooth headset, and a Palm Tungsten T. Amazingly, it all Just Works together. I can sync the Mac to both the Palm and the T68i, use Bluetooth to copy themes and ringtones to the phone, leave the phone buried in my pocket and use the Palm to dial it (I keep more of the database in my Palm than I do in the phone - I only keep the 50 or so most likely numbers in the phone), and just use the Jabra to talk.

Once set up, Bluetooth is actually pretty neat stuff. Personally, it's now a feature I will look for going forward in phones, computers, and accessories.

This new T610 phone looks interesting, but I'm not sold on cameras in my phones. I'd rather save the size and go small.

Re:But...

[horza]

With the size of the screen, and the speed of typing on a numeric keypad, it doesn't sound useful for IRC except in the deadest of channels. Even with a normal monitor the text flies off the screen in around a second when the conversation gets heated. If you are really such a masochist, I guess you can load in a Java applet that tunnels over port 80 to a gateway you are running at home.

Phillip.

Looks like fun, but,

[irving47]

There's not much point in upgrading from a t68i unless you've just gotta have the camera and polyphonic ringtones.

Someone mentioned unenforceable camera rules in theaters and the like. Add to that military personnel that will be unable to take this phone to work. I'd imagine intelligence agencies as well.

P800

[elmo13]

This phone looks ok, but has anyone seen the P800?

The P800 is verily cool - I would get one if I wasnt a poor student (you can send me money if you want, cheers ;-). It can do just about everything the T610 can do + lots more. I think the only bad thing about it is the Sony memorystick instead of SD or something.

3G phones seem to almost be here (UK). I wonder what they'll be like. Anyone know S-E's pland for 3G? What I want is a phone that I use as a PC when I'm at home, not just on the move (with a contact lense screen of course).

Re:this is why S-E is so far in front of Nokia

[Anonymous Coward]

it is a remote control. But what about integrating it with X11 home automation - and applescript - I mean, the possibilities are literally endless.

you walk out of the room, you could set it so the lights go off and the curtains shut.

you get a call come in, itunes or your dvd can be paused.

I'm just scratching the surface, I'm sure there are hundreds of useful things you can do with it.

-- james

The BEST thing about Bluetooth is the Mac!!

[adzoox]

Have you seen Romeo and Sony Clicker?

They let you control iTunes, Keynote, PowerPoint, DVD Player

Sony Clicker has a proximity sensor, applescripts lauch like check mail and iTunes play when you walk in the room

Romeo lets you use the joystick on the phone like a mouse

One is availible from www.versiontracker.com the other from www.macupdate.com

Hmm, but how much?

[Anonymous Coward]

Everyone seems to focus either on how nice this phone is, "DRM feature", whooping 2MB of memory ... but has anyone asked just how much $$$, or [insert your local currency here] it is?

The Nokia 7560i (I may be wrong on the number) w/ builtin camera and a flip down keyboard --- sucks, I know I've used it. So this would be a viable solutions for many people, expecially since its TriBand.

Can someone tell me just how much lighter (-wise, SIM Free) my bank account is going to be after I get this thing?

Local Number Portability

[Anonymous Coward]

actually, you _can_ keep your phone number according to FCC rules effective Nov '03:

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,5667 5, 00.html

Re:please please please

[duffer_01]

I also have a t68i which I love, but I hope that the RF reception is better in this new device. I know GSM (in N.A) is still new, but other GSM phones do not see, to have the same RF reception problems as this one.

Re:Read the specs

[cmoney]

There's DRM already in place on their current phones. It simply stops you from forwarding on content that you paid for.

For example, if I buy a $.99 ringtone from say T-Mobile and download it to my current T300 (or T68 or 7210 or 3650, etc), it stops me from then putting that ringtone into an MMS and forwarding it to my girlfriend.

However, if I download a free ringtone that I wrote myself, I can forward it on as much as I like.

Same goes for background images and I'm guessing games as well.

This isn't as bad a Verizon's Get $hit Now though!

Re:Unfortunately...

[Anonvmous Coward]

"The telephone aspect of the phone had to be removed to save space."

As amusing as that comment is, I've found my T68i to do the PDA job that I could never get in the habit of using my PocketPC for. Now it acts as my alarm clock, phone number/email book, appointment book, and I even fiddle on the internet with it once in a while.

There are two key things about it I wish my PocketPC was: The size/durability to fit in my pocket. The wireless internet connection at a reasonable rate.

I do use it as phone once in a while, but that's eclipsed by it's PDA capabilities.

Re:Hoped they improved...

[Cato]

I've never had a problem with T68 reception in the UK or Europe, or even India. I did find reception in Florida (Tampa area) and Texas (North Dallas) was very flaky, but I assumed that was just the state of US GSM networks (mainly Voicestream/T-Mobile and AT&T Wireless).

Re:Unfortunately...

[bezza]

Polyphonic ringtones is sort of like MIDI for phones.

There are phones that do the .wav thing and I cannot wait to get my hands on one of those. I think it would be hilarious to record myself saying "bring, bring" and have that play when the phone rings.