Notes from Sweden

Weeks before Apple gets its highly hyped iPhone into stores in North America, the inventor of the Walkman phone has presented an “iPhone killer”, the Sony Ericsson P1.

The so-called “Smartphone” is a follow-up to the Swedish-Japanese company’s P990. It comes with e-mail, WiFi and VoIP enabled, with a 3.2 megapixel camera, FM radio, and MP3 player. A 512 MB Memory Stick is included, but presumably can be replaced with higher capacity cards.

The P1 also boasts a QWERTY keyboard and a 2.6 inch touchscreen. According to the Sony Ericsson press release it allows users to read and edit documents in Word, PowerPoint or Excel, and includes handwriting recognition. It comes with an Opera web browser, and besides WiFi has triple band GSM and UMTS/3G access.

While Apple fans seem to be drooling over the as-yet-unavailable iPhone, the P1 certainly will outdo the Apple product in at least one area, battery life. The P1 is rated at up to 10 hours talk time in GSM and 3 hours and 30 minutes in 3G, or up to 2 hours for video calls. According to John C. Dvorak, the iPhone will die after 40 minutes. Plus the iPhone is tied to a single operator in the United States.

The P1 is scheduled for launch during the third quarter of 2007, and will be offered at the same price as the P990 today.

Here’s a list of features from the press release:

The Sony Ericsson P1 at a glance:

Productivity/Efficiency Features

• QWERTY keyboard and handwriting text input
• Predictive text input
• Handwriting recognition
• Transflective Display for bright light conditions
• Document editors and readers
• VoIP support
• WLAN (Wi-Fi 802.11b)
• Business card scanning
• Video calling
• Calculator
• Calendar
• Flight mode

Email and Web

• Push email support provided by/licensed from;
• AlteXia
• Ericsson Mobile Office
• Intellisync
• Microsoft - Exchange ActiveSync™
• Research In Motion- BlackBerry Connect
• Seven
• Sybase/iAnywhere
• Visto
• POP3, IMAP4, including IMAP IDLE
• Opera™ Web Browser 8.0
• VPN client from Certicom

Imaging and Multimedia

• 3.2 megapixel camera with Auto focus
• Digital zoom, 3x
• Photo light
• Video recording/streaming/viewing
• Mobile TV – H.264 playback
• Picture messaging (MMS)
• Text messaging (SMS)
• Bluetooth stereo (A2DP)
• Media player
• Music tones (MP3/AAC/AAC+/e-AAC+)
• Polyphonic ringtones
• PlayNow™
• TrackID™
• 512 MB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) expandable memory
• 160 MB User Memory (internal)
• FM radio RDS
• RSS Feeds
• Picture Blogging (Free downloadable application)
• 3D games

Hygiene Features

• Bluetooth 2.0
• Infrared
• Modem
• USB support
• USB 2.0 mass storage
• Speakerphone
• Sound recorder
• Vibrating alert
• Jog dial
• Picture wallpaper
• Wallpaper animation
• Java
• Alarm clock
• Stopwatch
• PC Software
• 1120 mAh battery

Accessories

• In-Box:
• Stereo Headset HPM-62
• Desk Stand CDS-65
• 512MB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™)
• PC Software
• USB Cable
• Extra Stylus (for touchscreen use)
• Protective Pouch
• Standard Phone Charger
• Optional:
• Bluetooth™ Car Speakerphone HCB-120
• Music Remote Control MRC-60
• Bluetooth™ Music Receiver MBR-100
• Bluetooth™ Headset HBH-GV435
• Bluetooth Headset HBH-IV835
• Stereo Bluetooth™ Headset HBH-DS980

Facts and Figures

• Operating system: Symbian™ OS v9.1
• Size: 106 x 55 x 17 mm
• Weight: 124 grams
• Colour: Silver Black
• Screen: 262,144 color TFT touchscreen
• Resolution: 240 x 320 pixels
• Size: 2.6 inches
• Networks: P1c/i: UMTS 2100-GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900
• Talk time GSM/UMTS: Up to 10 hrs/3 hrs 30 min
• Standby time GSM/UMTS: Up to 440 hrs/350 hrs
• Video call time: Up to 2 hrs