VC’s Techie CockTail

I’ve already discussed updating firmware for my old K55oi through the PC via Sony Ericsson Update Service and also via Firmware Over the Air (FOTA) via GPRS / EDGE / 3G [i.e according to your operator]. So when I checked my K660i via the software update option available in the “Settings Menu” in my phone I came to know for sure a firmware update was available and the estimated download size was 2.8 MB. But mulling over it quite a bit, I thought going through the SEUS route will give the phone a more complete update.

I downloaded SEUS, installed it and followed its on screen instructions to start the update, but it warned that my entire data will be lost except of the memory card. So I made a backup and continued with the update process, the download size was almost 40 MB and after 30 minutes or so I was with a brand new firmware : R1FA035

The obvious thing from the update , apart from the now “New” phone (phonebook, sms, logs everything was wiped out), the boot up time of the phone was quicker and accessing phonebook was quicker too. For more on K660i firmware and its improvements keep track of MyK660

written by Vignesh \\ tags: firmware, k660i, seus, Sony Ericsson

In this last part …..here are some of the other aspects of this phone

Connectivity *****

Dubbed “Web on the Go” phone its connectivity department is well rounded with GPRS,EDGE,3G,UMTS,HSDPA (the latter 3 has no way to be tested here in India), but the Netfront browser with landscape browsing was good to use. Local connectivity is looked after by USB 2.0 and bluetooth 2.0 (with A2DP). The E-Mail client was also easy to work with. A youtube player would have been nice and a bigger screen would have made the browsing experience little richer but at Rs. 9,000/- (185$) you have to make some sacrifices.

Extras *****

The inbuilt games like my personal favorite Quadrapop were nice to play and with its excellent java support many java games and apps can be installed. Other applications include Google Maps, Play Now,Track ID (to identify song info through internet), and the usual suspects like PictureDJ,MovieDJ,VideoDJ, Remote Control (a app to use your phone as a remote control to control your pc via bluetooth)

Summing up

Pros

+ Crisp screen quality

+ Good battery life

+ Value for Money

Cons

- Sluggish UI at times

written by Vignesh \\ tags: k660i, Sony Ericsson

Continuing with my thoughts on K660i …..

User Interface ****

The main feature which attracted me about this phone was the A200 platform coupled with 240 x 320 262K resolution screen with flash lite 2.0 support. The phone was slightly slower when compared to my K550 and accessing address book & call logs was slower than normal making it a tad irritating. But features like “Smart search” ( as you type the number the closest matching from the address book are displayed), media player was good. The keypad system is somewhat changed from the A100 platform which confused me a little at the start. The 3 x 4 grid is almost same except the “Alarm” is at the grid now with the ‘File manager’ inside the ‘Organizer’ menu which I didn’t like.

Messaging *****

The messaging app is almost as same as that of K550i , but due to the A200 platform there is no “More” option but there is a “Pop-out” menu key below the top left key. The keys are quite comfy to type with and the T9 dictionary is very handy and there is no lag while typing (which I can’t say for the whole working of the phone). SMS, MMS, Email are all supported. Now messages can be sorted and stored under different category. A “thread” like message system would have been a welcome addition

Multimedia ****

I knew this is a non-Auto focus 2 megapixel camera with no flash but in nice bright conditions the snap was quite crisp and color reproduction was nice other than else the camera is quite a mediocre one. The PSP style media player function was excellent able to handle pictures, music (mp3,aac,wma,ra) & videos (3gp,mp4). It can be used in horizontal / portrait mode. A FM radio with RDS is also present. Memory expansion is via Memory stick micro (M2) cards

More to follow……

written by Vignesh \\ tags: k660i, Sony Ericsson

So after almost 18 months with my K550i, I’ve changed my mobile device to a Sony Ericsson K660i (for which I’ve already written a short post). So here is the start of a 3 part post on my thoughts on K660i.

First of all -> The contents in the box,

• K660 Handset (Wine on black)
• BST-33 Battery
• Stereo Headset HPM-62
• Standard charger CST-60
• Sandisk 1GB M2
• DCU-60 USB Cable
• PC Suite CD
• Manual

Exteriors ****

Built with a glossy plastic and measuring 104.0 x 47.0 x 15.0 mm, its quite nice to hold but somewhat big when compared to a ordinary mobile phone. Weighing 95 grams, its quite ok to carry. The stainless steel trim coupled with the glossy plastic makes the handset smudge prone. The wine on black looks sleek but I would have preferred silver on black or cyan on black. The body construction was quite solid but still the battery case squeaked when pressed at a angle.

Phone *****

The signal receptions was excellent with good voice quality on both sides. The battery was able to hold for 3 days (with 1 hour of calls, 5-10 sms / per day & switching off in the night). The ringer volume was also nice & loud but havent yet checked out the handsfree speaker and vibration strength. All in all a good phone to talk with a nice address book with 1000 contacts ( Multiple mobile no’s, work, home no’s, email, address, birthday etc)

More to follow…..

written by Vignesh \\ tags: k660i, Sony Ericsson