Sony Ericsson P900: Smartphone Extraordinaire! - Getting connected
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The integrated Web browser that comes with the phone is basic but reliable, taking between 10 and 20 seconds to open the Google home page. WAP sites, being mainly text, are even faster. The device understands many popular standards and protocols including HTML, XHTML, CHTML and WAP 2.0. For those that feel the built in application is lacking, Opera has released a smartphone version of their popular Web browser as a freeware application.
Thanks to the WAP 2.0 specification, you can also make use of push technology (subscribed services) to receive regular updates of weather, stock information or sports among other things. Internet accounts are extremely easy to set up; most providers are able to send you automatic setup files that sort everything out for you -- there is even a dedicated folder for messages of this type. There is also a handy GPRS data log which shows how much information has been sent or received in the form of Internet connections or multimedia messages.
There are several types of connections that can be made using the device. The phone also possesses full Bluetooth functionality, which allows you to exchange information and files with headsets, PCs and other phones or PDAs. In addition, Bluetooth lets you use the phone as a wireless dial-up modem. The phone also features a line-of-sight Infrared (IR) connection, a much more accepted and used standard that complements Bluetooth well. Which connection you choose will depend on the situation. Bluetooth is not line of sight and has a ten meter range that can penetrate walls (albeit with a drop in signal), whereas IR has only a three meter range, but is four times faster than Bluetooth on average.
Finally, there is of course the standard cable connect via SyncStation for PC connections. This is essential for quickly synchronizing your contacts, tasks, calendar entries, notes and emails, and will work with either Lotus Notes 5+ or Microsoft Outlook 98+. It can also be used to create backups of your phone or to restore previous backups. Data transfer is fairly fast via USB connection, averaging around one minute per megabyte. Synchronisation can also take place remotely, using GPRS to connect to a sync server attached to the Internet or an intranet. The browser shortcut button, located on the side of the phone is also a useful touch.
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