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The Calendar view is much the same as it was in UIQ 2.x and offers the usual views of month, week and day. To alternate between week and month views requires some fiddly menu navigation that could be greatly simplified with a toggle button, and was in fact on the P990i I tried, so hopefully this is something we may see in future revisions. Appointments can be set to repeat daily, weekly, monthly by day, monthly by date, yearly by date and yearly by day. This of relevance in the context of birthdays (amongst other things), which when added to a contact trigger a corresponding calendar entry that repeats yearly. A new feature is the handling of attendees via e-mail, allowing you to "invite" any of your contacts with an e-mail address and see their response status, however accept and decline are the only available options rather than the full set Microsoft Outlook users will be used to. The backup application seen in contacts is mirrored here and allows a simple backup process to M2 memory card without the need for a PC. A minor niggle for me is the big and clear "30" on each of the calendar screens making it extremely difficult for me to focus on any other number. This may just be me, but it is slowing me down when using this application at the moment.

I shall now take a look at the Opera Web browser. The start page appears to be fixed (at least I can't change or delete it) but offers you a Google search box and also some links to Sony Ericsson content and tools. You can open pages in the existing tab or you can create new windows accessible as tabs. Bookmarks can be created but the Open tool stores a history of recent URLs. In every screen you can amend the zoom from 20% to 200%, this is a little extreme but at 80% text is still readable (middle right) and at 100% it is more than comfortable (middle left) but up to 130% should allow even those who wear glasses comfortable browsing experience without loosing the shape of the site too badly. There were some issues in early versions that affected the rendering of some page elements at certain zoom levels, these seem to have been ironed out in the latest version. Pages can be viewed in both standard format, requiring scrolling left and right and up and down, and in a fit-to-screen mode. You can also view in full-screen in portrait mode and only full-screen in landscape mode.

This maximises the viewable area and makes browsing sites quite comfortable and with the 3G connection speeds this is no longer an exercise that requires the patience of a saint. The browser is quite system intensive and in the earlier firmware caused most background applications to abort. This seems to be rectified now, but with a number of pages open it is still possible to over-stretch it and cause some background apps to close. The browser supports secure site (https://) access and offers password managemet so there is no need to re-type usernames and passwords repeatedly. There are other normal browser features such as the ability to save pages for off-line viewing, history, enabling JavaScript, pop-up handling, enabling of images/animation/plug-ins and cookies. All in all I think the Opera browser is nice and straightforward and once the number short-cuts are used it is very efficient (you have to press and ALT and ten the number key). The only drawback is that it is in fit-to-screen mode by default an there is no short-cut, so out comes the stylus if you are not a fan of that mode.

Productivity tools. Bundled with the M600 are a number of applications to aid productivity, these include QuickOffice and PDF+. P910 users will be familiar with these applications and they appear fairly unchanged following the port from UIQ 2.x to UIQ 3.0. There is also the familiar Notes and Tasks that again are not greatly changed. HandyDay is available as a Try & Buy application but offers little benefit at this early stage that I can discern over standard functionality offered in UIQ 3.0. Finanz is a well written and very useful financial application. Finally there is the standard clock facility with 3 alarms available, again almost unchanged from UIQ 2.x. New 3rd party applications and ports from UIQ 2.x slowly start appearing and a complete list can be found in the My-Symbian UIQ 3 Software Catalog.

3. Call handling and basic functionality

As I mentioned the M600 also functions as a phone, how very retro, and the standard communication methods of SMS and MMS. It does not support fax, a drawback for some, but I guess you already have a Communicator if that is an issue for you. You can save 9 speed dials and this also supports contact photos, but seems to degrade the quality quite significantly to make them a particular size. If a contact has two numbers you cannot specify two separate images, but you can have two seperate text tags. Once in a call the quality is good, both in standard speaker mode, speaker phone and using th supplied stereo hands free kit. The in call menu is geared toward communication and you can share info via SMS, MMS or send a contact vCard, create a task or note automatically saved under the caller's name and the time of the call. Another nice touch is if you busy out a call you get a menu allowing you to create a quick and easy follow-up task, a great little feature.

The main messaging feature is good, offering one inbox for all network based messages such as SMS and MMS and also separate e-mail inboxes for all you accounts and a Sync'd e-mail inbox, ideally I would like to be able to sync one of my e-mail accounts with this separate Sync'd e-mail folder but have yet to work out how. In the general inbox incoming Bluetooth transfers also appear, this is not ideal, but providing there is an application that supports the file it is not an issue as it will open with that and can be saved from there. SMS can also be transferred to the SIM as well as new folders which is a welcome addition.

In any text entry mode you have the option of the QWERTY keyboard or the JotPro handwriting recognition from UIQ 2.x Sony Ericsson devices. There is now also the addition of predictive text and after typing the fist two letters various alternatives are provided at the top of the screen which can be accepted by tapping the relevant word or by using the arrow keys to highlight the desired word and then using the return key to accept it. If the word you want is highlighted initially a simple tap on the screen or Return accepts it. This offers very fast text input and once the rocker keys are mastered and you are thinking in QWERTY for your handheld (a bit of an adjustment for me, but those of you used to Treos, Blackberrys or Communicators should have no trouble at all). There is also an auto-capitalization feature that speeds up text entry and makes it neater, but no auto-space after you have accepted a word.

Most of the M600's functions can be controlled from the Tools menu and this (as with all menus) can be displayed in both list and grid view. The Control panel gives access to much of the device specific functions such as locks, backlight and network selection. All of these offer a great amount of flexibility and the menus have been streamlined somewhat in the latest firmware to enable you to get the most from the M600 in terms of customzing it to suit and also managing battery performance. It is now possible to lock the M600 to GSM only and this should offer significant battery performance improvements, though I have yet to test this. It is also now a bit simpler and obvious how to allow the backlight to be on for any period of time beyond the default timeout which is very short.

You can configure the hardware button for a number of uses. The Connection manager allows you to monitor and control any data connections. Bluetooth PAN allows you to connect your M600 to a Bluetooth PC and connect wirelessly and use its features, including the internet connection, so this will negate to a large extent the lack of Wi-Fi for most users other than those, with very large houses or offices.

The Bluetooth module allows multi-tasking of the connection meaning you can connect to more than one device, it also supports the new stereo Bluetooth profile or A2DP as it is sometimes known. Unfortunately I do not have a compatible piece of kit to test it with, but this will offer very good multimedia capabilities for streaming your audio wirelessly to a compatible pair of headphones or hands free kit. The Multimedia capabilities are very good with a Music player supporting playlists and background play. As noted earlier the playing track info scrolls on the Activity screen but there is no direct access play control. The graphic equalizer makes a clear difference to tracks and playback quality is excellent through the supplied stereo handsfree kit. Playback using the loudspeaker is surprising clear, crisp and loud, I have been using this in the car and it is quite passable. Volume can be set independently for media and the various alert tones.

4. Final thoughts

Well, you've made it, almost there. After using the M600 for several weeks I have to say I am extremely impressed. So much so that my P910i was shelved after just 2 days. The key aspects for me are the ease of use and the aesthetics of the phone, both in terms of hardware and software. The user interface is smooth and just looks great, the screen is outstanding, though smaller than my P910 it makes up for it in clarity and resolution so it is a more usable space with more on it. The hardware is well made and feels sturdy. I have to say I was apprehensive about the loss of the 5-way jog-dial and the novel QWERTY keyboard, but my concerns appear unfounded, it is an intuitive hardware layout with little that I can complain about (save the lack of definition on the back key).

It is small and compact, a true luxury for someone who has used a smartphone for any period of time and has; a) had to put up with carrying a large and chunky device; and b) had to defend this fact to all those Moto RAZR touting friends and colleagues. Sure, the firmware has seen some development in the short time I have had it, but this is only a good thing in my book, and with the ease of self-service firmware upgrades via Sony Ericsson Update Service you can't complain, given this is a brand new platform and hardware setup.

If you have any questions or comments, visit our UIQ 3 Discussion forum where you can meet the author of the review and other Sony Ericsson M600i users.

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