Sony Ericsson have announced the new Sony Ericsson P1 smartphone, which has surprised the world, largely because we all thought it was going to be called the P700i! In a break with previous numbering formats, the P1 replaces the existing Sony Ericsson P900i and P990i smartphones, and offers much better features in a smartphone that's 25% smaller than a P990.

Read on for all the details and pictures of the new Sony Ericsson P1 smartphone.

Sony Ercisson P1 Smarpthone

The Sony Ericsson P1i should look familiar to regular readers of this site, largely because we've been showing leaked pictures of it for the past month, when everyone thought it was going to be called the P700i. But no, in a shock move, Sony Ericsson have named it the P1i.

One of the reasons the P1i is able to be so much smaller than the P990 is because it does away with the full QWERTY keyboard used in its predecessor, and instead includes a QWERTY keyboard with two characters sitting on each physical key. Depress a key to the left, and you get a Q, for example, while depress the same key to the right and you get an E.

Not sure how well this will work in practice, and I guess it'll tak some getting used to, but in case you don't, there's also an touchscreen with full handwriting recognition.

Multimedia Features of the new P1i

The new P1i is no slouch when it comes to multimedia features either. It comes complete with a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus and a business card scanner (yup - just take a picture of a business card, and the P1 will not only capture the image, but capture all the information on the business card as data that will automatically be placed into your contacts list).

It also comes with a video camera and recorder, and supports not only video streaming, but H.264 playback for streaming mobile TV to the P1.

Connectivity

Streaming mobile TV? Won't that eat up mobile bandwidth? Well, it would if you choose to use its built-in 3G support (no HSDPA, unfortunately), but you can also choose to use its built-in support for Wi-Fi.

Add to that tri-band GSM, Bluetooth 2.0, InfraRed, and USB 2.0, and you can see that the P1 has most of the connectivity bases covered.

Sony Ericsson P1 release date

The Sony Ericsson P1i release date is scheduled for Q3 2007.

Full details of the Sony Ericsson P1

The Sony Ericsson P1 is looking like a smartphone crammed full of features. We'll post a review of the P1 soon to see how it compares with some of the other new smartphones that are coming on the market. I'm particularly keen to see it compares with Samsung's forthcoming new Samsung Ultra Smart smartphone, which not only looks stunning, it also has a full QWERTY keyboard rather than the dubious half-keyboard that the P1 supports.

Until we get the review out though, here are the full details and specifications of the P1, in Sony Ericsson's own words:

Sony Ericsson, the manufacturer that pioneered the development of smartphones, today unveils the P1 as the latest addition to its P-series range.

"In one sense the Sony Ericsson P1 is an evolution of our P-series smartphones, as it pushes forward the best attributes of its predecessors" says Steve Walker, Head of Product Marketing at Sony Ericsson. "At the same time there are also significant improvements in design, speed and battery performance."

Building on the feature set of earlier models, the Sony Ericsson P1 supports a wide range of push email solutions and Web browsing applications, plus connectivity via hi-speed UMTS and Wireless LAN (WiFi™). Add to this its compact size and multimedia capabilities and the P1 is the complete mobile office. It is based on the Symbian™ operating system (v9.1) and UIQ 3.0, an open platform that offers broad potential for multimedia applications from operators/carriers, content owners and third party developers.

In short, the P1 is a device as small as a standard phone that offers flexible ways to work:

• Dual function keyboard - full alpha-numeric (e.g. QWERTY) text input combined with one hand phone usability
• Choice of text input method including handwriting and word completion
• Push email enabled including support for Exchange ActiveSync™ and BlackBerry® Connect™
• Integrated WLAN and VoIP enabled
• 3.2 megapixel camera with business card scanner
• Large 2.6" touchscreen with a Transflective Display that is easier to view in bright light conditions

Push email and remote working

Always being connected while on the move is now a normal part of working life. The Sony Ericsson P1 gives you the ability to handle your corporate or personal emails, contacts and calendar wherever you are. It offers support for a broad range of push email services including Exchange ActiveSync™ and BlackBerry Connect and allows for remote wiping of email and PIM data; something critical in the event of the phone being stolen or misplaced.

The Sony Ericsson P1 lets you read and edit documents on the move, whether Microsoft Word, PowerPoint or Excel. It also ships with a desk stand and USB cable in-box, making it straightforward to synchronise with your PC.

High speed connectivity

Both UMTS and integrated WLAN provide for high-speed Web browsing and data downloads, plus email at a rate and performance you enjoy from your office desktop. The Sony Ericsson P1 is also VoIP enabled for making calls over the internet.

Striking visuals

Surfing the Web is intuitive thanks to the Opera™ Web Browser that displays pages in horizontal, wide screen aspect. The large, touchscreen QVGA display can be seen and used even in bright environments due to the Transflective Display. The 3.2 megapixel camera takes great shots to store or share via Picture Blogging and is also a useful tool for work purposes. It does away with the need to collect stacks of business cards when travelling. Just take a close-up shot of a business card and the card scanner transfers the contact details directly into the phonebook.

Quality downtime

As well as a business tool, the Sony Ericsson P1 also serves as an advanced multimedia companion. Its music and video player mean that you can take your favourite tunes and video clips with you on the 512MB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) provided. Catch the latest news via the on-board FM Radio or stream mobile TV direct to the large screen. Whichever you choose to do, with the P1 you are never short of options.

The Sony Ericsson P1 is a Tri-Band GPRS 900/1800/1900 and UMTS 2100 handset with Wi-Fi 802.11b. It will be available in selected markets from Q3 2007.

The Sony Ericsson P1 Specification

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

The P1 also supports:

• 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

InBox Accessories

• 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

Facts and Figures

• Operating system: Symbian™ OS v9.1
• Size: 106 × 55 × 17 mm
• Weight: 124 grams
• Colour: Silver Black
• Screen: 262,144 color TFT touchscreen
• Resolution: 240 × 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

Summary of the Sony Ericsson p1i

Phew! After that lot, it's clear that the Sony Ericsson P1i is packed with features, which should all be of the company's usual high standard. Full Sony Ericsson P1 review coming just as soon as we can!