T610
As I blogged here, I bought my Sony Ericsson T610 mobile phone on eBay in the spring of 2004 in anticipation of an extended working vacation in France. The phone is unlocked (explanation here) which means that I can put SIM cards from many different mobile providers into it and thus have a "local mobile phone" in many different countries.
Right now I'm using the T610 on the Rogers Wireless network here in Prince Edward Island. Although improving, Rogers' coverage is still not as complete as Aliant Mobility's, especially in rural areas. But in urban Charlottetown the coverage is fine, and I'm finding that the tolerance of a GSM phone to low signal strength is much better than with Aliant's CDMA phones.
The T610 is a tiny phone, which is very attractive to me: it fits comfortably in my pocket, and because it has no external antenna there's nothing to poke at me. It's also a very functional phone; I've used it to:
- Check my email using the built-in IMAP client
- Take photos (example)
- Record sounds (examples)
- Sync with my iMac using the built-in Bluetooth
I even use it to make the occasional phone call.
The only downside I've found to the phone so far is that its "joystick," a five-position toggle switch that's central to the user interface, has trouble distinguishing "up" from "in" (pressing the joystick in is like "pressing enter" on a PC). I've become used to this, however, and it's not as great a problem as I originally anticipated.
Finding the T610 Firmware Version
This helpful page provides information on how to find out which firmware version a T610 is running:
- Turn of key lock if locked
- >*<<*<* (the < and > are the joystick directions and * is the * a/A key)
- If you have done 1. and 2. correctly a menu appears called "Service": Service info > SW−Info
My phone's SW-Information screen reads:
R4C003 prgCXC12-56600_US_3 R4C003 prgCXC12-5586_TAE_US_3 LCD SW Versions Test: 782074 Current: 200308060 Camera SW Versions Test: 782430 Current: 200308273 Customization MS CDA102222/154 R2A Customization TAE CDA102222/154 R2A ITP Version: R1B007 prgCXC125560_TP
This page on the Opera website says: Some T610 with early firmware versions have problems installing and/or starting Opera Mini. This primarly affects phones with R1 firmware (for example R1A081 and R1L013). This seems to suggest that my firmware is version R4.