All about Sony Ericsson K660i

K660 for Push EMail

2010-06-23T13:07:00.002+05:30

My brief stint with Nokia 5530 ended and now I am back to my trusty old K660i. Since there was a need on my part to get immediate notification of my work emails and the ever plunging Mobile GPRS rates (Airtel Mobile Office @ Rs. 98/- per month for 2 GB) gave me a chance to use K660 inbuilt e-mail client for my Gmail.

After the initial username and password, the phone automatically detected the server settings and configured my gmail account. And since Gmail supports free IMAP server, the account was configured in IMAP and I had push email capability as well as automatic checking with a interval of specific minutes. Even though the GPRS connection is not fast, I was surprised to my K660 intimating new emails faster than my laptop browser gmail inbox working with a broadband connection.

Even though K660 has only a 2" screen , all the text were nice and readable and image attachments can be downloaded and opened on the phone. No doc or pdf viewing is possible since it's not a smartphone. But it gets the work done to view my emails and respond to it. And can be said it acts a poor man's blackberry :-)

Google Sync ur K660

2009-10-07T10:19:00.001+05:30

Here are the steps to use google sync your sony ericsson phones (like k660i,w910,c510 ..any sony ericsson phone which has sync support)

1. Click 'Menu' and open the 'Organizer'.

2. Select 'Synchronization'.

3. Select 'New Account' and choose 'SyncML' as 'Account type'.

4. Enter 'Google Sync' or any name of your choice.

5. On the 'General' tab, enter the following values:

* Server address: https://m.google.com/syncml

* Username: your Google Account username, e.g. you@googlemail.com

* Password: your Google password

6. On the 'Applications' tab mark 'Contacts' only.

7. On the 'App. settings' tab select 'Contacts'.

8. For 'Database name' enter 'contacts' (lower case), leave other fields blank.

9. On the 'Advanced' tab, enter the following settings:

* Sync. interval: choose how frequently you would like to synchronize with Google.

* Allow Connection: Leave this as 'Home network', unless you also wish to synchronize while roaming internationally.

* Connection: Click on 'Connect using:' and select the Internet access point for your carrier. Leave other settings unchanged.

* Secure Connection: On

* Leave other settings unchanged.

10. Click 'Back' and select 'Yes' to save your changes.

11. Highlight your new account and press 'Start'.

Free High Quality Themes

2009-08-19T10:27:00.001+05:30

Here are some free high quality themes I got from my k660 , hope you will also find them useful

Star Wars - For every star wars fan

Green Flower - To show ur eco-friendliness

Ashes Cricket - For a hard core aussie / english cricket fan

TinTin Jubilee - For every tintin fan

Colors - A abstract theme

Thanks to Eseth for the excellent themes

Flashy menus for K660i

2009-07-09T10:18:00.003+05:30

I have already posted the tool for modding k660i here. But some of the flash menu's of T700 which I added didn't work out. After some searching, I came across SE-Stuff and from its help section and webmaster feedback I have come to know that flash menu's for K850i will work on K660i (might also be for G502).

So after downloading some flash menu's / themes , started A2 uploader and then using the file system tool went to this location "file://tpa//preset//system//desktop//flash" and uploaded the flash menus and then with MyPhone explorer put in the theme into the phone and after setting the theme viola i had brand new flash menu's to show in my phone. I even had a iPhone UI to speak of for some time. But one thing the UI icon better have these icons to have a problem free access to all the phone functions.

The * is the icon where play arena icon is usually present and this can be there or not , but icons like alarm and radio has to be present. So before you upload a menu see whether the basic essential icons are there

Here is another place to download flash menus for K660i

Wishlist for K660i

2009-07-03T17:51:00.002+05:30

Still in the firmware version R1FA and after more than 250 days of usage , here is my wishlist for future firmware changes

Complete stop to restarts which my phone does some times
Optimize the speed of A200's user interface, i still find it takes some time to search through contacts
Provide a smarter desktop where we can get access to reminders, birthdays unlike the current notifications via activity menu
The various type of main menu formations which are available in the current gen A200 phones like C510
And apps like facebook which come in the latest phones
Longer text support for notes, tasks, address fields in contacts

Go ahead..share what you would like to see as improvements in K660i as well as in other SE phones ..all your opinions are welcome

Explore ur Phone

2009-06-12T10:35:00.000+05:30

I've already touched upon MyPhone Explorer , according to me one of the best free sony ericsson phone management softwares available. Its light weight , loaded with features and very easy to use.

Installation : The setup file is small at 3.8 MB (available only for windows platform) and the installation wizard is straight forward with no additional files required.

Setup : Most Sony Ericsson phones are supported including touch screen UIQ phones. Connection can be made using USB cable, IR or bluetooth. The Search for device options in settings menu can be easily used to find the device connected to the computer.

Sync : Address book can be downloaded into the MyPhone Explorer software and can be synced or it can be synced to Outlook, windows contacts, thunderbird,gmail

Organizer : Calendar, Notes and Alarm can be synced with the computer and calendar can be synced with other calendars like Outlook, Sunbird, Thunderbird, Windows calendar(Vista), Rainlendar, Lotus Notes, Google

SMS : The inbox, sent items, drafts can all be downloaded onto the computer and can be saved in the archive and archives can be exported for backup . Even sms's can be sent via our computer

Extras : Othe utilities like phone monitor, control phone, memory status and there is even a widget for Vista to monitor calls and messages from the phone when it is connected. Calls can be attended through a microphone and speaker using this software.

T700 - Original Themes

2009-05-23T19:21:00.004+05:30

T700 is also a A200 platform based Sony Ericsson phone, so these themes should also match K660i.

Click here to download the themes.

Make ur own SE Themes !!

2009-05-12T13:06:00.003+05:30

One of Sony Ericsson's strong points was its customization feature mainly through its themes. Its theme creator software while freely available in the Developer section of their website it needed a grpahically inclined geeks to churn out some visually amazing theme. But the new version of Theme Creator V 4.0, has made theme creating a very easy task even for a computer dummy. Select the phone you have and the software provides with a wizard option for dummies and a more step-by-step hands on approach for pros. Just selecting a nice background and selecting colors matching with that made the theme come alive. Another nice option was the ready made effects available for various buttons giving it a 3D or embossed effect making the theme more PRO like.

Personalized ringtones and message tones can be set making it a more personalized theme. But the icons on the main menu can't be changed.And also the Media players skin cannot be styled, pity since I've seen lots of themes on the net where the media player skin was styled to match the main theme.To make sure the world knows about your creation our name, url, email can be entered as author details when you decide to share it. Here is a Flower theme which I created. :-)

K660i - PC Softwares

2009-03-23T11:21:00.002+05:30

Here are Sony Ericsson's suite of PC softwares to effectively manage your K660i using your computer

PC Suite : The Sony Ericsson PC Suite connects your phone to your computer so you can synchronise and manage your personal data
Sony Ericsson iSync: The Sony Ericsson iSync plugins enables you to synchronize contacts, events and tasks between your Sony Ericsson mobile phone and an Apple computer.
Update Service: Download and install Update Service on your computer to keep the software in your phone up-to-date and ensure optimum performance from your phone.
Media Manager: Install the Media Manager on your computer to manage music, pictures, videos and podcasts on your computer and transfer them to your phone.

G502 - Original Themes

2009-03-16T11:06:00.003+05:30

Since G502 is a avatar of K660i.Here is the set of Themes that comes with G502.

Click here to download the themes.

Mod your K660

2009-02-13T11:37:00.004+05:30

For Sony Ericsson users who are accustomed to the older A100 platform would have used tools like XS++ to flash & mod your phone, now have A2 tool to access file system and mod A200 platform phones like K660,K850,W910,W890,C902 etc.
Here is a screenshot of the software

To download and use the tool Here is a great thread in Esato to answer all your queries
For example to have a new flash menu in your phone, just do the following steps

Start the A2 tool
Go to File System Tool
Press & Hold "C" and connect the phone to the PC
Browse to -> " \\tpa\\preset\\system\\desktop\\flash "
Then copy the desktop.swf into it

K660 resources on the Net

2009-02-02T18:15:00.003+05:30

Here are some site to download free themes, software, games, wallpapers and ringtones for your phone

Download this Theme

MyK660

eSeth

Zedge

SethPo

SeGoodies

2009-01-22T10:02:00.005+05:30

Here are some more interactive and animated flash based wallpapers,

Download
Download

K660i - Colors

2009-01-12T08:00:00.000+05:30

The officially available colors of K660i as of now,

My favourite is : Cyan on Black

Java Apps - I

2009-01-07T10:17:00.003+05:30

Even though SE K660i and many other Sony Ericsson phones are Java based dumb-phones , they have excellent java application support. There are many java apps out there from messaging, chatting, social networking and other useful utilities.Here is the two which I think is very essential in a phone.

1. Unit converter : A simple java app with all the necessary unti conversions like length, area, volume, temperature, speed. Download it here

2. World Clock : A nice 3D globe representing the earth with various time zones in highlighted portions plus current time in various major cities around the world. And there is a option to set your home city. Download it here

K660i - Avatars

2009-01-01T01:00:00.000+05:30

For people who want K660i's features but looking for a different exterior / form. Here are two alternatives.

G502

Z770i

Holiday Cheers!!

2008-12-25T12:27:00.003+05:30

Wishing you all a Happy Christmas !!!!! And here are some themes to spread your christmas spirit ....

Santa Theme
Shimmering Theme

Should be compatible with Sony Ericsson Phones with 240 x 320 resolution like K790,K800,K810,K770,W850,W580,W890,W880

Benchmarking K660i on R1FA035

2008-12-20T17:19:00.002+05:30

After posting the driver updates which were the result of updating to R1FA035, i ran all the jBenchmark tests to see whether there were any improvements. The results were a mixed bag but the jBenchmark 3D results were astounding to say the least. Look at it and decide for yourself.

K660i on R1FA035

2008-12-16T10:41:00.003+05:30

As you might have known from my previous post, I've updated K660i to its latest firmware there has been some visible improvements,

Quicker boot-up time

Speedier access to phone book contacts

If I observed anything more I will keep you updated here. But there are some invisible changes in some of the versions for the various modules inside the K660i which can be accessed via Sony Ericsson's secret service menu - got by pressing >*<<*<* (where > - means left key in d-pad and > - means right key in d-pad) & once there you can access the Service Info.

Here is a table to compare the changes,

Updating K660i (R1FA035)

2008-12-12T10:53:00.001+05:30

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] in my Techie CockTail. 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

Benchmarking K660i

2008-12-09T18:07:00.006+05:30

After seen whats inside a K660i, its always nice to know how it can cope with text, graphics, animations we throw at it, jBenchmark is a nice tool to do it. I have done tests using JBenchmark 2 & JBenchmark 3D in my K660i with my current firmware :R1EA033

JBenchmark2: 1068
Details
Image Manipulation: 297
Text : 705
Sprites : 604
3D Transform : 722
User Interface : 15145

JBenchMark 3D HQ : 293
JBenchMark 3D LQ : 177
Triangles ps : 37533
KTexels ps : 1598

You can also Benchmark your Mobilephone by downloading JBenchmark2 & JBenchmark 3D

Inside K660 - II

2008-12-05T18:09:00.003+05:30

Ever wondered what's powering the Sony Ericsson K660i, here is the lowdown on the specs

CPU Class : ARM9

CPU MHz : 177 MHz

If you really want to get inside your K660i to clean / replace parts (its better to take it to a service center) and get to know the parts inside you can download the set of service manuals here.

Inside K660 - I

2008-12-01T10:41:00.003+05:30

Ever wondered what camera module, platform, display k660 or any other sony ericsson phone uses,

For K660i

Codename : Chen , For other phones click here
Platform : BD3150 & CID 52- For other phones click here
Camera : 2 Mp - OmniVision - OV2640_CHEN. Second: Premier - 1200-0117_JIE , For other phones click here
Display : 240×320 - Chen LCD QVGA by Hitachi driver: R61505U , For other phones click here
IMEI : 35257102 , For other phones click here
SAR: 0.96 W/kg (10g) , For other phones click here
Firmware : R1EA033 => R1ED003, For other phones click here

My phone has firmware R1EA033, so any of you has the latest firmware please post your comments here

Data courtesy of : SEMC Blog

Cool Animated wallpapers

2008-11-26T12:45:00.004+05:30

One of the best thing I like about my k660 is that it supports Flash lite ...in simple terms it can play swf files made for phones, it can be a animated wallpaper, screen saver or games. Here are sample to try in your phone (compatible with phones of resolution 240 x 320 pixels & flash lite 1.1 or higher)

Download
Download

K660i - Demo Tour

2008-11-25T10:41:00.002+05:30

The official demo tour video of K660i.

Download it here

K660i - Original Themes

2008-11-20T18:19:00.004+05:30

Here is the set of Themes that comes with K660i - Amethyst, Connectoid, Gossamer, Digitize theme.

Click here to download the themes.

K660i - Hands On(III)

2008-11-18T10:25:00.000+05:30

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

K660i - Hands On (II)

2008-11-15T11:11:00.000+05:30

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......

K660i - Hands On (I)

2008-11-10T13:04:00.000+05:30

Here is the start of a 3 part post on my thoughts / review 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 & Other leaflets

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.....

You can read about more Gadgets & Gizmos inn my Techie CockTail

About Sony Ericsson K660i

2008-11-08T12:15:00.000+05:30

Sony Ericsson K660i is mainly targeted as a Cheap Web on the Go phone and this is my 7th Sony Ericsson phone. Here is a brief list of specs,

GSM 850 /900 / 1800 / 1900
UMTS 2100 / EDGE / HSDPA
Size: 104.0 x 47.0 x 15.0 mm
Weight : 95 grams
Color: Wine On Black, Lime on White, Cyan on Black, Silver on Black
Screen : 240 x 320 pixels 262,144 color TFT - 2 inches
Memory : Internal - 32 mb , External - Memory Stick Micro M2
Camera : 2 Megapixel
Media Player : Audio (MP3,AAC,WMA,RA), Video (3GP, MP4)
Connectivity: USB 2.0, Bluetooth V2.0 (A2DP), GPRS,EDGE,3G

Organizer : Phonebook, Calendar, Notes, Tasks, Calculator, Alarm Clock

Other : Location based Services, Flight Mode, Exchange ActiveSync

K660i Official India Page

K660i Official India Support Page