Replacement for T610 announced

sharkman

MobileBurn

Press Release T630:
Sony Ericsson today unveiled a new mobile phone for easy, stylish mobile imaging; the T630. Putting an end to phones having a front and a back, the T630 has two sides. One for the camera with a mirror to aid self-portraiture, the other for telephony, featuring easy access to communications, imaging and gaming. Its in-built camera, bright 65K TFT colour screen, fun-to-use features and sleek design are set to make the T630 a bestseller.

The triple-band GSM/GPRS T630 features QuickShare™, which represents ease of use and will be the key principle behind all new camera phones from Sony Ericsson. First introduced in the T610, QuickShare™ has won consumer praise for being the smartest way for mobile imaging on the market. Not only can a picture be taken with only two clicks, it is also easy and intuitive to share pictures between the phone, a PC and other consumer devices - either locally over Bluetooth, Infrared or cable, or across the mobile phone networks with MMS or e-mail.
The bright 65K TFT-screen provides high colour contrasts, providing a responsive viewfinder for the camera, pleasant viewing of images and a great gaming experience.

The popular racing game, V-Rally2, comes pre-loaded in the T630, providing a great gaming experience through the excellent graphics, 32-tone polyphonic sound, force feedback and joystick control. The T630 supports both Java and Mophun platforms which give access to over 100 games which are available for download from the Fun & Downloads-section of Sony Ericsson’s web site as well as operator portals.

Budding record producers but also regular punters can express their originality with the innovative Music DJ function in the T630. It is a 4-track sequencer with which bass lines, drumbeats and chords can be mixed in just a few seconds into original ring signals.

A new Sony Ericsson application called My Friends is premiered in the T630 based upon a Wireless Village instant messaging implementation. It is an enhanced messaging facility that let consumers quickly access a list of contacts and easily choose the mode of communication such as SMS, MMS, e-mail, or chat. Wireless Village is the industry standard for mobile Instant Messaging.

The T630 comes in an attractive “Frosty Silver” colour scheme, which combines frosted transparency with a metallic feel. For the Chinese market, the T628 will be launched in Q4, for Americas and EMEA, the T630 will be available in Q1 2004.

Full article @ Telecom.Paper

flywheel

just had a play with one

first off (not wanting to slit hairs) but officially it's not a replacement for the T610 - it's got a different market focus (aimed more at youth / trendy / style etc...) with the design they tried to explain that the phone has "two faces" a camera face and a phone face, to show how the two devices have been merged (ok the 'two faces' thing kinda sounded a bit too marketing for me - but sure that's what demos are made of ) - althogh the photo size is still a max 352x288 and hasn't been increaded to 640x480 - althugh they say they are using better compression so you can store more pictures

it's also compatible with the game pad which was another youth / gamer focused enhancement - together with the instant messaging feature through the "wireless village"

but the Aluminum T610 looks more professional like and the T630 design may not be attractive to some (kinda a P800 vs P900 situation) professionals / less trendy / non 'youff' types... not sure it felt like metal - definately felt like plastic to me...

a T630 would go together with an iBook very well - but a Powerbook user would definately prefer the Amuminium T610 - which i think is a nice analogy for the markets each handset is aimed at...

unfortunately the Bluetooth car wasn't charged so I couldn't have a go - although with my (lack) driving abilities that was probably a good thing

BrianG

wheresmybeaver

I'm willing to bet that it'll be possible to unofficially load the firmware for the T630 onto the T610 if anyone wants to, kinda like the firmware "upgrades" that were possible with older Nokias, like the 8210.

Anyway, I heard somewhere that a future firmware for the T610 would implement Instant Messaging (which is why there are Instant Messaging related menu items in the services menu), that the java would be improved (socket support etc) and that the compression issue for photos would be addressed. A 20k PC photo taking 45k or more on the phone? Makes little sense. So the phones should be fairly similar in terms of software.

Still, nice looking phone. Might get people using Quickshare.

ps For anyone interested, my brother brought his 6310i to the Cork Nokia Service Centre this week because there was a build-up of dust under the screen. He collected it, sans dust, to find the vibration function gone. So he brought it back. When he next collected it, Bam! Every contact, message, setting and appointment wiped off the phone. (He had a lot: more than could fit on the simcard) He doesn't know how to backup, he presumed the service centre would handle that. But they didn't... He's gonna challenge them about it tomorrow.

Mr E

The T616 seems to be a newer version of the T610 (I just saw that T616 on sale last week in the States). Can't find out whats new in it, though..... maybe its just the US version?

- Dave.

sharkman

The T616 is for the American market as it covers 850/1800/1900 networks compared to the T610 which covers 900/1800/1900 .

ADSLUSER

I guess the easiest way to tell if the T630 is a replacement phone for the T610 is if the T610 will be discontinued when the T630 is released.

billbond4

You wont be able to load T630 onto the T610, The phone wont accept a different name on the firmware when you try and put it on.
Anyway there will be difference because of the HW changes different screen, that would cause your phone to malfunction and crash if you were able to put it on the phone.

SE only did this for the T68 to the T68i and i dont think they will do the same again.

flywheel

here's some shots to compare the two (T630 and T610),
the brightness of the displays may look very different but keep in mind the T630 backdrop is much darker then the T610 (a factor some reviewers missed when saying the T610 screen was too dark in bright ambient lighting conditions) - they were both very readable / viewable

front shots - very different design styling (aimed at different markets)



back shots - gets at the point i think they were trying to make about the back of T630 looking more like the 'face of a camera'



BrianG