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"Author: SE Dev Support
Date: 01-Dec-2003 15:54 GMT EST
Subject: Official Answer on Upgrade of P800
Message: Sony Ericsson has decided not to offer an upgrade to P800 owners from UIQ 2.0
to UIQ 2.1. It is not possible to offer an upgrade as there are hardware
upgrades in the P900 which mean that 2.1 would not work in an optimal way on
the P800.
- UIQ 2.1 requires extra system memory, therefore the system
memory in the P900 has been increased from 16 MB to 32 MB. Employing a more
memory-consuming user interface would reduce the amount of available space for
features such as calendar, contacts and email.
- The P900`s screen supports
65k colours, while the P800 supports 4k colours.
- The size of the screen,
when flip closed, is larger in the P900 than in the P800.
The P800 is a
future-proof device which will continue to offer what was promised at the time
of launch and that can be continuously updated with new 3rd party applications
and content. There are more than 500 applications available for the P800 and
close to all new applications which are written for UIQ 2.1 will run without
any modifications also on UIQ 2.0.
-----
Jim
Sony Ericsson Developer
Support"
Those petitioning for UIQ 2.1 will be upset. It is strange how Sony Ericsson has ""decided"" not to offer UIQ 2.1 on the P800, which leads me to believe that there probably is some other alternative way for us P800 owners to get a slightly improved UIQ O/S (in my dreams) which SE have now ""decided"" not to develop. As Michael from my-symbian said the new hardware inside the P900 means that the new UIQ would never fit on there. However when looking at the white sheets of both the P800 & P900 we find that memory sizes are very close which Jim is disputing.
Internal Memory:
P900 - 48 MB total – up to 16 MB of user memory.
P800 - 32 MB total – up to 12 MB of user memory.
Now correct me if I'm wrong but Jim seems to be reffering to the 32MB flash bank inside the P900 and the 16MB flash bank inside the P800. So how difficult is it to spread the o/s across the difference banks? Well in theory and on the white paper, it looks the like the o/s is stored in one flash bank with the C:\ being the other flash bank both the P800 and P900 have 16MB in that bank but for some reason 4MB of the P800's bank is reserved???
But wouldn't it be possible to flash across both banks so as to fit a larger UIQ on? Does the UIQ2.1 require that extra 16MB memory the P800 lacks? if so can we not sacrifice that extra 12MB C:\ user memory and use the lovely duo's we got supplied in box for storing all my things and installing apps onto leaving more space for the UIQ?
Oh well, downsizing the UIQ and removing certain uneeded, possible add on components, probably seems too much like hard work to SE.
The only restricting factor with the P800 is the 16MB memory less in OS flash memory we have over the P900, and which we cant do anything about. But I know that when programming it is incredibly easy to change the resolution and the color depth of the display, something which seems quite Impossible for Sony Ericsson. Would that not reduce the size of the UIQ by having to display far fewer colours? Instead of offering us another option, for instance UIQ2.0.1 which could offer a lot of bug fixes and changes that a lot of us would like to see in our P800's, they just say "The P800 is a
future-proof device" and mention nothing about any type of software update no matter how small.
Although I am not expecting a completely identical UIQ to that of the P900, I dont think it would be difficult at all to re-write the software and modify it for a P800 device including some new fixes that will keep us P800 users satisfied for a couple more months, I have only had my phone for 8 months.
With people enjoying V-rally with the correct colour displays (i've installed and played it on my P800 with bodged colours), and Communicorder recording slightly better video than Camcoder, I think they are being slightly inconsiderate to us (or maybe im just upset that they wont make new things for my new toy which has nearly become a laptop to me). Trying to shut us up by saying theres lots of shitty 3rd party applications that work on our phones (some of them are very good, and respect to the developers of those good few) and that we own these amazing future proof devices, is not the reply many were looking for.
Well ive had my rant, I'm getting cranky, i must have sand in my vagina again. Its past my bedtime.
Lets hope that SE offers us something other than no updates ever again.
Oh and if anyone has the white paper from january downloaded previous to 6th November 2003 for the P800 could you PM me because i think they have updated it as the website states the document was posted on this date which was way after the phone has been released. Could you confirm that this was in the previous white paper:
"When a P800 is updated at a SE Service point, or over the internet using the Sony Ericsson Update Service, all three banks of flash memory will be re-written."
All comments welcome!
--
Posted: 2003-12-03 03:18:08
Edit :
Quote
I addressed an issue similar to this a few months ago on the Dev site.. I may still have an old copy of the WP for the P800 btw..
I've come to realize that it would not be economically viable for SE to upgrade the P800 with the embraced acceptance of the P900.. The P900 price will be comparable to current P800 prices within a few months.. With that said, the P900 hardware enhancements would edge SE into putting all their eggs in the P900 basket instead.. SE has shown to abandon progress of mobile phones that has been succeeded by a like phone. They will bite the bullet and bet on all P800 owners to simply "move on"... I don't believe P800 owners will revolt in protest as I still have mine and have no encouragement to exploit the potentials of that phone.. I think your point could be explored with the possibility of finding light at the end of the tunnel.. However, I don't believe SE will divert/allot technical resources to the P800..
The P800 should become a guinee pig for a "Hack my P800" project for all mobile testers from this point on...
--
Posted: 2003-12-03 03:32:40
Edit :
Quote
Yes I have downloaded the white paper and the paragraph
"When a P800 is updated at a SE Service point, or over the internet using the Sony Ericsson Update Service, all three banks of flash memory will be re-written."
were in it as the last paragraph under section "P800 memory organisation" and subtitle "Data Storage Locations"
--
Posted: 2003-12-03 18:05:22
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