Shola's Home Gadgets

Now that Microsoft's Windows Vista is out, manufacturers are now trying to get their new entertainment PC's into homes.

I want one of these Sony Entertainment PC's in my living room, looks very futuristic and very un-PC like.



It surely makes my Microsoft XBox 360 Media Centre media extender look outdated.

For more details, check Sony's Entertaiment PC Website.

I can't justify the price tag of the though!

This post is mainly aimed at those who might need to send the odd email from their Sony Ericsson K750i phone or those who want to do some moblogging. While I will give a step by step guide on setting up email on Sony Ericsson's K750i, you should be able to use the information here to figure it out for you own mobile phone.

Why would you want to send emails from you mobile phone?
Well it allows you to send more text than a SMS message and you only get charged once no matter how long the message, you can send attachments, it can be cheaper than MMS, and is idea for moblogging.



What is required?
You will need your Sony Ericsson K750i or any mobile phone that has email functionality, this doesn't have to be a Pocket PC, Smartphone, just one that has an email client, many of the lower end mobile phones currently on the market now have this. You also need a connection to a mobile phone provider that supports internet access via GSM or GPRS.

Before I show you how to configure email to work on the SE K750i, a quick introduction on how email works.

For an email to be sent successfully from one point to the other, you need the following.

An email client (software installed on a PC, mobile phone, this composes the email and hands the message to the smtp server), a network connection between the email client and a smtp server (the smtp server acts a messenger and relays the message to the email server of the recipient). You will need details of the smtp server to configure your email client, this will either be provided by your mobile phone network if they provide this service (Virgin Mobile don't), you can pay for a smtp service from a 3rd party (ISP) or if you have the knowhow provide your own smtp server. Due to the increasing problem of spam, anyone providing a smtp server will either require you to send emails to the server from their network or ask you provide a username and password before allowing you to send.

Sending Email from a Sony Ericsson K750i using Virgin Mobile Network

Once you have your phone connected to Virgin's network and can make phone calls you need to visit Virgin's phone settings website page to configure your phone.
Here you can get MMS, WAP and Enhanced WAP settings sent directly to your phone. If you have a different Sony Ericsson model, or use a different network provider, visit Sony Ericsson's phone setup page where you can get the settings sent directly to your phone. Other phone manufactures have similar facilities, so visit their website and check their support section for details of how these can be sent to your phone.
With the appropriate settings sent to your phone, make sure you press the OK button when asked if you want to install the settings on your phone.

sony ericsson k750i manual email settings

On the Sony Ericsson Phone, press the menu button, choose messaging (envelope), scroll down to email and press select.
In email scroll down to settings (quicker if you scroll up), press select, scroll to account settings, select, and add new account (you can call the name anything you like).
Select connect using, and choose Virgin WAP for standard WAP (this uses your inclusive airtime minutes) or Virgin Enhanced (this uses the GPRS network and is currently charged at 0.5p per Kb). I use standard WAP, but will use GPRS when I go aboard as the cost is still the same (0.5p per KB).
Under Protocol leave as POP3, only change to IMAP4 if you know what it means.
Incoming Server Enter here the name of the mail server from which you will be downloading your mobile mail. Since Virgin does not support mobile mail, you will have to use a 3rd party mailserver, e.g. one from your ISP. Don't use the server you use at home for normal email, unless you want to download these to your mobile phone (this could be very costly if you get a lot of email/spam or large attachments).
Incoming port Leave as 110.
Encryption Leave default non.
Mailbox Enter here the username as supplied by your ISP/Network provider.
Password As supplied with username.
Outgoing Server This is the smtp server that you will use to send outgoing mail. Due to spam issues, you will need to use either your private one or one supplied by an ISP that supports send after POP3 authentication. No other form of smtp authentication will work with the Sony Ericsson K750i, as the supplied software doesn't support (someone correct me if I'm wrong) smtp authentication. I use my own private smtp server installed at home connected to a broadband line.
Outgoing port This is normally 25, but I have changed it to a different number to prevent my private smtp server at home from being used as a spam relay.
Email Address Enter the email address you want all emails from your mobile phone to be sent from. If you want to see replies on your mobile, then this will be the address supplied by your ISP/Network provider as above (mailbox).
Download I have this set as Headers & Text since I don't get any emails sent to my mobile address. To reduce cost if you get a lot of emails on your mobile address, you can change to headers only, this will give you basic information like sender, date/time and subject.
From Name I set this to Shola Mobile, you can put any name you want.
Signature You can put here any text you want added to the bottom of all emails sent, e.g. mobile phone number, text to indicate email was sent from mobile etc.
Copy Outgoing I have this sent to off, as I'm not sure what it does (copies of sent email are still left in sent emails folder).
Check Interval I have this off, but if you need to automatically check for emails, set to the required time interval (again be careful as this could run up a bill).



Once finished, select Done. You should now have configured a data connection with the correct email settings. Press back button twice to return to the Email menu. Scroll to Write New where you can compose a test email and send. If everything works you should see the phone dial (WAP) or just connect, find the server and send the email.
If you have problems, double check the email settings, the important ones are incoming server, incoming port, mailbox, password, outgoing server, outgoing port. If the problem is you can receive but unable to send, then check out going settings, if you can send without receiving check incoming settings. If you get server not found, then either your WAP connections are not working or setup properly, or one of the settings are not correct, you can get the settings resent and try again.

I hope this information is of use to someone with their Sony Ericsson K750i, let me know if you have any problems, corrections or comments.

Are you looking for a SIM free Sony Ericsson K750i phone or even a different SIM free phone, are happy with your current network provider, but don't qualify for a upgrade to the phone you want, and don't have the cash to pay up front for the phone, then here is an idea which you could use to spread the cost of that phone over 12 months.

Most phones, if not all phones sold by OneStopPhoneShop are SIM free, and currently due to fierce competition in the market, the majority of UK mobile phone network operators are keen to draw new customers to them, so they are offering phones free provided you sign a new contract with them for 12 months or longer.

So taking the SE K750i as an example, you could join orange OVP Vodafone Anytime 100 for 12 months at £22 a month, with 9 months half price line rental, you could get a brand new Sony Ericsson K750i all for a total of £165 ie 9x11=99 + 3x22=66!

You can not get a better deal anywhere, you also get the added bonus of 100 cross network minutes each month which you can use if your existing phone is SIM free.

A few points, first you will need to be signing with a new network provider, ie you will not be able to use the Orange tariff if you already are an orange customer, secondly you need to be discipline enough to remember to cancel the contract at the end of 12 months, thirdly most new phones are sold with free insurance deals for 3 months, make sure you either refuse this or cancel before the 3 months is up.

As the OneStopPhoneShop represents all UK network providers, you should be able to find something that suits you. They also offer a 14day returns policy on all handsets, so if the handset does not work with your SIM you can send it back, don't open the seals on the SIM packs though.

Also note Virgin Mobile is a virtual network of T-Mobile, so their SIMs are interchangeable on locked handsets, also Tesco mobile is provided by O2, so their locked handsets should also accept each others SIMs, though I haven't tried this, so if someone could confirm this, that would be cool.

As always make sure you know what contract you are getting into, and if you are not the disciplined type, this might not be for you. Also it is worth noting that a credit search is done when you apply for a new phone contract.

Here is a picture I took with my new toy the Sony Ericsson K750i mobile phone.
It shows my retired Nokia 3330 phone next to the box of the K750i.

I have so far been able to synchronise my calendar and contacts on my phone with my home computer. I will be taking the Sony software and cable to my office next week, so I can get my office calendar synchronised with my phone as well, once that is complete, then the phone will have completed one of my requirements.

Also got to pair up the phone with my Jabra BT130 bluetooth headset, and used that this morning in the car, though I am still trying to get comfortable with wearing the headset. It feels a little odd, and does not sit comfortably in my ear. I have hidden my phone, so it is not visible to other bluetooth devices, so no bluejacking of my phone thank you.

While shopping this morning, I also tried the FM radio, but the reception was not too good inside buildings.

As you probably have already guessed, I'm a happy boy at the moment. More from me on this lovely phone in the future.

My new Sony Ericsson K750i phone arrived yesterday, I charged it overnight, and having been playing with it on the London Underground on the way to work. As said in my previous post, I am moving from T-Mobile to Virgin Mobile, so the phone is free, but I am tied to Virgin Mobile for 12months, at a monthly cost of £24, with 4 months half price line rental. This gives me 100mins each month, which should be okay for me, since I have another phone for work. I also got a free Bluetooth headset and car charger, so I'm pretty happy with the deal.

I got the phone from One Stop Phone Shop, and was pretty pleased to know that the phone supplied is sim free, unlocked and unbranded, so after my 12 months, I can either go to another network or get reduced line rental if I chose to stay with Virgin.

The main thing I've noticed so far about the phone is the size of the keyboard, being slightly smaller than my present phone the Nokia 3330, so I'm hoping I get used to that.

I'll give full review once I've had the phone for a while, and will let you know if it meets my requirements as specified in my earlier post.

If anyone is considering this phone, and has any questions they would like to ask about this model, then feel free to leave a comment, or Contact Me.

Here is a picture of me 'playing' with my Sunday church gadgets, the Sony PD170 camcorder being used as a VCR, the CMX07 video mixer and some PMR radios being used for talkback.

I am in charge of the Video team at my local church, and have access to some good equipment.

Not shown is an additional Sony PD170 camcorder on a tripod used for wide shots and a Panasonic 3 CCD S-VHS camera also on tripod providing the main shot of the stage.

I will do a review of the Sony PD170 camcorder in a future post.

I usually act as the director, but can also operate either of the 2 cameras, with other team members capable of directing as well.

Hitachi SD card HD Camera