Sony Ericsson's P990i gains FCC approval

Announced way back in October, that Sony Ericsson P990i just got tagged with the FCC's good housekeeping seal of approval. With that out of the way, we might actually see this tri-band GSM 900 / 1800 / 1900 with UMTS (2100) handset with Symbian OS 9.1 / UIQ 3 Stateside sometime in Q1, Q2, Q3 after the 2100MHz spectrum comes off the auction block and into the greedy little hands of your fave (or not so fave) wireless provider. And with a 2.8-inch touchscreen, 802.11b WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, 2 megapixel cam, media player, QWERTY keypad, and suite of corporate email connectivity options, well, we're guessing that even with all the delays, you might still care.

[Via Mobile Whack]

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 10th 2006 9:36AM]

Wonder what it did to get put in that padded room like that?

Crazy man.

[Jerome Demers @ Jul 10th 2006 9:38AM]

if they can put touch screen, 802.11b WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, 2 megapixel cam, media player, QWERTY keypad, and email, why not in a PSP?

cheap ass :P

J-

[sean Moser @ Jul 10th 2006 9:52AM]

After tracking this mobile for well into a year now-actually I DON"T care !

[Mike @ Jul 10th 2006 10:14AM]

I thought the 2100Mhz to be deployed in the US uses a different frequency uplink compared to the rest of the world's UMTS 2100Mhz deployments. Maybe I'm mistaken, or somebody else can elaborate. But I'm pretty sure 2100Mhz in the US will not be compatible with the rest of the world.

[sxt173 @ Jul 10th 2006 10:33AM]

Nope, when it is a tri-band phone, it will work in the US. I've owned the P800i, P910i and K750i from SonyEricsson with same exact frquesncy specs, they all work fine in US.
Sometimes, they do come out with a "a" version vs "i" version, which just means Americas vs International. The "a" version is usually a dual-band US only, but when we speak of 3G phones, it's actually a slower 2.5G so it will work in US markets.

[sxt173 @ Jul 10th 2006 10:37AM]

sorry, didn't read the comment fully. As far as the UMTS, you are kinda correct. There is no UMTS in the US right now (except for prototype markets). There should however be UMTS available some time next year and it should be compatible with European frequency (as far as I know)

[Huy @ Jul 10th 2006 12:45PM]

It looks like a phone inside an anechoic chamber of some sorts. Probably used for testing of the wireless. See my link above for more info.

[Brian @ Jul 10th 2006 12:59PM]

Uhm, strider_mt2k, if you didn't know, that would be an EMI chamber where the unit would have been subjected to a battery of tests in order to get the FCC certifications. If you look carefully, you can see a green bowtie antenna in the background. :) Makes for a nice picture, eh?

[Mike @ Jul 10th 2006 1:15PM]

sxt173

Actually, the "a" version on the 910 means it is still tri-band but instead of being 900/1800/1900 it's 850-900/1800/1900. Rogers Wireless in Canada uses 850.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 10th 2006 1:27PM]

Brian, I was kidding.

[LAK @ Jul 10th 2006 1:52PM]

About time. This phone should have been out a year ago and it should cost $300 or less. Instead will have to wai ttil October or worse, I'm sure. I love my p910a and want a p990 - there are few option other than a Blackberry device for receiving Blackberry push email(any other beside the fancy Nokia?) - but I'm not sure it is worth waiting for anymore given the competiton out there. Might just get a new Blackberry.

[Cody @ Jul 10th 2006 2:28PM]

That "padded room" is an anechoic chamber, most likely fitted with a douser covering that detects emitted wireless signals. The purpose of an anechoic chamber is to filter out any noise not created by the unit itself, I've been in two my whole life. It's surreal, you step in and they close the door, within 1 minute you hear your heart start to beat. In just under 5 minutes, you start hearing things that aren't there, which is your ears not being able to gather information about your surroundings so your brain makes "filler noise" to some extent.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 10th 2006 3:10PM]

Cody, you too.

I was just kidding! Hello, sense of humor? As cell phones aren't normally subjected to human laws and punishments!!

Geeze man I had to EXPLAIN it!

[Daydalaus @ Jul 10th 2006 5:02PM]

This phone UMTS won't work in USA.

The US Versions of 2100 UMTS doesn't use the same downlik frecuency than Europe. They Use 1900 Mhz (downlink in 1900 mhz and uplink in 2100 Mhz), the FCC auction will give the 1700 Mhz Frecuency for this purpose (Downlink in 1700 Mhz and Uplink in 2100 Mhz). That make all the European UMTS (3G) phones incompatible with the US Networks (because the 1900 Mhz spectrum is used by GSM and CDMA) even if they share the 2100 Mhz band.

[MyFirstMoniker @ Jul 10th 2006 6:08PM]

strider_mt2k, cool off, we got you the first time! Cody was obviously just using your comment as an excuse to elaborate on his experience with this kind of chamber, and not actually trying to answer you.

The joke wasn't even that funny...

[Dave @ Jul 10th 2006 6:59PM]

I got an opportunity to go inside of one of Audio-Technica's anechoic chambers where they test their Microphones. It's like when the power goes out and all you can hear is a dull ringing noise, except worse. Kinda cool, but not somewhere you'd want to hang out for long.

[Gridlock @ Jul 11th 2006 4:30AM]

"The purpose of an anechoic chamber is to filter out any noise not created by the unit itself, I've been in two my whole life."

Like the boy in the bubble?

I've been waiting for this phone since it was the P1000, then the hermione, and then the p990. And I'm still waiting, and still getting it because frankly it's the only touchscreen phone with wifi and a good camera, even 12 months after it was rumoured. Oh, except for the SPV M600 (HTC thingy, called all sorts worldwide), but I'd chew my own balls off before I used a MS phone.

I do like the screen on the N80 though.

[strider_mt2k @ Jul 11th 2006 8:24AM]

"The joke wasn't even that funny..."

Exactly. If you have to explain it, it wasn't that funny.
Thus my chagrin.

[jisam basheer @ Jul 11th 2006 1:48PM]

Aah.. This handset should have released a year ago.and with this weight and size, i dont seee this appealing to the youth..i do know that this is supposed to be a businessmans mobile..Now this isnt going ta get any further than the target audience. Wat happend to u my dear sonyyyyyyyy??????

[veo_ @ Jul 11th 2006 11:05PM]

Heh, I DONT care about this phone anymore. As a user of the P800 and P910a I was a big fan the Sony Ericsson phones. This one just took too long and will be too expensive at launch.

I just ditched my P910 and went with the HTC Apache/PPC-6700 running Windows Mobile 5. I couldnt be happier. It is such a huge step up from symbian.

[Tellion @ Jul 17th 2006 9:06AM]

It's a nice phone but nothing special. If they launched it in december or something they would have had sales. Now it is to late. Not interesting anymore for big audience. But users of the previous P9 phones will buy this phone.

[Paul @ Sep 2nd 2006 1:13PM]

I'm interested in the p990i because of the 2-megapixel camera.
I need a smartphone with a high quality camera for my work.
Does anyone know of a smartphone with a 2-MP (or higher) camera which has a U.S. carrier?

[steve @ Sep 7th 2006 3:46PM]

So someone tell me,,,Can I use this P990i J just received after waiting forever or not? I put my cingular sim in and I can make and receive calls only in certain areas of the DFW metroplex,,,it loses signal strength just driving around town.. Does anyone know if I have any other options or do I need to revert to the HTC with Mobile 5?