One of the first generation camera phones, with its built-in CIF resolution camera and a large for-the-time colour screen with a 128×160 portrait resolution. A new user interface is included to take advantage of the new display.

The phone itself also has a nice contrasting design of black with silver, and a few colours were made available including Black/Blue and Black/red. Released in 2003, it competed mainly with the Nokia 6610i, 7250i, Siemens MC60, and the Sagem My V-55.

Navigation is done through the joystick located near the center of the phone. After a few years but it seems to have lost its functionality which makes navigating the menus difficult. Thankfully we can get around this by using the numeric keys to quickly access menus as a shortcut, in the main menu you can press the 5 key to open the message or the # key to access the settings menu.

For any list menus, you can use the volume keys at the side to select a menu item.

The usual left and right soft keys are present that correspond to the onscreen context, but there is also a back/return key and a C button that deletes onscreen text or cancel operations. No send or end keys that you see on regular phones.

On the right there is a dedicated internet browser button that opens the WAP browser, even when the handset is in standby which could trigger it accidentally and incur additional WAP charges if not part of your plan, locking the keys will stop this.

On the left side there is a dedicated camera key that will open the camera to take photos, and the two-volume keys to quickly adjust the volume in a call. On standby mode you can press to see the handset status, and hold it to access the voice command feature if you have set this up.

On the home screen the mobile network is displayed alogn with the time and date. The soft keys default to calls and the More menu which lets you quickly access certain functions of the phone,

Main Menu

Images are a bit unclear since the screen on this model seems to have issues with its contract, possibly due to the age of the phone (Nearly 20 years old). I’ve tried to adjust the contrast in the phone’s service menu but there’s only so much that can be done, given this handset is approaching 20 years old and is an STN display.

From the top left, the First option takes you to the Sony Ericsson WAP site, which was intended for you to download ringtones, wallpapers & additional games. If you got your phone through an operator, then this will be replaced with the operator’s logo and will be a link to their WAP site if they customized the phones ROM.

Internet Services

Takes you to your WAP homepage, by default this will be the Sony Ericsson homepage or one set by your operator. Here you can freely browse the internet using the internal browser, and have access to features such as bookmarks and the ability to send the page as an SMS message link.

The phone supports both CSD and GPRS for data.

My Shortcuts

A customized menu that lets you quickly access various features of the phone within one menu. By default, we are given the option to write a new SMS message, adjust the ring volume, select the ringer profile, view your SIM card number, and edit shortcuts. The menu can be modified at any time with your own shortcuts.

Camera

Takes you directly to the camera viewfinder where you can capture a phone by pressing the Capture soft key. The viewfinder will then give you the option to save, or send directly to an MMS recipient.

The viewfinder will also show the remaining photos that can be taken according to the internal memory. You can also adjust the resolution of the photos captured, from CIF (228×352) to MMS (120×160), using a lower resolution reduces file size. A night mode allows for pictures to be captured in the dark, although this isn’t much use as the camera lacks a flash. You also have the option of adding effects such as black & white, negative colour and sepia. Lastly, there is also a self-timer option that counts down from 7 seconds.

With only 2MB of storage that is shared across the phone, you will quickly run into space limits and will have to delete content to save space.

Photos are the main feature of the phone, with a dedicated camera button on the left side of the phone which launches the image capture, another press will capture the image. Once saved, you can easily send photos via Bluetooth, Infrared or via MMS which Sony Ericsson promoted as Quickshare.

Messages

Various options for sending and viewing receiving messages

Text refers to standard SMS messages that can be composed using the text editor. Symbols can be added, and emojis (Then known as smileys) could also be added. Graphics can also be added which uses the EMS protocol, and the handset will show you the number of characters remaining within a single SMS message, and will show you if two or more SMS messages need to be sent. Canceling a typed message will automatically save it as a draft for you to edit or delete later. You also have the option of using an SMS template if you need to quickly text someone. Finally, messages can be saved to either the SIM card or the phone’s memory.

A picture message is essentially an MMS message, here you can attach photos or ringtones to the message. The phone does require an MMS profile to be created, which is done then your mobile network operator send you their APN configuration.

Emails can also be sent using the phones GRPS data connection, but this is not a push-based system like you would see on a BlackBerry. Instead, you will need to manually check and download any messages or attachments. Like MMS you can add attachments such as a photo to the email, and you can specify options for CC, BCC or priority settings.

Chat is like SMS messages but gives you a 1-1 interface with the sender.

Games

The handset also features support for both Java and Mophun, allowing for a large game library to be played. There is no limit to the amount of Java games that can be installed, with only the phone’s memory being the limit. The Games & More option is where the Java-based game are found, whilst Mophun games are under Other Games. Games can be downloaded and installed either through WAP or via PC, even through Bluetooth. The phone will automatically install the application once received.

Pictures & Sounds

Photos taken with the camera will be found here, along with the default wallpapers. Opening a picture file allows you to set it was the wallpaper, or the screensaver instead, or even assign it to a contact. Basic editing can also be done with rotating. There is a edit option in the menu but its currently grayed out.

Sounds is very similar, but you can set either the ringtone or the message alert tone. Any tracks created with MusicDJ will show up here.

The themes option lets you view any apply different themes, although only one comes with the handset, Classic.

There is also a hyperlink option to download more pictures/sounds from WAP, in case you missed the dedicated menu option. They really wanted users to buy and download, thought you would think they would have included more memory for storage.

Phonebook

Contacts can be saved to either the phone memory or the SIM card. Contacts saved to the phone memory can have additional attributes assigned to them such as work/home contact numbers & email addresses.

Contacts can also be synchronized with an external service or using the iSync utility in OS X.

You can also set a unique ringtone for each contact.

Calls

A menu to manage incoming, outgoing and missed calls, by default, there is a shortcut to this on the home screen. You can also view call costs and minutes used, useful for keeping track of your monthly usage. Options for call waiting can be set here also. You can also use the Manage Calls option to filter to only numbers in the phonebook, or in a certain group.

Connectivity

For connectivity there is Bluetooth, infrared and WAP support, supporting both GSM data and GPRS for faster network connections for the time. MMS is also supported which allows for pictures to be sent as a text message, one of the main selling points of the phone. Infrared does not require any additional software to use, you can freely send and receive files using the standard IrDA protocol.

There is also access to the Sim toolkit menu if your Sim card supports this. Lastly, there is also a synchronization option that lets you sync calendar and phone book contacts with a service provider.

Organizer

• Calendar: Your standard calendar which you can set reminders and events for later notification, you can change the view to a daily weekly or monthly, which will also list upcoming events, or you can search for them using the search tool built into the phone.
• Note: Similar to how the Windows notepad would work, lets you save text notes to the phone for later viewing
• Alarms: Set a single or recurring alarm that repeats on certain days of the week.
• Timer: Sets a countdown timer
• Stopwatch: Supports lapping and can run in the background.
• Calculator: A typical calculator
• Code Memo: Same as notes but you can set a 4-digit PIN to access and save notes, this is not the same as the PIN for the SIM card.

Settings

• Sound and Alerts – Set the ringtone, and message alert tone, you can set the ringing to be ascending and can also enable toe vibration alert. A key sound can also be enabled which sounds upon button press and a minute minder which will beep when you are in a call, allowing you to keep track on how long the call has lasted, ideal for PAYG customers keeping track of their usage.
• Display: Change the wallpaper, the stary-up picture, the screensaver and set a theme. The backlight and screen contrast can also be set.
• Profiles: Set and adjust the ring tone profiles, preset profiles are Normal, Meeting, In car, Outdoors, Port hands-free, Home, Office, & TTY Accessory.
• Language: Set the language for both the phone menus and the T9 predictive input, options are English, French or German.
• Time and Date: Set the time and date or have the phone update it automatically.
• Voice Control: You can record and set voice commands for common phone functions, then you can trigger them by holding the volume key in standby mode and then speaking the command. Surprisingly this works considerably well, but struggles in noisy environments.
• Locks: Set and change the SIM and Phone locks, and enable the auto keylock.
• Master Reset: reset the phone settings back to the factory default

Downloads

A collection of themes that originated from the Sony Ericsson WAP download site, originally intended for the Z600 but will work on the T610 and possibly the T630.

T610/Z600 Themes

A set of Mophun games that can be transferred to the phone, many of them are trial & demo copies to show the capabilities of the platform, some are intended for the T68 and have a smaller screen resolution. Always look for the 129×160 version for the T610.

Mophun Games Archive

Mobile Captures

First two images are captured using the standard mode, with the last two using the Black&White and negative mode. All images are captured at 288×352

T-Six-Ten

To promote the phone, a website was launched called T-Six-Ten which was to promote the photo and image capabilities of the phone. users can submit their captured photos and share them online, as well as show tips and information to get the most from your T610 phone.