Get your browsin' finger in championship condition, because it's about that time -- if UIQ's your weapon of choice, anyhow. The first beta of Digia's @Web finger-controlled browser for UIQ handsets has now been delivered as promised, though free registration is required on the company's site to get hooked up. If you have a chance to check it, do let us know how it goes, won't you?

[Via All About Symbian]

Though the creation of the Symbian Foundation will likely ultimately come to benefit and unify the platform's various flavors, one terribly unpleasant side effect of the action in the short term is the positional redundancy created as S60, UIQ, and other units become virtual roommates. Some of the first casualties of the merger come from UIQ, which has announced a total of 200 layoffs -- over half of its 375-strong staff. UIQ has never garnered quite the attention of its S60 sibling, and we wouldn't be surprised if the group were to end up being hardest-hit of the Foundation's puzzle pieces. Ironically, beleaguered Motorola is a stakeholder in UIQ at the moment; as the parent goes, so goes the child, it seems.

[Via All About Symbian]

Yeah, the just-announced C905 plugs a gaping hole in the high end, but Sony Ericsson's in desperate need of as many smartphones as it can get its hands on right now -- and a smartphone is one thing the C905 is not. The flagship P1i isn't getting any younger, neither the G700 nor G900 are inspiring a lot of emotion, and the M610i (which wasn't particularly fascinating to begin with) was canceled before it ever hit the market. Could the Paris -- or P5, or P10, or whatever it's called -- and the G702 BeiBei have met the same fate? That's what the Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog is claiming, suggesting that intense criticism from sites that got early peeks at the devices let to their untimely demise while leaving the window open for a possible limited release in Asia (not unlike the Motorola MPx, if our memories serve us correctly). The way we see it, Sony Ericsson's just a little too oblivious to be that responsive to the user community (case in point: M2 cards), so we're more keen to chalk it up to technical glitches or a homegrown realization that the devices just weren't what the market needed. By the same token, it seems like they can't afford to throw these efforts out the door altogether; it'd put them hopelessly far behind the competition in the smartphone arena, so hopefully they're just retooling and learning some lessons as they go.

Mark/Space's Missing Sync -- an OS X lovers best friend -- has just loosed the Symbian Public Preview for all who dare to download. Currently, the build stands at v1.0.0 (028 Preview), which suggests that there are quite a few bugs just waiting to be discovered. Still, those handling S60 / UIQ-based mobiles can certainly give it a go and see just how effective it is at syncing information between your Mac and that beloved handset. Chime in below with any overly dramatic success / failure stories.

[Via AllAboutSymbian]

If there are two words that are music to the ears of anyone looking to browse websites effectively on their phone, they've gotta be "WebKit" and "finger control." S60 Touch is moving Nokia squarely in that direction, and the other half of the Symbian puzzle, UIQ, is getting some love now as well. Digia is preparing its @Web browser, which claims to allow effective finger-based control of its WebKit-based browser -- though we're not lighting the fireworks and popping the champagne just yet since the effectiveness of finger control varies widely from implementation to implementation, and @Web's public beta won't be ready until some time later this month. Stay tuned, G900 owners (and G702 hopefuls).

[Via PHONE Magazine]

If you just can't get enough news about Sony Ericsson's forthcoming Symbian UIQ touchscreen phone -- currently known as Paris -- perhaps this promo video of the thing in action can help. Sure, these appears to be pre-renders, but it does whet the appetite for things to come with the device, and who can complain about that pop-up weather app and confirmation that this will have a flash for its camera? Also, the dude in the clip sports a totally stylish cardigan. Watch the whole thing after the break and see for yourself.

[Via PHONE Magazine]

Sony Ericsson's leaky enough so that we've had no problem believing that the BeiBei is dead real, but as we've seen with the M610i, a very real and very well-developed Sony Ericsson prototype by no means guarantees a release. That being said, we're starting to get pumped that this one might live long enough to see a store shelf or two -- particularly considering that it's said to rock UIQ 3.3 and looks a heck of a lot better now in its dark, handsome color scheme that the last time we saw it. So, anyone want to get a launch date pool going? This quarter? Next? 2009?

[Via Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog]

Ahead of CTIA -- and ahead of a possible Windows Mobile 6.1 announcement -- UIQ Technology has announced that UIQ 3.3, based on a Symbian 9.3 foundation, is now available to manufacturers. It's not a revolutionary build by any stretch of the imagination; in fact, the firm itself says that it includes "incremental enhancements" designed to keep up with changing requirements in the marketplace. Headlining features include Opera 9.5, support for Opera Widgets (widgets do seem to be the rage in mobile these days), and a dedicated widget "dashboard" for managing the little bits and pieces of content the user is tracking. The 3.3 SDK is already available, so with any luck, we should see devices in the marketplace before the century's out.

The Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog is reporting that Sony Ericsson's rather stellar showing at Mobile World Congress isn't quite over yet. As you might recall, the joint venture owns UIQ, so it would make some good sense that it'd save a couple surprises for UIQ's MWC press conference, which doesn't go down until the tail end of the show on Wednesday. One of those surprises might just be this, a UIQ-powered candybar going by the codename "BeiBei" that features a dizzying (and frankly, nonsensical) array of navigation buttons and a fairly buttoned-up appearance that should appeal to businessfolk. Another possible UIQ debut is said to be "Paris," a higher end device. If this all pans out, it was rather brilliant of Sony Ericsson to let the X1 fervor calm down before launching another volley, wasn't it?

The Z10's fresh out of the gate, but it probably serves Motorola well to be thinking well, well ahead -- like 5 megapixels worth of ahead, for example. The so-called Z12 "Skarven" has been rumored for a few months now, and this fairly legit looking shot claims to have a wide swath of the Z series lined up for a family portrait: Z8, Z10, and Z12, from left to right. It allegedly runs UIQ (much like the two kick sliders before it) appears to feature some touch sensitive controls up front, and should feature the aforementioned high-end cam, integrated GPS, and a two-bedroom, one-bathroom flat for all we know. With any luck, we might find out a thing or two at MWC in a few days.

Pay close attention here -- odds are this is as close as you'll ever get to the mythical M610i from Sony Ericsson. For most of us, that's just fine, but for others, this could be a pretty heart-wrenching 9 minutes and 28 seconds as our Polish reviewer takes us through a painstakingly detailed rundown of the stillborn UIQ handset's hardware and software. The video's host takes note that the phone features WiFi, an Opera-based browser (labeled as "experimental" but flawless in real-world use), a 208MHz processor, 128MB of RAM along with about 181MB of user storage, and Bluetooth; what the phone doesn't feature is a camera, and that's what would've made the device a potentially compelling choice for buttoned-up business types that can't have a cameraphone (read: P1i) on the premises. Keep your chins up, though, UIQ faithful -- this thing's so stale at this point that we've gotta believe there's already something better in the pipe.

[Via My-Symbian.com]

Originally rumored for an announcement as early as tomorrow, icaka over on Esato's forums is now reporting that Sony Ericsson's new be-all, end-all superphone -- the so-called P5i -- has been sent back to the shop for retooling and won't make a public debut until May or June of next year. While it could be argued that the P1i is hot (or at least warm) off the factory line, a top-5 phone manufacturer certainly can't rest on its laurels -- and if the listed specs here are even close to accurate, they're staying up on their game: think 2.8 inch VGA display, integrated GPS, WiFi, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, HSUPA (yes, UPA, not DPA), and 128MB of RAM on board. Even better, it'll all be packed into a slim, light slider form factor that allegedly looks something like this concept art. Sounds just a smidge too good to be true, we know. Then again, by the time mid 2008 rolls around, is there any line item here that shouldn't be standard fare on a high end handset? Here's hoping!

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Palm's not the only company that isn't afraid to speak out on the Open Handset Alliance. Nokia, Microsoft and Symbian made it most clear today that they don't perceive danger from the new initiative and corresponding Android OS, with Nokia stating it quite bluntly: "We don't see this as a threat." Microsoft was a bit more on the defensive. "It really sounds that they are getting a whole bunch of people together to build a phone and that's something we've been doing for five years," said Scott Horn, from Microsoft's Windows Mobile marketing team. "I don't understand the impact that they are going to have." The Symbian folks stated the obvious: "If Google was not involved the industry would have just yawned and rolled over," said John Forsyth of Symbian. "We take it seriously but we are the ones with real phones, real phone platforms and a wealth of volume built up over years." UIQ was a bit more optimistic about the OHA, saying that "Generally, it's positive for the industry." Apple wasn't as commital either way. "We have a great relationship with Google and this doesn't change anything," said Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris. "They are certainly an important partner for iPhone."

Somewhere below the mighty P1i in Sony Ericsson's UIQ-based smartphone lineup lies the M600, a phone that introduced the world to one of the most bizarre QWERTY keypad styles we've ever seen -- a style Sony Ericsson continues to sporadically use today. Thing is, the M600's getting awfully long in the tooth, and we've been waiting on the long-rumored (and FCC-confirmed) M610 for a long freakin' time now. It may still be getting tweaked deep within Sony Ericsson's labs, but at least one prototype example has strayed far enough from home to find itself listed on eBay's German site. Bearing the trademark "SE123" found on prerelease Sony Ericssons, the thing certainly looks legit -- though we're not really convinced it looks better than the M600 it's destined to replace. Then again, maybe that's why it hasn't been announced yet.

[Via Unwired View]