New gadget, new problems

I just changed my cell phone service provider and the move got me a Sony Ericsson K610i. It is my first Bluetooth/USB enabled cell phone and I had high expectations on this: using my PC keyboard to type SMSs, synchronize the phone's calendar with Google Calendar, use my PC to manage contacts... After playing with the (buggy and feature-poor) supplied PC software, googling for hours, learning a bunch of names new to me (SyncML, OBEX, OMA...), looking into toolkits and the Sony Ericsson's Knowledge Base, I think that the bluetooth/usb connection will only be useful to use the cell as a modem and to exchange music/pictures. Maybe I'd be happier if I were an Outlook/LookOut user.

Since the phone was cheap (39€), my disappointment is only mild. But I think that I'd be very annoyed if I'd had to pay for the full phone price.


Additional notes from the field after my first UMTS/GPRS experience ever

• OperaMini is much nicer than the phone's built-in browser.
• GMail movile java app is quite nice (it would be nicer if it allowed to save drafts)
• Using Yahoo! Messanger from the phone is hardly compatible with my fat fingers
• Internet access was quite fast when using an UMTS network, but did not work as soon as the phone decided to use a GPRS one. Unlike in some reports about recent changes by Yoigo, I had no probem using the phone as a modem for my laptop,
  

Although this was not my main driver to change provider and phone, I like the idea of being able to browse the web/check email/connect my ThinkPad from any place for 1.2€ at most during a day. I hope that I'll remember that "being able" is not the same thing as "having to".