From this year on, Sony Ericsson and Motorola companies undertake a rush aimed at shortening the gap between UIQ and S60 by launching several very promising products. First of all comes the G-series (G700 and G900), their musical analogs, the new P-series flagship and probably a couple of other devices. The first UIQ phone by Motorola in 2008 is the upcoming Texel handset, a musical smartphone with an impressive screen resolution of 240x400, Wi-Fi, and a 3.5 headset jack. This product is meant to make a counterpart to G700 and G900, though no direct comparison is possible due to the large time distance between the release dates. To make up for the lost time, Texel is designed to have more power and features than the first G-series phones.

This article is entirely devoted to the UIQ interface and its latest 2.1 version. The 2.1 was almost ideal from the point of ergonomics, the later UIQ 3.0 left many users disappointed because of certain inappropriate changes that rendered the interface quite unfriendly, accompanied by numerous software glitches that averted many potential buyers from the recent trio of Sony Ericsson devices, undermining the company's market position.

The new G700 and G900 handsets are nominally based off the same UIQ version, though in fact it was revamped in order to provide more comfort and the changes are so significant that it no longer resembles the old 3.0 which scared people away. The changes aren't just small cosmetic touches but rather small revolutions pushing the platform forward at a high speed. Certain peculiarities fully coincide with S60 FP2, which is only to the advantage of Sony Ericsson. All these moments will be thoroughly discussed below.

Tabs

The first distinctive feature is the tab organization. At first glance they look much like the merry-go-round multimedia menu of the latest Nseries phones. The tabs form a loop where you can navigate back and forth, your finger substituting the Navi Wheel of Nokia products. This multimedia menu is highly customizable, resulting in all necessary shortcuts placed on the upper level and other menus addressed only on rare occasions.

The bottom of the screen hosts five large icons providing access to:

• PIM
• Messaging
• Menu
• Application Shortcuts
• Contacts

Nokia still has more tabs, a total of seven opposing the four of UIQ. This problem can be easily resolved by adding extra tabs in the settings (just tick the appropriate checkboxes). Up to 11 tabs can be displayed on the screen at once, not counting the menu. This number can include the music tab, the tasks tab, the photo tab, the alarm clock tab, the web bookmark tab, RSS and World Time tabs.

Just like with S60, the photo tab displays the last taken photo, however further listing is possible right from this point with no necessity to enter the gallery. The contact tab shows people's names, call icons and default ringtone type. If more than one number is assigned to a contact record, it's possible to choose between a user-specified number dialed by default or a quick prompt for one of the numbers which appears every time you dial that person.

Right now we are approaching one of the strongest sides of the renewed UIQ – it offers more customization opportunities than the multimedia menu of S60 does where you can't add any new tabs or remove the annoying ones, the only customizable setting being the tab order. As opposed to the less advanced S60, the high customizability of UIQ menus is probably the most ergonomic solution in this aspect on the whole market.

Idle mode

Drawing further analogies with S60 FP2, a few different viewmodes are available, governing the screen content and its manner of visual representation while in the idle mode. Besides the above mentioned tabs, a traditional 'Business' standby mode screen is available. Business is just an alternate nickname for the old Today applet used by P1i and W960i, offering quick access to e-mail, calendar, incoming SMS messages, missed calls and tasks. If there are calendar events associated with the current day, those can be displayed right on the screen during standby. By default, the Today window is minimized, each individual item from this menu can be unfolded by pressing the plus icon.

Right above the bar comprising five icons floats a small arrow. This arrow icon yields to extra bars on pressing, which host up to 10 custom shortcuts to user applications. The same shortcuts are shown in one of the tabs in the alternate viewmode. Thus every important function can be made accessible in a couple of stylus taps.

The status window placed in the top left corner, in addition to its generic informative role, also allows for such things as starting a new message or adjusting the sound volume, etc.

The task manager was a characteristic feature common to all previous UIQ revisions. It was used for closing running applications and switching between them. It's notable that closing the task manager doesn't terminate the running processes, vice versa closing an application requires a running task manager. The new UIQ interface has done away with this, the task manager effectively substitutes the list of running applications of S60 FP2, acting in the very same manner.

Themes and Menus

The main menu has two alternate viewmodes available: a 3x3 icon grid or list. The subitems are customizable. Custom folders can be created in each menu, containing shortcuts to user applications. By default, all programs go to the Tools menu. There's no option to change the preinstalled icons, just as there's no way to move the preinstalled functions from menu to menu though the user might want to. At times the function distribution between the menus raises suspicions about the developers' sanity. Both numerical keys and stylus can be used for menu access.

As for menu customization, the developer enabled the users to use custom themes. Wallpapers are also fully customizable, even selectable in the form of a looped slideshow. You just have to select a folder the pictures from which will be used for the background slideshow. While in the menus, the top line always shows the charge and signal level indicators. All themes look quite appealing, following an analogy with S60 both graphical and audio elements are changed. Screen settings also allow to select a screensaver, a welcome screen and the measures and numbers standard

Fonts, keyboard, text input.

It's impossible to scale the fonts to a larger version in the menu – though the trick is applicable to a message in the editor window.

The virtual keyboard preserved its traditional looks, keeping the quick input language switch as well as a shortcut allowing to insert special symbols with a single tap. The size of virtual buttons didn't change since P1i and W960i, they became a bit narrower yet taller, resulting in no change in ergonomics. It's possible to type at a decent rate with a single finger, though the smaller screen makes any comparisons with Apple iPhone impossible.

Handwritten text input is supported (with OCR functionality), T9 is also available on all UIQ devices which don't have a QWERTY keyboard. Quick word completion is available, the phone prompting a list of matching words as it feels the initial letters of a word being typed.

Call Service

The contact book capacity is only limited by the remaining free memory since the storage allocation is dynamic. Up to 30 fields can be assigned to a contact record, storing data like phone numbers, addresses and so on, including even a birthplace field, automatically synchronized with the calendar where a corresponding reminder event appears right after you fill in the field. The maximum phone numbers are limited in the standard window which appears on adding a new contact, though some extra fields for even more phone numbers can later be added by changing the properties of the contact record, so in practice any quantity of phone numbers can accompany a single contact record without limits. Similar to S60, the user is free to set a default number (let’s say a mobile one) which will be dialed automatically instead of prompting to choose one manually from all the numbers associated with a particular contact record.

Filling in a contact sheet takes four steps shown as tabs storing different categories of information. First contains phone numbers, next come personal data, then follow ringtone and misc function settings and the last tab contains text notes. This approach reminds us of MOTOMAGX handsets issued by Motorola – simple and highly functional at the same time. The only likely drawback here is the impossibility of renaming the record fields; the rest of features are quite consistent. The font size is adjustable, four modes are available for viewing a contact’s full name:

• Second Name, First Name
• First Name, Second Name
• Company, Second Name
• Company, First Name

Phonebook search is performed according to this rule as well, the contacts are only looked up by the contents of a single field (switching between keyboard languages is done by pressing the * button)

A unique ringtone and call icon can be specified for each contact record, occupying about 80% of the screen during an incoming call. An unlimited number of contact groups can be created. Unfortunately, the group feature functionality is limited. It's only effective at mass message sending, but you can't customize a group by giving it a unique ringtone – the only way out is to customize the ringtone of each person belonging to that group manually. A contact record can simultaneously belong to more than one group, which has a side effect of duplicate messages being sent to the same person if you select a group in the mass message send menu.

Following the tradition established since the earliest known revisions of UIQ, the SIM-stored contacts stick with their own list which you can't merge with the phone-stored contacts. You have to constantly switch between SIM and phone contact lists in the menu in order to be able to access the both. If you are called by an unknown person, the operating system prompts you to save the number once the connection is released. The quick dial function is quite traditional, a nine-square grid only shows names and Caller IDs if such are available. The phone numbers aren't shown, which is obviously a minus.

The call log is quite standard, no unexpected features on this side.

Messaging Service

The Messaging folder contains all messages and attached files, including e-mail correspondence. Quick shortcuts allow to start an SMS, MMS, E-mail or voice message at once. On opening the menu, you only see the start message and voice mail icons, more message types becoming available in a pop-up if you select the former item. Switching between incoming and outgoing messages, drafts and so on can only be done in the menu, no such thing happens if you press the navigation button left or right (like in many other phones), which is of very little comfort.

The SMS messaging system is quite simple. EMS objects and emoticons are supported. Placing an EMS object in the message instantly converts it to the EMS type. Similar to S60 starting from Feature Pack 1, the bottom of the screen is occupied with a five-icon bar which act as shortcuts to multimedia content, emoticons and text format functions, eliminating the necessity of opening the menu every now and then. Sorting can be done by the author's name, date and message size. A text search function is available.

A message can be sent to multiple recipients at once by ticking several checkboxes in the contact book just like in Motorola phones. If a contact record contains several associated phone numbers, the user is free to choose any.

The MMS service is also pretty trivial. The user is free to compose a few slides each containing a portion of media content (audio, video, graphics or text). The interval between the slides is customizable. No size limits affect the attachments, though certain limits are often imposed by the user's carrier company in their cell network gateway settings.

E-mail account settings include an option to limit the downloaded correspondence to headers only, anything below a custom limit specified in kilobytes, or set no limits at all. POP3, IMAP4 and Push mail protocols are supported, attachment management works just as it should, even a file extension not recognized by the phone won't prevent you from saving the attachment to a folder of your choice.

Office Document Management

The preinstalled Quickoffice software package is an integral part of the platform, handling file types native to Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint in all versions from Office97 to Office2003 though Office2007 is unsupported; also, the regular .txt file format is supported. In other words, you can instantly view and edit any .xls, .doc, .ppt files (unless they were created with Office2007 and require format conversion) as well as regular text documents. The editing functionality is rather limited yet allows for the most basic types of changes. It's possible to quick-format the text just like MS Word does, change the screen orientation, zoom into the document and change the viewscale, set the No Editing flag and so on. Quick Office allows you to browse and alter Office documents while away from your tabletop PC, which comes in quite handy.

The PDF+ viewer is another UIQ native, which is meant to view .pdf files but in practice proves too resource-hungry, nearly hanging the system on an attempt to open a .pdf sheet only a few Mbytes large. We sincerely recommend installing a better PDF viewer.

The Notes application is also part of the office menu, the short reminders can be typed either using the conventional or virtual keyboard or written by hand. To make the touchscreen appear even more appealing, SonyEricsson supplied the interface with a separate button acting as a shortcut to Notes for the G700 and G900 models. The interface does look good, the color of "paper" you put the letters on is customizable, so are the fonts, an alarm signal can be attached to each reminder which will set off on at a specified time. Notes can be sent over Bluetooth, E-mail, MMS or SMS, some of the protocols becoming unavailable if the note contains handwritten symbols or image data.

PIM

The Calendar application can be scaled to view a month's or a week's days or a day's hourly schedule. Several types of events can be associated with a particular day (meeting, reminder, a daytime long event or an anniversary) which all have attributes like start and end time, place, customizable reminder signal and are optionally repeatable. There six possible patterns available for the recurring events like on specified days of a month or a year. When in the monthly viewmode, days with events are indicated with a small icon in the bottom right corner. Placing the cursor over the icon will display the full list of events set on this particular day.

Different event types go to different folders, event records can be easily sent or received other Bluetooth or E-mail in the vCalendar 1.0 format.

The Tasks schedule has the following record format: subject, start and end times, alarm signal (if necessary), priority (High, Standard, Low). Once a task is accomplished it's marked with a corresponding icon. Task records can be grouped by user-specified categories (categories aren't limited in type and number). Task list sorting can be done by date, priority or accomplishment status. There's no auto-purge feature for expired tasks, so they sink down the list until the user removes them manually.

Such traditional features as calculator, measures converter, timer and stopwatch aren't omitted as well – a pity all of these are a separate menu item and not a part of the PIM menu.

Up to three alarm signals can be separately configured but there's no support for auto power-on wake-up, i.e. the handset can't be set to switch on from a power-off state automatically when the time for an alarm signal comes. As long as your phone is switched off, you face the risk of missing the alarm. Also, if the mute mode is engaged, the only alarm you will hear is the buzzing of the vibro signal. Each individual alarm clock can be set to use a custom audio file for a signal, the set-off time and a repeat schedule. Similar to the PIM, the signal can play repeatedly on any specified weekday(s).

The voice recorder applications allows for recording audio notes only, but it won't let you record part of the ongoing phone talk. The maximum record length is limited to the remaining amount of free memory. The interface looks very nice and informative.

Similar to the previous UIQ generations, this revision comes with an RSS reader which keeps the user in touch with the rest of the world effectively replacing newspapers. A starting RSS database is already included, allowing to add further RSS bookmarks manually. Pressing the Update buttons quite expectedly updates the RSS feed, any incoming data can be retranslated over IRdA, E-mail, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or USB.

Web Surfing and Connectivity Management

The Opera browser in its eighth revision is used as the default web surfing application native to the UIQ platform. As compared to Nokia Web Browser carried by S60 series smartphones, it appears to provide less comfort due to marginally worse ergonomics, but on the whole it's sure to leave most users quite content. The most prominent features are an integrated download manager, JavaScript support, Frame support, compatibility with third-party plugins. It's possible to save pages for further offline viewing, a pop-up killer is always on duty (unless you want to disable it in the options). The quick clearup function lets the user to purge all personal data saved in the cache instantly.

The additional functions include a connectivity manager allowing to use different network connections for different running applications. If there are several active connections, the user can view connection status for each connection separately, including such data as the overall uptime, traffic and applications using the selected connections. Everything is implemented in a very neat fashion, leaving no known competitive product to possess any similar features.

Conslusion

The UIQ software platform is Sony Ericsson and Motorola's fundamental solution on which all of their smartphones are based. It would be to the duo's advantage if UIQ achieved a serial status, becoming a formidable adversary to S60. This is supposed to be done through a future series of updates to different aspects of the current revision of the platform resulting in more standardized services available on the system level and a massive product range expansion providing for a significant variety of UIQ-based smartphones on the market. In a long-run perspective, UIQ has every possible chance to become a highly competitive software engine with some obvious positive changes recognizable right now, making UIQ more comfortable in operation and giving it a unique feel. The quick access panels are probably the most important addition, serving as a powerful means of customization and saving the user a lot of time. Sony Ericsson have done a great job improving the interface features and this input can't be underestimated. Meanwhile, large increase in SE model variety is shortly expected. Though it is important to realize that the software functionality common to any model using the new revision of UIQ can at times happen to be severely culled by the limitations imposed by the hardware part, greatly affecting the market success of a particular product. For instance, the G900 model is an perfectly balanced compromise between functionality, interface friendliness and price which is doomed to success as long as there are no comparable rivals around (which is actually the case). At the same time, its junior version G700 is clearly an overpriced product looking quite bleak against the competitive models (including G900) despite of all the similarities on the software side.

The standard set of features carried by this platform is virtually the same for any possible handset utilizing it regardless of model and manufacturer. This rule applies to the existing G700 and G900 model as well as to any future releases. That's why we only covered the common part of the functionality in this article, native to all UIQ-based devices of the new generation. Such features as media player interface, camera application interface and so on will be reviewed independently in dedicated articles on each specific device.

Author: Anton Spiridonov, editor@smape.com

SMAPE.com

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