Intellisync is compatible with virtually any device built on any platform. It allows operators and enterprises to deliver advanced wireless communications services, including wireless e-mail, synchronization for calendars, contacts, files, data and applications, and secure device management software.

Nokia acquired Intellisync for $430 million in cash back in November 2005 as part of its push to attract more corporate customers, which also included the advent of the mobile phone giant's business centric ESeries of smartphones; such as the E62, offered in the U.S. by Cingular, as well as the E62, E70, and E50.

As with Nokia, most of Sony Ericsson's smartphones are built on the Symbian operating system. But instead of using Nokia S60 interface, Sony Ericsson, leverages the UIQ platform. The main difference between S60 and UIQ is the latter enables phones to have a touch screen display.

To use a housing metaphor, while Symbian is the foundation, plumbing, and electrical system, the interface (S60 and UIQ) is the furnishings and appliances, and the hardware is the frame upon which a smartphone is built. Between S60 and UIQ, the former is by far the more commonly-used interface, accounting for more smartphones worldwide than any other.

Sony Ericsson bought the company that develops and manages UIQ last fall. Likely because, as UIQ's chief licensee, Sony Ericsson decided to save on the trouble and expense of paying licensing fees. Almost half of all available UIQ-based smartphones ever created belong to Sony Ericsson, with most of the rest shipping from Motorola and Arima.

Both the M600 (see top image) and P990 feature handwriting recognition, UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System)—a WCDMA 3G broadband technology that delivers 400 to 700 Kbps data transfers—a 262K (320 x 240 pixel resolution) 2.6-inch touch display, USB 2.0 with charging, and Bluetooth. Unlike the P990, the M660 doesn't offer Wi-Fi, however.

The larger 4.4 x 2.2 x 1.0-inch (114 x 57 x 26 millimeter) P990 is a flip phone with a traditional QWERTY thumb-keyboard embedded in the phone and a keypad on the flap, while the compact and thin M600 (just 15 millimeters thick) is built more in the mold of Motorola's Q smartphone.


                                  P990

Sony Ericsson designed the M600 for one or two handed operation. It has a dual function keyboard for text and number input. The keypad/keyboard is a hybrid of sorts between a full QWERTY and number-pad layout. Blue numbers are embedded on the keys, which serve multiple letter and character functions as well.

Spell checking and word completion software takes care of the rest when messaging. There's also a 3-way jog dial.