Watching Movie Files On My W960i

According to the scant information in the phone help file the built in Video Player supplied with the Sony Ericsson W960i supports 3GPP (.3gp), MP4 (.mp4)  and Real Media (.ram, .rm) video formats.

Most video files cause an error...

I have various video files on my PC including .wmv, avi, .mpg and mov. All these videos will play on my PC using Windows Media Player or QuickTime but when I copy them to the media memory of my W960i not one of them will play using the built in Video Player.

Even .mp4 video files that work perfectly on my PC will not work on my W960i.

H.264 / MPEG-4 AVC

H.264 is a standard for video compression which is also known as MPEG-4 Part 10 or more commonly as MPEG-4 AVC (for Advanced Video Coding).

Sony Ericsson Media Manager 1.1

Sony Ericsson Media Manager 1.1 is a very slick program which is available as a free download from the Sony Ericsson website but the Sony Ericsson Media Manager 1.1 Pro version costs an additional $9.99 and apparently it will convert video files to the format supported by my W960i.

According to the help file a Sony Ericsson phone supports some .mp4 and .3gp video files and mention is made of .mp4 (Sony AVC/AAC) and .mp4 (MPEG4 part 2) but there is no information on the exact format and settings.

3 Choices

If I want to watch movies or films on my W960i then I think I have 3 choices:
1. Purchase Sony Ericsson Media Manager 1.1 Pro at a cost of $9.99
2. Use a 3rd party Video player such as PowerMovie at a cost of $19.99
3. Convert my video files into a format supported by the W960i Video Viewer at a cost of $??.??

Not surprisingly my choice is option 3 and if at all possible at a cost of $Free.

The tricky part is to find a video converter program which will accept the greatest number of source video formats and to then work out which video formats and bit rates work best with the W960i.

PSP Video 9

The PSP Video 9 homepage is located at http://www.pspvideo9.com

PSP Video 9 is a free program which runs on a PC which is intended for converting video files to view on a Sony PSP portable games console but the good news is that converted video files will also run on other devices.

So far I have converted .wmv, avi, .mpg and mov files in sizes from 20Mb to 1.5GB and so far not one video file converted to MPEG-4 (.mp4) has failed to convert and run perfectly on my W960i.

Step By Step Guide To Using PSP Video 9

At first sight PSP Video 9 can be a little confusing to use. By default it uses a wizard screen to manage the conversion and of course it assumes that you are using a Sony PSP.

W960i phone users should bypass the wizard and go straight to the Convert tab and click Convert Video. Now find and select the video file to be converted...

PSP Video 9 conversion in progress...

Depending on the size of the movie the conversion will take several minutes but it is generally quicker to convert a video file than to watch.

Select a profile...

PSP Video 9 supports a multitude of formats and after extensive experimentation and testing the profile that I recommend for the W960i is Fw2.80+ MPEG4 320x240 768kbps Stereo/128kbps. This profile was able to convert every video file and every video file worked on my W960i.

This profile has the correct screen resolution of 240x320 pixels for the W960i so the video player does not have to use extra processing power to resize the video output.

The video bit rate is set at 768kbps which seems to be a rate that the W960i can handle. I noticed that video files with a higher bit rate would not play on the W960i.

The audio bit rate is set at 129kbps which again seems to be a rate the the W960i can handle.

Other profiles include Fw1.50+ MPEG4 320x240 768kbps Stereo/128kbps and Fw1.50+ MPEG4 320x240 768kbps Stereo/128kbps 2-Pass. Using these profiles it was not possible to convert all video files. I could not see any quality advantage of the 2-Pass conversion over the 1-Pass conversion.

Settings Galore

PSP Video 9 Profiles...

Choose your profile carefully. The correct profile will ensure that firstly your video file will convert and secondly that the converted video will play on your W960i.

Select the Encoder...

Sorry I don't know my MI from my MH and my MIMB.

Now select the Video Codec...

My investigations indicate that MPEG-4 will work with the W960i but MPEG-4 AVC will not.

PSP Video 9 provides extensive settings which you can experiment with. In particular you can select the MPEG-4 AVC Video Codec. According to Sony Ericsson the W960i should support the AVC variant but I could not get any video files converted using the MPEG-4 AVC Video Codec to play on the W960i.

It is possible that other converter application that support AVC will work with the W960i so it is very much a case of matching your video file to your converter program to your device and also take into account the video software installed on your W960i phone.

Results

Source Format	Source File Size	Converted Format	Converted File Size	Comments
.wmv	28.6 Mb	.mp4	29.5 Mb	Converted to a slightly larger file but at least it played on the W960i
.wmv	302 Mb	.mp4	158 Mb	Reduced file size on conversion
.mov	111 Mb	.mp4	26 Mb	Massively reduced
.avi	1,484 Mb	.mp4	733 Mb	Massive file which W960i took in its stride

Every video file I tried was converted by PSP Video 9 and played without problem son my W960i.

Beware The File Name...

Another issue that I noticed was that the video player provided with the W960i can be very particular about the video file name. One video would not play until all the spaces were removed from the file name while another video file with a longer name and also containing spaces would play without problems.

Using USB To Charge My W960i

If I'm not careful I can run down the battery on my W960 in less than a working day and if I'm not going straight home after work then there is a serious possibility of completely discharging the battery.

To combat this problem I now take a USB cable to work and as my PC at work has some front facing USB ports it is no problem to plug in during the day and using a USB cable saves me having to carry a power supply adapter around.

There are however a couple of issues with USB charging.

1. If the W960i is plugged in to a new PC then it will not charge using the USB cable until the Sony Ericsson drivers are installed on the PC. The good news is that you don't have to carry your installer CD around with you because the Windows New Hardware wizard will automatically download the drivers from the Internet and once installed on the PC the W960i will start charging. The downside is that sometimes the owner of the PC may not be too happy for me to be installing unknown drivers downloaded from the Internet and of course the PC needs to be connected to the Internet.

2. Charging with the AC adapter is very rapid but charging the W960i using USB is so damn slow.

I don't know if other Sony Ericsson smartphones such as P1i, W950i, P990i and M600i charge using USB with or without drivers.

Sky Anytime On Mobile

I'm trying to install and use the Sky Anytime On Mobile application on my W960i.

With Sky Anytime On Mobile I should be able to see a whole weeks TV listings on my W960i and be able to set Sky+ to record the programs that I want to watch.

The first problem is that the W960i is not one of the supported phones.

The next problem is that I need to use my desktop PC to login to My Sky so that I can have a text message sent to my W960i but the Sky web server keeps timing out.

I used my W960i to view the web page at http://mobile.sky.com/skyapp/ and it is confirmed that the W960i and probably all UIQ phones are not supported.

Has anyone out there managed to get Sky Anytime working on a W960i?

My Vodafone Logon Problem Is Fixed

I have been having a really annoying problem with my Vodafone data connections. The problem is that after a few minutes of using a 3G connection to view web pages I get a connection failure and my W960i screen displays the dreaded Logon Failed error.

I decided I needed help and so I called Vodafone and spoke to a very nice man in technical and I'm very sorry that I didn't make a note of his name because he spent 45 minutes working through the problem with me. He was certainly a Sony Ericsson enthusiast and said he had a dying W950i and was waiting to upgrade to a W960i.

Amongst other things we used http://www.sitefinder.ofcom.org.uk/ to investigate which base station I was using from my home location and he was able to tell me how many successful connections the 3G mast outside my house had handled that day. I think that part of my 3G performance issues could be because my local phone mast was located where it is to provide coverage to the nearby Tesco Superstore so there are lots of people using my nearest mast.

Blame ActiveSync?

We also discussed the 3G account settings on my W960i and especially my Vodafone Wap and Vodafone Internet accounts. I was correctly using the Vodafone Wap account to view web pages but the Vodafone tech guy then suggested that Exchange ActiveSync could be causing my 3G data connection to disconnect.

The theory is that the W960i can only use one connection at a time. For most of the time I only use one mobile application at a time so if applications use different connections such as Vodafone Wap and Vodafone Internet then there is no problem if the phone changes the connection as I move from application to application.

My Exchange ActiveSync application was configured to use the Vodafone Internet account but remember that Exchange ActiveSync runs in the background and if Push Email is enabled then new connections will be made in the background at the same time as I am using the Vodafone Wap connection for viewing web pages.

To test if Exchange ActiveSync was the cause of my Logon Failed problems I have used my W960i for the last 24 hours with ActiveSync turned off and I'm very pleased to say that even though I have made heavy use of my 3G data connection I have not had a single Logon Failed problem in the time that ActiveSync has been turned off.

So far so good. I will monitor progress for a few days and then I will try turning ActiveSync back on but I will try using the Vodafone Wap connection instead of the Vodafone Internet connection.

A big thank you to Vodafone technical for their patience.

If this solution worked for my W960i then it might for other Symbian UIQ 3.0 smartphones such as P1i, W950i, P990i and M600i.

Using Opera 8.65 With My W960i

The web browser application supplied by Vodafone with my W960i is Opera 8.65 for Symbian OS ("701") and I have no idea what the ("701") refers to.

Note that this version of Opera will only work on mobile phones and is commonly referred to as Opera Mobile.

It is important to appreciate that your experience of Opera 8.65 is totally dependent on your mobile phone company and their customised web service which in my case is Vodafone and their web service which is called Vodafone Live.

Launch the Opera Mobile web browser by selecting the globe icon on the standby screen or the main menu.

My W960i is locked to Vodafone so by default my homepage is locked to Vodafone Live which is slightly annoying.

With Vodafone Live the soft-core porn at extra £££ is just one click away.

My W960i is locked to Vodafone and the Opera Mobile bookmarks are preloaded and although I can add and delete my own bookmarks I an not able to delete any of the bookmarks shown above which again is slightly annoying.

I can synchronise my Vodafone Live mobile favourites with my desktop PC favourites. Note that these favourites are stored on the Vodafone Live web server. Lets chose My Sony Ericsson W960i Smartphone as an example.

The default web browsing experience is for Vodafone Live to adapt non-mobile friendly sites which means that Vodafone Live adds a custom toolbar and breaks the page into fragments. You are expected to view one fragment at a time which is not a particularly satisfying way to surf the web. In particular the custom toolbar takes up too much screen space.

If you zoom out then you get a page at once view and you can select a section to view.

When you select a section to view the result is not very satisfactory as the fragment only contains a small amount of content and is incomplete. It would probably take hours to view an entire page in this way.

A small improvement can be achieved by turning on Fit to screen and Fullscreen.

At least in full screen mode you can use the whole screen without wasting valuable screen space with toolbars.

Finally here is a reminder of the version of Opera 8.65 for Symbian OS ("701") provided with the W960i. Remember that your web browsing experience is totally depended on the web service provided by your mobile phone company.

This article is one of a series about the Opera Mobile web browser and is intended to be an out of the box description using the Vodafone mobile phone network. I will describe alternative ways of using Opera Mobile in future articles.

This explanation applies to the Sony Ericsson W960i from Vodafone but it probably also applies to other Symbian UIQ 3.0 smartphones such as P1i, W950i, P990i and M600i.

Good luck with your web browsing and please post your thoughts in the comments section.

My Vodafone Logon Failed Problem

Since writing this article I have discovered that the cause of my failed login was having Exchange ActiveSync running in the background. See My Vodafone Logon Problem Is Fixed

I have a major "Logon Failed" problem when I use my Vodafone 3G data connection with my Sony Ericsson W960i.

Typically I am browsing the web using Opera Mini or watching Mobile TV and every few minutes I get a connection failure.

If I check my network status by selecting the signal strength icon on the status bar of my W960i then the error message displayed is Vodafone UK, 3G: Attached (Logon failed).

It is extremely annoying to get this error because it indicates that I have got a successful 3G connection and the actual problem is failing to logon to the Vodafone network. Obviously this is not the sort of logon where I an required to type in a username and password because I have a Vodafone contract so my W960i should always logon automatically. Only Vodafone can say why this problem is occurring.

I have discovered that I can temporarily resolve the problem by switching to Flight Mode and then back to Phone Mode which causes my W960i to retry the logon to the Vodafone network.

The screen shot above shows the desired result which is Phone Mode with 3G: Attached and successfully a successful logon to the Vodafone network.

This explanation applies to the Sony Ericsson W960i and it probably applies also to other Symbian UIQ 3.0 smartphones such as P1i, W950i, P990i and M600i.

Post your comments here if you you have problems with your logon to the Vodafone network.

Contract Wap Vs Contract Internet

It is very confusing knowing which Internet account to use for which application. If you get it wrong the best that can happen is that an application won't work. The worst that can happen is that the application will connect using an expensive data tariff and run up a huge bill before you realise it.

Use the Internet accounts application to specify your Internet Accounts and Internet Groups.

If Vodafone is your mobile service provider your W960i should have been supplied with preconfigured Internet connections which are called Contract Wap and Contract Internet?

Use Contract Wap For Web Browsing

Contract Wap allows you to access specific Vodafone content such as Vodafone Live and Mobile TV.

Using Contract Wap will allow you to connect the live.vodafone.com portal and will ensure that all images that you download are downsized for your mobile. Controlling image sizes is important because it helps you to stay under your monthly 120Mb Mobile Internet download limit.

The Contract Wap connection will also allow you to turn on the optional Vodafone facility to tailor your web pages for mobile viewing by breaking a page into numbered sections although I don't recommend using this feature as I don't think it is needed on the large screen W960i.

You can also access your on-line favourites stored on the Vodafone website.

If you use Contract Internet for web browsing then you will not be able to access Vodafone Live and your images will be downloaded full size as they would be normally for a desktop PC. Downloading full size images on a mobile phone is unnecessary and uses up more of your download allowance.

Use Contract Internet For Applications

Use Contract Internet for ActiveSync and other data applications.

Contact Internet makes a direct connection to the remote server which is ideal for data applications. The data will not be interfered with or modified by Vodafone. Be aware that if you download a large email attachment then you could use up your entire monthly download allowance in one go.

How To Specify The Connection

The Vodafone supplied web browser uses the Internet connection specified by your default group. Your default group is the one shown in italics.

Other applications such as ActiveSync have a tab where you can specify the connection to use.

For Java applications such as Google Maps or Opera Mini you can set the connection on a per application basis using Control Panel, Security, MIDlet accounts. In my experience the Java applications will work using either Contact Wap or Contact Internet so to be on the safe side I use Contact Wap.

If you have a Vodafone PAYT service then you need to substitute PAYT Wap and PAYT Internet for Contact Wap and Contract Internet respectively.

This explanation applies to the Sony Ericsson W960i and it probably applies also to other Symbian UIQ 3.0 smartphones such as P1i, W950i, P990i and M600i.

Good luck and please post your progress in the comments section.

Using Google Maps On My W960i

Google Maps is possibly the best ever application provided for mobile phones and it is totally free!!!

This article will show what to expect if you install Google Maps on your Sony Ericsson W960i.

For a guide to installing Google Maps from the Vodafone website look at this article Installing Google Maps On My W960i

When you start the Google Maps application it will usually default the previous location that you were viewing when you last used Google Maps.

If you are connecting using 3G then Google Maps will show a blue button.

Press the blue button and the map will centre on your approximate current location. Google Maps determines your location by triangulating nearby mobile phone masts. It is only accurate to 1/2 a km but it is a very useful feature for locating your approximate position.

I downloaded Google Maps from the Vodafone website. When Google Maps starts it briefly shows the Vodafone logo so the application must have been customised by Vodafone. I don't know if the location feature will work if you obtain your Google Maps elsewhere.

You can also connect using WLAN (WiFi) in which case the blue button is not shown and it is not possible to find your current loaction.

Zoom out and you can view the entire country or even the whole world!!!

Choose between map view and satellite view. Of course the satellite pictures were really made using a low flying aircraft but they really work well even on a mobile phone. My favourite use for satellite view is looking for side roads which might allow free parking.

You can navigate by dragging the stylus over the screen which causes the map to scroll.

Google Maps support favourite places. A favourite place is shown as a star on the map.

I had a problem when I started using Google Maps because the map seemed to be locked to my home location which was also the  favourite in slot number one. While the favourite was in slot number one I couldn't scroll away from that location. When I removed the favourite from slot number one the problem went away.

The Search facility is very useful and really easy to use.

Search for fast food, pizza or just a local pub.

Search for a pub and Google Maps will populate the screen with little markers showing the location of nearby pubs. Use the left and right arrow buttons to scroll from pub to pub.

Select a pub to see full address details and even the telephone number.

More details and a website too are just one click away.

Directions too are just one click away.

If you select directions then Google Maps will plot your route and give you step by step directions.

Click the left and right scroll buttons to view the next instruction in sequence.

Although supported by Google Maps there is currenly no traffic information in the UK.

Sony Ericsson Media Manager 1.1 Released

Sony Ericsson Media Manager 1.1 is now available for download from the Sony Ericsson website.


I downloaded the new version and tried it with my W960i.

In this version the Video Mode tab is now unlocked but it only allows you to transfer existing video files which are compatible with your phone. You must still purchase Sony Ericsson Media Manager Pro at a cost of $9.95 if you want to use the program to encode your video into .mp4 or .3gp format.

In my case Sony Ericsson Media Manager 1.1 was unable to transfer any of my videos to my W960i. I copied the videos to my W960i manually but still none of the videos would play in Media Viewer. I believe that this is because my videos are in a variety of formats (.avi .mpg .mpeg .wmv) and although they play on my PC they need to be converted to play on my W960i. Some .wmv files did display a frozen frame in the W960i Media Viewer but I think the format needs to be downsized before it will play.

I assume that if I purchase Sony Ericsson Media Manager Pro then it will convert my videos to .mp4 format which can be played by my W960i.

Sony Ericsson Media Manager Pro will convert the following formats -
.mp4 (Sony AVC/AAC), .mp4 (MPEG4 part 2) *
.avi
.wmv
.mov *
.qt *
.dv
.mpg, .mpeg, .mpeg1, .mpeg2, .m1p, .mp1, .m2p, .m2t
.mmv
Unprotected DVD titles (such as DVD home movies or DVDs from a camcorder)
.3gp *
.m4v *
.DivX
.dvr-ms

Video encoding to an MPEG-4 Visual profile is available only in Sony Ericsson Media Manager Pro so you probably need Pro to have any chance of watching a video on your W960i.

Sony Ericsson Media Manager 1.1 is a 38.4MB download from the Sony Ericsson website Sony Ericsson Media Manager 1.1. You have to register the application on-line before you can use it.