As the guys in pink finally enter the era of 3G, the Sony Ericsson TM506 will definitely stand out from the bunch. Its glossy black finish is contrasted by just the right amount of accents. The surface on the back of the phone made with the “ever so popular” soft-touch material. Here at TmoNews, we know how people get when anyone even tries to mention both “T-Mobile” and “Sony Ericsson” in the same sentence so here is everything you need to know about the SE-TM506…
Launch Date: September 3, 2008
Launch Price: TBD
What’s in the box?
- Phone
- Wall Charger (CST-60)
- Battery (BST-33 Li-Polymer)
- Hands-free Headset (HPB-60)
- T-Mobile SIM Card
- Welcome Package
Specifications
Network: GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 MHz
Thank God CPS pointed out our error, otherwise our credibility would have been totally blown! The terms necessary and mature wouldn’t come to mind when describing your comments… 
UMTS/HSDPA 1700/2100 MHz
Size: 3.7″ high x 1.9″ wide x .7″ thick
Weight: 3.4 ounces (including battery)
Battery: 950mAmh Li-Polymer
Standby Time: Up to 300 hours
Talk Time: Up to 9.5 hours (GSM)/ Up to 5.5 hours (UMTS)
Display: 2.2″ 262k QVGA
Available colors: Emerald / Chrome with Amber
Features
- 2MP camera
- Bluetooth 2.0 (A2DP)
- Built-in GPS with TeleNav Navigator
- Memory Stick Micro slot
- Music Player
- Messaging
- Web feeds (RSS)
- AccuWeather
- myFaves version 1.5
- T zones
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This is pretty nice
where is W760?
Talk time/battery life is impressive on GSM. If I wasn’t clamoring for a smartphone from Tmobile, this is one phone worth considering.
Looks nice, congrats Breathe T-Mobile!
The phone also has some cool software called photoDJ, videoDJ, musicDJ as well as a remote control feature via bluetooth. The 3G is quick and I suggest opera mini instead of the built in browser. I was also able to stream youtube via the media player.
It doesn’t come with a data cable? They must not want people to tether.
you still can tether through bluetooth
I still have cable unused, get C702 diver from davinciteam.com, get modem driver, not flashing
I’ll def be looking into this if I can tether with bluetooth.
Surfing on my nokia n810 would be so much better with the 3g speeds.
From my look I think this a nice phone for Tmo starters!!
Congrats breathe tmobile
The phone, I believe, already has oper mini programed inside under the applications. Soo that’s cool! But yea congrats breathe t-mobile!
Gang – I am not commenting on any blogs – if someone is posting on your blog saying it’s me – it’s not… The joys of trying to help
I have the phone
Nd no opera mini
I’m definitely getting this phone to replace the Pearl 8100 that I have.
This phone is a beauty only downside is that the browser freezes up and the call quality is kind of low and the streaming video is kind of choppy.
for those that havee it already, can you tether on it? that would go a lon way to degterming if i buy the phone.
give me time
will grab it from corp store upon release
So is it safe to say that this phone is app-unlocked so you are able to install any java app you wish? I want a great browser (opera mini, at least) and the Audible java app.
Is the pre-installed browser Netfront or is it simply TZones WAP?
I talked to t-mobile customer care yesterday and 2 of the representatives said this phone is gonna be wifi calling. I made sure it was the same phone that was pictured here and they described it exactly.
Let me add….they could be wrong. However one of them said something about the phone having a navigation system in it. So if this phone does then this is the one they were talking about.
Ive yet to try tethering but can say someone i know tried it
Nd he loves it.
Actual battery time is pretty good.
No UMA calling but yes to GPS. Internal memory
Of around 25 MB.
The camera is video capable with the maximum length being limited my memory capacity.
Yes it has opera mini pre installed as the default browser.
Thats odd
The one I have has a crippled opera-espue browser
thats great to hear about it being able to tether, i’ll def put this on my short list of phones
So TMobile isn’t putting a lock on installing java apps? Thanks for the browser info. I’m usually a smartphone user, but if tethering works, and I can install limitless java apps, I may try this one for awhile.
granted
SE phones are easily unbranded with 3rd party service
warning: doing such will void warranty
To those who purport to already owning this phone, how’s the call quality on both sides? Does the volume get loud enough?
This is a prototype unit thats already T-Mobile branded. Call quality is good, 5 bars everywhere I go. The only issue is the volume. Even at its maximum it can be kind of low. Also, there is not a smooth handover from 3G to EDGE. My calls are dropped when this switch occurs. Hopefully this will be fixed.
Hmmm….low volume is a pet peeve of mine. Can you hear the other party if you’re outside? If one has to continually say “huh?”, “what?”, what good is it? Thanks for the feedback.
Oh yeah, I never have an issue hearing the other party. Just sometimes it can get unbearable. The speaker phone is also loud and clear.
and just read another comment from a “Mr. Gadget” on another blog who says that “the call and speaker quality is low for you to hear”. Damn!
Also the GPS via Telenav kinda sucks.
lolsz
Well as I mentioned earlier, my unit is a prototype. Maybe he has more of a final release. Also, if the software on my device is the final one, it would suck. It constantly freezes and just badly organized.
I’m crestfallen. Was really hoping this was gonna be a good one.
SHHH, I deeply appreciate your honesty.
Hey guys the phone is on the t-mobile website already but it’s advertised as coming soon. So maybe it will be here sooner than Sept 3.
I can’t believe it’s gone now. I just checked it again and it’s gone. That is so wierd. It said coming soon but it had no pic. It said Tm506.
Liar Liar, pants on fire.
Lol.No seriously it was there. It only had that is was a 2mp camera and one other detail. When I clicked on the “details” it kept taking me back to the main phone page and nothing would happened. Did anyone else see it? Or am I just gonna be the one that everyone thinks is crazy? If somebody here works for T-mobile could you tell me what happened?
Actually, I did see it on a link from somebody in the forums. Relax.
Oh so now your really the liar? Lol. I’m glad they have a pic now but why wouldn’t they advertise the green one first? That one looks much better.
Ok I’m gonna go crazy until this phone comes out…I talked to T-mobile just now and the lady said that this phone is gonna be wi-fi calling just like I stated above. She said she had training on the phone so she knew for sure that it would be wi-fi calling enabled. On the website….it doesn’t mention it. The people that have the phone already say it does not have uma. So what’s the deal? I would like an answer from someone who works for T-mobile(and has had training on this handset). Thanks. I’m tired of this crapy Nokia 6086 that has been replaced 3 times and still doesn’t work. I have my wing but no free calls with that one.
i think it was awesome!
I didn’t see any mention of the OS, is it Windows Mobile, Symbian or something else?
Opera, Java, and TeleNav are included in the phone. Yes, although it doesn’t say it, the thingy that opens when you click the “Email” link is opened by Opera Mini. This function is found under “Organizer” >> “Applications”, not by clicking the t-zone button. Presubscription to T-Mobile web2go plan is required to visit webpages. The cheapest one cost $9.99 a month as of today. You can buy a day pass at $2.00 if you just wanna check it out before you make a monthly commitment. I find using internet on a tiny phone screen to be ridiculous and slow in addition to being expensive. So no thanks for me.
GPS navigation with turn by turn direction is included in the phone although I don’t know how you would make it useful in the car (attach it somewhere you can glace at the map while driving). And then the screen backlight goes off shortly so every time you wanna look at the map, you have to press a button on the phone so that the light will come back on? I guess you could just listen to the voice commands if it is connected to a bluetooth device or you could leave the flip open and turn the phone into speaker mode. I tried the app on a few times. I found the calculation time to be ridiculously long both times I have tried to calculate a driving direction to an address using this phone’s telenav navigation. It might just be that where I live has a weaker satellite signal. I have a standalone TomTom in my car so this function on the phone to me is just a back up.
I have not yet figured out about the wifi calling capability of this phone. There is no way of telling. The Samsung phone that came with my family plan found the network router at first power-on and asked for the network encryption key, and it was connected to the router once that was done. The Ericsson hasn’t done anything like that and no where on the phone does it say anything about wifi. There is something about home network sharing or something in the menu but don’t know what that’s all about. Let me know if you guys do.
So the speaker is pretty good on the phone itself. I found that out while I was trying to change the ringtone from the default jingle to something else.
As for video and music, I cannot review yet. The phone did not come with a datacable. Ridiculous, right? So I cannot transfer music yet. I do not have a Bluetooth yet either. I ordered a cheapass datacable from Amazon and it should get to me within ten days or so. You can order the genuine Sony Ericsson datacable from t-mobile once you have logged on to your my.t-mobile.com and selected the phone that you have from the dropdown menu.
I did not get this phone to watch videos since I have my 80 gig iPod for that purpose. There was a demo video of Sony Ericsson propaganda on it so I tried playing it on the phone. I wasn’t breathtaken with the video quality or anything but I have seen worse. It could also be the video resolution of that particular demo video. I will let you know once I tried different videos after I get my datacable. Oh, wait, then I have to buy an M2 disk to add videos. Talk about nickling-and-diming. I remember I bought an HP printer for $45 and and it didn’t come with a usb cable to connect it to pc. HP wanted to charge like $27 for the usb cable. I went to Big Lots and got it for $5. Anyway that’s a totally different story.
The phone all in all is pretty nice. Slim, and stylish. The keys are a bit harder than my previous Samsung phone and I am already feeling the “blackberry thumb” syndrome. The T9 language is easy to use, it allows you to spell and input the words that aren’t found easily. The call is good. I like the voice command part of the phone. Once I have it connected to a headset (bluetooth or otherwise), the voice control activates automatically. Then you can say the “magic word” to make a call and then say the name of the person you want to call from your addressbook. This name must be already recorded when you recorded the phone number and other information of that person. The magic word function uses a bit of battery power, shortening the standby time of your phone. Also you can do the voice call (if the magic word is disabled) by pressing the little button on your bluetooth or the included (wired) handsfree set. Make sure that you record the names and other commands such as “answer” and “busy” with the same handsfree accessory you will be using to make voice dialing and answering.
I suggest using the “Landscape” Mode in viewing landscape pictures or when viewing a video clip. This will give you a better aspect ratio viewing opportunity.
Well, that’s all guys. My fingers are almost hurting. I got the “amber” one and it is looking good.
If you figured out about wifi calling on this phone, pls let me know.
Merry Christmas!