Until end of 2009 i've used a Sony Ericsson M600, which used Symbian OS 9 UIQ3 and which was offered very cheap as a phased-out model. Generally this thing worked quite useable – however, from the beginning i was bothered by the fact, that for data transfer a software by Sony Ericsson was needed, which took no less than 120 MB(!) and even did not allow the direct editing of addresses or calendar entries. Instead you only could only synchronize the data with either Outlook or Outlook Express. Finally the software refused to work reliable and i intended to abandon Outlook anyway.

For the Sony Ericsson devices with proprietary operating system there is a much more powerful and flexible solution, which is besides available for free: MyPhoneExplorer (also see http://www.fjsoft.at/). Beside a synchronization – also with Thunderbird and not only Outlook – one can edit all the data on the mobile directly or you can transfer files automatically from the PC to the mobile or vice versa within the regular synchronization. For this you also don't need a bulky software by the manufacturer – Bluetooth is possible without any extra software and for connecting via USB only a driver is necessary.

Therefore, the decision by the end of 2009 was to get another device, which works with this software as well. In doing so, i casually discovered the C702 and was really surprised: splash water protection according to IP45, GPS reception, UMTS, HSDPA, 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus and lens protection and a slot for M2 memory cards, which is accessible from outside. I could could well live without the camera – but for snapshots in good light conditions it may do and the switchable LED illumination is a quite usable pocket lamp substitute . The jack for the charger and USB is on the lower end of the case and not at the side, as on many newer models. So i could continue to use the existing 4GB memory card and the “docking station” of the M600 – and this for a very well price of about 120 to 140 EUR, depending where you buy it (without contract or branding).

A very convenient aspect of the proprietary devices by Sony Ericsson (K770, W995, C902 and others) is, that besides the very felicitous “MyPhoneExplorer” a number of tools exist (for example “A2Uploader”), which allow to change nearly any part of the configuration . So it is no problem, to remove annoying menu entries or to dump preinstalled applications, which you don't want to use – before doing such actions you should do a full backup of course and you should be aware, that such engagements are own your own risk! I don't take any responsibiliy for any of the modifications shown here!

After i examined at the structure of the internal file system and the XML data of the menu definitions, the following things where changed:

• The “Play Now” entry in the main menu – which is in fact nothing else than a link to the web site of the manufacturer – was replaced by the file manager
• Any “hooks” in the sub menus to create links to the web site for downloading additional games, programs, ringtones etc. – usual with costs – were removed
• The preinstalled demo version of “Wayfinder Navigator” was removed – instead i use TrekBuddy, which is accessible directly in the GPS menu through the modified menu structure

The following pictures show the modified menus:

Additional applications besides TrekBuddy are an SSH client, an electronic train schedule and a tool to read a KeePass database to manage passwords. The KeePass database will be transferred automatically from the PC during every synchronization. With the “QRMidlet” you can take a photo of a QR code and decode it.

To remove the “hooks”, you just need to delete the contents of /tpa/preset/system/custmenu and all files with the extension .itm (and only these files – not the certificates or XML files!) in the directory /tpa/preset/custom.

In newer devices, like the W995, /tpa/preset/system/custmenu doesn't exist anymore. Instead, you have to put an empty file with the name customize_upgrade.xml to the directory /tpa/preset/custom – after restarting the device, the menus will be updated. This also applies to any modifications of the file /tpa/preset/system/menu/menu.ml.

In the menus was changed:

• Replacement of “Play Now” in the main menu by the file manager
• TrekBuddy as a replacement for Wayfinder Navigator

For this, the file /tpa/preset/system/menu/menu.ml was modified as follows:

Old:

<!--Desktop Element 1  using DESKTOP_HOOK_1 -->
<element lock="icons" id="PlayNow" replace="next">
  <label type="name" textid="DIL_PRE_PLAY_LINK_TXT" />
  <icon pos="unselected" source="internal">PREPLAY_DESKTOP_ICN</icon>
  <icon pos="selected" source="internal">PREPLAY_DESKTOP_SELECTED_ICN</icon>
  <icon pos="shortcut" source="internal">RN_SHORTCUT_LIST_PREPLAY_ICN</icon>
  <icon pos="large" source="internal">PREPLAY_DESKTOP_SINGLE_ICN</icon>
  <link type="internal" />
</element>
<element lock="icons" id="OperatorWebPage">
  <label type="name" textid="SONYERICSSON_TXT" />
  <icon pos="unselected" source="internal">DESKTOP_OPERATOR_ICN</icon>
  <icon pos="selected" source="internal">DESKTOP_OPERATOR_SELECTED_ICN</icon>
  <icon pos="shortcut" source="internal">RN_SHORTCUT_LIST_OPERATOR_ICN</icon>
  <icon pos="large" source="internal">DESKTOP_OPERATOR_SINGLE_ICN</icon>
  <link type="internal" />
</element>

<element id = "Positioning_Navigator_Id">
  <label type = "name" textid = "POSUI_HOMESCREEN_NAVIGATOR_TXT"/>
  <icon pos = "left" source = "internal">POSUI_HOMESCREEN_NAVIGATOR_ICN</icon>
  <link type = "java" javasuitename = "Wayfinder 7"
    javasuitevendor = "Wayfinder Systems AB" javasuitepoint = "wmmg.MIDletBoot"/>
</element>

New:

<!--Desktop Element 1  using DESKTOP_HOOK_1 -->
<element lock="icons" id="FileManager">
  <label type="name" textid="DB_DATABROWSER_TXT" />
  <icon pos="unselected" source="internal">DB_DESKTOP_ICN</icon>
  <icon pos="selected" source="internal">DB_DESKTOP_SELECTED_ICN</icon>
  <icon pos="shortcut" source="internal">RN_SHORTCUT_LIST_DB_ICN</icon>
  <icon pos="large" source="internal">DB_DESKTOP_SINGLE_ICN</icon>
  <link type="internal" />
</element>

<element id = "Positioning_Navigator_Id">
  <label type = "name"><text>TrekBuddy</text></label>
  <icon pos = "left" source = "file">trekbuddy.png</icon>
  <link type = "java" javasuitename = "TrekBuddy"
    javasuitevendor = "kruhc@seznam.cz" javasuitepoint = "cz.kruch.track.TrackingMIDlet"/>
</element>

Additionally, the PNG icon of TrekBuddy was extracted from the JAR file of TrekBuddy and stored as /tpa/preset/system/menu/trekbuddy.png.

The no longer needed files of Wayfinder Navigator can be found in /tpa/preset/system/ams. Concretely you can delete: wayfinder_navigator-java_240x320_j179-semc.jad, wayfinder_navigator-java_240x320_j179-semc.jar and possibly also Wayfinder_7. At least you can save about 1 MB of storage this way. By the way – in the same directory you also find all the other preinstalled applications – if you don't need “FaceWarp”, “AccuWeather” or “PhotoMate”, you can save another 1 MB by deleting the appriopriate files.

Here also applies: Take care! Do not just delete any files without carefully considering what you do!

This topic has its own page – see TrekBuddy.