The Sony Ericsson W580i is geared up with a full roster of mobile messaging applications, with support for email and instant messaging included.

Like most current mobiles, you can send and receive email from your regular email account on your W580i. Files received as attachments can be viewed, and you can add your own attachments from content on your phone. And it's very easy to set up, with no complicated settings required.

Whether you want to occasionally check emails when you're out and about, or want to keep in touch constantly, mobile email can be extremely useful.

As well as the basics of composing, sending and receiving, you can forward email and adjust your account settings to suit how you use email on the phone.

The W580i can be configured to work with your regular POP3 or IMAP email account or multiple accounts, so you can use web-based email or email accounts from internet service providers. If in doubt, check with your email provider. Also, if you want to use your corporate email, you may have to ask your IT deparment for POP3 settings.

Email set up made easy
The W580i has a wizard to help you set up your email automatically, simply by entering basic details such as your email address, username and password. It interrorgates its database for the setiings and automatically sets up your email accounts quickly and easily.

Sony Ericsson's UK Vodafone exclusive version also has account settings embedded for certain services. If one of these is for your email provider, you could edit details to set up your account without going through the set-up procedure outlined below.

You're not restricted to one email account. You can set up several accounts for different email addresses, following the same procedure outlined below for each. You can then switch between accounts as you need to.

In addition, Sony Ericsson has downloadable over the air settings for some internet email providers and mobile operators at its website at www.sonyericsson.com/support. Here, though, we show you how to set up email straight from the phone.

Setting up - first steps
Details you need to automatically set up your emall on the Sony Ericsson W580i:

Email address - Your full email address.

Username – This is usually the part before the ‘@’ in your email address, although it does vary between providers; check the settings page of your email account or ask your provider if you’re unsure.

Password - Your usual email password

Once you have these to hand, follow these instructions to set up email...

1. From standby, press Menu (Figure 1).
2. Highlight Email. Press Select (Figure 2).
3. Scroll down to highlight Accounts. Press Select (Figure 3).
4. Highlight New account. Press Add (Figure 4).
5. In the 'Your name' panel, type in your name (in this example we've used 'Know Your Mobile') (Figure 5).
6. Click down a line to the 'Email address' panel. Type in the full email address you want to access. Press Continue (Figure 6).
7. In the 'Username' panel, type in your username - usually the bit of your email address before the '@'. Check and edit it appropriately if your full email address is shown in this box (Figure 7).
8. Click down to the 'Password' panel. Enter your password carefully - it will be shown as a row of asterisks once you've selected a character (Figure 8). Press Continue.
9. A pop-up message will appear onscreen to ask if you'd like to connect to the internet to check for email settings. Press Yes (Figure 9). This will take several seconds while the phone connects and interrogates the remote settings database.
10. A message will appear when settings have been found: Email setup completed. Update inbox? Press Yes (Figure 10).
11. The phone will now connect to the remote email server to download any emails waiting in that account. It will show how many messages have been received. Press OK to see your inbox (Figure 11).

If there are any downloaded messages in your email inbox, you can see them listed (Figure 12).

• To view emails in full, scroll down the list of message headers in your inbox, and press View to get the full email onscreen (Figure 13).
• If there is an attachment or message bigger than the automatic size limit, you can download it to view. Press Options, highlight Download, and press Select.

Accessing your email account to send and receive emails
You should now be set up and ready to send and receive emails on your phone.

1. From standby, press Menu (Figure 1).
2. Scroll to highlight Email (Figure 2). Press Select.
3. Here you can see a familiar set of email options (Figure 14). You can click on Create new to compose and send a message (Figure 15), or Inbox to look at received emails.
4. To get new emails, if your Inbox is empty, simply click on Check mail. Alternatively, in the Inbox press Options, highlight Check new email and press Select (Figure 16). The phone will connect with your remote email server and download new emails.

Getting automatic email updates and push email
You can set the W580i to receive email at regular intervals - from every 5 minutes, 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 2 hours, 4 hours, 12 hours or every 24 hours.

• To set this, go into the Email application as above.
• Scroll down to highlight Settings. Press Select (Figure 17)
• Scroll down to Check interval. Press Select (Figure 18).
• Scroll down to highlight the interval you want for checking email. Press Select (Figure 19). This will now be set.

If your network supports it, you may also be able to set up push email, so you can receive messages automatically as they're received. The push email option is in the same menu list as the the Check interval settings (Figure 17).

To be taken to our Internet Settings page click here

If you fancy a change from the music you've been playing on its Walkman or just need the latest news, the Sony Ericsson W580i features an FM radio.

If you want to listen to the radio, you’ll need to use the headphone cable provided with the handset as it doubles up as the FM aerial. Insert this into the connector at the bottom of the phone and a little headphones icon will appear at the top of the screen.

To turn on the radio, starting from the standby screen, press the centre button to enter the main menu. Scroll down and right to highlight the Radio icon and press Select (Figure 1) (tip: you can also enter the main menu and press 9). The Search button will scan through and find channels automatically, but you can manually enter a station by pressing More, then highlighting Set frequency, entering the frequency (without the decimal point, so 95.8 would simply be 9-5-8) and pressing Select.

Even though you need to have the headphone cable attached to use the radio, you can still turn the internal speaker on. Go to More again and use Turn on speaker (Figure 2) when you don’t want to use headphones. You can continue to use other phone functions without exiting the radio function by pressing More, then highlighting Minimize and pressing Select (Figure 3).

Preset channels
To save a station that you’re listening to as a preset channel, press More when the frequency is visible in the radio, highlight Save and click Select. Scroll down the list of preset channels until you come to a line reading [Empty] (Figure 4). Click Insert and the channel will be added to the list of presets. The W580i has room for 20 preset channels.

To give a channel a logical name in the channels list, rather than a frequency, click More from the radio control panel, highlight Channels and click Select (Figure 5). Highlight the name of the channel to rename, click More, highlight Rename and click Select. Enter a new name using the keypad, click OK and you’ll see your new channel name listed in the Channels list.

To listen to a preset channel, either use the up and down navigation keys to scroll through the channels (Figures 6 & 7) (the number appears in the box at the top right of the screen) or press the corresponding number on the keypad, although this only applies to channels 1-9.

To remove a preset channel, from the radio control panel click More, highlight Channels and click Select. Highlight the channel you want to delete and click More. Highlight Delete and click Select. Confirm the deletion by clicking Yes.

The W580i comes from Sony Ericsson's Walkman range of phones and features the slick walkman 2.0 software. Match this with a decent pair of headphones and a beefy memory stick and you've got a music player to rival just about any dedicated MP3 player. We're going to look at how to get your sound files from your PC to your phone.

Sony Ericsson provides a suite of software applications with your phone on the accompanying CD. Amongst this you’ll find the latest Disc2Phone software, designed to make transferring files to your handset a lot easier.

To start transferring files, attach your handset to your PC using the supplied USB cable.

Highlight File transfer on your handset and press Select. This will cause the phone to shut down and enter File transfer mode (note: if your phone is switched off when you plug it in, it will automatically enter file transfer mode).

Now click the Disc2Phone icon on your Sony Ericsson PC Suite to launch the application (Figure 1).

You will see three panes labelled Music Source, Transfer List and Phone Tracks, which display the music files in your computer, files designated for transfer and the tracks currently on your phone respectively.

By default, the Music Source will show the contents of your My Music folder on your computer, but you can use the drop down menu to navigate to any other folder containing your music. To transfer an individual file or folder, simply click on it to highlight it and then click Add (Figure 2).

Once you have built up a list of files to transfer, click on Transfer to begin the transfer (Figure 3).

The W580i is only compatible with AAC, MP3, M4A and M4B files and you may have a lot of your music stored in WMA or WAV formats. Don’t worry – the Disc2Phone software automatically converts these into MP3 format when you click transfer.

There are two buttons found above the Music Source pane that you can use to speed things up. The left hand one is labelled ‘Shuffle and add to list’ and to the right is ‘Empty the music folder, shuffle and transfer’.

Use these to make Disc2Phone randomly select tracks from your music folder and automatically add them to the transfer list. The right hand button will also empty your memory card first and then start the transfer automatically (Figure 4).

Tip: Even using Disc2Phone, the transfer rate can be quite slow. If you have a card reader, simply insert your Memory Stick and run the Disc2Phone software. This will make transferring files considerably faster.

Google Maps mobile application pre-installed on your Sony Ericsson W580i allows you to pull up onscreen maps and satellite images of the location you're in and search for directions to other locations.

While the Sony Ericsson W580i doesn't have a GPS receiver inside, the Google Maps application does enable you to quickly and easily find your approximate position on a map, using information from mobile cell sites to determine the area you're in, known as triangulation.

With a quick button press, the application can communicate with a remote server to identify where you are and send mapping information back to the phone via a short data call.

On your W580i's display you can see your estimated location on a map or satellite as a shaded blue circle around a flashing blue dot. This allows for the uncertainty of cellular approximation as opposed to precise GPS positioning.

You can zoom into a map or satellite image of the location using shortcut keys, and move the onscreen cursor to get maps of places other than your current location. You can also search for nearby places of interest, such as bars, restaurants, banks and so on, get them displayed on the map or get directions. These can be stored into favourites - along with any other location you choose - for quick access later.

There is the option to employ exact GPS satellite location-finding with the W580i, however, by connecting the W580i wirelessly to a standalone small Buetooth GPS module (you will have to buy one of these separately, though).

Here we take you through the simple steps required to use Google Maps on the Sony Ericsson W580i.

Starting the Google Maps application
If Google Maps is stored as a shortcut in your phone's Activity menu, it takes just a few clicks to open it. First, press the Activity menu key on the phone's control pad (Figure 1) and scroll down to Google Maps (Figure 2). Press Select.

Alternatively, frrom the standby page (Figure 3), press the Menu button.

On the main Menu page, scroll to highlight the Entertainment icon (Figure 4). Press Select.

Scroll down to Location services (Figure 5). Press Select.

Highlight Google Maps (Figure 6). Press Select.

This will take a few seconds to load. You are then presented with Terms & Conditions for using Google Maps. Once you've read these, press Accept to proceed.

You may now be asked to agree to location finding using cellular networks, which you should agree to if you want to use this facility.

The application will now show onscreen your current position, to within a specified range based on local cellsite information. Your approximate location is presented onscreen as a shaded blue circle, centred on a flashing blue button (Figure 7). (If you're using a Bluetooth GPS receiver with the W580i, the blue button on it own will indicate your precise location rather than an approximate zone you are somewhere within.)

Using Google Maps

• You can switch from a map view to a satellite picture of the location by pressing 2 on the numberpad (Figure 8); another press of 2 brings back the map view.
• You can zoom in to a map or satellite image by pressing 3 on the numberpad (Figure 9), or zoom out by pressing 1 (Figure 10). Multiple presses will zoom you closer in or further out, respectively.
• Pressing 0 on the numberpad will refresh your location finder, presenting you with your current estimated position on a map onscreen.
• The phone's main navigation pad can be used to scroll up, down and side to side on the map, so you can view the immediate surrounding area, or if you zoom out, look over wider areas (Figure 11).

Carry out local searches using Google Maps
You can look up local businesses or entertainment venues quickly and easily with Google Maps, and get them illustrated on a map or satellite image. You can also get details of the place you're looking for, including phone number, address and directions to or from it.

First, get your current position, or location you want to search around, up on the map (or satellite image). Press the Search softkey option.

Highlight the Enter a new search option (above the Recent searches list) (Figure 12). Press Select.

Type in the name of the establishment or type of place you're looking for (restaurant, bar, bank, petrol station, and so on). Press OK (Figure 13).

You will be presented with a list of options. Scroll down to browse the list and see addresses (Figure 14). Click on entries to find more information, including details of the establishment and a short description (Figure 15).

You can press the # key to see locations pinpointed on the map (Figure 16).

Local search results with directions
In the detailed Address section of places you've searched for, there are also options for Directions to here and Directions from here (Figure 17). If you want directions, highlight the option required and press Select.

As your Start point or End point you can use your current estimated location, or you can enter a new address. You can also select a point on the map, or choose one of the locations listed in your Recent places list (Figure 18).

Once you've typed in the address and pressed OK, or highlighted one of the other options, press Select.

A written step-by-step route itinerary will be quickly compiled and presented onscreen (Figure 19). Press # to view the turn-by-turn instructions displayed on the map (or overlaid on a satellite image) (Figure 20). If you want to view just a particular part of the route on the map, scroll down the itinerary to highlight the section of the instructions you want and press Select.

You can toggle between previous or next stages of the navigation by pressing 4 and 6, respectively (Figure 21).

Another press of the # key will bring up the navigation instructions itinerary again.

Look up directions on Google Maps
Looking up directions on your mobile is simple with Google Maps.

When you're in the Google Maps application, press the Options softkey (Figure 22).

Scroll down to highlight Directions. Press Select (Figure 23).

You must now define a Start point. This can be your current location, one of your automatically stored Recent places, one of your chosen Favourite locations, a point selected on the map or a new address (Figure 24).

Scroll down to highlight the option you want to use as your start point and press Select.
If it's a new address, you will have to tap in address details and press OK.

You must now define your End point (Figure 25). This is done in the same way as the Start point. Once you've chosen your End point, or typed in a new address, press Select or OK.
Your route will be calculated and presented as a list of turn-by-instructions, in a similar way to that described in the section above (Figure 26).

You can then choose to view the route overlaid on an onscreen map by pressing #, as above (Figure 27). Again, you can toggle between instruction list and route by pressing #, and look at sections of the directions by clicking on one of the steps of the route intinerary.

At any time, you can also get a satellite view of the route by pressing 2 on the numberpad (Figure 28).

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All Sony Ericsson mobile phones, the W580i included, come with the Sony Ericsson PC Suite, a software tool that allows you synchronise your handset with a Windows PC.

The most obvious use for this is backing up your contacts from your SIM card into Outlook (or Outlook Express), in case the worst should happen and your handset gets lost or stolen. But the PC Suite doesn’t just keep your SIM contacts safe – you can also use it to synchronise your Calendar, Notes and Tasks as well if you have a full copy of MS Outlook.

Inside your W580i box, you’ll find a CD with the Sony Ericsson PC Suite software installer. Insert this into your PC to begin installation. If you don’t have the CD you can also download the software directly from the Sony Ericsson website.

Once the installation is complete, you’ll be able to run the PC Suite application. Recent versions are much more straightforward to use than previous ones and you’ll see all the various tools laid out in a convenient menu.

To begin using the tools, you need to connect your handset to the computer. The fastest and most straightforward way of doing this is to use the supplied USB cable. Plug it into your handset and a spare USB port on your PC.

Once it is plugged in, your phone will show a new menu that will ask you if you want to enter File transfer or Phone mode (Figure 1). To synchronise, you need to use Phone mode; scroll down once to highlight it and press Select.

Once your PC has recognised the phone and automatically installed the correct drivers, the menu will disappear and the PC Suite will inform you that your W580i is connected.

Now you can use your PC to do the rest. You will normally just use the Synchronisation button to back up your information, but first it is worth making sure that the settings are correct. Click on Sync Manager, then Settings to adjust the settings. Within the menu is a list of the different types of information you can synchronise: Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and Notes (Figure 2). Clicking on these will expand the menu on the left hand side and give you a few basic options, or you can just use the Wizard to talk you through it.

The main thing you need to do is make sure that your information is going to the right program. If you have a full copy of Microsoft Office, you will probably want to ensure that everything goes into your copy of Outlook. If you don’t, you can make do with Windows Address Book / Outlook Express – use the drop down menu to select the correct program (Figure 3).

If you have a more up to date contact listing on your SIM card than on your PC, it will be worthwhile temporarily using the manual settings to set the Conflict Policy in the side menu to Overwrite PC content (Figure 4). If you want the PC information to overwrite your phone’s information, you can set the Conflict Policy to keep the PC item instead of the phone content. However, if in doubt, click the Use last item modified radio button to ensure that whichever information was most recently edited has priority.

Once you’re happy with your settings, click OK to return to the PC Suite’s main menu and click Synchronise Now (Figure 5). This begins the synchronisation process and will present you with a summary of the items changed when completed (Figure 6).

If your PC has integrated Bluetooth or a Bluetooth dongle, you can synchronise your phone wirelessly. Once your handset is paired to your PC, double click the Bluetooth icon in your taskbar and then double click on your mobile phone icon to connect to it. You will automatically enter Phone mode as above and can begin synchronisation.

Tip: Although the Sony Ericsson PC Suite is not compatible with Mac operating systems, Mac OS X users can use iSync instead. This allows you to synchronise contacts and calendar entries within iCal.