In the last Throwback Review, we took a look at the unreleased Sony Ericsson Z700. While that handset clearly carried the Sony DNA, the T68m was the last “Ericsson” branded phone to be released before the Sony Ericsson Joint Venture was announced in early 2002.
The Ericsson T68m was one of the first mobile phones that introduced a color display, amongst other novelties such as Bluetooth Connectivity. It was released in time for the 2001 holiday season and caught a lot of attention back then. The Sony Ericsson joint venture was formed in February 2002 and launched the T68i, its first handset, in April 2002.
The i-version had some slight design changes, but more importantly also introduced an updated firmware. This new firmware introduced MMS, an e-mail client and SyncML support. All of these features were new to the wider audience, and probably contributed to the big success that the T68m/i saw in the market. The T68i also featured in the James Bond movie “Die Another Day”, along with the P800 which we will cover in a future episode.
Together with the T68i, Sony Ericsson also released a snap on camera dubbed “MC-25 CommuniCam”. Looking back now, this was probably the start of the mobile phone photography era.
Before we head over to the video, here are the T68’s most important features in an overview:
- 256 color STN display, 101 x 80 pixels
- Dimensions: 101 x 48 x 19.5 mm (3.98 x 1.89 x 0.77 in)
- Weight: 84 g (2.96 oz)
- Bluetooth (V1b) and Infrared support
Episode 3 of the Throwback Review series will cover the Sony Ericsson T610, Bluetooth Car-100 and mobile flash light MPF-10 accessories. Stay tuned!
