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Sony Ericsson's upcoming smartphone, the P910, has been approved for release in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). All electronic devices that feature wireless technology must gain FCC approval.

The P910 follows in a line of mobile handsets based on the UIQ interface running on top of the Symbian operating system that started with the P800. It is the follow-up to the P900, which the company released earlier this year.

The most significant external improvements in the P910 over the P900 is the addition of a QWERTY thumb-keyboard and an improved display. As with the P900, the number-pad can flip down to show more of the screen. However, unlike the P900, which had nothing on the back of the number-pad, the P910 features the QWERTY thumb-keyboard. This is a significant advancement, as it should make it easier to use the smartphone for writing e-mails, notes and SMS messages.

Since the P910, like the P900, features the UIQ flavor of the Symbian version 7.0, its display is a touch-screen, something that's lacking in, say, mobile handsets based on the Windows Mobile Smartphone platform as well as Series 60-based Symbian smartphones. Also, while the P910 has the same resolution screen, 208 x 320 pixels as the P900, it supports thousands of more colors, going from 65,536 colors in the P900 to more than 262,000 colors in the P910. The P910 has the same VGA camera as the P900 for still images and video.

As for internal memory, the P910 quadruples the amount of RAM found in the P900 from 16 MB to 64 MB. It also integrates a Memory Stick Duo slot for more storage and is slated to bundle a 32MB Memory Stick Duo card. Memory Stick Duo cards are half the size of traditional Memory Stick cards and currently can be bought in capacities that go as high as 1 GB.

In terms of software, the P910, which weighs 5.0 ounces, 0.6 ounces less than the P900, and measures 4.5 x 2.3 x 1.0 inches, should be able to run the more than 600 titles already available for the P900 and P800. For Web browsing, Sony Ericsson bundles the Opera browser. While the smartphone will come with an e-mail application, the P910 is also supports IBM, Extended Systems One Bridge Mobile, Visto Mobile, SEVEN and Intellisync Mobile Suite.

The P910 also bundles AvantGo or offline browsing, Media Viewer for access to news such as the Financial Times and Promyzer, which offers real-time market quotes and stock trading. HP Mobile Printing Application allows messages, pictures, calendars and contacts to be printed directly to a Bluetooth-enabled HP printer, which Wayfinder Mobile Navigator is a navigation tool that works as a turn-by-turn in-car navigation system when connected to a Bluetooth GPS receiver.

Sony Ericsson's specifications for the tri-band GSM/GPRS P910 claim that it will get up to 400 hours of standby and up to 13 hours of talk time from its battery. It should be available in September in five different keyboard variants to meet the needs of different language groups: QWERTY, QWERTZ, AZERTY, Russian and Greek.