Rumors of a new P990 firmware release were fairly strong in the run up to Christmas and last week those rumors proved correct. Both the M600 and P990 now have new firmware available, being versions R5A12 and R4A13 respectively. We can't be sure if a new W950 firmware option is also available, none was reported by the Update Service for our W950 that shows the firmware release as R1B01.

The update addresses one of the issue noted in Richard Bloor's review of the P990, the need to select the style of USB connection separately from connecting the USB cable. The P990 and M600 now provide the same option to select the connection type at plug-in as the W950 does.

Generally the new updates look good and seem to have fixed a number of annoying issues. A good move forward for the M600 and P990.

The Sony Ericsson Update Service can be downloaded from Sony Ericsson here. Once the software is installed and running the SIM card must be removed from the phone before starting to update the firmware. The phone is then connected over its USB connection while holding the "C" key, which initiates the device recognition process. For owners of the M600 the "C" key is the backspace key on the M600 keyboard. The process then advises of the available update, downloads the update from the Web, and installs it on the phone.