I have been a long term SE fan and also a T-Mobile USA customer, which means that many of my phones have been imported and are not T-Mobile-specific. I most recently had TM717 and TM506 phones that I successfully debranded and used in the UK while I was living there for 2 years. Just this week I bought an Xperia X10 Mini Pro (which I think is also called a U20). I have managed to debrand it (I cheated and used FastGSM.com as I couldn't find the step by step instructions to do it myself) and remove the SingTel apps that came preinstalled. I've never used Android before and have a few questions:

1. Is it possible to force an Android update? Obviously TMo will not do over the air updates for a non-supported phone and I am wondering if there's another way to update the OS.

2. I know that the phone won't work on the U.S. "4G" bands but is there a way to perhaps update the firmware to allow 3G network usage?

3. Is there a way to sync the phonebook to T-Mobile's "MobileLife" phonebook service?

4. On the TM717 and TM506 there was a handy "remote control" function that used Bluetooth to control the cursor on a paired computer and work as a PowerPoint and Media Center remote. Is there a tool that offers the same functionality?

5. I have used a2uploader in the past to delete annoying factory-installed apps but am not sure how to get rid of them on this phone (for example "Wisepilot" and "Peggle" and "OfficeSuite"). How do I go about making changes to the protected directories so I can get rid of that stuff?

Many thanks for any help you can provide!