Sony Ericsson's new 'broad appeal' phones

Sony Ericsson unveiled its new collection of mobile phones aimed at design-conscious users at a London event last night.

Inspired by the 'colours and light of nature', the new additions included the Sony Ericsson T250, the Sony Ericsson T650, and the Sony Ericsson S500. These new phones are not aimed at particular audiences like the previous Walkman and CyberShot ranges are, but to a wide spectrum of people instead.

T650

The Sony Ericsson T650 features a keypad with light effects which "bring it to life" when opened and used, said James Marshall of the product marketing team at Sony Ericsson.

Crammed into a slimline 14mm body, the T650 features a 3.2-megapixel camera and a media player with 256MB built-in memory (which is expandable). It has a scratch-resistant crystal display and 3G capabilities as well. It will go on sale in Q3 2007.

S500

Sony Ericsson also showed off its new slider phone, the S500. It comes in either 'spring yellow' or 'mysterious green' and will go on sale in June.

The Sony Ericsson S500 is equipped with a 2-megapixel camera and Bluetooth connectivity. It has a media player that supports MP3/AAC file formats among others, as well as GSM/GPRS/Edge support.

T250, P1

The Sony Ericsson T250 is branded as a 'premium lower-end phone' for those who "just talk and text but still want a nice phone". Available in Q3 2007, it features an FM radio, GSM/GPRS connectivity and an on-board camera.

Sony Ericsson also unveiled the Sony Ericsson P1 smartphone, the latest addition to its P-series family. Its design, speed, display and battery performance have been improved, said head of product marketing Steve Walker.

The Sony Ericsson P1 allows you to push email from another device, and browse the internet via a high-speed UMTS and Wi-Fi. It runs on the Symbian operating system and UIQ 3.0.

The P1 has a dual function keyboard - an alpha-numeric (e.g. Qwerty) text input, combined with hand phone usability. It also features a 3.2-megapixel camera, business card scanner and a 2.6-inch touchscreen display. It will be available from Q3 2007 as well.

Walkman, CyberShot ranges

Speaking to Tech.co.uk during the launch, Dave Hilton, head of marketing, stressed that the Walkman and CyberShot ranges are still very much around.

"We are simply trying to broaden the appeal of our products. There are plenty of people who are after a phone with a decent media player and camera but, most importantly, is nice to look at and nice to use," Hilton said.

Sony Ericsson could not confirm any prices at this stage.