Sony Ericsson takes on the iPhone

News
By Phil Lattimore
published

In depth: Walkman duo head up new range

Sony Ericsson is set to take on the iPhone in the music mobile market with the launch of two new high-end Walkman mobiles.

Top of the range is the new Sony Ericsson W960i Walkman, packed with 8GB of internal flash memory and stacks of new music features. The W960i is a 3G and Wi-Fi mobile with a touchscreen-controlled interface. It uses the Symbian UIQ smartphone platform.

The Sony Ericsson W910i is a Walkman sliderphone, supplied with a 1GB Memory Stick Micro memory card. It has 3G HSDPA mobile broadband connectivity for high-speed browsing and downloading. The W910i has Sony Ericsson's new Shake control technology in for the first time.

This enables users to change tracks simply by flicking the phone. Some games can be played in the same way with the Shake motion sensor gadgetry.

The W960i is Sony Ericsson's successor to the W950i (its first touchscreen Walkman phone). It's capable of storing up to 8,000 songs on its 8GB flash memory. And users can navigate through menus, browse through their music, and activate other applications at the press of a finger on the large 2.6-inch touchscreen.

Improvements

As well as bumping up memory, Sony Ericsson has added a camera to the W960i - a 3.2-megapixel shooter with autofocus. The keypad has also been improved from the W950i.

Stereo Bluetooth is included in the spec. And Sony Ericsson is providing the W960i with two sets of its latest headphones in the box. Users get a wired Street-style Portable Handsfree HPM-83 headset, and a pair of its new Stereo Bluetooth Headset HBH-DS220 headphones.

A comprehensive features list includes a full web browser. And the Symbian UIQ operating system provides a customisable application platform for adding software.

Both the W960i and W910i come with extensive new music player functionality. The W910i uses the latest Walkman player 3.0 software, featuring the flick forward/back and shuffle Shake control. Both models also support Sony Ericsson's PlayNow service for downloading ringtones and full tracks.

Enhanced TrackID now provides extensive details of artists and other information, as well as simply identifying tracks from snatches of tunes. The W910i also uses a new media browser set up to keep all your media organised in one place. Both will be available from the fourth quarter this year.

Sony Ericsson W960i: key features

  • Touchscreen display; 2.6-inch (240x320 pixels) 262k-colour
  • Symbian UIQ operating system
  • 3G
  • Wi-Fi
  • Walkman Touch music player (multi-format support)
  • 8GB flash memory
  • 3.2-megapixel camera
  • Video recording/playback
  • Video calling
  • Video streaming/download
  • Stereo Bluetooth
  • TrackID
  • Opera web browser with RSS feed support
  • Two sets of headphones supplied (Bluetooth and wired)
  • Dimensions: 109(h) x 55(w) x 16(d) mm
  • Weight 119g
  • Standby time: up to 370 hours; Talk time: up to 9 hours; Music listening: up to 25 hours

Sony Ericsson W910i: key features

  • 2.4-inch display (240x320 pixels) 262k-colour
  • 3G with HSDPA
  • Walkman player 3.0 (multi-format support)
  • Shake Control
  • SensMe music selector
  • 40MB internal memory
  • Memory Stick Micro (M2) card support
  • 1GB Memory Stick Micro (M2) card supplied
  • 2-megapixel camera
  • Video recording/playback
  • Video calling
  • Video streaming/download
  • Picture and video blogging application
  • Stereo Bluetooth
  • TrackID
  • Access NetFront web browser with RSS feed support
  • Stereo headphones supplied
  • Dimensions: 99(h) x 50 (w) x 12.5(d) mm
  • Weight 86g
  • Standby time: up to 400 hours; Talk time: up to 9 hours; Music listening: up to 20 hours
Phil Lattimore