Sony Ericsson Unveils W850 Walkman Slider Phone

Sony Ericsson W850

Sony Ericsson W850

Sony Ericsson W850

Today in London Sony Ericsson finally launched the new W850 Walkman phone, the slider form handset that the company first hinted about to us at 3GSM earlier this year. The W850 is a triband GSM, UMTS 2100MHz device that sports the new v2.0 Walkman music application. This new Walkman app improves on the user interface and integrates online music purchases directly into the app, forgoing the need for the web browser. The 3G data connection should make track downloads speedy, as well. Of course a Walkman phone needs a good deal of storage to be truly useful, and to that end the W850 ships with a 1GB Memory Stick Duo Pro card in its slot and supports cards of up to 4GB in capacity.

The new Walkman 2.0 experience is further enhanced by the 2" QVGA display (240x320) that can display 262k colors, and the W850 supports the MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, and M4A music file formats for playback. Like the W710 that was also announced today, the W850 supports the Gracenote Mobile MusicID system for getting the title and artist name of songs heard nearby. Brief clips of the song that are recorded by the user are uploaded to Gracenote for identification, and the resulting information is quickly sent back to the W850. Support for Bluetooth 2.0 and the A2DP stereo headset profile adds to the usability of the music side of the W850, and control keys that flash in synch with the music add to the fun factor.

Other features of note include a landscape web browsing mode, an RSS news feed reader, and support for push email. A 2 megapixel camera with video recording capabilities and a LED assist light take care of the W850's imaging needs. The W850 also supports video calls when connected to a 3G network.

The Sony Ericsson W850 should start shipping in Q3 of this year as the W850i in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It will be available in Precious Black and Golden White.

Specifications for the Sony Ericsson W850
Band	GSM 900/1800/1900MHz, UMTS 2100MHz
Data	GPRS/UMTS
Size	98mm x 47mm x 21mm (3.8" x 1.8" x 0.8")
Weight	116g (4.1oz)
Battery Life	Unknown
Main Display	2.0" 262k TFT LCD, 240x320 pixel resolution
Sub-Display	N/A
Camera	Yes, 2.0 megapixel resolution
Video	Video capture/playback
Messaging	MMS/EMS/SMS
Email	Yes
Bluetooth	Yes
Infrared	Yes
Java	Yes
Polyphonics	Yes (40 voice)
Memory	64MB on board memory, Memory Stick PRO Duo expansion
Availability	Q3 2006

 

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