Another Walkman Phone from Sony Ericsson

Sony Ericsson has announced a new addition to its Walkman phone family - the W550 - a phone that offers stereo music and integrates a 1.3 megapixel camera, full Internet browsing capability and a credible games console. Listening to music on the W550 over headphones means you never miss a call as the music cuts off automatically when a call is received, permitting the listener to take the call before resuming listening to the paused track. A direct music button gives instant access to the Walkman music player, which can be used independently of the phone, allowing the phone to be used in flight mode so your personal music can be enjoyed even on an airplane.

"The W550 is an exciting product that combines music, imaging and game playing to offer consumers fun and entertainment wherever they are, while still being a great phone," explains Steve Walker, Sony Ericsson's Head of Product Marketing. "This new Walkman phone is aimed at fun seekers who enjoy a good party and like to share enjoyable moments with friends. There are so many entertainment features crammed into this small, sleek handset that whether you are alone or with a group of friends, the W550 can satisfy all your entertainment needs."

The W550 has an advanced digital music player with excellent sound quality delivered through two external high quality stereo speakers or through quality stereo headphones provided with the phone. Loading music onto the handset is simple thanks to intuitive Disc2Phone PC software and the phone's 256MB internal memory, enough for storing between 60 and 120 standard MP3 or AAC music tracks (depending on the bit rate). The W550 is the ideal new addition to the Sony Ericsson Walkman family with its stylish design and easy to use functionality. The phone is durable and offers great battery life, allowing users to listen to up to 30 hours of music.

There are plenty of ways to personalise the W550. The user can choose from a range of additional Style-Up(tm) covers that can be matched with wallpapers, themes and start-up/close-down animations which can be downloaded from Fun & Downloads.

The W550 is a Tri-band / GPRS phone and will be available during early Q4 in two different variants:

• W550i - Triple Band GPRS 900/1800/1900MHz version for European, African, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Hong Kong markets
• W550c - Triple Band GPRS 900/1800/1900MHz version for mainland China

In addition the W600a Walkman phone for the Americas that was announced on June 13 in New York as a Tri-Band/Edge product will now become the W600i for global distribution as a Quad-Band/Edge phone (850/900/1800/1900). The product will start shipping in the Americas from early Q4.

W550 - Features at a glance:

Imaging and messaging

• QuickShare
• 1.3 MegaPixel camera
• Horizontal camera user interface
• 4 x digital zoom
• Picture light
• 176 x 220 pixel TFT display
• 262K colour display
• Video recording and fullscreen playback
• SMS and MMS
• Wireless village
• Adobe picture PC software

Entertainment

• 2 stereo speakers
• Style-Up covers
• PlayNow ringtones and 2D games
• Horizontal fullscreen games and video
• RDS FM radio
• Walkman player (MP3/AAC)
• Media player (MP3/AAC)
• 256MB user memory
• Stereo headset
• 40 polyphonic ringtones
• Java MIDP 2.0
• 3D games
• MusicDJ and VideoDJ
• OMA DRM phase 1
• MegaBass
• Stereo widening

Connectivity

• Triple-band 900/1800/1900 MHz
• GPRS class 10
• Access NetFront HTML browser
• Bluetooth and Infrared
• PC software
• External antenna connector
• USB system connector and cable

"

Posted to the site on 9th August 2005