Introduction / Preview : Sony Ericsson W850i / W850
Sony Ericsson’s successful Walkman phone range takes another step forward with the announcement of the UMTS enabled W850. This is Sony Ericsson’s first GSM/UMTS ‘slider?
The W850 has been uniquely combined with a full horizontal mode camera experience and the latest Walkman player 2.0 for easy music download.
Available in Precious Black or Golden White, the phone has an attention grabbing ‘heartbeat illumination?feature to light-up the control keys in rhythm with your music. Visually stunning and appealing to use, this phone isn’t just about good looks ?it also offers blisteringly fast music downloads direct to the handset.
The phone is configured for operator over the air (OTA) music download services and accepts many popular music file formats including e-AAC+, which reduces download time and space needed for tracks. Memory isn’t an issue either with a 1GB memory stick PRO Duo supplied which is enough for around 1,000 songs in e-AAC+. This can be expanded to 4GB so that you can store a much larger music collection and have it with you all of the time.
The Walkman player 2.0 simplifies navigation through music genres, playlists, individual songs or music albums and there’s also a TrackID feature powered by Gracenote Mobile MusicID. This is a new service which means you can record a few seconds of a song, either via the microphone or the in built FM radio, and then with one click send that clip to the Gracenote worldwide music database which will identify the track and relay the information back to the phone.
Sony Ericsson has also evolved the Walkman music player in ways which will appeal whether you’re a new user or already familiar with the interface. The user interface is more intuitive and makes it easy to search and play tracks as well as download them. New graphics capabilities make the experience more visual and provide music metadata and album art. And the download service is integrated, so there’s no need to come out of the music player and into the web browser to visit online music stores.
There is also a high performance 2 Megapixel camera that makes it fun to capture your favourite moments and share them with friends. Fast internet access and web browsing also make it easy to use your W850 to create and maintain blogsites, so you can keep your friends posted from wherever you are.
An impressive range of accessories means you can have even more fun out of your W850. Stereo Bluetooth headsets allow you to enjoy music in full stereo quality wire-free, and an advanced car handsfree set makes it safe to enjoy your music phone while driving. Music Desk stand speakers provide a boost to the sound to make the W850 the centre of any party.
The Sony Ericsson W850i is a UMTS 2100 and Tri-band GPRS 900/1800/1900 Walkman phone for Europe, Middle East and Africa. It is commercially available in Precious Black or Golden White and starts shipping during Q3 2006.
