Sony Ericsson unveils the Walkman phone for all

Sony Ericsson brings the style and function of its hugely popular Walkman phones to a broader market with a new and easy-to-use model. The Sony Ericsson W200i Walkman phone plus two new Bluetooth accessories were introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this month.

The W200i Walkman phone can store up to 37 full-length tracks or about four albums and comes with a 128MB Memory Stick Micro (M2) card. Listening pleasure is up to 18 hours long. 

The phone comes with Disc2Phone music management software for users to easily transfer and change music files on the phone via PC. There’s also a dedicated Walkman player button that takes users straight to the music menu.

"The W200i is an affordable music phone that compliments your existing MP3 player," says Steve Walker, head of product marketing at Sony Ericsson. "It’s not every day that you want to carry lots of devices with you, and with the W200i you have enough music storage for your current playlist. And if you tire of these, the FM radio allows you to quickly tune in to your favorite drive-time show."

The W200i comes in rhythm black and pulse white with the color-matched stereo headset HPM-64 to keep great sounds on the go. It’s the first accessory to feature Bass Reflex, an innovation that preserves audio quality when the bass is turned up. The radio can also be used as an alarm clock, with the in-built speakerphone rather than the stereo headphones.

The W200i is a fully featured mobile phone with a VGA camera with 4x digital zoom, an integrated photo album, a full HTML Web browser, push e-mail, PC synchronization, infrared connectivity and video messaging. The phone is compatible with a number of Sony Ericsson music accessories. 

One of the latest Sony Ericsson Bluetooth-enabled music accessories is the music receiver MBR-100, a device that plugs into the car stereo or hi-fi stereo and then streams the music from one’s Bluetooth-enabled phone to the speakers.  Once the phone is paired with the MBR-100, just walk into its range and an automatic invitation comes in on the phone screen to play the music. 

The phone can even be used as a remote control, letting one play, pause or skip to the next track.  The MBR-100 comes with a 3.5 mm input music jack cable, an RCA music cable and a standard charger.

On the fashion side, Sony Ericsson has announced the Bluetooth headset HBH-PV705 Style Edition. This elegant, discreet and compact Bluetooth headset can be hung around the neck through a beautiful necklace strap or be kept in a soft closeable pouch. 

The kit comes with a detailed attachable jewelry that can be clipped to the necklace strap or pouch for added style. Three different panels are supplied for personalization: black with an embossed floral pattern, white with purple floral detail, and an elegant purple.

The HBH-PV705 Style Edition is designed for the best sound experience with the microphone placed close to the mouth. The high-performance ear speaker does not cover the ear canal, so the user can talk to people without having to take the headset off.

At a mere 14 grams and with a soft ear hook, the W200i boasts of 12 hours talk time and 300 hours standby time.