The latest skinny on Walkman/ Two more shots from Sony Ericsson

The sales get fatter but the phones are getting thinner: Sony Ericsson has added two new slimline handsets to the big-selling Walkman range.
The W880 (W888 in China) and W610 bring a new twist to the 20 million selling Walkman family. Sony Ericsson has done hi-capacity, budget and clamshell. Now the target is the skinny look as popularised by Motorola and Samsung.

At 9.4mm thin, the UMTS W880 is by far the slimmest Sony Ericsson phone to date, yet comprises full music functions and a 1GB Memory Stick Micro in the box - enough for 900 tracks. There’s also a 2.0 megapixel camera. The W610 Walkman stores up to 470 tracks on the 512MB Memory Stick Micro provided, and offers TrackID music recognition. It also has a 2.0 megapixel camera.

“Walkman phones have proved to be phenomenally attractive – and we are continuously developing the portfolio to extend their appeal. The (new devices) prove how the Walkman phone can appeal to different lifestyles.”

Sony Ericsson has upped the stakes in the camera phone market by launching two more Cyber-shot devices.
The announcement of the K810 (K818 in China) and K550 models take the cherished Cyber-shot brand to a broader market. The strategy mimics that of the Walkman, which Sony Ericsson rolled out carefully with high-end devices, before creating a family of handsets for all market demographics. The vendor has shipped 4.5 million K790/K800s since last summer.

The UMTS K810/K818 comprises 3.2 megapixel camera with auto focus and Xenon flash. The K550 is a more mass market phone, with 2.0 megapixel camera. It’s also the first Cyber-shot to support i-mode. Both support picture blogging.

"The K800 positioned the Cyber-shot phone as a credible fusion of phone and camera. Now the K810 and K550 move the market forward by introducing new applications that equate to real improvements in the customer experience, as well as introducing these phones to a whole new audience."

The K810 includes new features such as illuminated icons that allow the user to select advanced camera settings by clicking on one of the hardkeys; so no need to navigate into the full camera menu and risk missing the shot. There’s also a ‘Photo fix’ solution to optimise brightness and picture contrast with one button.