Sony Ericsson debuts handset trio at CES

By Juniper Foo,Reuben Lee
07/01/2008

LAS VEGAS--Sony Ericsson launched its CES campaign in Las Vegas this year with the announcement of three brand new handsets. They are the W760i with A-GPS (or Assisted-GPS), the slim W350i with music controls on its flip cover and the Z555i clamshell with gesture control.

Sony Ericsson's Karen H. Morris introducing the new phones at the pre-CES event.

The most feature-packed offering among the handset trio is the W760i slider. Targeted at the mobile entertainment crowd, it features a 3.2-megapixel camera, twin stereo speakers, landscape and motion sensor gaming as well as a complete range of Walkman features.

What sets the W760i apart from its other Walkman siblings is its A-GPS function, which Sony Ericsson claims can provide navigation and location-based services. Though that aside, the onboard motion sensor also expands the handset's fun factor greatly. Shake the phone and it will advance or rewind music tracks. Turn it sideways, and the W760i becomes a gaming phone you can play in landscape mode, or waggle the unit to control the gameplay via motion sensing.

What caught our attention at the pre-CES press briefing was, however, the sleek W350i, the first Walkman phone with flip cover. Music playback controls are located on top of the flip cover, giving easy access to managing songs.

Adding to its fashion-phone lineup is the Z555i, a clamshell with a unique gesture control that lets you mute the handset or snooze the alarm with a simple hand movement. For example, sweeping the hand over the phone sends the alarm clock feature into snooze mode.

In conjunction with the launch of the phones, Sony Ericsson has unveiled a new range of six new accessories, among them four new leather cases under its Design Collection range. For music enthusiasts, the Active Speaker MAS-100 protective case multi-tasks as a speaker and FM radio antenna. One pair of Bluetooth stereo earphones (HBH-DS205) and three new Bluetooth headsets (HBH-PV708, HBH-PV712 and HBH-PV770) make up the rest of the new accessories that were showcased today.

The Z555i and the three Bluetooth headsets (HBH-PV708, HBH-PV712 and HBH-PV770) will be available in selected markets in the first quarter of this year, while the rest of the offerings are due out before end June. No pricing or Asian launch details were announced at the briefing.

New Sony Ericsson handsets and accessories

Model name	In a nutshell
Sony Ericsson W760i Click here for more	Notable features: • Quadband GSM with EDGE; triband UMTS(3G)/HSDPA • A-GPS function • 3.2-megapixel camera with BestPic • Motion sensing • FM radio with RDS; Walkman player • 2.2-inch 18-bit color 240x320-pixel TFT primary display • Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) and USB • 40MB onboard plus M2 slot (bundled with 1GB card) • 92 x 49 x 16mm; 100g Availability: Q2 2008 in selected markets
Sony Ericsson W350i Click here for more	Notable features: • Triband GSM with EDGE • Music controls on flip cover • 1.3-megapixel camera • FM radio; Walkman player • 1.9-inch 18-bit color 128x160-pixel TFT primary display • Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) and USB • 14MB onboard plus M2 slot (bundled with 512MB card) • 104 x 43 x 10.5mm; 80g Availability: Q2 2008 in selected markets
Sony Ericsson Z555i Click here for more	Notable features: • Triband GSM with EDGE • Gesture Control function • 1.3-megapixel camera • FM radio and media player • 1.9-inch 18-bit color 176x220-pixel TFT primary display • Bluetooth stereo (A2DP) and USB • 12MB onboard plus M2 slot • 95 x 49 x 16.5mm; 95g Availability: Q1 2008 in selected markets

Sony CES 2008 coverage

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