Sony Ericsson W900i Preview

After languishing behind the likes of Nokia & Samsung for some considerable time, Sony Ericsson are finally getting their act together & closing the gap between themselves and their rivals.

How are they doing this you may ask ? Well, the answer was staring them straight in the face - it's just taken them an awful long time to realise. The simple answer was & indeed is, the Walkman branding.

All over the world, consumers are familiar with the Sony Walkman. It's an icon and seems to have been around in various guises for what seems like forever.

Well, by combining the 2 concepts i.e a mobile phone & a music machine turned out to be the simple answer. Although it's certainly not a new idea, Siemens did it first with great success years ago with the SL45 model, it's all about the branding & the way a product is marketed.

By adopting funky youthful colours, smart intelligent phones & clever marketing practices, Sony Ericsson have managed to develop a corner of the market that they are now dominating.

The first two products from the Walkman stable have both been a resounding success. The first, the W800i set the tempo and the more youth orientated sibling W550i has been met with the same critical acclaim, both of these phones having a very short period of release between them.

Sony Ericsson have always had a very small handset portfolio compared to it's competitors, this obviously put's pressure upon each model to deliver the goods and appeal to the market segment to which they are aimed. When this works, it works well - however the downside is obvious. The old T68i, T630 and later the K700i all hit the mark and sold in large numbers for a long time. Other models however, have vanished without a trace thus leaving a large gap in Sony Ericsson range.

Bearing this in mind, Sony Ericsson are concentrating heavily on the Walkman branded phones & thus we reach their most impressive model of the range yet - Enter, the Sony Ericsson W900i Walkman phone.

Anticipated for release before the 2005 Xmas period, the W900i looks set to dominate mobile phone sales against some very stiff opposition. Most notably, the less capable but arguably more attractive Motorola V3x - Only time will tell on this one.

So, apart from the drop dead good looks of the W900i - What do we know about it ?

Well for starters, and this is the big one - the W900i not only takes & improves all of the W550i/W800i's features but it's also a 3G handset as well..Cool stuff indeed.

From the iPod style exterior, the W900i has a 'swivel' mechanism as per the W550i to reveal a large keypad. MP3 functions can be reached via the outer keys for speedy access to your tracks. The impressive large screen displays all of the information you need and it enhances the video calling and camera aspects too.

Dedicated keys give quick access to the 2 megapixel digital camera, 3G video calling & MP3 functions.

Memory is a quite staggeringly massive 470Mb which is expandable upto a maximum 2Gb - More than enough for the likes of most of us.

A 3D graphics engine is employed as per previous models & connectivity is via Bluetooth, IrDA & USB.

The W900i is currently expected to be released in two colour variations, both white and black and will be available in the UK on O2 , Vodafone, Orange , T-Mobile , 3 and Sim Free.

Once the Sony Ericsson W900i starts to ship within the UK, we will have a full review for you within a day or so of their arrival at our offices. Until then, we'll leave you with a few pictures and the hard decision of which one to buy - Black or White ?

Sony Ericsson W900i Preview - 4th November 2005