New Walkman Phones?

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Those first Sony Ericsson Walkman phones certainly seem to be going down a treat and while it seems while many of us still don’t want our tunes mixed with our handsets, many others do. So bring on the latest purported evolutions in the brand: one pretty authentic, the other – we think – too good to be true.

Starting on more solid ground, we have what is being called the W850i. This is a spinner phone, which stylistically looks to be heavily influenced by the S700. Details are understandably aloof at this point, but it appears to have the same two megapixel camera are the W800i, a 320 x 240 262k colour screen and the standard music format support. Apparently it will be a 3G-er after all (there's a video call button - good spot Lars!), and while we don’t have a definitive timescale, based on past production times, Q1 2006 doesn’t sound unrealistic.

By contrast, this beauty – being dubbed the W900i – is (in our highly educated opinion) mere bunkum/a hoax/the consequence of Photoshop tomfoolery, but we liked it so much it had to get a mention. Stats like a three megapixel camera and 300MB of onboard flash memory got our noses sniffing and, if you look closely, the phone itself appears to be a Samsung and the display grabbed from the W800. Question: why do the fan boys often design better kit than their beloved manufacturers? Case In Point

Oh, and while we on the subject of Sony Ericsson’s little orange creations, it is worth pointing out some very funky software from Tea Vui Huang. Called the “Mass Storage Synchroniser”, it is an add-on for Apple’s iTunes software which basically gives all Walkman phones, the Sony Clie PDAs and P900/910 handsets the same functionality as a ROKR.

Check it out here, and let’s hope this smart piece of programming slams a wooden stake through the cold, bloodless heart of that Motorola mess… (No, I don’t like the ROKR!). Note: The same thing has now been achieved for Nokia XpressMusic phones... clever chap: http://www.geocities.com/tvhuangsg/massstorsync

Update
Thanks to our intrepid reader Alex, at [linkout:www.se-nse.com www.se-nse.com], we've got a few more details on our two suspects here. Firstly, we were right to turn our noses up at the flip phone as he knows the artist who faked it (pretty conclusive proof, that one!).

Secondly, the former (who's name is being hotly swung between W850 and W900) could be here "within the next two weeks", which would make sense given that feasting and pressie time (or an important religious time of thanks, as it was once known) is drawing ever closer. Furthermore, could more Walkman phone form factors be on the way... we think so ;)

Link:
Sony Ericsson UK
Mass Storage Synchroniser

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