Sony Ericsson added the first UMTS handset to the Walkman range of music phones. The W900 is a fully specified music player, phone and imaging device capable of super-fast downloads of all types of multimedia – music, video and graphics. It follows the global market launch of the W800. Two previously announced Walkman phones are also about to launch, the W600 in the Americas and W550 in the rest of the world.
As a music player, the W900 makes it easy to import, transfer, manage and play music from operators’ over-the-air (OTA) music download services, allowing tracks to be downloaded directly to the phone while on the move.
Transferring digital music files from a PC to the phone is a simple ‘drag and drop’ and the W900 is also fully compatible with user-copied content from all leading music management software packages. This is particularly useful for consumers already owning another type of digital music player who want to transfer tracks that originate from their CD collection on to the W900.
The supplied Disc2Phone PC software allows the user to easily transfer music to the phone from audio CDs and a PC music collection. The W900’s internal 470MB user free memory provides space for between 120 and 240 songs. The storage capacity is be increased by inserting a Memory Stick PRO Duo, currently available in retail outlets at up to 2GB, giving space for up to 1,000 tracks. Music files can be stored in all the key formats: MP3, AAC or AAC+, MIDI, WAV and XMF.
The versatile swivel design makes it easy to multitask between the W900’s many functions, a feature which gives the phone an advantage over dedicated music players. The direct music buttons get the user swiftly into the Walkman player where it is possible to scroll through play lists, artists or individual songs. Users fed up with missing calls because they are listening to music will love the fact that the phone’s ringtone cuts into the audio and pauses the track while the user takes the call.
The phone swivels open automatically with the a touch, revealing a large keypad. Virtually all functions can be performed with the phone closed, and users can read messages or search through their music library without opening the phone.
More than a fully featured music player, the W900 is a highly advanced imaging and multimedia device with broadband-fast download speeds, smooth, responsive browse capabilities and a large, 2.2 inch QVGA 262K TFT screen.
The 2 Megapixel, autofocus camera with LED flash- or picture-light is operated with both hands in a horizontal position for maximum stability. The camera also shoots video at up to 30fps (frames per second), double the speed of most conventional imaging phones and the playback quality threshold for television.
With the supplied Adobe PC software, pictures and videos can be easily imported to a PC as soon as the phone is connected using the fast USB connection. They can then be edited, printed and shared using the easy-to-use and powerful Adobe software, and videos can be played back using Apple QuickTime Player.
As an entertainment device the W900 exploits the UMTS-delivered capabilities to the full, delivering fast and smooth download and browsing of video, games, sound and graphics. The high performance 3D Java gaming engine is put to the test with the embedded Asphalt Urban GT 3D from Gameloft.
