Sony Ericsson announces the W900 UMTS Walkman phone
posted Oct 17th 2005 4:31AM
Sony Ericsson just announced the W900 — their first 3G (UMTS) tri-band Walkman phone we've been dropping ya deets about since September. It features a 2.2-inch QVGA 262k TFT display, FM radio, 2 megapixel auto-focus camera with flash, records and plays video at 30fps, and supports MP3, AAC or AAC+, MIDI, WAV and XMF audio playback. As expected from a music-first Walkman device, it features dedicated music controls right up front with keypad accessible via a "swivel" of the base, a 3.5mm jack, and a decent 470MB of available internal memory which is expandable via a Memory Stick Pro Duo slot. Music is loaded via drag-and-drop, Disc2Phone PC software, or using an "over-the-air" provider of choice. The press release says the W900 is "supplied with" the HPM-80 remote control but it's not clear if this will be included in the cost of the phone. We also wonder if the included Bluetooth also supports A2DP for stereo rawkin' over Bluetooth headphones. We'll know soon enough as the W900 will being shipping in Europe, Middle East, APAC, Africa (W900i), and China (W900c) in time for Christmas. Sorry, not for the US, yet. More pics after the break.
That = My Next Phone
i want. they just seem to be getting better and better, and its annoying, cause ive just bought a spv c550, but i want that in black!
DAMN that is SO mine. Its the...perfect phone!
Doesnt say anything about screen resolution though...please oh please be QVGA!
#3
It says it's QVGA at the top, but I'm sure you've realised that by now ;)
Damn what a fine phone! Eat your heart out Nokia, SE look to be taking the crown soon I think, especially if they carry on with phones like this one.
I've recently bought a W800i which is hands-down the best phone I've ever had or ever used. The 900 looks better though.
Looks nice, though aren't SE's swivel-type phones pretty huge?
More importantly, did they remeber to put in USB 2? Putting songs on my K750i over USB 1.2 takes a little while longer than I'd like.
Man, this new Walkman Phone makes W800i looks ugly.
240 x 320 pixel QVGA TFT display
2.2” 262K color display
according to Sony Ericsson home page
Gotta say Sony seem to be finally getting their act together with their products. Atleast their phone line have a consistant look and branding unlike their MP3 range (which is a mess!)...
Beautiful.. I prefer the white. The black looks cheaper for some reason. Maybe its the textured plastic. I prefer smooth and shiny..
According to the pic, its a slider, not a swivel.
Damn, thats a lot of stuff packed into a damn phone too!.....
having used this phone for like a month, I can tell you that I still strongly prefer the K750 or W800... The "lock" feature on the side of the phone doesn't work as it should, the media player starts sometimes alone in your pocket, which sucks all your batteries in one night without any warning.
The worst thing is the "wap/internet" key on the front of the phone... it you don't carefully lock the phone, it will be pressed again and again, sucking all your minutes... Strangely enough that's the very first phone on which I had this problem.
Also, the screen is great, but I still prefer the form factor of the K750 / W800.
And i was beginning to worry when the phone wasn't released the 10th as expected. By the way, SE page says swivel :).
Finally a qvga phone that also packs everything else one needs. I noticed that it looked thinner on the pics than s700, but in fact it's only 0.5mm thinner, and is 148g (11g up). The white stands out, and the black looks ordinary, but sleek. Don't have a fav yet.
This is my new phone!
love it... will get if it has quad band(which it doesn't) and a 3.5mm jack(does it??).
What, no ATRAC? Strange. I would have thought that Sony would include the ability to download music from thier music store..isn't Sony's "Connect" music service still exclusively ATRAC?
While were on the topic, AAC? AAC+? This is the first Sony product I've seen supporting those formats, but maybe I haven't been paying attention. The PR doesn't seem to mention any sort of DRM for any of the supported formats, which is surprising for Sony, and surprising for any device that allows download music through any sort of service, so I have to think that either I don't know enough about AAC or AAC+, or that Sony's got some other format they support that does have DRM as an option.
So what's going on here: is Sony using AAC to send a shot-across-the-bow of Apple or is the opposite true - that Sony has somehow jumped on board with Apple's DRM'd AAC? Is Sony's Connect going to go AAC? Did it already and I missed the announcement?
nice specs!!! but it's TOO BIG!!! can't wait for SE to come out with a slim walkman phone (if there a chance that it's ever gonna come out) *pray*
I think I'll buy this instead of a new iPod...
Man, I wanna buy that just for the MP3 playing...don't have a cell phone, don't need a cell phone, but damn that'd be a nice MP3 player...though probably expensive as hell.
hmmm...i said before i prefer the black, but that was just because i hate every white gadget now. but the white does look better. but if you click on the link in #10, look at the size of it in the womans hand!!! she is either really small or this thing is HUGE! and the screen looks tiny too (on that pic). i think it looks ace from the specs, but am reserving judgement untill i get to play with one, as ergonomics count too.
actually, the best phone i've seen to date.
more pics of the phone (full review coming soon):
http://mobile-review.com/articles/2005/se-sakura.shtml
lmao at the pic of it in a plant pot!!!
WHY!?!?!
Have to start saving money for this. This would be my christmas present this year. :)
Really nice phone - especially in white.
That´s huge!! And it´s not a smartphone. I will wait for Nokia N91 smartphone.
Hmmm. Kinda looks like a Sega Dreamcast VMU on steroids. Huh. How bout that.
Im really starting to love Sony's phones now, if that had WiFi, that would be an N91 killer for me.
Im a little confused about the "swivel" keypad tho. From the looks of those pics the camera needs to swivel too... why o-why, didnt they use a slide keypad?
I want this phone sooo bad, it's exactly what I've been looking for, time to pick up a second part time job to save for it. I'm drooling on my keyboard.
Available able in White & Black (like some other portable music player)? Still its sad to think that a Communist county get move advance technology then the leader of the free world. I’m just gonna go hang my head down in shame.
Looks waaaay better than that Motorola / Apple piece of crap. Where's the love for the U.S.? I wonder how long it will take to get over here.
So they are releasing it to Africa before the US. Interesting, considering that this phone is probably almost useless in Africa. Veeeeery interesting...
My guess is that the phone doesn't support music over bluetooth head phones because the w800i doesn't either. One can hope though. I don't think I'll get this phone because I was really disapointed at the menu speed of the s710a. Even after the updated it was just a little too laggy. I think I'll stick to my nokia 6682 for now.
damn, is there any way to get the w800 with the remote control headphones ? they're so cool
n8 - AAC has been supported by Nokia and SE Symbian based phones for years. AAC doesn't have to be DRMd and the DRM could actually be different from different suppliers eg. Apple has it's Fairplay DRM whereas Real has it's own DRM but still uses AAC encoding.
I think the confusion comes from the anti-Apple idiots who presume just because the iTunes Store uses AAC+DRM, that all AAC files are DRMd.
AAC is a good format as it gets higher quality out of the same filesize than most other formats including MP3 in general (without messing with LAME VBR settings).
#31, you are an idiot. apple did not invent the color white or black. and only recently have they made a black colored product. get off their sack.
Anyone wanna buy a s710a? Just bought i a month ago, i gotta get that phone. 470MB internal memory holy freakin crap louis!!!
Heh, 1200 songs: http://www.clubsonyericsson.com/products/w900/w900_offlaying.jpg
Anyway, no stateside release at the end of this year? Is it at least US-bound Q1 2006?
When is SE gonna give us some quad-band or A-versions w/the 850MHz band? Sony Ericsson has released some really nice phones this year, that unfortunately, alot of us stateside will not be able to use.
DAMN IT! Yet another COOL NEW PRODUCT that CINGULAR will undoubtedly get FIRST! And this thing is using UMTS for (Voice, Video 2 Video and Data calls)? BASTARDS!
Like a famous scholar named MIKE TYSON once said, “I will f*** you till you love me” and that is what Cingular is doing with exclusive deals on the coolest phones. THEY ARE MAKING US LOVE THEM ;^(.
240 x 320 QVGA
Video Replay at 30fps
Can someone say iPod Video killer?
Sweet!!
This is going to be my next MP3/video player - I don't even want it as a phone. I have my Treo; that's my phone. I have an extra 64K Cingular SIM that unactivated, I'll shove it in this so that I can use the camera; MP3; and watch video.
There is nothing else (except maybe the N6230, ehich doesn't have a 2MP cam) that has all this crap in such an awesome form factor. With a 3.5 jack, I might add.
So it's going to be my media device. And since it's not my PHONE, I can leave it behind when I need to enter a camer-free zone.
I heart Sony Ericcson. Been loyal to these bastards ever since I made a call with my T616 - IN HANDCUFFS. No BT headset; it was so small I was able to contort my wrist and arm and get it right under my ear. True story.
Just remember - it's all verbatim.
If only SE knew how to make a quad-band phone, none of us would be talking about any other phone.
i am kind of dissappointed here.. I just ordered a w800, and when I saw this announcement, i paniced a little, but then was releived with my decision when i saw the specs... the w800 is about 100g, while the w900 is about 150g, and much fatter and bigger. The battery life is worse, the camera on the back doesnt have a cover, and it does not come with a 512 mb card (however built in 400mb is very nice). The best improvement about this phone is the 3.5 jack, which the w800 really needed.
while the w800 is awesome, it is not perfect. I am looking forward to a clamshell design that solves all problems. It should have a good battery life, 3.5 jack, 1gb+ internal flash memory, memory stick duo slot, an improved camera (by then we'll have the tech to make an even better one of course), and a great screen. Please make us the perfect phone, soneric...
It's thick as hell. I'm still looking at that Samsung smart phone over this. It's just as thick and has more capabilities (and 3 gb of space!).
Also, the goddam headphone jack is proprietary? Come on!
im pretty sure its the standard 3.5mm headphone jack..... ;)
it doesn't look like the 3.5mm headphone jack is built-in, but rather the phone comes with an adapter: Stereo Portable Handsfree with remote control (3.5mm jack).
From all the pics that I see, you have to plug it in ...so still sort of lame. A great phone nonetheless. Too bad it's not quad band.
Why all the new electronic gadgets only have FM radio function? Gimme AM, dammit!
All I listen is AM stations-live sports, talk shows, 24hrs news&tracfic report etc. They are on AM stations!!1
Rant off.
very cool phone!!!!
cant wait,, that phone is mine.
surely the black colour is lame so ill go for the white.
#34: Africa is on the list because Africa uses the same GSM bands as Europe and Asia, so there's no effort involved in releasing it there.
#40: Almost all Sony Ericsson phones are triband and will work fine here. I've had a number of Sony Ericssons that I imported and I've never had a problem. In most places 1900 is all you need, and that's proven to be the case for me ever since I've had T-Mobile and never owned a phone with 850.
I don't blame Sony Ericsson for not wasting their time on phones with 850 seeing as how only about 75 million of the 1.3 billion GSM users use 850.
#25
N91 dimensions: 113 x 55 x 22 mm
W900 dimensions: 109 x 49 x 24 mm
The N91 is actually larger, so if you like this phone, jump on it. I might actually go with the w800 because this is a little larger than I'd like though.
#27 theres also a camera in the front so no need for a swivel camera (not 2 mp though)
When can i get one?!?!?! A bit worried about the size, but as long as it fits in my handbag im sure i'll manage. Anyone know the release date?