Sony Ericsson opens the gates with headset, 3 more handsets

We thought they might be done after the S500 announcement, but it would appear that Sony Ericsson wanted to torment us with a series of new devices -- none with 3G love for over here, naturally. First off we have the P1 (née the P700i) which is a tri-band Euro-UMTS jobby (that's 2100 MHz) with a touchscreen, QWERTY keyboard, and push mail in both Microsoft and BlackBerry flavors. Next up, the T250 which is an intro level candybar style phone with a VGA camera and FM radio that will arrive in two different versions, with a 850 / 1900 likely being aimed at the US market. Also on the roster is the T650, yet another tri-band handset with 2100 MHz UMTS, a 3.2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth. Finally -- something that is useful the world over -- the HBH-DS980 stereo Bluetooth headset. It seems this new set is mostly a cosmetic upgrade from the DS970, with the same reflective treatment as the Z610i, 6 hours talk time or music time, and an OLED display that is hidden by the units reflective finish until it is powered on. Very little else here, folks (aside from some pretty bitter disappointment at getting 3G-snubbed yet again), but as soon as we get some decent pics and specs, you know you will find them right here.

[Images of T250 and T650 via SE-NSE]

Gallery: Sony Ericsson's T250, T650, and P1

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[phi @ May 8th 2007 1:13PM]

Its sad that SonyEricsson refuses to show any love to North America and make some of these phones quad-band/EDGE capable.

[phi @ May 8th 2007 1:14PM]

and I mean for their higher-end phones, not the lame ones.

[Tom Bailey @ May 8th 2007 1:31PM]

wheres the damn 5 mp sony fone that Im waiting for? It was rumoured / slightly leaked ages ago, and I cant afford a N95, so I really want that one. aaaaaargh frustration.

[Admiral @ May 8th 2007 1:39PM]

I must say that I am disappointed!
I wrote abou this on my blog the other day (club-admiralty.com) about both the lack of UIQ phones and the fact that SE is giving north america the shaft. Quadband+EDGE is nothing new, they could implement it easily. Quadband UMTS is another deal. The only company that has QuadGSM and TriUMTS is HTC. SE could really one-up Nokia and release more UIQ smart devices and out-spec them with QuadGSM + QuadUMTS - but yet again they fail to impress.

[nemi @ May 8th 2007 2:34PM]

I am still waiting for Cingular to carry the K790a with 3.2 mp camera. It was launched on Sony's NA web site about 12 months ago!

[Cale @ May 8th 2007 2:46PM]

We get the K790a here in Canada, hah!

[L.Rawlins @ May 8th 2007 3:37PM]

That bluetooth headset is a joke. It has half the operating battery life compared to previous Sony models just becuase it has a novelty OLED screen.

I think I'll pass, thankyouverymuch.

[JohnnyCashAK @ May 8th 2007 3:39PM]

Um... if they won't work in the US, why are you bothering to show them to us at all? It's like waving a McDonalds bag in front of a fat kid on a diet.

And I'd rather see SE focus their attention on making their current lineup Vista compatible. They've only had what, a year to beta test and fine tune their software? I'm fine with a few iPod hiccups every now and then, but having to use an expensive, shoddy third party software package to keep my business phone sync'd with my contacts and calendar because the phone's maker doesn't even support their own products? That's BS man. Nokia had their software vista compatible before the final consumer version was even released, but for some reason, the best SE can give me is a 'sometime in Q2' estimate.

[Gaspode @ May 8th 2007 5:42PM]

"Um... if they won't work in the US, why are you bothering to show them to us at all?"

Maybe because there are like, you know, people from other countries also reading this website?
Appearently there are even quite a few of them, engadget even apologizes in their contests sometimes, if those are US only.

Bye,
Gaspode

[Swede @ May 8th 2007 4:29PM]

"Um... if they won't work in the US, why are you bothering to show them to us at all? It's like waving a McDonalds bag in front of a fat kid on a diet."

Do you really think Engadget only has readers in the US? There's a whole world out there. *Trying not to bite on that fat US kid reference*

[JohnnyCashAK @ May 8th 2007 4:40PM]

No, I think that Engadget is based in NYC, and if foreign readers are looking for info on phones that are going to be released in their market, I'm sure there are many, many websites based in their region that cover them. You actually get some of these top notch phones, while we in the US are stuck using tech from two years ago, so ultimately, you win anyway.

And don't try pulling that anti-Ameri-centric bs on me chief... you can't expect me to care anymore about your country then you do mine.

[Maff @ May 8th 2007 6:27PM]

stop going on about 3G for christsakes, i'm sick of reading it, jeez, IF the phones get released in the US with support for 3G they will announce it, for now, can't you just describe the products???

3G 3G 3G jeezuz, !!!

[kev @ May 8th 2007 11:19PM]

What is with the FCC...is there something being used @ 2.1GHz in the US? Why can't we just have WCDMA signals flying around in the frequency band required?

[Badger @ May 9th 2007 3:12AM]

If you want to be angry at someone, don't be angry at Sony Ericsson, be angry at the US mobile providers for not upgrading their network to what the rest of the world is using. I do not blame Sony Ericsson for not providing phones for a dying technology. And thats why most of the "cool" phones aren't being sold in the US. Take it from someone like me, a US Citizen living in Sweden.

[Gav @ May 9th 2007 3:40AM]

Yay, the P1 is the phone that my M600i should always have been. I know it doesn't have a 5mp camera but if you want to take decent photos then you'd be better of using a decent digital camera.

And as for them not selling them in the US, may be it's got more to do with the carriers there than SE. I would have thought that if they had the option of selling the phone in the US and make a ton of money at the same time they would.

[haggis @ May 9th 2007 8:38AM]

Why do u guys care anyways you go the best phone ever..........
The Iphone WOW!!

[gfdfdfgfdg @ May 10th 2007 4:49AM]

nice troll, johnnycash.

and concerning the ds980: I hope it sounds better than the ds970 whose sound quality was absolutely terrible. It was very easy to use etc. but what good is that when the sound sucks... Had to return it.