C905a
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Sony Ericsson's 8.1MP C905a and W518a Walkman on sale at AT&T
Don't act surprised -- AT&T already told you that these two would go on sale this fine Sunday in July, and lo and behold, the carrier looks to have kept its promise. Starting today (officially, anyway), customers looking for a camera that doubles as a cellphone or a Walkman that occasionally makes calls can bring home the C905a or W518a, respectively. As expected, the C905a (which is available in silver only) will run you $179.99 after rebate and two-year agreement, while the W518a (which arrives in any color you like, so long as it's black) goes for $49.99 under the same conditions. Any takers? Or are all you SE fanboys waiting to court Rachael?[Thanks, Jazzdoc]
Oh, by the way: July 15, 2009
Here's some of the other stuff that happened in the wide world of mobile for Wednesday, July 15th, 2009: Pantech's SKY division has announced the IM-S480S "Tilt" flip for the South Korean market to be offered through carrier SK Telecom. It's a fairly ordinary phone -- 2 megapixel camera, microSD expansion -- but it apparently gets its name from its curved halves (how that evokes a name like "Tilt," we're not exactly sure) and features a trick LED bar above the keypad that can be used to indicate download progress and the like. Samsung has rolled out a so-called Elegant Edition of its S7350 slider in Hong Kong. It's pink and comes with a quilted pink leather pouch, so... you know, you'd better really be into pink. It also features customized "smart seasonal wallpaper" that'll change based on seasons and calendar events. [Via Unwired View] It looks like BlackBerry OS 5.0 will get tabbed browsing, a feature that's become virtually standard across smartphone platforms (and has even started to invade the upper dumbphone echelon recently). The just-announced Sony Ericsson C905a for AT&T has already started to filter into some retail locations ahead of its July 19 release, so don't give up if you've got an unquenchable, urgent yearning for this thing.
Sony Ericsson hand delivers 8.1MP C905a and W518a Walkman to AT&T
While one could argue that Sony Ericsson should really be focusing its efforts on getting a Rachael / Android-based handset out on the double, it's evidently content with digging up a year-old phone, slapping an "a" on the end of it and passing it along to AT&T. The 8.1 megapixel C905 that we were so jazzed about in June of 2008 has indeed been certified for AT&T as the C905a Cyber-shot (left and center), offering the same 8.1 megapixel sensor, face detection, AutoFocus, Xenon flash, GPS tagging and 3G support. In related news, SE is also offering up the 518a Walkman (shown right) on the same carrier, which features a 3.2 megapixel camera, an obsession with Facebook, Shake Control and OTA music downloads from Napster and eMusic via AT&T Music. Both sets will be available on July 19th for $179.99 and $49.99 (respectively) after mail-in rebate and a two-year agreement, which sounds "way too high" and "too high" to us (also respectively).
Sony Ericsson's "Bruce" and "Tobey" C905a pictured with AT&T in mind
Here are a couple Sony Ericssons we've known AT&T is planning on releasing, but it's always good to see some more confirmation. The "Bruce" appears to be the W518a, which is a North American tweak of the W508a -- nothing mind-blowing, but it's got a 3.2 megapixel camera, QVGA display, external music controls, and HSDPA on board; maybe the coolest thing here (and something we didn't know before) is that AT&T intends to let buyers design their own custom covers for the phone online. The Tobey is really where it's at, though. This is the C905a, the big shooter -- literally -- that should do battle with T-Mobile's CS8. It's got an 8.1 megapixel camera with xenon flash in a slider form factor, accompanied by a 2.4-inch QVGA display, Video Share, TV-out, and HTML browsing. Disturbingly, both of these devices have already missed their target availability dates -- and anyone still reeling from the K850 disaster has to be a little concerned that one or both of these could be delayed indefinitely or canceled.
Sony Ericsson C905a does its thang in the FCC
We had darn good reason to believe that a Sony Ericsson C905 was destined for US turf, but now we have reason to be completely and utterly enraged if SE doesn't make it happen. How so? Because the FCC just gave us permission. The C905a has indeed found itself a home in the deep, deep lairs of the agency's website, and while there's not much here to salivate over just yet, there is an 85-page User Manual attached for those eager to pre-learn keyboard shortcuts and the memory card insertion process. Oh, and would you check out that Lyra ruler? Sweet stuff, we tell ya.[Via CellPhoneSignal]
Sony Ericsson C905a with AT&T firmware means... well, you know
That "more bars in more places" startup sequence there look familiar? We're not rocket scientists, granted, but first of all, we have no idea what rocket science has to do with the mobile phone industry. Secondly, seeing a carrier-branded firmware show up on a hot new (and somewhat unexpected) model is bound to get some gears turning. The whole K850 debacle reminds us that a branded device can go all the way up to the last minute and still get tossed to the wayside -- and there's certainly precedent for such a tragic fate to happen to a Sony Ericsson, specifically -- but we can't help but let our minds wander to the possibilities of an 8-megapixel beast like the C905 landing on AT&T in the near future. Some lucky cat was offering a US-friendly C905a model for sale (don't bother logging into eBay, it's already been snatched up) allegedly burned with an AT&T ROM, suggesting that they're either looking into offering it or, at the very least, Sony Ericsson was pitching it to the boys and girls in Atlanta. If it's still getting tossed around, let us just voice our opinion here: yes, AT&T. Do it.[Thanks, Leeds]
