Life in the old dog yet
Sony Ericsson has launched the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman, an Android 2.3 smartphone that defines itself as ‘a unique social music experience'. In effect this means a hardware button that opens the music player, easy access to Sony's Qriocity music service, and deep Facebook integration.
Nikolaus Scheurer, head of product marketing at Sony Ericsson said: "Consumers want smartphones to deliver a rich and social entertainment experience. Rather than a one dimensional music experience, they want instant and seamless access to new content, combined with the ability to share and connect with their friends. The Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman provides exactly this, in a powerful package with great style."
It seems somehow appropriate that, after a week in which a couple of venerable tech brands were put in their place by the mobile device revolution, Sony should get the crash team out to deliver yet another round of resuscitation on the Walkman brand.
In the 80s, the Sony Walkman was so synonymous with personal cassette players that it became generic - perhaps even more so than the iPad in the past decade. Then came the move to CDs, and then digital music files, and the Walkman's pre-eminence was long forgotten.
The irony is that this phone is clearly aimed at younger users who weren't born until after the Walkman brand had lost its mojo. So any historical brand equity still held by WalkmanTM is presumably lost on them, and SE is effectively building a brand from scratch. Perhaps they're trying to appeal to the parents who will probably be the ones doing the actual buying when this becomes available in Q4.
Pics ‘n' specs.
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Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman |
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Colours |
Black and White |
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Facts |
Size: 56.5 x 106 x 14.2 mm Weight: 115 g |
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Camera |
3D sweep panorama 5 megapixel camera 8x digital zoom Auto focus Face detection Flash/Photo light Flash/Photo flash Flash/LED Front-facing camera (VGA) Geo tagging HD video recording (720p) Image stabiliser Red-eye reduction Scene detection Self-timer Send to web Smile detection Touch capture Touch focus Video light Video recording |
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Music |
Album art BluetoothTM stereo (A2DP) Music tones (MP3/AAC) PlayNowTM service Stereo speakers TrackIDTM music recognition WalkmanTM player xLOUDTM |
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Internet |
Android MarketTM Bookmarks GoogleTM search Google VoiceTM Search NeoReaderTM barcode scanner Pan & zoom Web browser (WebKit) |
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Communication |
Call list Conference calls FacebookTM application Google TalkTM Polyphonic ringtones Skype Sony Ericsson TimescapeTM Speakerphone TwitterTM (TimescapeTM integration) Vibrating alert Video chat ready |
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Messaging |
Conversations Google MailTM Handwriting recognition Instant messaging Multimedia messaging (MMS) Predictive text input Sound recorder Text messaging (SMS) Type & Send widget |
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Design |
Auto rotation Four-corner Home screen Keyboard (on-screen, 12-key) Keyboard (on-screen, QWERTY) Live wallpaper Picture wallpaper Touch screen |
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Entertainment |
3D games Media browser Radio (FM radio with RDS) Video streaming Video viewing YouTubeTM |
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Organiser
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Alarm clock Calculator Calendar Document readers Emanual Flight mode Google CalendarTM Google Gallery 3DTM Infinite button Phonebook Setup guide Event Timer Widget manager |
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Connectivity |
3.5 mm audio jack aGPS BluetoothTM technology DLNA CertifiedTM Google LatitudeTM Google MapsTM for Mobile Google MapsTM with Street View Media Transfer Protocol support Micro USB support Modem Native USB tethering Synchronisation via FacebookTM Synchronisation via GoogleTM Sync Synchronisation via Sony Ericsson Sync Synchronisation with computer Synchronisation via Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® Synchronisation: Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® via Moxier client USB mass storage USB High speed 2.0 support USB support Wi-FiTM Wi-FiTM Hotspot functionality WisepilotTM turn-by-turn navigation |
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Display |
3.2 inches 16,777,216 colour TFT 480 x 320 pixels Capacitive touchscreen (multi-touch) Scratch-resistant |
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Memory |
Phone memory (user-free): Up to 320MB Memory card support: microSDTM, up to 32GB |
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Battery life |
Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 14 hrs 15 min* Standby time GSM/GPRS: Up to 600 hrs*
Talk time UMTS: Up to 6 hrs 42 min* Standby time UMTS: Up to 850 hrs*
Music listening time: Up to 17 hrs 30 min Video listening time: Up to 6 hrs 30 min
*According to GSM Association Battery Life Measurement Technique. Battery performance may vary depending on network conditions and configurations, and phone usage. |
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Networks |
UMTS HSPA 850 (Band V), 1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I) GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900
UMTS HSPA 900 (Band VIII), 2100 (Band I) GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900 |
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In the kit |
Sony Ericsson Live with WalkmanTM 1200 mAh battery stereo headset 2GB microSDTM memory card Charger micro USB cable for charging synchronisation and file transfer user documentation |
