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Sony Ericsson persists with Walkman brand

by Scott Bicheno on 22 August 2011, 09:58

Tags: Sony Ericsson

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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.

 

 

 

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman

Colours

Black and White

Facts

Size: 56.5 x 106 x 14.2 mm

Weight: 115 g

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

Music

Album art

BluetoothTM stereo (A2DP)

Music tones (MP3/AAC)

PlayNowTM service

Stereo speakers

TrackIDTM music recognition

WalkmanTM player

xLOUDTM

Internet

Android MarketTM

Bookmarks

GoogleTM search

Google VoiceTM Search

NeoReaderTM barcode scanner

Pan & zoom

Web browser (WebKit)

Communication

Call list

Conference calls

FacebookTM application

Google TalkTM

Polyphonic ringtones

Skype

Sony Ericsson TimescapeTM

Speakerphone

TwitterTM (TimescapeTM integration)

Vibrating alert

Video chat ready

Messaging

Conversations

Email

Google MailTM

Handwriting recognition

Instant messaging

Multimedia messaging (MMS)

Predictive text input

Sound recorder

Text messaging (SMS)

Type & Send widget

Design

Auto rotation

Four-corner Home screen

Keyboard (on-screen, 12-key)

Keyboard (on-screen, QWERTY)

Live wallpaper

Picture wallpaper

Touch screen

Entertainment

3D games

Media browser

Radio (FM radio with RDS)

Video streaming

Video viewing

YouTubeTM

Organiser

 

Alarm clock

Calculator

Calendar

Document readers

Emanual

Flight mode

Google CalendarTM

Google Gallery 3DTM

Infinite button

Phonebook

Setup guide

Event

Timer

Widget manager

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

Display

3.2 inches

16,777,216 colour TFT

480 x 320 pixels

Capacitive touchscreen (multi-touch)

Scratch-resistant

Memory

Phone memory (user-free): Up to 320MB

Memory card support: microSDTM, up to 32GB

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.

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

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

 

 



HEXUS Forums :: 2 Comments

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I realise that a Walkman phone isn't a new idea - there have been quite a few of these in the past. But, is it me, or does SonyEricsson seem to be (desperately?) trying to apply as many Sony brands to their phones as possible?

So we've had Walkman phones (including this one), phones with the “Bravia Engine”, Playstation phones.

Maybe they'll do a “social” phone that copies as many of your details to the world as possible…
(sorry, I realise that this is probably a little under the belt, and nothing to make fun of)
crossy
I realise that a Walkman phone isn't a new idea - there have been quite a few of these in the past. But, is it me, or does SonyEricsson seem to be (desperately?) trying to apply as many Sony brands to their phones as possible?

So we've had Walkman phones (including this one), phones with the “Bravia Engine”, Playstation phones.

Maybe they'll do a “social” phone that copies as many of your details to the world as possible…
(sorry, I realise that this is probably a little under the belt, and nothing to make fun of)

you missed a big one - Cybershot :)