Sony Ericsson Unveils Xperia X1 Windows-Based Smartphone

Sony Ericsson this week introduced several phones, each targeting a different group of users: mobile professionals, music lovers, photo enthusiasts, and prosumers that want a mix of functionality, advanced features, and small form factor.

The phone maker unveiled the new phones at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona.

The first and most notable device in Sony Ericsson's lineup is the Xperia X1, a Windows Mobile smartphone with a touch screen overlay and a full QWERTY keyboard. The phone comes with 3G technology called HSDPA and Wi-Fi for a high-speed mobile experience. It also has built-in GPS for personal navigation.

"Xperia represents the first brand that is truly borne from within Sony Ericsson. It represents our vision for a premium, energized communication experience," said Dee Dutta, head of marketing at Sony Ericsson, in a statement.

Like Apple's iPhone, the X1 has a large home screen with a variety of panels that can be selected with the tap of a finger to access the Web, multimedia, and applications. The panels can be configured, depending on a user's preference, which is an option that Apple also recently started offering on the iPhone. The panels, however, are larger than icons and look like snapshots of actual applications, which makes the home screen appear quite busy.

A touch screen is becoming a prominent feature on mobile phones. The number of phones with touch screens will reach almost 200 million by 2011, according to MultiMedia Intelligence.

Business professionals who constantly require access to applications on-the-go prefer the combination of a touch screen and a QWERTY keyboard, which is why they might choose a smartphone like the X1 over an iPhone. Add Windows Mobile and 3G support to the mix and you've got a solid alternative that's practical and cutting-edge.

Sony Ericsson didn't provide pricing information and is initially launching the X1 in select markets in the second half of this year.

Sony Ericsson is bringing touch screen phones to the masses with its new G700 and G900 phones, which primarily serve as personal organizers. The G700 is the size of a regular phone and has a standard keyboard, but it also features a touch screen for jotting down notes on the screen with a stylus or staying organized using its other capabilities.

The G900 has features similar to the G700, but it also sports a 5-megapixel camera with Touch Auto Focus technology, touch photo album and editor, and built-in Wi-Fi. Both phones are capable of high-speed data access through 3G technology and both will become available in the second quarter of this year.

Sony Ericsson also added two new phones to its Cyber-shot product family, bringing the latest camera technology to mobile users, the company said. The C702 Cyber-shot phone is plash and dust resistant for those who lead an active lifestyle. It comes with Google Maps and built-in GPS for location-based imaging, so users can always go back and locate where their pictures were taken.

The C902 Cyber-shot phone comes with a slide-out lens cover that conceals a 5-megapixel camera with auto focus. It has eight camera touch keys, including camera modes, flash, face detection, and auto focus. The phone's BestPic feature lets users take nine photos in succession instead of just one at a time, and it has 160 MB of storage -- capable of holding up to 100 full resolution photos, according to Sony Ericsson.

The C702 and the C902 will come in two versions: a 3G version that supports UMTS/HSDPA networks and another version that supports slower EDGE/GPRS networks. Both will become available in the second quarter of this year.

The other two new phone models introduced by Sony Ericsson are the Z770 and Sony the W980, the latest addition to the company's Walkman music phone family. The Z770, which will be offered in the second quarter of this year, is a clamshell phone designed for Web surfing. It comes with 3G and can be used as a modem when connected to a laptop. The W980 Walkman phone has audio enhancing technology, intuitive music control, and 8 GB of storage; it will be available in June in select markets.