World's first Walkman phone raises the bar for mobile entertainment

Husni Al-Assi, General Manager, Sony Ericsson Middle East and Africa, said at a press conference held simultaneously across the region today that the W800 will make it possible to listen to music, handle phone calls and take great pictures and video from a single device with absolutely no compromise on quality.

"The Sony Ericsson W800 is the first product to combine a mobile phone, a Walkman-quality digital music player with up to 30 hours' battery life, and a 2 Megapixel camera - all in Sony Ericsson's trademark slim, lightweight and ultra-stylish packaging," said Al-Assi. "We looked carefully at what people want from a mobile digital music player and designed a product that fits the bill."

"The W800 has great sound quality, is easy to use, has superb battery life and can store a large amount of music. It is an attractive, desirable device that combines high quality phone, camera, music and games player," he continued.

Sony's world famous Walkman mobile music heritage makes the W800 a serious contestant in the digital music player market. Sound quality is excellent - the W800 comes with quality stereo headphones and is compatible with the proven, industry standard MP3 and AAC music file formats.

Storage capacity is also plentiful since the W800 comes with a 0,5GB Memory Stick duo, giving it the capacity for around 150 music tracks, or 10-12 full length CDs from the user's existing CD collection. The phone makes loading music a breeze thanks to its Disk2Phone software, which enables quick, convenient transfer of music CD's via a PC. Keeping the collection up to date is also no trouble as the software makes it easy to browse, sort, find, transfer and delete music files.

The W800's intuitive interface is a pleasure to use - the functionality of phone, music player and camera are carefully integrated. Additionally, users need never miss a call when listening to music as the ring tone plays through the stereo headphones. Music is paused for a call's duration. The music player is operated with just one Direct Music button that plays, pauses and stops tracks. Player and phone can be used independently of each other, so the owner can switch the phone off for a plane journey while still enjoying music.

Battery life is a key consideration and the W800's battery has enough stamina for the longest journeys. It will play 15 hours if the phone is switched on, and up to 30 hours by itself.

Although weighing in at less than 100g, the W800 also offers a 2 Megapixel camera complete with autofocus, picture light, active lens cover and digital still camera interface, so great photos can be taken in a variety of conditions.

Owners can extend their utilisation of the W800's functionality with useful accessories such as the MMC-60 Music Cable, which connects the device to play out on a stereo hi-fi, and the HCA-60 Advanced Car Handsfree, which allows music to be played through car speakers.

The W800 will be available this year from Q3.