Posted on Monday, August 08 2005 @ 21:13 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
“The W550 is an exciting product that combines music, imaging and game playing to offer consumers fun and entertainment wherever they are, while still being a great phone,” explains Steve Walker, Sony Ericsson’s Head of Product Marketing. “This new Walkman phone is aimed at fun seekers who enjoy a good party and like to share enjoyable moments with friends. There are so many entertainment features crammed into this small, sleek handset that whether you are alone or with a group of friends, the W550 can satisfy all your entertainment needs.”
Listening to music on the W550 over headphones means you never miss a call as the music cuts off automatically when a call is received, permitting the listener to take the call before resuming listening to the paused track. A direct music button gives instant access to the Walkman music player, which can be used independently of the phone, allowing the phone to be used in flight mode so your personal music can be enjoyed even on an airplane.
The W550 also offers an authentic games console experience. Games can be played with the screen positioned horizontally and buttons on the left and right of the screen being used for two-handed control. Gamers can enjoy this experience through the pre-installed 3D versions of Worms Forts: Under Siege 3D developed by THQ Wireless, Extreme Air Snowboarding developed by Digital Chocolate and a new multiplayer version of Midway’s Gauntlet, developed under license by TKO Software. If users prefer, horizontal-mode games can also be played in portrait mode or an L-Shaped mode using the keyboard. The W550 also supports multi-player peer-2-peer gaming over Bluetooth.
Features:
Imaging and messaging
- QuickShare
- 1.3 MegaPixel camera
- Horizontal camera user interface
- 4 x digital zoom
- Picture light
- 176 x 220 pixel TFT display
- 262K colour display
- Video recording and fullscreen playback
- SMS and MMS
- Wireless village
- Adobe picture PC software
Entertainment
- 2 stereo speakers
- Style-Up covers
- PlayNow ringtones and 2D games
- Horizontal fullscreen games and video
- RDS FM radio
- Walkman player (MP3/AAC)
- Media player (MP3/AAC)
- 256MB user memory
- Stereo headset
- 40 polyphonic ringtones
- Java MIDP 2.0
- 3D games
- MusicDJ and VideoDJ
- OMA DRM phase 1
- MegaBass
- Stereo widening
Connectivity
- Triple-band 900/1800/1900 MHz
- GPRS class 10
- Access NetFront HTML browser
- BluetoothTM and Infrared
- PC software
- External antenna connector
- USB system connector and cable
Equipped with a 1.3 MegaPixel camera, the W550 captures stills and video-clips – with 4x digital zoom for close-ups – that can then be stored or shared using MMS or Bluetooth, or even transferred to a PC via USB cable.
Gigs, movie schedules, search engines and webmail can all be easily checked with the full Internet browser from a choice of viewing modes: full scale mode enables users to scroll round the complete page, or information can be presented in a single column. Either way, the bright 1.8 inch 262K TFT display provides razor sharp pictures.
There are plenty of ways to personalise the W550. The user can choose from a range of additional Style-Up covers that can be matched with wallpapers, themes and start-up/close-down animations which can be downloaded from Fun & Downloads. There’s no reason to ever get bored with this stylish, fun phone.
The W550 is a Tri-band / GPRS phone and will be available during early Q4 in two different variants:
W550i - Triple Band GPRS 900/1800/1900MHz version for European, African, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Hong Kong markets
W550c - Triple Band GPRS 900/1800/1900MHz version for mainland China
In addition the W600a Walkman phone for the Americas that was announced on June 13 in New York as a Tri-Band/Edge product will now become the W600i for global distribution as a Quad-Band/Edge phone (850/900/1800/1900). The product will start shipping in the Americas from early Q4.
