Technology News South Africa

Unleash your inner DJ

Sony Ericsson has revealed its stylish new additions to its Walkman phone portfolio - the W890i and W380i. These latest offerings are packed with features sure to set music lovers' pulses racing.
Unleash your inner DJ

The 9.9mm slim W890i packs a 2GB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2), provided in-box, which allows up to 1800 tracks to be stored on the device. The phone incorporates the Walkman Player 3.0, the latest in Walkman technology, which offers one-click access to the player and simple, intuitive navigation around your music.

Not only can you organise your tracks by artist, album, or visually using Album Art (the album's front cover artwork) – with the W890i, you can even select your music to match your mood. The SensMe™ music experience automatically plots your music by tempo and mood – letting you create a playlist that matches how you feel.

The option of an expandable memory is offered if you run out of space, or if you tire of your own selection, tune into your favourite station using the W890i's FM Radio.

Hear a song on the radio you don't recognise but really like? Use the TrackID™ feature to tag a clip from the phone's radio (or any external source) and find out instantly who sings it, what it's called and which album it's from. The TrackID functionality, available on the W380i, the W890i and a host of other Walkman phones – is one of the phones' most popular features. Latest figures show that every second, someone, somewhere, is using TrackID to identify a song they love.

Apart from the W890i's colour matched stereo headset and in-built stereo speakers, which deliver a high quality listening experience, the phone is fully compatible with a range of the latest Sony Ericsson music accessories, including the Portable Bluetooth™ Speaker MBS-100 and the Stereo Bluetooth™ Headset HBH-DS220.

The W890i is a HSDPA/UMTS 2100 and GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 phone, with HSDPA capabilities that are said to allow music downloads at speeds up to four times faster than with regular 3G devices.

The W890i is also equipped with a 3.2 megapixel camera, and comes in a choice of three colours: Espresso Black, Mocha Brown and Sparking Silver.

No clamming up

Unleash your inner DJ

The W380i combines a unique clamshell design with all the music cred users expect from Sony Ericsson's Walkman phones. The phone can store up to 271 songs on the W380i's 512 MB Memory Stick Micro, and includes never-seen before features, such as Gesture control which allows users to 'hit' the snooze button or mute calls with a wave of their hands. There is also an external display that comes to life only when you need it; to show the name of a music track or to let you know who is calling.

Skip forward or backwards between tracks or pause the music without having to open the W380i. One-touch buttons on the top of the phone light up when the player is switched on and a hidden display comes to life, providing track information at a glance. Choose different light effects for different callers, and see your music ‘dance' when the phone's lights match the beat of your favourite song.

The W380i comes complete with Media Manager PC software that lets you easily transfer your music, photos and videos between your computer and phone. Simply point, click and drag your music files from your computer to your phone – the software automatically converts your music to the right format.

For discreet listening, pick from the Stereo Portable Headset HPM-83 or the Stereo Bluetooth™ Headset HBH-DS200 if you want to stream music wirelessly from your phone.

Unleash your inner DJ

Sporting a a 1.3 megapixel camera, the W380i is a GSM/EDGE/GPRS 850/1800/1900 and 900/1800/1900 phone and comes in Electric Purple or Magnetic Grey.

Both the W890i and W380i will be available in selected cellular outlets from early 2008.

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