Sony Ericsson on Sunday announced a new premium handset aimed at capturing the Web convergence market, blending multimedia with
mobile Web communication in its first product using Microsoft' s
operating system.
The Xperia X1 will launch in the second half of 2008 and will be
sold worldwide, including in the United States.
Executives said their focus was on the user experience, not the
operating system, and said that many Sony Ericsson signature
features, including a patented nine-panel interface, had been
built on top of the Windows operating system.
Sony Ericsson executive Steve Walker said Microsoft Mobile was
the "ideal" platform for the X1.
The handset features an arc sliding mechanism with a 3-inch-wide
DVD-quality video display, a full keyboard alongside a
touchscreen, and optical device for navigation.
Sony Ericsson executives declined to give pricing on the handset
or say how many it plans to ship.
The partnership was announced on the eve of the Mobile World
Congress, the largest wireless industry conference.
For additional information on the new Xperia X1, visit
http://www.sonyericsson.com.
Samsung, Motorola and LG all ship cell phones with Microsoft
Mobile, while Nokia, the largest handset maker by volume,
incorporates some Microsoft technology, including Windows Media
Player.
Nokia also unveiled at Mobile World Congress trade show a new N96 top-of-the-range model, successor to its top profit generator, the N95. It comes with 16 gigabytes of internal memory, and is expected to retail for around 550 euros ($800), excluding subsidies and taxes.
In addition, Nokia's new N78 model, a successor to the N73, Nokia's top-selling multimedia phone, will start sales next quarter for around 350 euros.
The company also unveiled new mid-range phone models 6210 Navigator, to sell for around 300 euros, and the 6220 Classic with a 5 megapixel camera, priced at around 325 euros.