Also introduced is a compact new music accessory, the Snap-on Speakers MPS-75, which let you play the tracks stored on your WalkmanŽ phone out loud.

“The W660 has a finish that stands out among its peers,” explains Steve Walker, Head of Product Marketing at Sony Ericsson. “Although the W660 places the emphasis firmly on design, it is also a full member of our WalkmanŽ phone family, able to store several hundred full-length songs. That’s important because our research indicates users are listening to more music than ever before – an average of 4.4 hours a day, according to the latest Sony Ericsson Music Monitor.” *

Like several of the latest WalkmanŽ phones, the W660 features TrackID™. If you ever need to identify a piece of music that you don’t recognise, simply record a few seconds of the track, either via the microphone or by tagging a clip straight from the phone’s FM Radio, and TrackID™ will send the clip to the Gracenote Mobile MusicID™ database. This quickly identifies the track, the artist and album and relays the information back to your WalkmanŽ phone.

The W660 WalkmanŽ phone can store up to 470 full-length songs (in eAAC+ format) on the 512MB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) supplied. As your collection grows you can expand the memory as you need and, by way of example, a 1GB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) will hold up to 1,000 tracks.

As well as high speed music download and web surfing, the W660 can deliver RSS feeds straight to the phone’s desktop to keep you up-to-date on the latest news and gossip. It also packs a 2.0 megapixel camera and Picture Blogging capability, allowing you to capture that picture and upload it instantly to your personal blog site - all at 3G speed.

Sony Ericsson also announces the Snap-On Speakers, MPS-75, today. This is a small plug-in speaker unit with excellent sound quality that is powered from the phone - perfect for that party moment. The W660 WalkmanŽ phone also offers Bluetooth™ Audio Streaming, which allows you to send music wirelessly from the phone to other compatible devices, such as the Music Bluetooth™ Receiver MBR-100 or the Stereo Bluetooth™ Headset HBH-DS970.

The W660 WalkmanŽ phone is a UMTS 2100 and GPRS 900/1800/1900 device and will be available in selected markets from Q2 2007. The Snap-On Speakers, MPS-75, will be available globally from Q2 2007.

The W660 at a glance:

Music WalkmanŽ player 2.0 with support for
Album Art
512MB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™) PlayNow™
TrackID™
Disc2Phone
Bluetooth™ Audio streaming
FM radio support
Up to 25 hours music listening
 
Design Slim stick form factor (14.5mm)
Premium design and material
Embellished/raised finish on camera side
Flash theme
Size: 102 x 46 x 14.5 mm
Weight: 93 grams
 
Imaging

 2.0 megapixel camera
Digital zoom 2.5x
2.0 inch 262k colour TFT display
Video Telephony
Video recording / playback
Picture blogging
 
Connectivity Full HTML Web browsing
RSS feeds
Bluetooth™ 2.0
USB 2.0
Java MIDP 2.0
 
Accessories In-Box:
Battery and charger
Stereo Handsfree Headset HPM-70
512MB Memory Stick Micro™ (M2™)
USB Cable DCU-60
Disc2Phone music management software
Aftermarket - including:
Snap-On Portable Speakers MPS-75
Music Bluetooth™ Receiver MBR-100
Stereo Bluetooth™ Headset HBH-DS970
Portable Speakers MPS-70
Music Desk Stand MDS-60
 
Availability and versions Colour options: Record Black and Rose Red
Networks: UMTS 2100 and
GPRS 900/1800/1900
Talk time GSM: Up to 6 hours
Talk time (3G): Up to 2.5 hours
Standby time: Up to 360 hours

The MPS-75 at a glance:

Name Snap-on Speakers MPS-75:
Great stereo sound quality with neodymium speakers

Ultra portable pocket-sized

Integrated FM antenna

Design colour matched to your WalkmanŽ phone

 Packaging content
(WalkmanŽ blister)
 Snap-on Speakers MPS-75
Size
 Speaker: 101.5 mm x 65.5 mm x 48 mm
(39.9 in. X 25.8 in. X 18.91 in.)
 
Weight 107 g (3.745 oz.)
Color: DPY: Black/orange
 
Compatibility Sony Ericsson music phones incorporating Fast port
 
The research was conducted online by Luon, an independent sales and marketing company on behalf of Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications between 30 November and 27 December 2006. There were 4,603 respondents aged 18+ across 12 countries worldwide:

- Denmark
- Russia
- Finland
- Sweden
- Germany
- Taiwan
- India
- Turkey
- Indonesia
- UK
- Norway
- USA

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications serves the global communications market with innovative and feature-rich mobile phones, accessories and PC-cards. Established as a joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in 2001, with global corporate functions located in London, the company employs over 7,500 people worldwide, including R&D sites in Europe, Japan, China and America. Sony Ericsson celebrated the 5th anniversary of the start of the joint venture on 1st October, 2006.

Sony Ericsson is the global title sponsor of the Women's Tennis Association, and works with the Association to promote the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in over 80 cities during the year.

For more information on Sony Ericsson, please visit www.sonyericsson.com