Sony Ericsson Revamps Handsets with Java-based Phones

Among a plethora of revamped handsets announced by Sony Ericsson this morning is one very thin Walkman phone that peeked out from behind the curtains at CES last month, and whose official announcement enthusiasts weren’t expecting for maybe another three months. The handsome W880 is expected to replace the already successful W850 and W810, while reducing its profile to a mere 9.4 mm.

As a Sony Ericsson spokesperson confirmed to BetaNews this afternoon, the Java Platform 7 platform on which the W880 and seven other models released today are based, includes support for a game rendering engine called MascotCapsule Micro3D, a compatible version of the Mobile 3D Graphics API for Java.

While enthusiasts are looking at the revived Walkman brand to adorn SE’s new top-of-the-line, SE is solidifying its software platform for all its phones across the board, with attractive rendering software that’s open to developers.

The value proposition for SE’s new Walkman phone is based on practicality: With the Disc2Phone software, users can transfer their existing music library directly into the phone, without dealing with a per-download vendor. And since the phone utilizes Bluetooth anyway, SE suggests users take advantage of the stereo Bluetooth headset.

Sony Ericsson W880 Walkman phone

In fact, music and media play some role in all of SE’s new product line entries today, though with an emphasis on practicality. For instance, the entry-level K200 appears geared toward younger users, with emphasis on the built-in camera but just enough storage to handle 40 shots. The K220 adds an FM radio (you remember those?), so the company now has a new baseline for those second and third phones that new customers receive with their carrier service contracts.

Meanwhile, the new W880 and W610 (not as thin) will support the Open Mobile Alliance DRM 2.0, which utilizes public key encryption and is supported by multiple manufacturers and vendors including Siemens and, to some extent, Microsoft.

Cingular has signed on to support OMA DRM in the past, so it’s possible that we’ll see the new Walkman phones appearing under the re-revised AT&T banner soon. It will be the carriers that set the prices for these models.

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