SE Launches 7 New Handsets at GSMA 2008

Maybe it’s the prospect of a humongous turnout of visitors at GSMA, or perhaps it was the beauty of Barcelona that prompted Sony Ericsson to spring seven new mobiles on us. Either way, I'm not complaining. One thing I’ve always admired about Sony Ericsson is that its handset designers can claim to be the best in the business. While the handsets may not appeal to all, nobody can deny they're funky and futuristic. So here are the latest models launched at GSMA 2008.

Cyber-shot
Let's start off with Sony Ericsson’s latest additions to the Cyber-shot series of handsets: the C702 and C902. “They appeal to different audiences. One is engineered to let you take more pictures in more places and the other is designed to look as stunning as the pictures it takes,” said Sven Totté, Head of Imaging Marketing at Sony Ericsson.

The C702 has a 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera with flash, and can be carried almost everywhere. It’s splash- and dust-resistant and has built-in GPS with location-based imaging that lets you sort and view photos according to where they were taken (i.e. geographical information is automatically added to each image). The integrated GPS provides turn-by-turn voice guidance to destinations and marks points of interest – 20 million of them.

This UMTS and 3G HSDPA 2100-enabled handset supports EDGE/GPRS, and other connectivity features include USB V2.0 (proprietary) and Bluetooth with A2DP. It’s equipped with a 2.2 inch TFT display with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. It supports external memory with M2 cards. The phone will be available in select markets in Speed Black or Cyan Blue from Q2 2008.

The C902, on the other hand, comes equipped with a 2 inch TFT display sporting 256K colors and a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. It has a 5 megapixel auto-focus camera with a flash and a slew of other features such as face recognition and image stabilization. Illuminated keys around the display act as shortcuts to various camera settings. The camera can be activated by sliding open the active lens cover. A BestPic feature allows users to take nine photos in quick succession and choose the best of the lot.

x-Pict story allows users to add music and transitions to the gallery of photos and automatically create multimedia slideshows to share. There's 160MB of internal memory, and external memory is supported via M2 cards. This 3G HSDPA-enabled phone also supports GPRS with EDGE. USB v2.0 and Bluetooth with A2DP profile are supported. The handset will be available in select markets in Swift Black and Luscious Red from Q2 2008.