Sony Ericsson Walkman Goes Android With the Sony Ericsson Live

The folks at Sony Ericsson are keeping the Walkman brand alive and well with a new Android phone called the Sony Ericsson Live. It’s another nod to the ageless Walkman brand that many have cherished since you could still find cassette tapes in music stores. It’s an Android 2.3 smartphone that puts a major emphasis on multimedia playback.

Specifically, audio can be enhanced to play at loud but crisp levels and you get a built-in Track ID app to identify songs you wouldn’t otherwise know. You’ll also get Qriocity services to stream music and video. This also comes with the Facebook integration that other Sony Ericsson phones have gotten in recent updates.

For specs, you’re looking at a 3.2 inch HVGA display, a 1GHz processor, a 5 megapixel camera with flash and HD video recording, a front-facing camera and more. Sony Eriscsson never ceases to amaze me with these affordable yet attractive products. It’s set to come to select markets in Q4 2011. Read on for full press details.

22 August 2011, London, UK – Sony Ericsson today announced Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™, an Android smartphone that delivers a unique social music experience. A dedicated Walkman™ hardware button provides instant access to the music player and consumers can also like, share and discover content through a deep Facebook™ integration. The infinite button lets the consumer explore even more and the *Qriocity service from Sony provides music and video content for the consumer to enjoy.

With attractive curved design, a glossy finish and a mineral glass display, the phone has a 3.2” screen and a powerful 1Ghz processor. A front facing camera is enabled for Skype video calling, while a 5MP AF camera can capture 720p HD video recording. *Sony’s xLOUD™ enhances audio  output, while the latest Android platform for smartphones (Gingerbread 2.3) provides access to over 250,000 applications on the Android Market™.

Nikolaus Scheurer, Head of Product Marketing, Sony Ericsson said: “Consumers want smartphones to deliver a rich and social entertainment experience. Rather than a one dimensional music experience, they want instant and seamless access to new content, combined with the ability to share and connect with their friends. The Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™ provides exactly this, in a powerful package with great style.”

A perfect combination of social networking and music entertainment:

• Deep Facebook™ integration: Allows users to instantly access Facebook through the most used areas of the phone such as the picture gallery, music player, phonebook and calendar.
• Media Discovery Application: A dynamic application placing the world of music and videos at consumer’s fingertips including Facebook™ recommendations from their friends.
•  Infinite button: Tapping it within the media player enables consumers to have instant access to new content about their favourite artist, such as music videos, artist information and lyrics search.
• Qriocity music and video content services from Sony: Consumers can access millions of songs from all major labels and watch thousands of movies from all major studios. Only Sony Ericsson Android smartphones provide consumers with unique access to the  entertainment services from *Sony.
• *Sony’s xLOUD™ technology: Enhances audio output of the inbuilt speakers at high levels.
• TrackID™: Identifies the music track you are listening to within the FM radio and music player. The track can then instantly be shared or downloaded.

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™ will be available globally in selected markets from Q4 2011.
For full details all products news, please visit the press room and the product blog:
http://www.sonyericsson.com/cws/corporate/press/pressreleases/latestnews
http://blogs.sonyericsson.com/products/

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™ at a glance.
*Please note that all services mentioned may not be available in every market.