Sony Ericsson launches new phones

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB showed off three new GSM mobile phones, two accessories and a phone-controlled toy car at an event here on Wednesday.

The three phones, the T230, Z200 and Z600, all have color screens, polyphonic ring tones, and built-in games. The Z models mark Sony’s first use of the clamshell format for GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) phones — and its entry into the market for customizable cases.

The T230, an entry-level model aimed at the prepaid service market, shows just how rapidly technology is evolving in this field. It has more features than the T68i, which was Sony Ericsson’s top-of-the-range model a year ago, according to Jan Wäreby, the company’s head of sales and marketing. The phone can show picture messages on its 4096-color display and, with the MCA-30 add-on camera, send them too. It weighs 79.2 grams and measures 101.5 millimeters by 43.5 millimeters by 19 millimeters, and will be available in GSM markets in Europe and Asia in the fourth quarter. The T226, a similar phone but with a 512-color display, is already available in North America, Wäreby said.

Different colored front panels can be clipped onto the clamshell case of the Z200 (it ships with a choice of two), and the “wallpaper” on the phone’s display changed to match, meaning it can be coordinated with one’s clothes or mood, Wäreby said. The phone has a quirky, off-center, round status display on its outer cover, and a 4096-color display inside. It weighs 98.3 grams and measures 96.4 millimeters by 52.0 millimeters by 25.4 millimeters, and will be available in European and Asian GSM markets in the fourth quarter, he said.

The Z600 also has interchangeable colored panels, this time on both front and back of its clamshell case, with matching wallpaper, including one set created by clothing designer Paul Smith. Inside, the phone has much the same features as the T610, released earlier this year, but with a bigger display. Both the T610 and Z600 feature Sony Ericsson’s QuickShare software, which allows users to take a photo with just two button clicks, and to transmit it to another phone with just four more clicks, Wäreby said. The phone has a 65,536-color display, supports GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) data connections, weighs 110 grams, and measures 90 millimeters by 48 millimeters by 27.9 millimeters. It will also be available in the fourth quarter.

With its Bluetooth short-range radio interface and a new driving game, V-Rally2, the Z600 is also suited to Sony Ericsson’s two new accessories.

The HBH-200 Bluetooth hands-free headset has a tiny display on a tie-clip-style gadget, which allows you to see who’s calling without getting your phone out of your pocket. The gadget can also store up to five distinctive ringtones of its own to identify different callers, and allows you to consult your phone’s address book and a list of recently received or dialed calls. A cable measuring about 500 millimeters connects the device to a standard in-ear earphone with an in-line microphone. The full range of the headset’s address book and caller identification features are only available when it is operated with new Sony Ericsson phones such as the Z600.

When used with Bluetooth phone models from other manufacturers, the HBH-200 will only display the calling number, not the caller’s name in the address book. It will not display calling numbers at all when used with Bluetooth phones that use an older version of Symbian Ltd.’s Symbian OS, including Sony Ericsson’s P800 smart phone, according to product manager Robert Westholm. The headset contains a battery which can be recharged using a standard Sony Ericsson phone charger, although not at the same time as the phone is being charged, he said. Fully charged, the 33-gram device can remain on standby for 70 hours, or will let you talk for up to 3.5 hours, the company said.

The Gameboard EGB-10 clip-on game controller is designed to bring the ease of use of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.’s PlayStation game console controllers to mobile gaming — and will be priced at a similar level to add-on controllers for the PlayStation, according to a Sony Ericsson spokesman. The controller plugs into the standard accessory socket of Sony Ericsson phones — although the Z600 is the first model to contain the necessary driver software. The phone then slots into a cradle at the top of the controller — although only a cradle for the Z600 phone will be available when the controller goes on sale in the fourth quarter, the spokesman said.

For game players craving more realism than V-Rally2 played on a tiny screen can provide, Sony Ericsson also revealed a tiny remote-controlled car, CAR-100, which can be steered using a Sony Ericsson Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone. The limited-edition vehicle, smaller than any of the new phones, has two gears. Because it is paired with a particular phone, several of them can be raced in the same room without the controls interfering. Like most Bluetooth devices, the car can be controlled up to a range of 10 meters, a Sony Ericsson spokesman said.