Sony Ericsson W890i and W380i Walkman phones announced

Geared towards older mature market

6 November 2007 19:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Sony Ericsson has announced two new Walkman handsets today at a launch event in central London as well as confirming that its touchscreen W960 will be shipping in the UK from today.

The new handsets will be the W890i and W380i and according to Sony Ericsson promise to "delight music lovers on the go".

Announced just days before the launch of the Apple iPhone in the UK, the new handsets, which won't be available in the UK until early next year, will aim to tempt mobile phone users to wait a little longer before upgrading.

The super thin W890i, which will follow on from the company's W880i handset will ditch the prickly keys, come with a 2GB MemoryStick in the box, a 3.2 megapixel camera and a host of other features including the company's latest music software, version 3 and its SensMe application that picks tunes on a given mood or tempo.

The new phone will offer HSDPA connectivity rather than standard 3G of the W880 and come a choice of three colours: Espresso Black, Mocha Brown and Sparking Silver.

The W380i Walkman phone combines will come with a clamshell design and feature "Gesture controls" that allows users to mute calls with a wave of their hands.

On the tech specs side of things, the phone will come with 512MB in the box, have an FM radio and Sony Ericsson's usual array of software like TrackID and its Blogger tool.

Finally in an attempt to quell the iPhone's launch on Friday, Sony Ericsson has announced that the W960i Walkman phone will start to ship from today.

The W960i, which was announced in June offers 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity and has room for 8000 songs.

The phone also features a 2.6-inch display and 3.2 megapixel camera.

Update: Sony Ericsson has since confirmed that the W960 will not be available in the UK until January 2008.