Sony Ericsson has brought back the Walkman range, this time with Android, in the guise of a new smartphone called the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman - catchy we know. 

The Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman phone will be an Android 2.3 smartphone and will show off its music credentials with Sony's xLoud audio system, already available on other Xperia models. xLoud enhances audio output on the device, whilst dedicated music and "Infinite" buttons should mean access to the music player is nice and easy. It will also offer Qriocity music and video services from Sony, unsurprisingly. 

“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,” said Nikolaus Scheurer, head of Product Marketing, Sony Ericsson. 

The aforementioned Infinite button will allow users to have instant access to new content about their favourite artist, such as music videos, artist information and lyrics search, while other apps, like TrackID, should help you identify the music track you are listening to within the FM radio and music player. You’ll also get Bluetooth stereo (A2DP).

Sony Ericsson is also promising “Deep Facebook integration” that allows users to instantly access Facebook through the most used areas of the phone such as the picture gallery, music player, phonebook and calendar.

The phone itself will have a 1GHz processor, 3.2-inch screen (480 x 320 pixels resolution), a 5-megapixel camera with 3D sweep panorama, an 8x digital zoom, image stabiliser and 720p video recording capabilities. aGPS, DLNA, Wi-Fi, 320MB onboard memory and a microSD slot serve those looking for acronyms. There will be a front-facing camera for video chat and Skype. 

Available in black or white, the Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman will be available globally in selected markets from Q4 2011.

The news follows the announcement that HTC has invested $300m in Beats by Dr Dre to drastically improve its music offering.