Sony Ericsson launch two new phones: the K700 and S700

9 March 2004 15:34 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Sony Ericsson announced today its intention of tackling the camera phone market head on with the introduction of two new phones and a host of new accessories designed to make taking and sharing pictures second nature.

The K700 comes with the ability to capture images as well as video similar to the Siemens SX1 and has 32Mb of memory built in for storage. The phone is also that offers a FM radio and Bluetooth is also capable of playing MP3s, and Sony Ericsson hope that the phones ability to play MP3 ringtones as well will appeal to the lucrative youth market. The phone also sports Sony Ericsson's Quick share solution offering transfer of files to other devices within four presses of a button, however, missing an external media slot will deter this from becoming a truly connected multimedia device.

The S700 on the other hand looks a lot more promising. Building even further on the notion that the device is just as much a camera as it is phone the unit has been designed to primarily look like a camera, even to the point that Sony Ericsson are hoping that you'll hold it sideways.

The phone offers a 1.3megapixel digital camera with 8x digital zoom, photo light and video option while the rear of the phone offers a large 2.3 inch 262K TFT screen with only a few additional buttons for accessing soft menus, controlling the zoom and taking the picture. The keyboard has been disguised in a swivel design similar to Motorola switch phone and once opened the phone takes on a more traditional design. Connectivity is offered via Bluetooth, infrared and a MemoryStick Duo slot although Ericsson hasn't gone as far as other manufacturers to include 3G or even wireless capabilities.

Sony Ericsson is also hoping that bored commuters will enjoy the gaming aspect of the phone and in a partnership with Hi Corp - one of the largest developers of gaming technology for mobile handsets in Japan - has created a graphics processor to handle 3D graphics with ease.