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Sony Ericsson W705

 Sony Ericsson W705 Discontinued
6th November 2008

The Sony Ericsson W705 is a 3.5G capable slider phone with WiFi and GPS. It is essentially a "Walkman" version of the upcoming G705.

There is very little point in repeating the specifications of the G705 because the W705 is almost identical in every way, except this has the "Walkman" media player and a 4GB memory card as standard in the box.. and it appears that the W705 has had the GPS functionality removed. So, if you're interested in hard technical specs just read the write-up of the G705, and bear these small details in mind.

Although we're sure that the W705 will be a good music phone, we have to question why it exists at all, when the G705 is almost identical, and Sony Ericsson themselves have indicated that their range is too big and muddled.

By our reckoning this is the 28th Walkman phone since 2005, and we feel that this particular sub-brand has been stretched too much. With profits slipping and a baffling range of handsets, it is time for Sony Ericsson to sharpen up its act.

These are our suggestions:

Make "Walkman" the standard.

Why not just make "Walkman" features the standard on all midrange and high-end phones? The underlying hardware is identical in most cases, so what's the problem? Stick the "Walkman" badge on the back.. perhaps even alongside the "Cyber-shot" badge if it has one.

 SE W705 Smartphones, smartphones, smartphones.

Sony Ericsson's range of smartphones is dismal. The star of the range is the Xperia X1.. and that's made by HTC. Where is Sony Ericsson's iPhone killer? Why isn't there a proper successor to the P990? And why are Sony Ericsson's smartphone products either late to market or sometimes just cancelled altogether.

Quit making low-end phones.

Sony Ericsson's low end phones are pretty good, and cheap phones are good for volume sales.. but in terms of profit, they are often a waste of effort. Sony Ericsson handsets simply cannot compete with Nokia in this market.. so why not stick to midrange and high-end devices where there's still money to be made.

Be more creative.

Having a "house style" is important - you can usually spot a Sony Ericsson phone from its neat and understated design alone.. but sometimes you need to come up with something a bit more off-the-wall. Look at the stupidly expensive Motorola AURA, or even the Nokia Prism series, or any number of LG or Samsung phones. The only Sony Ericsson that has had any "wow factor" recently is the X1.. and did we mention that it is made by HTC, not Sony Ericsson.

Stop raiding the parts bin.

Some recent Sony Ericsson handsets look like they've been constructed out of bits from the parts bin. Add a random combination of WiFi, HSDPA, camera resolutions, mix monoblocks with sliders and the occasional clamshell and you too can create a completely new phone. Yes, the bits all work together quite well.. but this is hardly innovation.

But what about the W705?

Anyway.. back to the W705. It looks OK, we don't know how much it will cost and Sony Ericsson say that it should be available during Q1 2009 if you really want one.

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Sony Ericsson W705 at a glance

Available:

Q4 2008 (Europe) / Q1 2009 (US)

Network:

GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 +
UMTS 2100
or 850 / 1900 /2100 (US)

Data:

GPRS + EDGE + UMTS (3G) +
HSDPA + WiFi + HSUPA (US only)

Screen:

240 x 320 pixels, 262k colours

Camera:

3.2 megapixels

Size:

Medium slider
95 x 47 x 14mm / 98 grams

Bluetooth:

Yes

Memory card:

Memory Stick Micro (M2)

Infra-red:

No

Polyphonic:

Yes

Java:

Yes

GPS:

No

Battery life:

4 hours talk / 14 days standby (3G)
10 hours talk / 16 days standby (GSM)

 

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