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From this point of view, things are much easier for the Japanese-Swedish company, who made it clear for its consumers that it won't mix high quality music features with top-notch camera modules and latest business applications into only one handset.

Only a smart marketing politic can sell 'incomplete' products like those branded Sony Ericsson. So, what should you expect when buying a Walkman series handset? Well, there's one thing that you can be sure of – it will blow your ears. It should be branded as "Most wanted" for music freaks, because of the multimedia features that it offers. On the under hand, those that are that are looking for devices that can take high-quality snapshots will be more attached to the Cybershot series. An important segment of consumers – businessmen will also be able to choose from a wide range of smartphones, especially created to improve functionality on the go. The latter series of smartphones registered a little setback once the P1i has been launched on the market.



Even if it had all the features specific to a high-end device, the lack of speed and strange flaws in the Wi-Fi chipset made it almost a total fiasco. How did Sony Ericsson pull it out in the end? I guess the answer to this question is standing right in front of me and it's called W960i. The next Walkman series handset that has been 'stuffed' with Symbian UIQ and Wi-Fi, just to make it a (very) viable solution for businessmen.

Announced in June 2007, Sony Ericsson W960i has been made available on the market in late November 2007. The smartphone can be acquired for no less than USD 600$, but the price may rise to almost USD 800$, depending on the location. Both prices place it in the same range as Sony Ericsson's P1i smartphone, which made me believe that W960i could be the fortunate replacement for the less successful P1i.

Design

Usually, Walkman series handsets impress through their innovative designs and futuristic keypad layouts. The standard block design that Sony Ericsson W960i features strengthens the idea that the target of the smartphone is wider than its name (Walkman) may suggest. The standard look that doesn't impress too much may be perfect for a businessman. I'm not saying that it looks dull or ugly, on the contrary, I'm pretty sure that it will attract both sides through its appealing look and rather stylish form.



The bar handset measures 109 x 55 mm and weighs around 119 grams (battery included). These numbers are not too much for a smartphone, even if it lacks full QWERTY keyboard. Instead, Sony Ericsson W960i features a standard keypad, which might seem a little bit crowded. Keys are wide but there's no space in between them, which might cause a 'lag' when texting messages. Otherwise there's nothing bad about it, as the compound used for manufacture has been skillfully chosen. This might be one of the few smartphones that won't be a fingerprint magnet, even if used heavily. A nice contrast between the glossy front and mat back cover adds to the glamorous look. Right above keypad layout, you will notice three touch controls that will be enabled the moment you start using the music player. The touch keys controlling the music player are pretty responsive, mostly thanks to the huge touchscreen display. Above the screen, one can see the benefits of the UMTS technology – a second camera used for videocalls. On the mat back cover of the smartphone the 3.15 Megapixel camera module is the main attraction. It features dual LED flash and autofocus.

The big external speaker placed right near the camera enables users to listen to music together with their friends. Sony Ericsson 'borrowed' the power up button from Nokia and placed it on top of the handset. Both sides of the smartphone feature few buttons such as: dual volume keys and camera button on the right side, and a jog wheel to ease the navigation through the menus. The bottom of the phone features the usual universal port specific to Sony Ericsson handsets, which can be used to charge the phone, to sync it with your PC or to attach the earphones. There's also a stylus that you can use with the touchscreen on top left of the phone, above the jog wheel. This might look (again) like a phone especially created for left-handed persons, but you'll get used to it, as it became standard for Sony Ericsson to do that to its smartphones.

Display and Camera

These days, a smartphone that lacks touchscreen is less efficient, so Sony Ericsson decided to add one of those big and marvelous displays to its latest Walkman series handset – W960i. The 2.6'' TFT touchscreen supports 262k colors, 240 x 320 pixels resolution and is visible even when used outdoors in strong sunlight.

Even if it's not one of the biggest screens out there, users will still have a smooth Web experience, either you use it in portrait or landscape mode. Benchmarks scored almost identical results as its P1i predecessor, which suggests that both have the same kind of display. The screen is protected against scratches by a special cover.

Processor and Memory

Sony Ericsson W960i features an ARM9 family processor running at speeds up to 180 Mhz. This is the same low CPU that has been embedded in P1i smartphone. This is not nearly what it should be, especially for such a rich operating system like Symbian UIQ 3.0. I believe it's time that Sony Ericsson aimed higher and implemented much better CPU's in its smartphones (see Nokia). The low CPU makes the interface of the Walkman series handset sluggish; still, it cannot be compared with P1i.

The smartphone comes with 128 MB RAM and 256 MB flash (96 reserved for Symbian and 160 user memory). The phone lacks any microSD slot card for memory expansion, but it comes with 8GB storage memory, which makes the slot card useless.

Impressions

I can definitely say that Sony Ericsson W960i is a big improvement in terms of functionality and capabilities. This is the first Sony Ericsson handset to mix Walkman series phone features with business phone features into a complete smartphone. I'd say that W960i is a much better choice for those who wanted to buy P1i smartphone and also for those that are looking to 'upgrade' their Walkman series handset.