New Sony Ericsson W44S
… cellphone coming in early December on Japan’s AU network! Damn, look at it! It’s got a rocket launcher attached to it! Uh, OK, that was a bit of an exaggeration - how about a laser beam thingy? Either way, this looks just like something James Bond would use! I want this phone!
I’m not as keen on Sony now-a-days as I once was (15-20yrs ago) but I have gotta admit, Sony cellphones have the upper hand, imho. In Japan, I have owned cellphones made by Sanyo, NEC, Sharp, Casio and Sony, and when it comes to sheer speed and usability, Sony is the better one. But in terms of industrial design, Sony phones are only so so (they used to be thicker than other makers). And surprisingly, the 1 year self destruct timer never kicked in on my old Sony phone even after 2 years of service!
Anyway, here are some specs for the W44S:
- Dual Open Style mechanism
- 3-inch wide LCD (240px x 432px) using the same technology as Sony’s BRAVIA TVs
- 3-megapix CMOS camera
- One-Seg digital TV and digital radio
- Watch music videos downloaded from LISMO
- PC site viewer
- EZ Felica
- + the usual stuff
More: Sony Ericsson JP website or here and here.
Too many moving parts, liable to break easily. Does it have 1Seg? If not I don’t see the reason for having the screen flip like that.
Can you please tell me when Sony Ericssion W44S will be lauched in Mumbai, India and what would be the marketable price for this handset.
Regards
Amit
Roy,
Yeah, it has One-Seg (I’ve updated post). I also agree that too many moving parts is a problem. I’m not so keen on that antenna either. I mean, if you slide the phone into your back pocket, the antenna might get caught and become bent! Worse, it may snap! It should be hidden better.
Amit,
I’m afraid the answer is probably, never. The phones in Japan rarely (if ever) make it outside of Japan (and phones from outside rarely make it into Japan). For starters, we don’t use GSM in Japan. If you are lucky, maybe Sony will design something similar for other parts of the world… but I wouldn’t expect it to have the same identical design. This phone is not yet available (early December) and I’m pretty sure it will cost the same as other phones with similar specs, between JP¥20,000 - ¥26,000 (US$170 - US$220), providing you signup a new contract.
Update:2006.12.08
This phone costs ¥31,290 with new contract! Damn, that’s expensive! It’ll probably cost ¥0 in 3 months time with new contract.
Is the New Sony Ericsson W44S phone available in US.
Can you please tell me when Sony Ericssion W44S will be lauched in Mumbai, India and what would be the marketable price for this handset.
Firoz
Read my comment above addressed to “Amit” regarding seeing this phone outside of Japan.
i would like to know, if this phone comin out in USA.
I am getting this phone in a month and i think this phone is the best i thouth it would be fo $700 but it is not it is on between $170-$220 THAT IS SO COOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
I jsut want to know whether this W44S model can be used outside Japan with the same network type. And if yes can we unlock the this mobile>
No, it cannot. It’s not GSM.