Sony Ericsson has extended its Walkman phone range with the W550.
The entry level entertainment mobile has a 1.3 megapixel camera with a 4x digital zoom, a 176 x 220 pixel TFT display, runs Java games and is pre-loaded with Adobe picture PC software, but music is the main angle for the new model.

Headphones are provided with the phone and music (MP3 or AAC format) is loaded into the 256MB of memory via Disc2Phone PC software. Sony Ericsson claims a battery life of up to 30 hours of music.

Should you be listening when a call comes in, the music automatically cuts off to let you take the call. The Walkman music player can also be used independently of the phone, allowing the phone to be otherwise turned off.

‘This new Walkman phone is aimed at fun seekers who enjoy a good party and like to share enjoyable moments with friends,’ said Steve Walker, Sony Ericsson’s Head of Product Marketing. ‘There are so many entertainment features crammed into this small, sleek handset that whether you are alone or with a group of friends, the W550 can satisfy all your entertainment needs.’

Other elements of the spec include support for video recording and fullscreen playback and multimedia messaging. In terms of connectivity, the tri-band GPRS phone supports USB and Bluetooth and there’s an Access NetFront HTML browser.

The W550i triple band GPRS 900/1800/1900MHz version will be for European, African, Middle East and Asia Pacific markets. No recommended UK pricing has been confirmed at time of writing.