Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman Smartphone Officially Announced

The last time we were speaking about a Walkman Android device, it was the Sony Ericsson W8, a rather boxy looking device with three Android buttons on the bottom, a Sony Ericsson skin over an unbelievably outdated Android 2.1 Eclair, and the ability to be dubbed with the legendary tag Walkman. What we’ve got here today is a much more viable release in the “Live with Walkman”, a device launching with the newest Android 2.3.x Gingerbread and working like a magical music machine, complete with Spotify gracing its first press release image – will this be the first device to launch with Spotify built in?

Sony Ericsson lets us know that not all services mentioned in its first press release will necessarily be available in every region this device will be released in, but take note! There’s Facebook integration – probably not unlike what we’ve seen in the Facebook Inside XPERIA on the XPERIA Neo, for example. Next there’s an unnamed “Media Discovery Application” that’ll use Facebook recommendations, for example, to show you new bits of media you may be interested in. There’ll be an “Infinite” button able to be tapped inside your basic media player that’ll give you info on the artist, lyrics, and will give you access to music videos somehow or another.

Qriocity will be built in with this device, more than likely giving you a free service with a pay service available as well – this is the only reason why we think the Spotify track on the homescreen might not indicate an actual app on the out of the box device. Sony’s xLOUD technology will, as they say “enhance audio output of the inbuilt speakers at high levels.” TrackID will ID the music you’re listening to inside FM radio and music player – tracks can then “instantly be shared or downloaded” in a manner we’re not sure of yet – integrated with Spotify?

Sony Ericsson has also given us a massive list of abilities this device will have that are hereby listed below – and note that not all of these features are new to smartphones by any means, but as Sony Ericsson hath listed them, so too must we show you:

Colours

Black and White

Facts

Size: 56.5 x 106 x 14.2 mm
Weight: 115 g

Camera

5 megapixel camera
8x digital zoom
Auto focus
Face detection
Flash/Photo light
Flash/Photo flash
Flash/LED
Front-facing camera (VGA)
Geo tagging
HD video recording (720p)
Image stabiliser
Red-eye reduction
Scene detection
Self-timer
Send to web
Smile detection
Touch capture
Touch focus
Video light
Video recording

Music

Album art
Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
Music tones (MP3/AAC)
PlayNow™ service
Stereo speakers
TrackID™ music recognition
Walkman™ player
xLOUD™

Internet

Android Market™
Bookmarks
Google™ search
Google Voice™ Search
NeoReader™ barcode scanner
Pan & zoom
Web browser (WebKit)

Communication

Call list
Conference calls
Facebook™ application
Google Talk™
Polyphonic ringtones
Skype
Sony Ericsson Timescape™
Speakerphone
Twitter™ (Timescape™ integration)
Vibrating alert
Video chat ready

Messaging

Conversations
Email
Google Mail™
Handwriting recognition
Instant messaging
Multimedia messaging (MMS)
Predictive text input
Sound recorder
Text messaging (SMS)
Type & Send widget

Design

Auto rotation
Four-corner Home screen
Keyboard (on-screen, 12-key)
Keyboard (on-screen, QWERTY)
Live wallpaper
Picture wallpaper
Touch screen

Entertainment

3D games
Media browser
Radio (FM radio with RDS)
Video streaming
Video viewing
YouTube™

Organiser

Alarm clock
Calculator
Calendar
Document readers
Emanual
Flight mode
Google Calendar™
Google Gallery 3D™
Infinite button
Phonebook
Setup guide
Event
Timer
Widget manager

Connectivity

3.5 mm audio jack
aGPS
Bluetooth™ technology
DLNA Certified™
Google Latitude™
Google Maps™ for Mobile
Google Maps™ with Street View
Media Transfer Protocol support
Micro USB support
Modem
Native USB tethering
Synchronisation via Facebook™
Synchronisation via Google™ Sync
Synchronisation via Sony Ericsson Sync
Synchronisation with computer
Synchronisation via Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync®
Synchronisation: Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® via Moxier client
USB mass storage
USB High speed 2.0 support
USB support
Wi-Fi™
Wi-Fi™ Hotspot functionality
Wisepilot™ turn-by-turn navigation

Display

3.2 inches
16,777,216 colour TFT
480 x 320 pixels
Capacitive touchscreen (multi-touch)
Scratch-resistant

Memory

Phone memory (user-free): Up to 320MB
Memory card support: microSD™, up to 32GB

Battery life

Talk time GSM/GPRS: Up to 14 hrs 15 min*
Standby time GSM/GPRS: Up to 600 hrs*

Talk time UMTS: Up to 6 hrs 42 min*
Standby time UMTS: Up to 850 hrs*

Music listening time: Up to 17 hrs 30 min
Video listening time: Up to 6 hrs 30 min

*According to GSM Association Battery Life Measurement Technique. Battery performance may vary depending on network conditions and configurations, and phone usage.

Networks

UMTS HSPA 850 (Band V), 1900 (Band II), 2100 (Band I)
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900

UMTS HSPA 900 (Band VIII), 2100 (Band I)
GSM GPRS/EDGE 850, 900, 1800, 1900

In the kit

Sony Ericsson Live with Walkman™
1200 mAh battery
stereo headset
2GB microSD™ memory card
Charger
micro USB cable for charging
synchronisation and file transfer
user documentation

Sound like the device for you? This device will be released inside the fourth quarter of 2011 in “select markets.”