Sony Ericsson launches two Walkman phones, C510

Sony Ericsson has staked out a position at CES with three new phone launches. Leading the field, the W715 is an improvement on the older W705 that adds GPS to the Walkman slider and thus support for both turn-by-turn directions and finding points of interest on the ordinarily music-centric phone. It continues to offer a 3.2-megapixel camera, 3G and Wi-Fi with DLNA media sharing along with signature music functions like shake-to-shuffle control over random play and smart playlists based on moods.

The W715 is considered a Vodafone exclusive and will ship to at least some of the carrier's service countries in the near future. Particular launch windows and prices aren't set.

Within the mid-range, the W508 sets a comparatively new level for Walkman clamshells with a 3.2-megapixel camera, 3G and a bundled 1GB Memory Stick Micro card. It has the same external music controls as the W980 but with the shake shuffle feature and new changeable faceplates to customize the look. Sony Ericsson is prepping a spring launch for the phone and notes that it's making both an international version and a North American model with 850MHz 3G, hinting at support for AT&T or Rogers.

One Cyber-shot cameraphone joins the launch. The C510 is Sony Ericsson's first to port Smile Shutter over from its dedicated cameras and can hold off on taking a 3.2-megapixel photo until a smile is visible in the picture. It also supports face detection and lets owners upload imagery either to HP's Snapfish for printing or to YouTube for both photos and videos.

Many of these software features have also been rolled into a firmware update for the C905, the company notes.

Like the other phones, the C510 supports 3G and will be available in both world and North American versions when it ships before the end of March.

W715