Esato

Forum > General discussions > Rumours > New Walkman phone to be announced - W880i or W910i

Author New Walkman phone to be announced - W880i or W910i
goldenface
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
Joined: Dec 17, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Liverpool City Centre
PM
Posted: 2006-07-11 17:10
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
@fatreg

I hope not.
(An)Dante
K700
Joined: Aug 19, 2004
Posts: 147
PM
Posted: 2006-07-11 21:35
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
@goldenface,
Even though the chassis are reused the phones should have better design, not this bulky anymore. I hope that there will be a premium line with premium materials like Nokia 8800 but not wit limited spec (eg. 8800 = 6230i with worth camera and without card slot)

The product lines are dividing. The line is shifting to be music oriented. This is why only fixed focus cameras are used in those. I don't think that phones without a camera can be sould for the youth!

should balance the portfolio. Mid-spec phones should arrive on mid-price. Low-end phones should be reworked with better UI and should refuse the old platform at all. A very low-end should have been released without even a camera and with some built-in memory and card slot to awaiken the desire in many people.. W950i should have been arrived with at least a fixed-focus camera to be really a leader in it's segment.

should think about it's product line. Only one phone cane capture 320x240 video and it's a not a CyberShot! How is it come??? phones should focus on music, CyberShot should focus on still images and on video capture.
jmcomms
Satio Black
Joined: Mar 12, 2002
Posts: > 500
From: Jonathan Morris
PM, WWW
Posted: 2006-07-12 01:12
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
A lot of the phones are developed at different times, and you can see how marketing people can then hold something back meaning you get a weird mix of handsets on sale. Some stuff released in a few months might be, technically, older than something else.

Then there are the last minute changes. The W900 wasn't going to be a Walkman phone, so it was a bit of a bodge. It was a Sxxx and designed for video, imaging and gaming. Look at the position of the Walkman button, and the bodged headset with built in radio!

Then we had a few 'end of line' entry level mobiles with the bottle-opener antenna, released long after they were no longer being developed (some with the old charging connector too).

Even the K800 has a few old firmware things (like the 3G symbol and the triangular GPRS symbol instead of G(PRS), E(DGE) and so on. At least it got a few updates, like the improved NetFront browser.

It must be a nightmare for SE, but this is only what has always been the case with companies like Nokia, Motorola, Samsung etc. They had better get used to it. No, WE had better get used to it!
Jonathan Morris
Editor, What Mobile magazine - the UK's leading mobile phone magazine
www.whatmobile.netforum.whatmobile.net
Twitter @jmcomms
shaliron
K610 red
Joined: Jan 15, 2006
Posts: > 500
From: Melbourne, Australia
PM
Posted: 2006-07-12 10:06
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
Well SE have somewhat dug themselves into a hole with mid range phones. The equilavents of the W550's price range are phones with memory expansion. But do you know why the W550 doesn't come with memory exanpsion? The K750 OR W800 would have been overshadowed by the W550 with only a worse camera. So this why they couldn't put a decent screen (which would be 176x220 in this price range) in the K510 for example, cos it would overshadow the W550 and so on so forth. Nokia's been doing a very good job in this department. The 6280 is very cheap at the moment for its feature list and same goes for the 6131 (superb screen) and it's products like the 6111 are actually attractive! SE's mid-low range is ugly.

But before we go off topic, the new will definately be positioned where the W900 was, high-end. I want a leak...
A wooden spoon is a spoon made from wood. Source: Wikipedia

Winner of: Best Thread (Huge SE Portfolio) 2007, Best Post (Huge SE Portfolio) 2007, Best Signature 2007, and 2nd Best Nickname 2007.
(An)Dante
K700
Joined: Aug 19, 2004
Posts: 147
PM
Posted: 2006-07-12 12:00
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
SonyEricsson has really defective mid-range. The K310 can be stated as a low-mid phone. And what about the K510? For the same price you can get phones with better screen and memory slot. The K750i is only 25% more expensive and still less than $250.

The proce gap between the W300, W550, W700, W800, W810 is almost nothing however the W300 is stated as a budget while the W810 is a mid-high device. The W900 should have been arrived in a more compact body.

The product lines are unclear. The high-end priced models not offerint more fetatures just a bit more memory. The mid-high range has the best value/price ratio, while the mid-low has the worth.
shyam335
M600 black
Joined: May 25, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: 127.0.0.1
PM
Posted: 2006-07-12 15:02
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
Indeed ,se has a very defective mid range and low-end price structure.
There are a terrible lot of lies going around the world, and the worst of it is half of them are true - Winston Churchill

We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us - Winston Churchill
goldenface
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
Joined: Dec 17, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Liverpool City Centre
PM
Posted: 2006-07-12 15:29
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
Last year, it was said that was go for growth and start filling out the lower end. Market share doesn't seem to have increase by any large margin although profits have.

Maybe it needs to start concentrating on the more expensive devices, which probably swallow up more R&D budget but will give us more interesting handsets like the W950i.
dr_thug
P990
Joined: Nov 11, 2004
Posts: > 500
From: India
PM
Posted: 2006-07-12 16:53
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
Please No SE vs Nokia here

back to topic...

any pic leaks on the new phone??
goldenface
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
Joined: Dec 17, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Liverpool City Centre
PM
Posted: 2006-07-12 17:08
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
erm who mentioned Nokia . Going to have a snoop for some pics now.
(An)Dante
K700
Joined: Aug 19, 2004
Posts: 147
PM
Posted: 2006-07-12 17:18
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
The lower end is still too muddled. The J100i has ugly design and introduced a poor resolution screen instead of the old 101x80 pixel. The overcrowded "J" series has many models with almost the same specification except the J100i, but all of them has a same price, so the J100i is simply unnecessary. While the J230i with its orange colours tries to reflect a feeling.

The lower-end should have more focus. The "J" series should have various differend design and color combination. In mid-low the K310 is a nice try but better design should have been presented or even several different model with similar specifiaction and extremely different design. Focus on these two segemnts are required to achieve higher market share.

In mid (PRICE) range has to introduce better screens (eg 176x220) and memory card slots. In the higher series the QVGA display should be the deafult. Premium lines with premium materials, attractive design and rich sales packages should be introduced for premium customers since they're willing to pay more for a qulaity product. These segments especially the premium lines are required to achieve higher profitability.

Product lines and price segments should be well defined and the evolution of ranges should be well planned as well. is so week in this.
shaliron
K610 red
Joined: Jan 15, 2006
Posts: > 500
From: Melbourne, Australia
PM
Posted: 2006-07-13 09:12
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
@goldenface
Um... I mentioned it a bit

But we are seriously off topic... let's try to get back to rumours.
Anyone else think that the new will use keys like the W950 for it's thin profile. It'd be a cool change from the chemically etched metal keypad that have become all too common. I actually hope that it's used on all 'fashion' or 'thin' phones in SE's product range.
A wooden spoon is a spoon made from wood. Source: Wikipedia

Winner of: Best Thread (Huge SE Portfolio) 2007, Best Post (Huge SE Portfolio) 2007, Best Signature 2007, and 2nd Best Nickname 2007.
(An)Dante
K700
Joined: Aug 19, 2004
Posts: 147
PM
Posted: 2006-07-13 09:36
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
No has been announced for today.
goldenface
Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
Joined: Dec 17, 2003
Posts: > 500
From: Liverpool City Centre
PM
Posted: 2006-07-13 10:43
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
@shaliron

You mean the touch sensitive keypad on a clamshell? I hope they don't over-design the keypad like they did on the W300i. That would put me off buying it.

Its too gimmicky, making the keys look like discs is a bit over the top. The next clamshell should be THIN for a start because Thin is In.
shaliron
K610 red
Joined: Jan 15, 2006
Posts: > 500
From: Melbourne, Australia
PM
Posted: 2006-07-13 10:59
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
@goldenface
Well the keypad isn't exactly 'touch sensitive' I think. I remeber reading that the keys are still physically pressed down, and that is a 'click' feeling. I imagine it by sorta putting a piece of rubber onto raised keys like the T630. And you're right about the ovedesigning bit. That's why I like the W950's keys, they're simple.

...and if you don't get what I mean by the keys, Eldar tries his best at explaining it (although I on't get it myself )
Quote:

This phone is the very first model, where the manufacturer incorporated a new type of keyboard – to be precise, touch keys. Even though this concept isn’t something new, as it has been already used in digital cameras for quite a while, where developers have to reckon with a certain thickness of applied buttons. Keys’ contacts are integrated into substrate, which is covered with a soft layer made of various materials (as a rule, it’s a polymer film). On the surface, the buttons can be made either relief or flush. In W950i all buttons are flushed up, however there is a small relief dot near each key in order to make them easier to find. You can readily manage the device without looking at the keyboard after you’ve gotten used to it.

A wooden spoon is a spoon made from wood. Source: Wikipedia

Winner of: Best Thread (Huge SE Portfolio) 2007, Best Post (Huge SE Portfolio) 2007, Best Signature 2007, and 2nd Best Nickname 2007.
(An)Dante
K700
Joined: Aug 19, 2004
Posts: 147
PM
Posted: 2006-07-13 11:12
Reply with quoteEdit/Delete This PostPrint this post
I'd love to see an elegant with refined simplicity.
Access the forum with a mobile phone via esato.mobi
Goto page:
Lock this Topic Move this Topic Delete this Topic