Sony-Ericsson W910, W960 take on iPhone

More Sony-Ericsson phones have been launched late on Tuesday that rest at the very high-end of the company's music-minded Walkman range and will represent the company's main challengers to the iPhone. The pictured W910i slider is the first Walkman to include HSDPA -- absent from the Apple offering -- and specifically supports US networks such as AT&T to provide high-speed access for streaming audio, uploading images and videos from its 2-megapixel rear camera, or video chats through its smaller front camera. It also debuts a new Shake control mode that can switch music tracks or steer games by moving the phone itself. A 1GB Memory Stick Micro card is packed with the phone as is a copy of the Media Manager PC software found with the K850.

Higher still is the W960i, the company's current flagship and the company's closest competitor to its impending rival from Apple. The bar phone stores a full 8GB of flash memory to hold a full 2,000 songs at standard size, or thousands more photos from the sharper 3.2-megapixel camera. Cellular Internet access is provided only through European UMTS but is compensated by built-in Wi-Fi that gives faster access from any location with a hotspot. Also like its California opponent, the device includes a touchscreen that accepts both finger and stylus input for navigating menus and navigating media files.

Both phones should be available internationally during fall 2007, with the W910i likely appearing in North America in black or red while the W960i remains chiefly in Europe in black only. Prices have not been made available.