Sony Ericsson fuses crystal clear audio with the latest mapping technology – exclusive to Vodafone on the W715 Walkman™ phone

Introducing advanced wireless connectivity combined with Sony Ericsson’s best-in-class audio experience – the W715 Walkman™ phone. Building on an array of innovative launches in 2008, Sony Ericsson announces a new product into its mobile music range. With quick access to the navigation services through a dedicated key, it opens up the world of easy navigation to bring something new in 2009.

London, UK - January 8, 2009 Sony Ericsson announces that soon Vodafone customers will be able to use the GPS enabled W715 Walkman™ phone to make the most of location-based services. Aside from turn-by-turn pedestrian or driving navigation available using Vodafone Find&Go, customers will be able to find their nearest restaurants, hotels or shopping centres all within a few clicks on their new mobile phone.

The W715 Walkman™ phone features the same superior sound quality as the W980 Walkman™ phone, which was rated ‘best audio experience’ in independent tests*. On the top of premium music experience with crystal clear sound, the W715 includes popular Walkman™ features such as the music recognition application TrackID™, SensMe™ for matching your mood to the music, and Shake Control to change tracks with the flick of a wrist. All this provides for a premium Music experience, fully integrated with Vodafone Music, allowing easy access to single and album downloads.

‘"The W715 is another exciting exclusive for Vodafone customers. The seamless integration with Vodafone’s Music services, such as single or full album download, provides for a great overall experience on our fast and reliable network. With fully integrated GPS and Vodafone Find&Go, this phone is offering a very attractive feature set in a combination we know customers are asking for more and more", said Patrick Chomet, Global Director of Terminals at Vodafone.

‘We are continuing to progress the music capability on our phones’, added Peter Marsden, Head of GCU Vodafone at Sony Ericsson, ‘and the W715 Walkman™ phone is a great way to support Vodafone Music, plus its dedicated key to location-based services simply highlights its ease of use – all making for a great user experience.’

The W715 Walkman™ phone is much more than a music phone. Its metal finish combines with a large screen in an elegant and compact slider for a professional feel. The inclusion of a 3.2 Megapixel camera and Wi-Fi connectivity allows users to snap photos of friends, and quickly upload them to social networking sites for all to see.

The Vodafone exclusive Sony Ericsson W715 Walkman™ phone will be available in Galactic Black, and Luxury Silver. Country availability will be announced in due course.

The new W715 Walkman™ phone:

Award-winning clear audio experience – listen to music as it was meant to be heard
aGPS increases the precision of location-based services (LBS)
Vodafone Find&Go navigation service – a complete mobile navigation experience
Desktop direct search to online music – go online for the best songs and most popular videos on YouTube™
Wi-Fi and DLNA certified – connect the way you want
Shake Control – switch tracks and control the volume with the flick of a wrist
SensMe™ – create playlists based on mood, rather than artists or genres
Large 2.4-inch screen – view websites and emails with high clarity
Auto rotate – switch from portrait to landscape with just a tilt of the phone
Google Maps™ for Mobile
3.2 Megapixel camera – snap and share your favourite images via Bluetooth™
FM radio with TrackID™ – listen to the radio while on the move
Option for 4GB memory card – store up to 3,900 songs**
The W715 supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSPA 900/2100. The W715 will be available in selected markets, in the colours Galactic Black, and Luxury Silver - countries and details of specific music and navigation applications, to be announced locally during Q1 (January-March) 2009.