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Normally a cell phone headset jack doesn't get us excited, but with the Sony Ericsson W995 Walkman we couldn't help ourselves. Sure, the W995 may pale a bit when compared with the Sony Ericsson Idou, but it offers plenty of merits. Two days after Sony Ericsson unveiled the phone at the GSMA World Congress, we took it for a spin.

Overall, the W995's design is very similar to other Walkman phones. It comes in three colors--energetic red, progressive black, and cosmic silver--but we're partial to the bright red. At 3.8 inches tall by 1.9 inches wide by 0.6 inch thick, it casts a trim shadow, but it has a solid feeling in the hand.

The 2.6-inch display is gorgeous with sharp colors and graphics. The icon-based menu interface is unchanged from other Walkman phones, which is to say it's easy-to-use.

Its headset jack is one the W995's best features.

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

The navigation array has a somewhat stylized design with a circular toggle and a central OK button that doubles as a music player control. The remaining controls--Talk and End buttons, a clear key, a shortcut control, and two soft keys--are shaped like half circles. The latter four are a bit tiny, as are the keypad buttons.

Now we're excited about the aforementioned headset jack for two reasons. Not only is it conveniently located on the top of the phone, but also it is a 3.5mm connection. It's fantastic that Sony Ericsson finally lets you use your own headset instead of being shackled with a proprietary connection.

The W995 will make you see red.

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

On the spines you'll find the charger port, a Walkman shortcut, dedicated music controls, a volume rocker, the Memory Stick Micro slot, and a camera shutter. The camera lens and flash rest on the rear side next the nifty kickstand. Though the kickstand's hinge seemed a bit loose when we played with it, but we still think it's a great feature.

For a full gallery of W995 shots, check out our slide show.

The Sony Ericsson Idou may just be a concept phone, but I had the opportunity to handle it while visiting the company's booth at the GSMA World Congress. Indeed, a press pass has its benefits, as other show attendees could gaze at it only in a glass display.

As the Idou is not a finished product, the Sony Ericsson rep wouldn't let the model out of his sight. We had a similar experience at CES 2009 when we examined the Palm Pre--we could touch the outside all we wanted, but we couldn't get an extensive tour of the phone's inner workings.

But even with a short tour, I came away with favorable impressions. Though it doesn't break any new design ground, the Idou is a striking handset in many regards. The 3.5-inch display covers almost all of the phone's front face. Colors were bright and graphics were rich and vibrant. Of course, the Idou displays video in landscape mode. On the whole, the media experience looks quite promising.

The Idou should be a media machine.

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

The touch-screen interface appears to be pretty intuitive and user-friendly. We saw shortcuts to the camera and phonebook and we spied dedicated touch music player controls. On the bottom of the display are dedicated touch controls for the main menu, the video player, the messaging in-box and the search function. When selecting items the display appears to be pretty responsive.

Below the display are three physical controls including the Talk and End buttons. They're a tad thin, but nothing that we couldn't live with. In the right spine are a volume rocker, a camera shutter and media player controls. The left spine has the standard proprietary headset jack/charger port. After Sony Ericsson had decency to put a 3.5mm headset jack on its new W995 Walkman, we're disappointed that the company couldn't do the same with the Idou.

The camera lens on the rear side has a sliding cover. Opening the cover will start the camera automatically. There's also a flash but we didn't have the opportunity to test it. The Idou resembles a standalone camera from behind and it offers similar ergonomics.

As we mentioned earlier, we didn't get an extensive tour of the Idou's inner workings. Yet, we did see the nifty photo viewer interface. It has a filmstriplike effect where you can move between different photos by swiping your finger. It's attractive and it appears to be responsive. Finger swiping also works in other areas of the display interface.

The Idou's photo gallery interface.

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

That's all we can tell you for now. As we told you at the start of the Barcelona show, Sony Ericsson is holding most feature details close to its chest. The company will make a formal announcement of the Idou by the summer. At that point it also will reveal the phone's official name. Rest assured, I'll review it just as soon as we can, though I imagine that it will be a while. In the meantime, check out the Idou photos.

Sony Ericsson C903 and W395 photos

The new Sony Ericsson Idou and W995 Walkman weren't the only new handsets sitting pretty in the company's GSMA World Congress booth. We also spied the C903 Cyber-shot and W395 Walkman, which debuted before the show began. To refresh your memory, the C903 is a 5-megapixel camera phone and the W395 is low-end Walkman phone.

We dropped by the Sony Ericsson booth on Tuesday to put the handsets through their paces. First up was the C903. Sporting a slider design, the C903 has a rather angular look, even with the rounded corners. The slider mechanism is solid and the phone feels comfortable in the hand. Though three colors are available, we particularly liked the glamor red color scheme.

The 2.4-inch display is up to usual Sony Ericsson standards, with bright colors and sharp graphics. The icon-based menu interface is classic Sony Ericsson, which is to say it is simple and intuitive. We noted that the display's orientation rotates automatically as you move the phone.

The navigation array favors squares instead of circles. You'll find a four-way toggle with a central OK button, two soft keys, Talk and End/power controls, a shortcut button, and a clear key. The toggle is tactile and though the array is spacious, the soft keys are small. Other exterior controls include a volume rocker, a camera shutter, and a player button on the right spine.

We didn't come away with a great impression of the keypad. It's mostly flush, and we weren't crazy about the plastic feel of the keys. We didn't make any mistakes when dialing or texting, and we admit that our test period was brief, but we're concerned about the long-term durability. We'll have to wait for a full review to give a firm assessment.

The C903's camera sits on its rear side next to the flash. Opening the cover will start the camera automatically and vice versa.

The W395 looks a bit like other Walkman phones we've seen before. The 2-inch display is vibrant and the Walkman player interface is unchanged. Yet, when compared with other phones in the Walkman line, you notice the W395 uses orange sparingly. There's just a Walkman logo on the front face and an orange ring around the toggle.

Speaking of which, the navigation array features a circular design. Besides the aforementioned toggle, you'll find two soft keys, Talk and End/power buttons, a shortcut control, and a clear key. The buttons are tactile and the toggle and central OK buttons also function as music controls when you're listening to tunes. The camera lens sits on the rear face. A volume rocker and a camera shutter are perched on the right spine

Unfortunately, the W395 has almost the same keypad as the C903. Here, again, the plastic, slippery keys made us a little wary. We have seen keypads begin to crack on Sony Ericsson phones before, so we'll be watching this phone closely.

We'll do a full review of both phones as soon as we can get models in house. In the meantime, be sure to check out our C903 and W395 photo gallery.

More panels for the Xperia X1.

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

A year after it launched its Xperia X1, Sony Ericsson used the 2009 GSMA World Congress here in Barcelona to launch launch new panels for the high-end smartphone. All panels will be available for download from Sony Ericsson in mid-March.

The Skype panel will offer quick access to the calling service. You'll be able to tell which of your friends are online, browse contacts, and call and instant message your friends. The evening, daylight, and event-based effects will let you customize your handset at will.

The CNN panel will constantly update with the latest news, sports, and weather, all of which can be tailored to your location. You'll also be able to access CNN's "i-Report" citizen journalism tool.

If you're ready for gaming, you can use the Mytopia panel to play bingo and poker with other users around the world and collect virtual coins.

Finally, the On the Road panel brings drivers' call-handling features and quick access to music and navigation tools. The interface will feature large icons and a simple design.

BARCELONA--Sony Ericsson has been hit hard by the global recession, but the company says it has a new strategy focused on services and entertainment that it hopes will get it back on track.

Steve Walker, head of product marketing for Sony Ericsson, and Lennard Hoornik head of global marketing for Sony Ericsson show off the Idou phone at the company's press conference at Mobile World Congress.

(Credit: Marguerite Reardon CNET News/CBS Interactive)

On Sunday evening here on the eve of GSMA's Mobile World Congress, the cell phone maker, which is a joint venture between consumer electronics maker Sony and telecom equipment maker Ericsson, unveiled a new strategy that it says fuses "communication and entertainment."

At the core of its new strategy is something Sony Ericsson calls "Entertainment Unlimited." Executives were thin on details at the press conference here, but the company is planning a strategy that will bring together cell phones with PCs and the TV to share entertainment content.

As part of this strategy, the company announced MediaGo, which is an extension of its PlayNow Music service. MediaGo adds a service that lets users download movies onto their PC and then transfer them over to a Sony Ericsson device. The company announced the W995 Walkman phone, which will be able play the feature-length movies.

The service will also allow the transfer of other media, such as music, photos, and podcasts. The service will also allow users to sync their phone's music library automatically, subscribe to podcasts, and auto-convert files for the best quality playback.

The company also gave a sneak peek at a new high-end, touch-screen phone, called the Idou. This 12.1-megapixel camera phone is supposedly designed for all kinds of multimedia functionality. But details about the product are scarce until it launches in the second half of next year.

The Sony Ericsson Idou under lock and key at the press conference.

(Credit: Marguerite Reardon CNET News/CBS Interactive)

That said, executives alluded to the fact that these two new phones will play a much larger role in the company's "new" strategy to better integrate entertainment on mobile devices and other devices throughout the home.

What's interesting about this supposedly new strategy for the company is that it doesn't sound terribly new. Sony Ericsson was formed in 2001 as a joint venture between a media company and telecommunications equipment maker. And since 2005, it has been selling its Sony Walkman phones, which allow people to listen to digital music on the go.

But now the company claims that its "Entertainment Unlimited" strategy takes things to a new level, where consumers can share and access media across multiple products from cell phones to PCs to their TV screens.

"Everything that we have done to date has brought us to this point," said Lennard Hoornik, head of global marketing and a vice president at Sony Ericsson. "We created the music phone category in 2005 selling over 100 million Walkman phones, and we are now ready to unveil the next chapter in the evolution of the company."

The idea sounds like a good one, but it happens to be one that its competitors share. Nokia, the world's largest cell phone maker, has been developing an entire service platform called Ovi for more than a year that allows users to share files from the PC to the phone and vice versa. And one of the things that has made Apple's iPhone so successful has been its integration with the existing iTunes media store, where users get access to music, videos, and podcasts.

While Sony Ericsson's strategy may not be revolutionary, adding more value to its products is likely a necessary move. The entire cell phone market took a beating in the second half of the year, as consumers bought fewer cell phones due to economic concerns. And that trend is expected to continue until the market starts to pick up.

The recession hit Sony Ericsson particularly hard. For the fourth quarter of 2008, the company lost 187 million euros or about $248 million. This is compared with a profit of about 373 million euros in fourth quarter of 2007.

But it's difficult to say if this "new" strategy will help the company much. The one bright spot in the mobile phone landscape for the next couple years appears to be smartphones. Market research firm IDC recently reported that while overall cell phone sales declined by 12.6 percent worldwide in the fourth quarter, sales of smartphones were actually up 22.5 percent.

The problem that Sony Ericsson faces is that it's not competing very well in the smartphone category. Last year at Mobile World Congress, the company made a lot of buzz with its first Windows Mobile device, the Xperia X1. As of November, the phone has been available in North America.

But the problem is that it's not offered by any major carrier in the U.S. And the $800 price tag for an unlocked and unsubsidized phone is way too high for consumers who can get an iPhone 3G from AT&T, a BlackBerry Storm from Verizon Wireless, or a Google Android G1 from T-Mobile USA for the subsidized price of $200 with a two-year contract.

Given that the smartphone market is where all the action is expected to be over in the next couple of years, it's surprising that Sony Ericsson would choose high-end feature phones to anchor its new "Unlimited Entertainment" strategy.

The details are still too scarce to know exactly how this will shake out. But Sony Ericsson needs a compelling and affordable smartphone that can take advantage of these entertainment and communication features. And to effectively compete in this market, it's going to need to expand its distribution beyond Europe and Japan. Namely, it needs to bring an affordable and cool smartphone to North American consumers.

Sony Ericsson at GSMA photos

Though Sony Ericsson hasn't dropped a lot of new phones at the GSMA World Congress (at least not yet), we can show you a few glamour shots of the handsets it did unveil. To refresh your memory, the W995 Walkman is a music-centric handset but it also offers an 8.1-megapixel camera and Wi-Fi. The Idou isn't quite a reality yet--Sony Ericsson will formally unveil the phone and its official name later this year--but you can expect it to offer a touch screen with extensive video features. Check out our Sony Ericsson slide show for the full eye candy.

The Idou packs in the multimedia.

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

When compared with its presence last year at the GSMA World Congress, Sony Ericsson is taking a quieter turn this time in Barcelona. Instead of unveiling a handset like the Xperia X1, the company is focusing more on strategy with an intense focus on entertainment.

As part of this move, the company unveiled just one new phone, the W995, but it also gave an advance peek at a new high-end, touch-screen handset.

Tentatively named the Idou, it will pack multimedia in a thin candy bar design. Features will include a 12.1-megapixel camera, a Xenon flash, a 3.5-inch display, a Symbian OS and "full music and video capabilities." We're not exactly sure what that means, but we'll make an attempt to find out.

The Idou won't officially be announced until the second half of the year. As such, we don't have a release date or availability information.

Sony Ericsson opened the 2009 GSMA World Congress on Sunday night by announcing the W995 Walkman phone. As the premiere device for Sony Ericsson's new Media Go service, the W995 offers a wide range of multimedia features for both music and video. And yes, it makes calls too.

The W995 is a media maven.

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

On the outside it sports a thin slider design in progressive black, cosmic silver, or energetic red. Its front face is dominated by a 2.6-inch display, which should lend itself well to watching everything from music videos to movies. You'll also find a desk stand (very nice!) and stereo speakers.

And just to prove that miracles do happen, Sony Ericsson broke down and included a 3.5mm headset jack. We're not sure what made the company change its mind, but we couldn't care less.

The W995's Walkman player offers the standard range of features, including album art, shake control, TrackID, and an adjustable bass level. You'll also be able to save MP3 and AAC files as ring tones. The 8.1-megapixel camera is straight out of a Cyber-shot line. It has a 16x digital zoom, auto-focus, face detection, a flash, image stabilization, Sony's PictBridge, a video recorder, and picture blogging.

Finishing out the feature set are stereo Bluetooth, assisted-GPS with support for Google Maps, Wi-Fi, messaging and e-mail, a voice recorder, an FM radio, phone-as-modem capability, USB mass storage, PC syncing, instant messaging, organizer applications, a speakerphone, gaming, and direct access to YouTube.

With so much under the hood, it's imperative Sony Ericsson backs it all up with solid battery life and memory. Fortunately, the W995's specs look promising. Its Memory Stick Micro slot will accommodate cards up to 8GB, the internal memory is 118MB, and Sony Ericsson promises that the W995's battery life will be long enough to support two full-length films (9 hours talk time, 20 hours music time and 5 hours video time).

The W995 will be available in the second quarter of this year for an undisclosed price. The W955 will be quad-band GSM (850/900/1800/1900) and dual-band UMTS (900/2100), while the W995a will be quad-band GSM and tri-band UMTS (850/1900/2100). The latter is formatted for the North American market.

For more on the W995, check out the Sony Ericsson photo gallery.

At the start of the GSMA World Congress on Sunday night, Sony Ericsson announced Media Go, a new service for transferring media files between your computer and your Sony Ericsson cell phone.

Premiering on the new W995 Walkman phone, Media Go will offer a number of services for the media-minded. Primarily, you can use it to transfer music, videos, photos, and podcasts to your phone through a USB cable.

You'll also be able to sync your phone's music library automatically, subscribe to podcasts, and auto-convert files for the best-quality playback. Once you've downloaded your media, you can use Media Go to organize your files on your handset and use the Sense Me feature to sort music by mood or tempo.

Media Go will launch in all markets that get the W995 and will include support for 15 languages. We're not sure yet whether Media Go will completely replace Sony Ericsson's PC Suite software, but we'll find out. Also, we're curious as to whether Media Go will eventually launch on all Walkman and Cyber-shot handsets. We'll report back when we have more details.