Sony Ericsson redfines the touch screen with its new G-series

The Sony Ericsson G700 displays notes with your own handwriting

(Credit: Kent German/CNET Networks)

As the GSMA World Congress begins, Sony Ericsson has proven again that it can surprise us. While we expected that it would spend much of its time in Barcelona concentrating on its strong points, like a new Walkman phone, it instead introduced a completely new cell phone line with its G700 and G900.

Designed as "touch-screen organizers with a broad appeal," the G700 and G900 are Symbian smartphones that are designed a busy, on-the-go audience. The company said it was trying to snag a new segment of customers with the two handsets, and from I can tell, it looks like they have a good chance of doing so.

The G700 is particularly interesting. Though its simple candy bar design (available in silk bronze) may not look very exciting, there's actually a lot of power under the hood. Beyond standard offerings, such as a 3.2-megapixel camera, e-mail and messaging, Bluetooth, music player, and personal organizer applications, the G700 offers something truly different. Using the touch screen and the stylus, you can scribble "notes" to yourself which can be posted directly on the screen. The result is sort of like a sticky note. The screen actually shows your handwriting, rather then converting your input into text. You can even draw maps, or pictures, and send them to friends. However, it is unclear whether your friends also need a G700 to receive them. I have to admit, it looks pretty nifty. You can bet that I'll be going to Sony Ericsson's booth tomorrow to try it for myself.

The Sony Ericsson G900 comes in two colors

(Credit: Sony Ericsson)

The G900 is a another candy bar handset. It comes in dark red or dark brown colors. Its feature set is more geared toward photography. It has a 5-megapixel camera with a raft of photography features, including an auto-focus, a 3x zoom, red eye reduction, and a flash. Like its sibling, it also has a touch screen, but it uses in a different way. By tapping the display in camera mode, you can choose a focal point for the image, and then zoom in. Sony Ericsson did a short demo and it looked promising. Other features include messaging and e-mail, a speakerphone, an FM radio, stereo Bluetooth, and personal organizer applications.

Availability for both the G700 and G900 is set for the middle of this year. Both are triband (GSM 900/1800/1900) with support for the European 3G band, so availability in North America will be limited.