Bikin Out Uang Pasti: MP3 MULTIPLAY

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Media Player Review Sony Ericsson Walkman W660i music phone

Sony Ericsson Walkman W660i music phone

(By Simon Lorne)

Review Sony Ericsson has made the most of its Walkman resurrection and is cashing in on the brand's cachet with a fast-growing range. But by filing the gaps with samey phones like the 3G-capable W660i, is Sony Ericsson in danger of losing its edge?

Why change a winning formula? With the W660i, Sony Ericsson doesn’t. The W660i slips 3G connectivity into a familiar-looking Walkman candybar design of the W610i. Unlike the slimline W880i - reviewed here - or the soon-to-launch shake-controlled W910i sliderphone, the W660i doesn’t stretch the Walkman design boundaries.

Sony Ericsson W660i mobile phone
Sony Ericsson's W660i: radically different design - not

The W660i sports a Walkman 2.0 music player and fast 3G data - no HSDPA, though - with the downloading, browsing and video calling benefits that brings. But its main two-megapixel camera is a fairly basic shooter, with no autofocus (as seen on the W610i) or flash.

Sony Ericsson has made no radical alterations to the Walkman family look with the W660i, although it’s gone easy on the orange this time. It’s being shipped in “record black” or “rose red”, with gold highlights edged around the body and on a few buttons. The back panel has some record-groove rings on the black version and a bit of a girly flower pattern on the pink version, but other than that it’s a pretty straight-up Walkman.

The W660i is 1.5cm thick and weighs 93g all-up, so it’s pocket-friendly without scaring the supermodels. The display isn’t a top-of-the-range Sony Ericsson screen: it’s a 176 x 220 resolution, 262,144-colour panel rather than the more detailed 240 x 320 pixel display used on other recent handsets.

One welcome scaled-up design addition is the large-button keypad. It may not be as elegant as the razor thin keys on the W880i but it sure makes texting and number tapping easier for those of us with human-sized fingers.

Sony Ericsson W660i mobile phone
A 2Mp snapper - but without autofocus or flash

Sony Ericsson is playing its phone operation straight too. The control keys are standard-issue Walkman, with a central four-way navigation pad and central gold select key complemented by soft-menu, Back and Cancel keys. In addition, flanking the pad are two gold buttons: one, emblazoned key with the Walkman logo, zips you straight into the music player, while the Activity key pulls up a list of shortcuts and handy functions. The navigation pad itself offers its own shortcuts, which users can customise.

Media Player Review Nokia N81 8GB smartphone

Nokia N81 8GB smartphone
(By Simon Lorne)

Review Nokia followed up its first 8GB mobile, the music-centric N91, with a second one, the N95 8GB. And now here's a third: the music and gaming geared N81 8GB.

The N81 arrives at the same time as its more luxuriantly-equipped N95 stablemate, bringing a smidgen more choice at a lower price to the high-capacity music-mobile arena.

Nokia N81 smartphone
Nokia's N81: glossy but cheap-looking

Nokia is, unsurprisingly, focusing on the N81’s music capabilities. As well as its headline storage capacity, and obligatory dedicated music controls, the N81 8GB is one of the first mobiles to support Nokia's Music Store over-the-air download service.

This handset is also one of the first geared up to handle Nokia’s revamped N-Gage mobile gaming platform, with a mix of dedicated keys and front-panel buttons that double up as console-style controls.

The N81 is based on the Symbian 9.2 operating system, with Nokia's own S60 3.1 user interface. It’s a quad-band GSM and 3G device, although HSDPA isn’t included. Nokia has added 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, however, so users have the option of selecting this cost-effective and convenient route for downloading and surfing.

The N81 offers a more modest feature set than the N95: an average two-megapixel camera with flash sits on the back, and there’s no GPS receiver in this model. There’s also a more straightforward, one-way slider mechanism on this device, with music player controls arranged around the central navigation keypad rather than under a separate cover.

Still, the N81 is some pocketful for a sliderphone, weighing in at around 140g and measuring a less-than-slimline 102 x 50 x 17.9mm. The back and front are made from glossy plastic, which feels a little cheap, and was slippery in hand - particularly when paws were cold or wet. Dominating the front panel is large, bright 2.4in, 320 x 240, 16.7m-colour display.

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