The latest skinny on Walkman

The sales get fatter but the phones are getting thinner: Sony Ericsson has added two new slimline handsets to the big-selling Walkman range.

The W880 (W888 in China) and W610 bring a new twist to the 20 million selling Walkman family. Sony Ericsson has done hi-capacity, budget and clamshell. Now the target is the skinny look as popularised by Motorola and Samsung.

At 9.4mm thin, the UMTS W880 is by far the slimmest Sony Ericsson phone to date, yet comprises full music functions and a 1GB Memory Stick Micro in the box -  enough for 900 tracks. There’s also a 2.0 megapixel camera. The W610 Walkman stores up to 470 tracks on the 512MB Memory Stick Micro  provided, and offers TrackID music recognition. It also has a 2.0 megapixel camera.

Steve Walker, head of product marketing at Sony Ericsson, said:  “Walkman phones have proved to be phenomenally attractive – and we are continuously developing the portfolio to extend their appeal. The (new devices) prove how the Walkman phone can appeal to different lifestyles.”