Walkman Vs iPod: The Times Online Verdict

Times UK: [by James Pearce] The Times Online spent the weekend with the new Sony Ericcson W800i Walkman Phone and put up some of its good and bad...all things considered it's what you'd expect from a music phone.
That is, the playlist is a lot less than the high-end iPod (125 songs vs 15,000) and the phone isn't as easy to use, but it does have an "excellent FM radio", 2.0 megapixel digital still and video camera and the ability to make phone calls.
Still the most important feature got a cautious thumbs-up -- "The smaller Sony machine is not quite as sleek as the original iPod, but its cream and orange livery holds its own in the aesthetics stakes and Times Online found its preview model drawing nods of approval." Most of the posts I've seen from iPod enthusiasts about competing products focus on the look of the gadget rather than anything it actually does...
The Times Online is not a technology website, so I forgive it for forgetting the most important thing about the Walkman Phone -- that it is a PHONE. Everyone seems to be judging mobiles as if they were MP3 players or digital cameras or games consoles. Mobile phones are phones first and everything else second -- manufacturers that forget this find their devices failing in the market.
Since I no longer review mobiles you'll have to rely on MobileBurn.com, which goes through all the features of the phone and has a lot of images. They also point out that it's incredibly close to the Sony Ericsson K750, so if you're particularly interested give that review a read also. The final verdict: "The W800 is simply a fantastic phone. It has a great camera and user interface, managed over 10.5 hours of talk time in our test, and has the best music app I have seen in a phone yet - all in a very flashy and good looking package."
Related stories:
--iPod Vs Mobile Rhetoric Heating Up
--The Walkman Phones' 100 Soundtrack
--Sony Ericsson's Walkman Phone Gamble