Sony Ericsson to unveil 9GB Walkman mobile phone

June 14, 2007 (IDG News Service) -- Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB will launch late Thursday in Berlin six new phones, including a high-end Walkman-branded handset with around 9GB of internal Flash memory, according to a company spokeswoman.

The music-centric Walkman will more than double the internal memory of previous models and feature a newly designed media player and large-touch display for easy navigating. But unlike Apple Inc.'s planned iPhone, the new Walkman will include a keyboard.

"Our new Walkman mobile phone isn't designed as a response to the iPhone but as a further development of the Walkman," the Sony Ericsson spokeswoman said.

Sony Ericsson will also unveil the latest in its line of Cybershot camera phones, a 5-megapixel device.

Several new accessories will be introduced in Berlin, including a Global Positioning System unit that can be connected to a mobile phone and new Bluetooth headsets.

What the Japanese-Swedish joint venture will not be announcing in Berlin is a new video game-mobile phone based on Sony's PlayStation Portable (PSP) handheld device, the spokeswoman said.

The blogosphere was full of rumors of a new PSP mobile phone after Japanese employees of Sony Ericsson last month filed a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a mobile phone with video game features.

"The patent is registered; we register many patents," the spokeswoman said. "But we don't have a PSP mobile phone in the planning. I can't say that we won't see such a device in 10 years, but there are no plans to build one at the present time."

The spokeswoman said that the company's current focus is on music, imaging and the Web, but not on the PSP.

Which isn't to say that PSP owners won't be able to make calls soon.

Last month, BT Group PLC announced that it is working on a software-based Internet telephony package for the portable device. The system will allow PSP users to make voice and video calls across a Wi-Fi network. Later, it will be extended to cover calls and messages to PCs, fixed-line phones and cell phones.