Sony Ericsson today officially announced Aspen – a Windows Mobile 6.5.3 handset, that was previously known by its codename Faith. It’s the company’s first handset to run Windows Mobile 6.5.3, and the second handset in the world to officially run this version of the OS. Sony Ericsson have added the panel solution on-top of Windows Mobile.
With a screen size of 2.4 inches and a resolution of just 320 x 240 pixels (QVGA), I can’t see why this phone was announced – especially not running Windows Mobile or any of the panels. It would have been great in 2006, but this is 2010.
The camera is a fixed focus 3.2 megapixel camera without flash. Other features include a built-in GPS, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, 3.5 mm audio jack and USB connector. It’ll come with a 4 GB microSD card.
It’ll be available in two colour variants – Iconic Black and White Silver – in Q2 of 2010. There’s no word of pricing, but with these specifications it’s gotta be cheap!
Here’s the official video presentation.
Hello
Just wanted to ask you “Do you even like sony ericsson in general?” reason i ask that is you have a tendenacy of puttin down the aspen as it has been officially announced even when it was called faith you said faithless. bottom line is you no as well as i do that every s.e phone that comes out will not be a high end phone so stop with all that whingin, and if you have a prob with it tell it to Sony because last i heard this was a site for S.E not for jus bashin em.
Yes, I do. Vivaz is going to be a good handset – and the X10 as well. This, not so much. In its current state, WM 6.5 is practically unusable and especially on such a small display.
There isn’t room in the business segment of the market for this phone. It’s already been taken by other phones, that perform much better.
faith is a ODM model by taiwan phone makers, certainly it’s not very sonyericsson.
there is always room for improvement in da market but u do have to admit this is the first bar form like this to have a touch screen, so u do get best of both worlds. u may not even want to use the touch or need to use it all the time but its an option, i not bagin u in neway but i think this could b a good handset as its only competitors on a serious level is da bb 9700 and the nokia E-series. it reminds me of the p-series which dey need to bring back which updated features
BlackBerry, Nokia and even Apple already has that market covered quite well. And Sony Ericsson doesn’t add anything to the professional business segment – unlike the three aforementioned companies.
i hear what your sayin but just cos they dnt bring nutin new apart from the bar form touch screen, dnt mean they cant enter the game like dey used to run but only time will tell whats gonna happen.
any news on the release date of the x10 or vivaz cos im so waitin on da x10
I forgot to mention HTC.
Anyway… Let me put it this way: If you were in charge of a company, would you buy your products from a well-known and reliable manufacturer, where you can get special professional services, or would you look into buying from a relatively new player in this segment?
I think I’ve made my point.
X10 release should be in February or March!
Is this touchscreen? No where in the article does it mention this….
The touchscreen would probably be a huge selling point on this handset.
Why should this handset be scrapped?
Sure, it doesn’t compete with Blackberries… But doesn’t mean other manufacturers shouldn’t try. With the right pricing along with the amount of people with Sony brand loyalty… there’s definitly a good market for candy bar qwerty phones.
If not, at least paves way for further development. Sony Ericsson hasn’t put out a Candybar Qwerty phone out in a long long time! Perhaps draws some interest from P1 fans.
Yes it is touch screen!
Well I see the device very good.
Functional formfactor plus WM – I don’t know what are you talking about Michell,
actually WM kikcks ass…
I’m happy with this and happy SE is in this segment.
Especially they continue on WM – great news.
P.S.
I don’t know how this should be worse than BB:
actually WM 6.5.3 is a really nice UI.
BB sucks besides email!!
WM 6.5 on the X2 is dreadfully slow. I liked it (WM 6.1) on my X1, but 6.5 on the X2 is just sad. And I know that it’s currently the same on the Aspen.
Well Miz, can’t agree with you this time…. I really like this phone and think that it has very good potential… I know there are many similar phones in the market but still this phone has a scope for sales if market and priced well…
And SE is badly lacking in the number of qwerty and touchscreen phones in the mid-range and losing a lot of potential for sales… Only 2 day back my dad wanted a touchsreen qwerty phone and got a Samsung Corby Pro and saw 3 units sold in front of his eyes… If Aspen was available, he would have gone for it as he has been a very long time SE user…
And whatever you think about Aspen Miz, I request you to please remove the words “Should Have Been Scrapped” from the topic’s line…
It would have lots of potential, had it been an Android or S60 device. WM, not so much.
Besides, the screen is just too small for any kind of serious business work. Besides, I wouldn’t call a near €400 phone a mid-range product. Yes, that’s what the expected price is. Way too much.
Agree with doministry and harry. There is good niche here and a “professional-eco-friendly-qwerty-touch device” is a good solution.
Sony Ericsson new to the business segment ?!
Ericsson/ Sony Ericsson invented the segment with the P series a long time ago. BB and the other guys are new, problem is that no one knows and quite frankly -who cares?
If the Aspen is a good performing phone it will make great sales, even though it is Sony Ericsson…
Lets just hope they deliver and with a UX that people like….this time,
Yes, they’re new to it. Things change and so does that segment. The M600 and P990 flopped massively, and the P1 didn’t gain much of a crowd either. And then there were no business phones from Sony Ericsson until now. No, the X1 and X2 aren’t business phones – they’re “multimedia phones” or whatever Sony Ericsson calls them. They’ve mixed up their segmentation, but that’s a whole other story.
The thing is… SE isn’t fond of using WM in their phones. And I can easily understand why. The latest release is a complete and utter mess. And it won’t be better with Aspen. Sadly, that is
Dude, I don’t mean it badly, but come on! Everybody has been puting SE down for at least a year now so some people got used to it, please stop behaving like you’re one of them, you’re a SE fan, remeber?
Finally, SE made several well-made phones in every aspect (X10, Vivaz, X2, yes, I’d say it belongs to this group and some a bit worse but still acceptably capable). Aspen might be something repeated, but this time balanced without important drawbacks. I’m sure it’ll find its audience, just read comments to the Aspen article on Engadget Mobile (if they’re your competition, my bad, sorry
) There are people of all preferences and the great majority thinks it has good looks and sleek UI.
Also, regarding X2, I myself am a proud owner of one piece. I’d say it’s reasonably fast even though a bit buggy. But hey, it’s just been released, so what would you expect? Just look at all of the other manufacturers. Nokia’s Maemo on N900? Finished really hastily (unfinished). HTC’s HD2? The same thing as X2, buggy ROM, but it’s been selling for some time now, unlike X2. And here’s another good point for SE, we at least know when there’ll be an update.
Basically, what I’m trying to say is that Aspen has a fair chance to be successful.
They’ve only been put down because they haven’t been up to their own standards.
I’ve also got an X2 with me here, but it’s slow as hell. Granted, it’s a prototype running non-finished firmware, but still… Shouldn’t ought to be that bad!
What do I expect? I expect the phones to be ready when they launch. If that’s not too much to ask. I myself just happen to own a Nokia N900 and it’s without a doubt the best mobile device I have ever owned. I love it! I haven’t encountered any serious bugs on Maemo, only a few application shutdowns when I’ve had a billion apps running at the same time.
In its current form, WM 6.5 is too slow. The only handset that runs it well is the HTC HD2, primarily because of its Snapdragon chipset. If Aspen had been based on Android, it would become a lot more popular. Sorry, but I just don’t have high hopes for it. Again, sadly..
Michel… you can not judge the x2 based on prelaunch Sw and HW! That is really unproffesional of you. My X2 is not that bad either just like Waco I think it works ok. Could of course be better, put my hopes on the 6.5.3 release. Perhaps the XDA guys will perform magic on it.
It’s actually running the initial release firmware, which later on became “unfinished software” because the phone was postponed.
Michell can i hate on ya tooo
im just kidding. But what i dont understand is that :se: USED to be at the top of the game. People can say what, I will always say the most innovative phone of the last decade was that K750 and lesser P800. Since then :se: has really dropped. I was one of the biggest fan boys for :se:. Everyone around me bought :se: until i got fed up of sucking up for them. My last was the K850.
This phone market that :se: is trying to attract, tbh, isnt it ALREADY filled by BB? and somewhat nokia? what are they trying to prove by doing in on WM?
I just wish and hope and pray until that X10 is released, that :se: will bounce back some how.