XE Mobile Delivers First Sony Ericsson Walkman

By Raju Shanbhag

It’s music to the ears of pay-as-you-go mobile users.XE mobile, the new pay-as-you-go wireless service catering to the young, college going crowd in the US, has released the first ever Sony Ericsson (News - Alert) walkman phone at the 2007 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas.

Consumers are reportedly having a great time at this year’s CES (News - Alert), as many major players have introduced new, state-of-the art mobile phones. Already, Nokia has launched the N76 and many other phones are expected to be unveiled.Mark Ghermezian, president and CEO of XE Mobile, said in a press release that, “XE Mobile is prepared to be at the forefront of the industry as we head into 2007 with the introduction of the first ever Walkman phone for the pay-as-you-go segment.”“Digital music is everywhere,” he said, “and we believe that the XE member wants the ability to listen to music on their phone without the additional costs of downloading music from their service provider. The Walkman product line resonates well with our target market and this partnership with Sony Ericsson is another step forward for us as we continue to build our XE brand.”The company believes that its solid financial backing and partnership with top leaders in the mobile phone market will bring it success.Leading players like Sony Ericsson are quick to acknowledge XE’s contribution to the music enabled mobile phone sector. Paul Hamnett, vice president, sales, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Inc. (USA), said “XE Mobile was quick to pick up on the popularity of music on the go and we’re honored that they turned to Sony Ericsson to bring the W300 to their members. It’s an ideal target market for us too.”The new W300 Walkman phone from XE is geared up to offer the same advanced qualities of a high-end walkman phone and costs $99.99. It has a beautiful clamshell design and supports both MP3 and AAC music files. You can listen to your favorite music up to 30 hours in the wonderful surround sound system of this device. XE members get the added advantage of a built-in FM radio with RDS and flight mode, direct music keys and shuffle function. The phone comes equipped with Sony Ericsson’s Disc2 phone software which allows the members of XE to transfer their favorite music CDs to the phone and carry it everywhere they go.Some of the other features that would the catch the attention of music lovers are a stereo headset, a removable 256MB Memory Stick Micro (M2) expandable to 1GB, USB cable and music management software. The user can view the Media player information and caller ID details from the front of the clamshell and this eliminates the need to open the phone.Pay-as-go is a mobile phone service subscription, which allows the users to purchase the talk time as and when needed. They need to pay for the talk time in advance. This type of usage normally does not involve sign-up fees or contracts. This is also called a pre-paid service.XE mobile is a company targeting the youth market for mobile phones is US. XE ensures nationwide coverage, straight-up rates, FREE incoming text messaging, pay-as-you-go freedom, and access to the nation’s largest youth discount program.