Sony Ericsson knows how to do Facebook. A social network can’t be the only selling point of the phone, like on the HTC Status — there has to be something else. For gamers, SE brought Facebook into the mix with the Xperia Play. Now, music fans are getting the same love. This morning, SE unveiled the Live With Walkman smartphone featuring a button for instant music access and deep Facebook integration.
Though SE has only called it “deep Facebook integration,” the capabilities of the software lead me to believe that this is nearly identical to the Facebook Inside Xperia platform, just without the Xperia bit. You can still connect direct to Facebook from within the photo gallery, music player, calendar and phonebook. Past that, there’s a dedicated hardware button that connects the user to Sony’s Qriocity music platform, offering instant access to music and videos.
The only hangup is that this little guy doesn’t quite have the specs to compete with the big boys: 3.2-inch TFT display, single-core 1GHz processor, 5-megapixel auto-focus camera that shoots in 720p, a front-facing camera, and Android 2.3 Gingerbread. If you’re all about having a bad mamma jamma phone, the new offering from SE probably won’t cut it. Then again, if you primarily use your phone to listen to music and keep up with Facebook, the Live with Walkman may be just what you’re looking for.
Pricing is as-yet unannounced but we expect to see the Live with Walkman hit shelves in October.