I picked the Sony Ericsson k850 and the Nokia N82 handsets for our shootout because both have 5 megapixel cameras with xenon flashes. Please bear in mind that what we’re doing here is simply ‘focusing’, so to speak, on the camera capabilities of these handsets, and not the entire phone as a whole. Both phones are quick to activate when it comes to turning on the camera.

The N82 has a lever for the shutter cover that you can switch on, while the K850i has a key near the shutter release button that switches it on, just as in a digicam. When it comes to ease of use, I must admit both are quite easy to handle and hold. However, the K850i has an added advantage thanks to some shortcut keys on the keypad for activating a few features.

Otherwise I’d be inclined to lean towards the Nokia. The touchscreen feature of the K850i may be a plus point while using the phone but it’s a bit uncomfortable while using the camera. I also like the K850i’s convenient switch to toggle between video and camera mode and the gallery. The N82 just has a single key that would take you directly to the gallery. I prefer the switch; it makes it feel more like a camera than a mobile.

The Sony Ericsson W200i Walkman phone is now available in four new colors - Street Grey, Mono BlueSweet Pink and Aquatic White. The new W200i handsets comes with color matched Bass Reflex Handsfree. The phones will also come pre-loaded with PLUS application from STAR. The Aquatic White and Sweet Pink phones come with a 512MB memory card and the Street Grey comes with the MPS-70 portable stereo speakers.”Entertainment is important for today’s consumers, and we at Sony Ericsson believe in exceeding these expectations by offering them a complete music entertainment experience.

The new colors of W200i will provide the consumer with a wider choice to experience Sony Ericsson’s unparalleled music technology. With the new W200i, we expand our current offerings in the Walkman series.’ said Sudhin Mathur, General Manager, Sony Ericsson India.

Unwired View has come out with some spy shots of what could be the next Sony Ericsson Cybershot phone. They got their images and info, a chinese website, which provides some details as to its possible specifications. With Sony Ericsson updating their Walkman line at CES, I say it’s just about time they do the same with their Cybershot line of phones. Based on what Unwired has gathered, it’s a 5-megapixel camphone with auto-focus and flash. The display is a 16M color QVGA and will come with a built-in GPS sensor. Looking at the images provided, it’s like a redesigned T650i with a ton of imaging features if it is expected to carry on the Cybershot title in its name. Design-wise, nothing seems to stand out at the moment, but since these are still unconfirmed and more importantly, unofficial, so nothing’s for sure until it’s finally released. Heck, we don’t even know what name it will have, but if we were to follow Sony Ericsson’s numbering scheme, possible model names are K870i, K830i or K780i.

Don’t get your hopes up, the K850i will STILL be black. However, the trimmings at the sides will be changed from the erstwhile two editions, Velvet Blue and Luminous Green, into silver. The name of the new K850i release is the Quicksilver (how apt). Aside from the impending K850i Quicksilver Black release, Sony Ericsson is also reportedly releasing a firmware upgrade for the K850i to fix little buggies causing errors as well as to improve its performance.

The nation’s leading cell phone makers, service providers, and retailers have teamed up with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to answer America’s call for easy cell phone recycling. As part of EPA’s Plug-In to eCycling program, partners supporting the cell phone recycling campaign include AT&T Wireless, Best Buy, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Office Depot, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Sprint, Staples, and T-Mobile.

“Thanks to our Plug-In partners’ efforts, recycling an old cell phone has become a quick and easy way for Americans to help protect the environment,” said Susan Bodine, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “By dropping it off at a store or sending it through the mail, Americans have more recycling options today than ever before.” To kick-off the campaign, EPA released today a series of print public service announcements, “Recycle Your Cell Phone.

It’s An Easy Call,” which highlight the convenience and environmental and social benefits of recycling a cell phone. EPA also introduced a podcast that addresses many common questions on cell phone recycling. EPA started the campaign because many consumers still do not know where or how they can recycle their unwanted cell phones. Consequently, less than 20 percent of unwanted cell phones are recycled each year.

Recycling a cell phone offers an opportunity for everyone to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, save energy, and conserve natural resources. An estimated 100 to 130 million cell phones are no longer being used, many languishing in storage. If Americans recycled 100 million phones, we could save enough upstream energy to power more than 194,000 U.S. households for a year. If consumers were able to reuse those 100 million cell phones, the environmental savings would be even greater, saving enough energy to power more than 370,000 U.S. homes each year.

The arrival of camera-enabled mobile phones from the world’s top three handset manufacturers; the MotorolaA820, the Nokia7560 and SonyEricsson’s P800 provides new opportunities to access information, services and graphics. Using new technology from a partnership between International Wireless and Bango.net, users can now simply point a seeing handset at a bar code and content is delivered straight to the mobile phone creating an instant transaction.“I could purchase theatre tickets by scanning a code on a poster or download a train timetable simply by scanning a bar code at the train station,” said Anil Malhotra, Director of Alliances at Bango.net. “There are endless possibilities such as this for people to receive highly targeted and up-to-date information when they are on the move.”

Content providers register the bar codes as Bango Numbers and then link these to specific content such as pictures, text, video and sound, located on mobile-enabled web sites and data servers. International Wireless’ CodePoint software interprets these symbols and sends a coded number to Bango.net where it is mapped onto a specific URL.

Almost half of all UK mobile phone users are unlikely to use their handsets for anything other than basic voice calls, according to a survey in the Financial Times. The news came as mobile operators are meeting in Asia, trying to rouse demand for new mobile services under the next generation of mobile phones, 3G. It also comes as Japan’s Sony and Sweden’s Ericsson unveil a new set of phones with picture-messaging features. Mobile operators paid billions for the privilege of building 3G networks that offer faster internet services, video clips and colour photos. But faith in the future profitability of the telecoms market has since been seriously undermined over fears that consumers will not be prepared to pay for the latest services. Those fears are deepened by the survey published today which suggests that four in ten people in the UK have no interest in the features that 3G can offer.

For video-gaming enthusiasts who don’t wish to shell out hundreds of pounds for the latest console, there may be an alternative in the form of an upcoming $20 (14) device for playing classic Atari 2600 games. The “Atari 10-in-1 TV Games” device is a basic joypad with 10 built-in 8-bit Atari games and a standard ATV output cable allowing it to connect to any standard television. The device will join a similar product, launched last year, that plays Activision games.

The device includes classics such as Centipede, Asteroids, Missile Command, Battlezone, Adventure, Combat and four others, according to Jakks Pacific, which is making the device under license from Infogrames Interactive, owner of the Atari intellectual property. It will retail under the brand of Jakks’ Toymax International subsidiary. British mobile phone developer IFone said last year it would work to put classic Atari games into mobile phones, and this year has announced deals with Ericsson and Vodafone to deliver games.

The P800 Smartphone re-defines openness for application developers. Based on Symbian OS, it also features Personal Java and Java MIDP support. Running the Symbian OS as base, it also adds Personal Java and Java MIDP support. Advanced MMS is another key feature, together with the WAP 2.0 and HTML capable browser.

Enabling applications and content for both professional and entertainment purposes is a core strategy for Sony Ericsson. Through this Application Proclamation and as part of the Sony Ericsson Developer World initiative, Sony Ericsson enables and challenges developers around the world to step up and create the coolest and most original applications for the P800 Smartphone, and in turn provides them with exposure and real opportunity.

The P800 is a multimedia smartphone for worldwide communications. It has a large color touch-screen, built-in camera, access to the Internet and runs on tri-band GSM and GPRS networks. Based on the open Symbian OS v7.0 the P800 is a fully featured mobile multimedia product, and the most advanced phone that has been announced in the GSM industry. Submissions will be accepted until October 31st. The 50 coolest applications chosen will be highlighted within the Sony Ericsson P800 Smartphone launch campaign, and will be featured on Handango, the leading online marketplace for wireless applications.

In addition, winners will receive a P800 Smartphone, Metrowerks CodeWarrior development tools, and registration of their applications with the Sony Ericsson Developer World program as part of the P800 Smartphone launch activities.

Ericsson secures additional 3G projects for J-PHONE’s WCDMA network build-out in Japan.In support of J-PHONE’s strategy to aggressively build-out nationwide 3G coverage, Ericsson will deploy its 3G macro base stations as well as its newly developed 3G micro base stations which are especially efficient for urban areas, hotspots and for example subways and in-building coverage. Ericsson’s 3G system has been in operation since June 30 this year, when J-PHONE began its 3G trial service.

“It was a natural for us to choose Ericsson, a long-term partner, as one of the vendors to smoothly facilitate our rapid and cost-efficient roll-out of 3G,” said John Thompson, CTO of J-PHONE. “J-PHONE is part of the Vodafone Group, and with Ericsson as a strategic supplier to the Vodafone Group, we already have agreements, product plans and processes in place to run operations in a cost efficient way,” added Thompson.“We are delighted to participate in J-PHONE’s 3G rollout and look forward to help make the network a successful high-quality service network,” said Morgan Bengtsson, President, Ericsson Japan.