Sony Ericsson (SE) unveiled two new phones today, the Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman and the Sony Ericsson txt pro. Like HTC’s ChaCha and Salsa the new txt pro is targeted at social network junkies, whilst the Mix Walkman is aimed at music fans. 

The company’s pocket-friendly (95.8 x 52.8 x 14.3 mm, 88 g) Mix Walkman phone boasts a friends application for easier social networking connectivity. The device sports a 3" (400 x 240 pixels) TFT capacitive single-touch display and a user interface (UI) similar to that available on the Xperia mini and -mini pro (it’s not clear yet as to what mobile OS these two phones are running on).

SE’s Mix Walkman also features a Zappin key, which, once pressed, previews the chorus of the next track and decide whether it is worth listening to or if it should be skipped. A karaoke function also enables the vocal track from any song to be lowered instantly, so a user can sing along with their favourite tune.
   
Customisability is also on offer as the look of the SE Mix Walkman phone can be personalised, since the device comes with various exchangeable colour bands. It also has a 3.2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity, 3.5 mm audio jack and offers up to 100 MB of storage space. The latter can be expanded upon with the use of a microSD memory card, as the device supports cards up to 32 GB in size.

For the texting fans

SE’s txt pro (93 x 52 x 18 mm, 100 g) also sports the same scratch-resistant 3" (400 x 240 pixels) TFT capacitive single-touch display, UI and 3.2 megapixel camera of the Mix Walkman phone.

It features a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard for speedier text input, FM radio with RDS, Wi-Fi, as well as an Obigo Q7 web browser. Its integrated friends application enables users to add their five best friends, and then view these friends’ latest Facebook updates as well as their latest Twitter feeds. 

Quentin Cordier, global product marketing manager for Sony Ericsson said: “We wanted to take advantage of our extensive Facebook fan base when announcing these phones, bringing the fans closer to both our products and brand.”

“We are really pleased that consumers liked them for their music and social media functionality and expect them to become great additions to our overall portfolio of entertaining phones.”

The Sony Ericsson Mix Walkman and the Sony Ericsson txt pro will be available globally in selected markets from Q3. No local release info is available yet.

In related news, SE also recently announced that its new portfolio of Xperia smartphones will offer users a new social experience called Facebook inside Xperia. With this new platform SE has dosed its latest devices with a heavy amount of social networking.