Vodafone UK has announced the release of W980, Sony Ericsson's latest Walkman flagship phone, which will come preloaded with Usher's new album, "Here I Stand". The new W980 will be available starting this weekend, for free (with a data plan and a contract agreement for 18 months) or for prices up to 300 GBP (380 Euros or $580).

Presented as the best Walkman phone to date, Sony Ericsson embeds 8GB of internal memory, which allows users to store all their favorite music. Moreover, the clamshell offers high-end sound quality, dedicated external music controls, Walkman Player with shake control, TrackID, FM radio with RDS, FM transmitter, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, NetFront browser, IM, email and a 3 Megapixel camera. There's also HSDPA connectivity, providing fast data transfer speeds.

"We are really excited to be able to offer our customers yet another great value phone with exclusive content from one of the world's best selling artists," declared Ian Shepherd, consumer director for Vodafone UK. "The Sony Ericsson W980 is a great music phone with high quality sound that will really bring alive Usher's album."

David Hilton, Marketing Director at Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications UK & Ireland, added, "The W980's unique clear audio sound means that Usher's fans can now hear 'Here I stand' exactly as it's meant to be heard, which combined with the exclusive content available to them will help them feel closer to Usher than ever before."

Besides the full-length "Here I Stand" album, Vodafone has also prepared an Usher WAP site for its UK customers. This will host downloadable wallpapers as well as remixes of Usher's songs, a ringtone, an animated screensaver and a Love In This Club video. Moreover, users who buy the W980 will be able to enter the "Ushers Entourage" online community, where they can win tickets to his upcoming UK tour.