14 DAY TRIAL // One of the latest handsets the Japanese-Swedish joint venture Sony Ericsson unveiled to the world is the Sony Ericsson Aspen, a device that runs under Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system, and which is also included in the handset vendor's GreenHeart lineup. The new mobile phone has been spotted in the wild before, under the name of Faith, and it was officially unveiled today as Aspen, showing that Sony Ericsson still has some plans for Microsoft's mobile client.
The specifications list of the new device shows that it will run under Windows Mobile 6.5.3, while including a 2.4-inch TFT touchscreen display that boasts a 240 x 320 pixel (QVGA) resolution and support for 65,536 colors, a QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth, Micro USB connector and Wi-Fi connectivity options, a 3.5 mm audio jack, GPS receiver with A-GPS, FM radio with RDS, as well as a 3.2-megapixel photo snapper with 4x digital zoom and a microSD memory card slot with support for up to 16 GB of additional storage space.
Other features of the new mobile phone also include support for PlayNow, media player, Internet Explorer Mobile, speakerphone, pan & zoom capabilities, support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, IM, SMS and MMS capabilities, handwriting recognition, support for video streaming, social networking sites like Facebook or YouTube, Microsoft Office Mobile, Outlook Mobile, PDF Reader, and more.
The phone measures 117 x 60 x 12.45 mm and weighs 130 grams, while packing inside a battery that can deliver up to 10 hours of talk time or up to 450 hours of standby time. The Sony Ericsson Aspen is also set to arrive on the market with a nice range of applications and panels on board, including SPB Mobile Shell 3.0, Microsoft Today, Panel Manager, SlideView, Google Maps Latitude, Google Mobile Application, CNN, Windows Live, Twitter, SPB Traveler and Weather combo, Eco mate application, GreenHeart panel, and more.
According to the handset maker, the new device will come to the market as a rather affordable Windows phone, and should become available for purchase sometime during the second quarter of the ongoing year. It will hit the shelves in two color versions, Iconic Black and White Silver, yet Sony Ericsson hasn't been specific on which markets will actually receive the phone, or at what price tag.