Wow, it’s the W900i!

Music never sounded this good – on a phone, that is.

That’s what happens when you get hold of the Ericsson W900i, the latest Sony Ericsson Walkman phone, you get a whole lotta good music. Think of it this way, the phone can store a total of 1,240 songs with 20 hours of playtime. And that’s just the music part.

The phone comes with a 512MB memory card – and for any memory card lover, you know that there are already 1G and 2G memory cards out there. Although memory cards may cost a mint, for a music lover, whose gonna count the cost? Did I mention that the phone also comes with a set of speakers? Yes, it was created for music. The music phone.

Loading music onto this baby is simple as one, two, three… and voila the music is copied, and the phone plays the tunes whether in your ears through the cool headset that comes with it or on the speakers – the choice is yours.

Connection to the PC or Mac is quick. I didn’t even have to read the manual. I just hooked the phone up and a connection was made. How easy is that?

I searched through my music files for my fave songs and loaded them onto the phone. Took the phone for a spin and everyone I met was telling me that I was singing off key. It didn’t matter, I was having fun.

I do miss the color though. Unlike its predecessor, the W800i, this baby comes in black or white. Why, I wonder? Has it gone "apple" picking? I like colorful when it comes to phones and black or white just don’t make it for me. But then again, clean lines and smooth solid colors are what may be in. Plus, a busy executive might find using this up his alley as it definitely does not come across as being flimsy or weak in any way.

Camera? There’s two megapixels just waiting to snap at you.

The W900i is a swivel phone which goes swoosh, quick like that sneaker of the stars. Cool when you are taking a shot of your favorite dog or cat or whatever else you like. The pictures this phone takes are really great. And sending them via Bluetooth or MMS is easy as a push of a button.

The swivel part is not so cool when you have to make a call and need to search for a contact because you have to open the phone up and search. Although the phone is designed with buttons for playing music on the outside, when it is used for what it was originally meant there are at least three more steps needed to make a call.

Not to worry, the calls are easy enough to make and the little sounds that the swooshing motion makes are rather cute. Like the sound of a fairy coming through.

Ericsson seems to have perfected the tones. And since Sony Ericsson launched its K750i, the phone ringtones can also be used as text message tones. Only problem is that if the ringtone is too long it gets cut in the middle of playing the tone when a message is received. Irritating for people like me who have very specific tone choices for text messages.

Although this phone might seem bulky at first glance, it is really quite light. But then again you need hands that are a little flexible when holding on to the phone because when making a call and the phone is open it can easily slip off your hands.

Texting with cute icons, adding music, or sending animation is what Ericsson phones are known for and the W900i does just as much. There are some new tones and some of the standard ones on the phone. But I can’t wait for Ericsson to add more of those animation characters which are sad, happy, frustrated, in love and all the other emotions one might have and just can’t say. Problem is the animation is only viewable on an Ericsson, this means that those other brand phone users out there won’t get the animation if you send it to them. Oh well, one can’t have everything.

The little extras are also fun to use. There is a program that allows you to take a picture and then warp it for fun. Great. I took a picture of Gorby, my Toy Poodle, and warped it 12 ways. Good thing he didn’t see it or he would have killed me. The warping allowed me to make him have a big nose, look like an alien, a crazy professor and even one with a humongous smile.

And the other game I like is Quadrapop. OK, my age is showing. This game is much like Tetris of old. Tetris, for the uninitiated, is that game where one puts a set of figures or colors in one line and the line is erased if the right number of colors is met. In Quadrapop, instead of figures there are musical notes, g-clefs and other music signs which float down. The purpose of the game is the same and the winner is the one who gets the most number of lines crossed out. Easy, fun and really colorful.

The W800i opened our ears and eyes to the wonders of the Walkman phone. With the W900i, Sony Ericsson made the Walkman phone even better – there are the great sound and the funky speakers. For now, the W900i is the best music phone in the market. And it’s 3G-ready, too.