Sony Ericsson's new black and white

Sony Ericsson goes for a white W810i. Read the review.

Sony Ericsson's latest pair of mobile offerings will include i-mode on the upcoming K610i handset as well as on a white edition of the W810i.

Modeled after the earlier-announced K610i, the new K610im is Sony Ericsson's first i-mode handset announced in the region. Local availability of the K610im hasn't been confirmed, but it is likely that the handset will debut on mobile operator Telstra's network in late 2006.

In a press statement, Takeshi Natsuno, senior vice president and managing director for Multimedia Services in NTT DoCoMo, believes Sony Ericsson's excellent integration of i-mode services has resulted in a "compelling consumer offering". NTT DoCoMo introduced i-mode in Japan in 1999 as a mobile service aimed at helping consumers get more out of their handsets.

Other than the new Carbon Black casing and the addition of i-mode compatibility, the K610im sports an almost identical design and features as the upcoming K610i. Both candy bars come with a 2-megapixel camera, 3G and Bluetooth connectivity and Memory Stick Micro expansion slot.

Like the W900i, which is available in both black and white, Sony Ericsson has also announced that it will offer a white version of its W810i in an effort to extend the appeal of the phone. The original black edition of the W810i was first unveiled at CES 2006 in Las Vegas in January, and was launched only recently.

Together with the announcement of the two phones, Sony Ericsson will also be launching a new Music Cable accessory, the MMC-70. According to the press release, the cable attaches to Sony Ericsson handsets via the Fast port connector and provides a 3.5mm audio jack for connection to external speaker devices. This is slated to be available in the third quarter of 2006.

Model name	In a nutshell
Sony Ericsson K610im	What's new: Sony Ericsson's first i-mode phone Other notable frills: Triband GSM with 3G 2-megapixel + VGA dual camera i-mode function Onboard music and video player Memory Stick Micro card expansion slot Supports Bluetooth and USB 1.9-inch 176 x 220-pixel TFT display (262K-colour) Flight mode Expected: Q3 2006 in Asia Pacific
Sony Ericsson W810i (see images: White Fusion Edition)	What's new: White version of the W810i Walkman phone Other notable frills: Quadband GSM with EDGE 2-megapixel camera with autofocus, 4x zoom and flash 1.9-inch 176 x 220-pixel TFT display (262K-colour) Speakerphone Onboard music and video player Memory Stick Duo card expansion slot (512MB included) Supports Bluetooth, USB and infrared 3D games Expected: Q3 2006 in Asia Pacific
Sony Ericsson Music Cable MMC-70	What's new: Allows users to listen to MP3/AAC tracks from their phones when connected to an external speaker. Other notable frills: Hooks up via Fast port connector or 3.5mm jack Plug-and-play Expected: Q3 2006 in Asia Pacific

CNET.com.au's Jeremy Roche contributed to this article