Sony Ericsson K500, S710a, and Z500i

Sony Ericsson today launched three new mobile phone handsets, including among them EDGE support for faster data access, 3D game support, digital cameras, and other features.

The first of the new phones is the K500. Measuring 102 x 46 x 14 mm and weighing 80 grams, the K500 is targeted at multimedia users. The candybar-designed phone sports a 128 x 160 pixel 16-bit color TFT display specifically intended for gaming, which is backed up by 12 MB of RAM for users to install either 2D or 3D Java-based games. The battery is rated for up to 8 hours of talk time or 300 hours standby.

Naturally the phone includes a camera as well. The camera is activated by opening a lens shutter, rare for modern camera phones that typically leave the lens unprotected. The K500 is capable of taking both still images and video clips, both of which can then be sent to other users over MMS. Naturally the phone includes SMS and EMS support as well.

Personalization is a high feature of the K500, and the phone is fully themeable with wallpapers and polyphonic ring tones. The phone even includes an MP3 player, although with only 12 MB of memory it won't hold a great deal of music.

The K500 will come in five versions for different markets and through different carriers. All five are tri-band GSM/GPRS running 900/1800/1900 MHz. The K500c, K506c, and