Troubled Sony Ericsson launches Satio iPhone-killer

Sony Ericsson launched its three flagship phones for Christmas, countering the iPhone with a focus on smartphones for music, photos and gaming.

The Satio – shown at Mobile World Congress as the Idou concept phone – pulls together the Walkman music player and Cybershot camera brands, to make a touchscreen device clearly designed to outplay the iPhone.

If it comes off, that would be what Sony Ericsson needs. The once-proud joint venture has slid down the phone rankings along with the mid-market sector where it shone, and has not done well in smartphones, the one healthy part of the phone market. It is laying off a fifth of its staff and looking for $135 billion of backing.

The Symbian-OS based candy-bar phone has a 3.5-inch touchscreen, with a 12.1-megapixel camera protected by a sliding cover. It also has email, web, GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM radio, and just about everything else that a phone could have – and comes in black, silver, or red.

In the UK, it will be on all networks. Pricing is not yet announced, but Sony staff indicated it would be free (subsidised) on contracts around £35 to £40 per month.

The company also launched the Aino – which aims to gain strength from a Sony brand by pairing with the Sony Playstation for remote play – and the Yari, a slider phone whose main distinctive features include gesture control.