Sony Ericsson today announces the K618: a slim, lightweight 3G phone that will launch in selected markets and deliver the perfect mix of mobile phone, multimedia applications and business solutions.

The new K618 has been developed for those users that want 'the best of both worlds'; entertainment on the move & a powerful business tool. This high performance 3G device is as light and slim as a typical 2.5G phone, yet delivers blisteringly-fast speeds for streaming or downloading music & video clips, browsing the web or gaming. And staying in control of your inbox is made easier with support for push email, allowing messages to be sent directly to the phone without having to download them.

This compact phone is well equipped for both capturing & sharing photos, and playing music. Notably, the K618 features Bluetooth Streaming, which means that full-length music tracks (or video clips) can be sent wirelessly from the phone and listened to on a compatible Bluetooth enabled device, such as the Stereo Bluetooth Headset HBH-DS970.

One click of the dedicated camera button and the 2.0 Megapixel camera is activated, which comes complete with 2.5x digital zoom and Mobile Blogger This application allows the user to post (or blog) their images directly to their own blogsite, giving friends and family the chance to go online and view the shots.

The 256MB Memory Stick Micro (M2) provided caters for this and will store around 700 photos or 230 music tracks for example. There is also the option to expand the external memory up to 1GB as an individual's media library grows.

The K618 is a striking, slim-line 'stick' design that will launch in a choice of Vibrant Black or Bright White. This UMTS 2100 device will be available in selected markets from Q3 2006.

K618–Features at a glance:

• Music player (with MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+ support)
• OMA DRM phase 1
• Phone speaker
• Full streaming Audio/Video
• Polyphonic >64 ring tones
• Java MIDP 2.0
• 3D games
• Music DJ
• Video DJ
• Photo DJ
• PlayNow
• Disc2Phone computer ripping software
• Stereo headset
• 256MB M2 card
• 176 x 220 pixels, TFT 1.9" 262k colour display
• 2.0 Megapixel camera
• 2.5x digital zoom for still images
• QCIF video recording & streaming
• QVGA video playback
• VGA Video Telephony camera
• Consumer push email
• SMS and MMS
• Instant Messaging
• Mobile Blogger - Picture blog application
• UMTS 2100
• Bluetooth EDR
• PC Tools & Software
• USB 2.0 Mass storage FS
• USB charging
• USB cable
• Fast port connector
• External antenna connector
• Flight mode
• HTML Full Browser with RSS