Following in the footsteps of the Xperia X1 and X2, Sony Ericsson have announced the forthcoming release of the Aspen, the third Windows Mobile powered device from the Swedish/Japanese manufacturer. The device is expected to release during Q2 2010, and in some markets will also be known as the Sony Ericsson Faith. Aimed at the business market, the Aspen packs in a whole host of top end features designed to keep you in touch on the go.
The Aspen comes under the now familiar Greenheart banner, a range of handsets from Sony Ericsson that deliver top end mobile technology utilising eco friendly materials. This means the majority of the device is constructed from recycled material, whilst the packaging itself is kept to an absolute minimum. Also, you will not find a manual in the box; this will be stored on the phone in .pdf format. A useful tip for this is when you get your phone, copy the .pdf file to your PC, because if you need to access the manual and your phone is not working, it can be a bit of a pain having to hunt for the manual online. Another element of the Greenheart ethos is using waterborne paint on the handset, which has better environmental credentials.
The Sony Ericsson Aspen is a candybar style device, looking similar in design to a traditional BlackBerry, or Nokia E71. There is a full, four row, QWERTY keyboard on the handset, above which sit the menu Navi Key, soft option keys and call send/end keys. The display on the device is a resistive touchscreen, TFT, measuring 2.4 inches across and supporting up to 16 million colours. The fact that the QVGA display is touchscreen is a real bonus, allowing you to interact with the device either via the keypad or directly through the screen, and as the screen is a resistive display, it will work with a stylus and there is support for handwriting recognition included. As with most modern phones, the display has an auto rotate feature, which comes into its own when using the device for web browsing, and the user interface includes support for the Sony Ericsson panels, found previously on the X1 and X2.
The Aspen is a well connected phone, with quad band GSM support for solid worldwide coverage. Data transfer on the phone is handled via HSPA, for mobile broadband speed downloads and uploads on the phone, plus there is also support for WiFi 802.11b/g. This is all backed up with Class 10 EDGE and GPRS, and the device also supports Bluetooth 2.1, with A2DP. For connecting to a PC, the handset uses a Micro USB connector, and onboard storage sits at 100MB. This can be expanded via MicroSD memory cards, with the Aspen able to handle up to 16GB. The basic retail package ships with a 4GB memory card.
All the major messaging suites are supported on the Aspen, to further enhance the business credentials of this device. As well as email and push email, there is support for instant messaging, as well as onboard applications for Skype, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The Aspen also includes Pocket Office, allowing you to view a variety of office documents on the phone, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and .pdf files. But the Aspen isn’t all work, and as we’d hope for on a high spec handset, there is a full media player included, with support for WMA, MP3 and AAC audio files, plus WMV, MP4, H.264 and H.263 video files, and Sony Ericsson have also included a stereo FM radio with RDS support.
All round the Sony Ericsson Aspen is a solid device, and has a lot to offer the business user on the move. But more than that, the device would be equally comfortable for someone who likes to keep in touch via social networking and email, all services well supported on the device. Whether the Aspen has enough to hold some of the limelight for itself against some of the handset we expect to be announced this month, though, remains to be seen.
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