Sony Ericsson announces W580i -- again

Maybe your PR peeps aren't on the ball, guys, but seriously -- stop trying to confuse us by announcing products that have been out for weeks. Sony Ericsson has, for some reason, (re)announced the W580i today following an original announcement way back in March and launches on Rogers and AT&T in August. Features are the same as they were the first time around: quadband GSM plus EDGE, Shake Control, 2 megapixel camera, A2DP, integrated FM radio, and availability in black, gray, and white. Look, if you don't have anything new to tell us about, that's cool! Just chill out until you do, k?

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 3rd 2007 4:34PM]

Maybe they finally fixed the cracking keypad problem and want to " reintroduce" the phone

[jrk Posted Oct 3rd 2007 4:41PM]

yeah, i hope they have cos uh... i just noticed two nights ago that one of my keys is cracked in half. and i can't get the back of the phone off to get my sim card out or get the info they need. so i have to go find a store. boooo. :(

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 3rd 2007 6:00PM]

I really want this phone, but I want it in Boulevard Black to match my Black Mylo. I bought my sister the white Mylo for Skype. (Yes, I bought the Mylo... For $175 @ the CompUSA closeout sale in May.)

How widespread are the key cracking issues?

Any unscrupulous AT&T employees reading Engadget, know release dates for the Gray or Boulevard Black versions? My elig is up the 21'st and I want this phone, so very much in this color.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 3rd 2007 8:32PM]

If they'd made the other colors finally available, I could understand the re-announce. But since you still can't find the black or purple phones online anywhere, this seems pretty pointless.

And yes, the cracked keys issue continues to pop up on the white phone (haven't really heard regarding the black). I've also heard the grey phones are suffering from bad sliders.

Personally, I'm shifting my attention to the T-Mobile Shadow

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 4th 2007 12:06AM]

Here's my plan....

If AT&T doesn't have the Black W580i, by the time I'm eligable for a new phone, them I'm just gonna go down on my list to my second and third options. I do not want the gray or white colors of the W580i, so next up would be the SGH-A717 or the upcoming SGH-A737 slider, both from Samsung. I don't want a Smartphone, because they're too bulky for a phone. Even if the iPhone was cheap and allowed 3rd party apps, I still wouldn't get it... It's too big. (And I refuse to use iTunes)

For me it's ultimately coming down to: The Sony name OR the Windows Media DRM 10 Subscription Support offered by Samsung.

I have a PSP, Mylo, two Walkmans and a VAIO AND two Location Free Boxes so I'd like to continue my Sony only investment portfolio. Well and 157 Sony CONNECT purchases that are going up in smoke in March and were never compatible with anything Sony Ericsson ever shipped, cept maybe in Japan.

Sony Ericsson never released an online store for use with their handsets. Though they were going to work with CONNECT in 2005, the deal fell through because of "hardware issues & limitations" which is bull.

[Simon Seize Posted Oct 4th 2007 2:04PM]

Form one sony whore to another (we have 3 vaios, 2 SE W810i's, a cybershot, an Alpha, a PSP and 2 clies)
I use Windows Media Player 11 to synchronize the music on my W810i. It works better than SonicStage or SE Disc2phone. Your mobile should be the same.

Simon

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 4th 2007 6:00AM]

You're choosing colors over functions? Well, ok. I too wanted the gray but AT&T seems to have dropped it, but the white (more like silver) is nice too. I got the phone a couple weeks ago and absolutely love it. No keypad issues yet but we'll see.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 4th 2007 2:28PM]

I wish that Sony Ericsson would provide a Location Free Player for use with the W580i via it's Bluetooth (PAN profile) or EDGE. I e-mailed Sony Ericsson Developer World, wondering whether there were plans and I quote my response "AFAIK (as far as I know) Location Free support is cancelled for Sony Ericsson products due to poor sales." Yet, Sony Electronics just released another Location Free Base Station like a month ago, and it still isn't at my local SonyStyle, yet... LF-V30

Is Sony wasting money on R&D for this thing? Why, if Sony Ericsson says that, would Sony Electronics just have came out without another one, with HD capabilities?

I'd rather be a Sony whore than an Apple whore. Glad, someone else out there values Sony products as much as I. I need to go to SonyStyle again... I need an M2 Micro, but I may order it through SonyRewards.