Sony Ericsson Naite Announced

The Sony Ericsson Naite apparently pronounced "Nighty" is a mid-range candy bar phone that is designed to be more environmentally friendly than a standard mobile phone.



In terms of raw specifications, the Naite is not very exciting. It has a 2.2" 240 x 320 pixel display, a 2 megapixel camera, an FM radio, stereo Bluetooth and 3.5G data. The Naite also drops Sony's proprietary Memory Stick Micro expansion and uses microSD cards as almost every other mobile phone in the world does.

The handset is a very typical Sony Ericsson design, with smart and understated looks. The Naite is also very lightweight for a 3.5G device, coming in at just 84 grams.

The Naite forms part of Sony Ericsson's Greenheart environmental initiative, and it uses reduced packaging, recycled plastics, a built-in light sensor to reduce energy use, a low-power charger and a built-in CO2 calculator.

Other features include a web browser, email client, multimedia player and all of the other things you would expect to find in a Sony Ericsson handset of this type. The Naite can also integrate with Microsoft Exchange, and the Naite's sober design and green credentials might make it an attractive business phone.

Don't expect that the Naite or other "Greenheart" products will change the world. But these improvements are a step in the right direction, and hopefully these approaches will become standard across the Sony Ericsson range.

Sony Ericsson didn't say how much the Naite will cost, but our guess is that it will retail for less than €200 SIM-free. It should be available in "selected markets" from Q3 2009 onward in "Vapour Silver" and "Ginger Red" colour combinations.