Sony launches Skype WiFi phone and IM device

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 08 August 2006 12:55

Business IT - Technology

Sony has launched, in the US, a pocket WiFi communications device with inbuilt Skype softphone and support for several popular instant messaging service.
The device, mylo,- the name stands for "my life on line"- is capable of operating in any open 802.11b wireless network, often found on college campuses, in public spaces and within private homes. It is "designed for people who use instant messaging as a primary form of communication and networking for their social life," according to Sony.

It comes with inbuilt support for Google Talk, Skype instant messaging and Yahoo! Messenger, all of which are free. A pull out qwerty keyboard enables easy message creation. It also includes JiWire's hotspot directory listing more than 20,000 WiFi networks in the United States.

An embedded HTML browser provides access to full Web pages and provides access to web mail services such as Yahoo! Mail and Google's Gmail.

The mylo supports the playback of MP3, ATRAC or WMA (secure and unsecure) files via its built-in speaker and enables users to view MPEG-4 personal videos by transferring files via USB cable or with Memory Stick Duo media. It also store JPEG pictures from the Internet or your digital camera. It has a 6cm colour screen.

The lithium-ion battery is claimed to be able to support up to 45 hours of music playback, around seven hours of chatting and web surfing and more than three hours of continuous Skype talk time. It will be available in September for about $US350 online at sonystyle.com, at Sony Style retail stores and at authorised dealers nationwide.

However information on the product proved illusive: a link to the supposedly dedicated web page, http://www.sony.com/mylo resolved to the Sony home page, and a search of that site revealed nothing on the device. A link in the press release announcing the mylo, claiming to be to a photo of the mylo did not produce one.