Sony Ericsson W995 Walkman: 8-megapixel music monster

Holy 3.5mm jacks, Batman! Sony Ericsson just announced its latest and certainly greatest Walkman handset -- the W995 -- and it's got a real headphone socket! Oh, Sony Ericsson, you shouldn't have. No wait -- you should've. Well done. Took you long enough.

Anyway, Son Eric's latest flagship slider handset's a juicy little peach. It's got an 8.1-megapixel camera with autofocus, a 66mm (2.6-inch) 240x320-pixel screen, GPS, Wi-Fi, Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync support, an 8GB Memory Stick Micro M2 card, stereo Bluetooth, and that all-important 3.5mm headphone socket, of course.

At last, a Walkman that's living up to its name. But this juicy fruit wraps its tech hotness up in a chassis that screams, "Hey baby, if you like my name, just wait 'til you hear my phone number." No doubt it's one of the best-looking Walkmans to date.

Plus it's got the new Media Go software that promises to make media management and transfers even easier, with a built-in podcast directory too. Add to that a secondary front-facing camera for video calling, Google Maps coupled to the GPS system, an integrated YouTube app and support for Java applications like the amazing Opera Web browser and an array of 3D games, and you'll begin to start understanding why this is, for us, the most exciting music phone of 2009 so far.

It'll be on sale in the UK in the second quarter of this year, with prices to be announced over the coming weeks. Until then, browse the gallery of pics we've put together for you over the next few pages.