The new and “exclusive to Vodafone” slider boasts a 3.2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, aGPS, WiFi, DLNA certified, 120MB memory, quad-band GSM, 900 / 2100 HSDPA, ………

News of its release has been making the rounds all over the net, with several blogs, online news sources, etc. posting numerous articles commenting on the new and unique features of the Walkman.

Anyway, the most interesting (not to mention amusing-) aspects of its features, from an African perspective that is- is its purported ability to;

“enable quick access to its navigation services through among others a dedicated key.”

You may be wondering why this is so “amusing”.

Ever heard of Google Maps? Sure you have! “Play” with this (useful) navigation tool for a while, and you would begin to see the amusement in all of this. Try navigating to Ghana for instance at a zoom level of 25, and see what it tells you.

Hint: Click the link- Ghana’s Google map, and “navigate” to the bottom of the page for quick access.

According to the IT News Africa website;

Aside from turn-by-turn pedestrian or driving navigation available using Vodafone Find&Go, customers will be able to find their nearest restaurants, hotels or shopping centers all within a few clicks on their new mobile phone, the company said. (Company here referring to Sony Ericsson of course).

It beats the imagination how finding any kind of useful information on the Walkman would be possible in some parts of Africa, where even getting street names and postal codes is a “tug-of-war”.

Anyway, not to discourage any potential shoppers, the w715 Walkman is still good for many other things. Quoting IT News Africa again;

“On the top of premium music experience with crystal clear sound, the W715 includes popular Walkman features such as the music recognition application TrackID, SensMe for matching your mood to the music, and Shake Control to change tracks with the flick of a wrist. All this provides for a premium Music experience, fully integrated with Vodafone Music, allowing easy access to single and album downloads,” said Sony Ericsson.