Today Sony Ericsson and Vodafone announced the launching of Sony Ericsson's first Vodafone Live! branded handset, the F500i. The F500i will be available only from Vodafone, and should start appearing in shops in 3 or 4 weeks (mid-July).

The F500i is Sony Ericsson's first fully branded handset for Vodafone, and it features the same color scheme and menu icons as found in other Vodafone Live! handsets, such as the Sharp GX30. All this is viewed on a large 1.9" 65k color TFT display with a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels. The F500i supports the Mascot Capsule Micro3D graphics engine, to allow for more advanced games. The F500i is also compatible with Sony Ericsson's existing game controller accessory, the EGB-10.

[It is worth noting that the press release and the Sony Ericsson website give different dimensions for the display. The website lists the display as being 176 x 220 pixels in size. -editor]

Like other recent Sony Ericsson handsets, the F500i sports their "dual front" look. The one side of the phone looking like a typical mobile handset, the reverse side looking like a digital camera front. The VGA resolution camera makes use of Sony Ericsson's QuickShare system for simple picture sending. Other features include video MMS, 40 voice polyphonic sound, and Sony Ericsson's Music DJ application for creating new polyphonic ringtones. Support for email and instant messaging is also included.