Sony Ericsson Aspen caught in pre-launch preview

Have Sony Ericsson been eyeing up the Nokia E72 for their Aspen design?  That might not be too bad a thing – the E72 is a pretty decent handset, after all – but going by se-first's brief preview it sounds like the SE team could've done with spending a little more time on the QWERTY keyboard.  They reckon the keys "are a little bit too slippery", a problem we didn't have with the E72.

It's a shame, because otherwise the Aspen "feels comfortable in your hands".  Other details are scant, beyond a run down of what Windows Mobile 6.5.3 brings to the table, but Sony Ericsson have also loaded on their SlideView UI – as on the XPERIA X2 – which has simple shortcuts to various apps together with basic Facebook integration.

The Sony Ericsson Aspen is one of the handsets we're expected to get to play with at Mobile World Congress 2010 in a couple of weeks time, so we'll reserve judgement until then.  It's due to go on sale in Q2 2010.

[via USEB]