Many mobile phone users and video game players still remember the Nokia N-Gage, a gaming device and mobile phone that flopped spectalularly only to be withdrawn from production after two years of existence. Despite the failure of a dedicated gaming phone, the idea of playing games on a phone is still alive and well. For instance, Nokia has made N-Gage games available to a number of smartphone models through the Ovi Store. So far, Sony Ericsson has designed phones for music (Walkman-series) and photography (Cybershot-series) only and left gaming to Playstation consoles. Not anymore. Sony Ericsson is testing the waters with a gaming phone that is gesture-controlled, potentially triggering a wave of new ideas and new games to the market.

The Sony Ericsson Yari phone has been designed for games that can be played by controlling the action with gestures. That's exactly the same technology that made the Nintendo Wii popular; the possibility to play by waving, pushing, hitting, pulling, or twisting the joystick held in hand. In this case, the joystick happens to be the Yari gaming phone where the games are running as well. Two hardware gaming keys on the unit provide additional control for playing mobile games.

As a mobile phone, the Sony Ericsson Yari can be used in regions where GSM or UMTS networks are available. It is a quad-band GSM phone and dual-band 3G phone. The Yari comes with GPS, web browser, a range of messaging options, 5 megapixel camera, MP3 player, FM radio, YouTube viewing, Bluetooth, and USB. Additionally, users can download Java games and applications to the device.

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