Sony is betting on its newly launched Walkman phone to crack the worldwide domination of Apple's iconic iPod.

The electronics giant has claimed a limited victory after beating Apple into second place as the top seller of memory-type music players for May and June, but only in the Japanese market.

In the UK Orange has announced that it will be the first to sell Sony Ericsson's new Walkman phone, the W800i, with a high-profile launch at midnight on 12 August in London's Oxford Street.

The orange coloured handset will be available free to Orange customers on selected service plans and will be configured for all Orange services.

But a study of digital music devices by TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence has found that 140 million adult Americans have not heard of the Walkman phone.