Tuesday, May 15, 2007 Limpag: 2 new Sony Ericsson phones By Max Limpag Celltalk
CEBU LAUNCH. Sony Ericsson launched two new phones a couple of weeks back in Cebu—the K810i and the K550i.
The K810i (see photo) epitomizes one of the strengths of the Sony Ericsson brand: its imaging capabilities. It carries the Cyber-shot label, a Sony digital camera brand. Company officials had said that the capabilities of its camera phones were so advanced they were confident of letting it use the Cyber-shot brand. Among the features being highlighted by the company is the K810i’s blogging capability. Using the phone, you can take a photo and immediately post it into your blog. Since many web applications, including social photo networks, share technology in adding files, you might be able to configure the phone to post to a photo sharing site. I still have to try it, though. It’s a feature that I think would appeal to today’s Internet-connected youth. It’s not for me, though.
While I’m an active blogger, I want full control over the coding of my photo presentation because I use Javascript for snazzy loading effects---something I can’t do on the phone. The K810i has a 3.2 megapixel camera with auto-focus.
It also has a Xenon flash with red-eye reduction. The camera also has an “active lens cover,” a cool feature for most of the company’s camera phones.
COOL FEATURE. Among the coolest features of the K810i is the BestPic mode in taking photographs. Using this mode, the phone takes nine successive shots on a single press of the camera button. You will be then asked to choose the best shot for saving. I’ve been playing with this feature in the K800i and I really love it. This feature is the reason why Cyber-shot phones are even better than some stand-alone digital cameras. The phone also has a built-in RSS reader that will allow users to be always updated on the blogs or websites they read.
The phone also has video calling capabilities and, as expected from any modern handset, contains multi-media features that have become standards on handsets: mass storage capability, a digital media player, among other things. The K550i, on the other hand, shares many of the features of the K810i only that it comes with a 2.0 megapixel camera.
To most people, this resolution will suffice. The K750i, which I use until now, has only a 2.0 megapixel camera and yet it has served me well in my blogging needs. The K550i is way cheaper than the K810i but I do not have an idea on their suggested retail prices.
