Sony Ericsson Satio

The Sony Ericsson Satio is a brand new smartphone that aims to combine the multimedia functionality of the Walkman range of handsets with the photographic mastery of the Cybershot phones. This makes it a powerful all-round performer with an ambitious set of capabilities.

Like all good smartphones it will come with a wide range of connectivity options including Wi-Fi and 3G and it also features a 3.5 inch touch sensitive display which is more than enough to give the iPhone a run for its money.

About the Sony Ericsson Satio

Before any of the smartphone functions of the Satio are discussed, it is important to pause and consider the 12.1 megapixel camera. There are virtually no other mainstream mobile phones which offer such a high resolution capture and with the built-in Xenon flash and a lens cover keeping the whole thing safe it is easy to see why the Satio might appeal to amateur photographers who don't want to carry their conventional cameras with them everywhere.

The camera is capable of up to 12x digital zoom and though the maximum resolution of 12.1 megapixels is available as an option, the standard setting is restricted to a more than ample 9 megapixels. At the higher resolution it can take a few seconds for pictures to be written to the Satio's memory, so for quick snaps it is sensible to tone down the resolution a little.

There are many different software-based functions which the Satio uses to compliment its impressive camera. There is face detection to help you achieve optimum focus and settings automatically before you take each picture and you can even geotag photos.

This means that using the built-in GPS the Satio will attach detailed information as to exactly where you were when you took every photograph. You can then use this to help you remember where things happened, or as part of various social networking sites.

Once you have taken pictures, you can use the preinstalled photo editing software to manipulate your images. You can get rid of any red eye, fix the sharpness and contrast levels on less than satisfactory snaps and even upload your pictures directly to the internet.

Because the Satio is aiming to become both a photographic and multimedia handset, potential owners will be interested in the media playback options. As you might expect you can throw virtually any audio or video file at the Satio and it will be able to play it back and as with all Sony Ericsson phones the audio quality via headphones is excellent.

The Satio has access to Sony Ericsson's Play Now Service, which is essentially an all-in-one entertainment and gaming shop. You can download and browse through hundreds of games, applications and music and then install or store your selection for use on the Satio. Since the Satio uses a very common operating system there are tons of applications and games available from mainstream developers as well as independent teams.

The main problem with the Satio is its less than perfect interface. Everything looks and feels quite modern and attractive, but the screen itself can be sluggish to respond to touches. It would also have been nice if the Satio had a decent amount of onboard storage, although most users will be able to pick up a microSD card for very little money if they want to get the most out of the camera and media functions.

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