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Last week we made a short trip over the causeway to Singapore courtesy of Sony Ericsson for the Empowering the Future APEC media launch.
Contrary to all the hype and hearsay on the web, the X2 didn't make an appearance here. Instead, we were acquainted with three "new" models from the UK based phone makers - the Satio, Aino, and Yari.
Even though this was the first time we managed to actually lay hands on the trio, news of these models was already posted up on the Sony Ericsson website sometime in May. That aside, the trip itself was a hit-and-miss affair. We were well entertained during the launch event, but as for the products themselves, its suffice to say that they left a lot to be desired.
Story continues after the jump.
Headlining the trio is the Satio. Encased in a metal bezel,
the Satio is a full touch-screen phone and displays its goods on a
3.5-inch crystal clear screen. Displaying amazing sharpness levels and
outstanding contrast, the 16:9 screen is ideal for the multimedia freak
who can't live without watching videos on the go.
The Satio also features a 12.1 MP
camera, which is the highest megapixel count on a Sony Ericsson phone
to date. Paired with a Xenon flash and touch-focus snapping, the camera
produces some amazing looking pictures - all of which can be sent
directly to your preferred social media network or touched up with the
generous array of retouching bundled tools.
But
technical prowess aside, one thing that we must commend team SE for is
the superbly revamped user interface. Since this is a full touchscreen
phone (apart from the answer and end buttons on the bottom), an
intuitive interface is necessary, and SE's rendition is noteworthy.
Instead
of over cluttering the home screen with various widgets and whatnot's,
icons that lead you to the features of the phone are neatly lined on
the top and bottom of the home screen. Bearing resemblance to the
standby panel system that was debuted on the Xperia X1, the interface
on the Satio is much smoother and more easily accessible.
Owners
of the Satio will also get to enjoy downloadable content from a library
of music, video, film and games that's been specially prepared by Sony
United. This service is said to be Asia Pacific specific, and one-ups
existing content providers by offering more than just music (eg. Comes
With Music from Nokia). Since Sony United is made up of industry
bigwigs like Sony Pictures and Sony Music, you can also expect the
content provided to be current and up to date.
No word on the official pricing of the Satio just yet, but we're told that it'll debut in Malaysia sometime this October.
Unfortunately, the other two phones that were launched - the Aino and the Yari - were far from being anywhere as impressive as the Satio. Pictured above is the Aino, a typical Sony Ericsson styled slider phone, that sports a 8.1 MP camera and the mediocre Media Go technology.
In a nutshell, Media Go technology allows you to stream content off your PS3 from "anywhere in the world". It sounds mighty impressive at first, but by "content" Sony Ericsson really means pictures and videos. Oh, there's also the finicky fact that when you're engaged in streaming, the PS3 is rendered unusable because it'll display the same content you're viewing on your mobile screen on the TV that it's hooked up to.
Of course, you could just load those pictures and videos into your phone to begin with...
The last phone on today's roll call is the Yari. Featuring another familiar slider form factor, the Yari is seems to be equally as uninspired as the Aino. OK, so it comes with a 5.1 MP camera and is capable of gesture gaming (apparently the first mobile phone outside Japan to be able to do so), but apart from that the Yari seems rather flaccid.
At first listen, gesture based gaming may sound like a mighty impressive technology, but after a short hands-on session we found that it was about as exciting as playing with a pet rock - i.e. not very exciting at all. You see, gesture gaming, is pretty much like playing games in the Wii except you don't hold an acelerometer based controler. The secondary camera on the front of the phone detects your movements and translates that into commands in the said game that you're playing.
It's all fine and good when you look at it from a technology aspect, but in terms of practicality, gesture based gaming hits an epic fail. First off, to effectively capture your "commands", the phone has to be firmly propped on a stand. You can't hold your phone and deliver your gestures because games such as boxing require the use of both hands. Secondly, we're pretty sure that swinging your arms around like a maniac isn't exactly your idea of conducive mobile gaming.
And you wonder why gesture based gaming hasn't taken off outside Japan thus far...
Of the three phones that were launched, it's obvious that our favorite is the Satio. Comparatively speaking, the Yari and Aino don't even come close to it. OK, so you can stream content off your PS3 and you can play a game on your mobile phone by waving your hands around, but are these the technologies that Sony Ericsson really needs to be pushing out right now?
We don't think so, and we seriously hope that Sony Ericsson have more on their plate so show us soon if they want to be taken seriously this year.
Since the event itself impressed us more than the technologies on show, here are some pictures from the day's proceedings.
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