VC’s Techie CockTail

I have done a simple comparison with JBenchMark 2 with my previous Sony Ericsson phones to emphasize how software & hardware wise its much superlative to the previous generation of phones.

And these are the JBenchmark 3D results :

• JBenchMark 3D HQ : 273
• JBenchMark 3D LQ : 462
• Triangles ps : 44172
• KTexels ps : 728

And this is the JBenchmark Ace (Mobile Strength Test)result :

• CPU Class : ARM9
• CPU MHz : 227 MHz
• JVM Type : AOT

In the next post, I will try to summarize the strong points of K550i and most importantly some astonishing information about this phone which frankly amazed and pleased me .

written by Vignesh \\ tags: Sony Ericsson

The K550i is the third cybershot branded phone following K790i / K800i. It is mainly to fill the void to be left by the highly successful K750i.

• Cybershot : As you slide out the active lens cover the phone switches to the cybershot camera mode. The interface resembles to a Sony Cybershot camera with lots of options to change the shooting modes, lighting, frames and effects. It has only digital zoom as with other Sony Ericssonphones it doesnt work in the highest resolution i.e at 2 Megapixels. The focus of the camera has been reduced from the K750 to fit into the slim body thats one of the reasons I got from the internet that the picture quality doesnt outperform the K750. But cybershot option has added extra shooting options and there is also a option to directly add your images to your blog. There is also a HP Print app to print your pictures in your printer via bluetooth or pictbridge. PhotoMate application provides you with lots of options regarding picture composing, framing and sending.
• Applications : The now customary applications like Music DJ,PhotoDJ, VideoDJ are present to compose music, edit photos and videos. In addition to the HP PhotoPrint java application i would suggest other java apps like Converter, World Clock 3D (which can be downloaded from Sony Ericsson website for free) and Opera mini which is better than NetFront browser available in the phone. Face Warp is a fun app to morph a face taken by your mobile into various funny expressions. TrackID is one of the new apps in current Sony Ericsson phones which gets a audio clip palying your FM radio or other external sources and gets the track information from the internet for Free.
• PIM: The phone has a excellent address book with capacity to store 1000 contacts (5 Nos, Home & Office Address,E-Mail address and B’Day dates). A typical sony ericsson calendar has been provided to store appointments. Tasks are provided to store simple reminders and Notes can be sticked on to ur standby screen to remind you. Address book, Calendars, Notes can be synchronized to your Outlook software.

To conclude, overall the phone is a excellent package in the mid-end segment. Nokia 6300 gives this a close competition because of its QVGA screen. People looking forward to upgrading from a phone with VGA or 1.3 Mpx should definitely consider this phone. Some negatives which I found in this phone were at higher volumes the music from the speaker tends to crackle and little steep learning curve to get used to the keypad.

In the next post I will give some Java Benchmark results to emphasize on the amazingly quick User Interface and the strong points of K550i.

written by Vignesh \\ tags: Sony Ericsson

For people who are contemplating a choice between K750i and K550i, one compelling reason in favor of K550i is its User Interface.

• User Interface : The first thing to be noticed is the a somewhat bigger font with rounded edges making it look pleasing for the eyes. The main menu and sub-menu options are almost same but they are noticeably quicker than K750i. The only downer is that K550i doesnt support Flash ala K750 but its walkman counterpart W610i has this feature. The Activity menu has one more tab showing all the running applications making it possible to muti-task by using a chatting app like Mig33 and playing music all the while. One more welcome addition in K550i / W610i is that now videos can be added to a caller so that a video is played when that caller calls. File manager has different tabs for viewing files in phone memory & memory stick.
• Multimedia : The media player has been revamped but somewhat less in terms of Walkman media player of W610i. And one more thing that it lacks is Megabass which was found on the K750 and the current W610. But K550 has a stereo widening option which is not found in the K750. Video playback now supports playing files with resolution of 240 x 320 at 30 FPS. Media player supports MP3,AAC,AAC+,midi, wav, 3GP, MP4 formats. Disc2Phone software for the PC is given in the CD to transfer music. Audio quality while listening to MP3’s and the FM radio is excellent to say the least.
• Connectivity : A strong point of all Sony Ericsson mobiles has been its connectivity. This phone is no exception with USB 2.0 / Infrared & Bluetooth support. The bluetooth version has been upgraded from K750 and supports A2DP profile (in simple terms bluetooth stereo headphones can be used to wirelessly stream music). And GPRS has been complemented with EDGE for faster data download speeds if your operator has this option. Address book and calendar be locally / remotely synced. And firmwares can be upgraded over the air using GPRS / EDGE.

In my next post,I will provide some details on Cybershot features, Applications and PIM.

written by Vignesh \\ tags: Sony Ericsson

For people who are regular visitors to my blog, you would have known my previous two Sony Ericssons were W550i & Z550i. Now I have switched over to a traditional candybar phone. My current options when I went to buy this mobile were Nokia 6300 , Sony Ericsson K750i and K550i. As my thoughts on this phone go, I would compare to its predecessor K750i and its walkman counterpart W610i to illustrate some differences.

First of all K550i replaces the K750i as the Sony Ericsson’s cybershot mid-range phone segment and is not be supposed to be the flagship phone which actually belongs to K790i / K800i / K810i . But the K550i is going to replace the soon to be phased out K750i, since both are almost similar (lets say 75% ).

Whats in the Box (Depends on the Region)

K550i Handset
BST-33 Battery
USB Cable
Stereo Headset
64MB Sandisk Memory Stick Micro (M2)
Charger
PC Suite CD
Manual

• Build & Looks : I’ve never been a buyer for phone on looks …but the K550i is a Class Apart in this segment with its “Uber Cool” looks. The small metallic keys with blue backlight looks awkard but it has good tactile feel and its a joy to press. For users of K750i ….there is no more joystick (so no joystick cleaning)..but the keypad will get sometime to get used to. The phone is thin (not as thin as L7 or Samsung Ultra series) and solid with a little creaky backpad which i have found with all SE candybar phones. The phone is available in Black & white while its walkman counterpart W610i is available in Satin Black & Plush Orange.

• Call Quality : When compared to K750i this phone is quad-band so you can take it to your travel to America whereas K750i was only a tri-band phone. The network reception and call quality was excellent. Speakerphone was good. Battery lasts for a talk time of 200 minutes.

In my next post, I will give some insights into its User Interface (Believe me its amazing) , Multimedia , Connectivity features.

written by Vignesh \\ tags: Sony Ericsson