Sony Ericsson Idou Review - Say ‘I DO’ to the Idou

Posted by searchaphone 8 June,2009

We all were on our toes and drooling in expectation for the launch of the iPhone from apple which has undoubtedly revolutionized the definition for what makes a phone hip. But while that particular mobile phone has more or less barricaded up and blockaded its own specific nook in the mobile phone industry, there’s no stopping the competition from thinking up something that’s meant to be better.

Sony Ericsson, who is by no means a greenhorn in the mobile phone business, does not intend to be tipping it’s hat any time soon to a radical upstart in the competition. It may have lost a battle or two, but the war is long from over. Their newest weapon in their arsenal: the Idou.

Now, you may think that it is such an innocuous name for a revolutionary phone, but the Idou is a what you see is what you get kind of phone, and there a lot to be had – a lot that it may just be the digital toy you’ll find yourself married to.

What to Experience with Sony Ericsson Idou

And it’s not difficult to see why – just all the things the competition has, plus Ericsson’s Walkman features then topped off with an oh-so-sweet 12.1 megapixel camera. Yes, you heard right. A whopping 12.1 megapixels of image goodness. Throughout the years, many phones have bragged about their internal cameras, beginning with the VGA then the 1.3. then 2.0, then 3.2, then 5. The improvements have been in small increments, but the Idou has jumped way further than anyone has ever had. Sheesh, there are even dedicated digital point and shoot cameras out there with less megapixels than the Idou. Powered by the reliable Symbian OS system, it’s mind-boggling to imagine how in the world Sony managed to squeeze this much goodness in such a compact and slim package.

But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. The Sony Ericsson Idou is at this point in time, a concept phone, slated for release at the third or fourth quarter of the year, just in time for the holiday spending attitude to kick in – those Sony guys really know when to launch a grand project like this. But based on the initial trial units Sony’s been sending out, all seems good and well. The 3.5 inch display features touchscreen and high resolution images, and plays video in landscape mode. Ericsson is gearing the Idou to be an all in one media product, and they seem to be doing quite an exemplary job thus far. The user interface is easy to navigate and the phone is responsive. Quite turn on for technophobes who’re scared of pressing the wrong key. And as with Sony Ericsson media focused phones, the Idou comes with dedicated buttons to make media playing – whether music or video – an easier and more straightforward experience.

Of course no one can really discuss the Idou without going into the specifics of the camera. As mentioned, the Idou tots around a powerful 12.1 megapixel internal camera, and unless some other member of the competition comes up with something better in the near future, this is the current king of all internal camera phones. The lens is protected by a sliding cover at the back, opening which automatically activates the camera. The flash is pretty decent too – not too shabby as digital compact cameras go, but massive in terms of mobile phones with internal cameras.

All in all, the Idou so far is more than promising. Ericsson is still keeping a few aces up its sleeve – and only time and experience will tell whether or not it’s a good thing.

Specifications:

2G Network
GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 
3G Network
HSDPA 900 / 2100 
 
HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 - Satio(a) for the Americas
Announced
2009, February
Status
Available. Released 2009, October
Dimensions
112 x 55 x 13 mm 
Weight
126 g
Display Type
TFT touchscreen, 16M colors
Size
360 x 640 pixels, 3.5 inches
 
- Accelerometer sensor for UI auto-rotate
- Proximity sensor for auto turn-off
 
Alert types
Vibration, MP3, AAC ringtones
Phonebook
Practically unlimited entries and fields, Photocall
Call records
Detailed, max 30 days
Internal
128 MB storage; 256 MB RAM
Card slot
microSD, up to 32GB, 8GB included
GPRS
Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots), 32 - 48 kbps
EDGE
Class 10, 236.8 kbps
3G
HSDPA, 7.2 Mbps; HSUPA, 3.6 Mbps
WLAN
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, DLNA
Bluetooth
Yes, v2.0 with A2DP
Infrared port
No
USB
Yes, v2.0
Camera Primary
12 MP, 4000 x 3000 pixels, autofocus, xenon flash, video LED flash
Features
Touch focus, geo-tagging, face and smile detection
Video
Yes, WVGA@30fps (via software update)
Secondary
VGA videocall camera
OS
Symbian OS v9.4, Series 60 rel. 5
CPU
ARM Cortex A8 600 MHz, PowerVR SGX graphics
Messaging
SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
Browser
WAP 2.0/HTML, RSS reader
Radio
Stereo FM radio
Games
Yes + downloadable
Colors
Black, Silver, Bordeaux
GPS
Yes, with A-GPS support
Java
Yes, MIDP 2.0
 
- Google Maps
- Gesture control
- MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV player
- MP3/WAV/WMA/eAAC+ player
- TV-out
- Office document viewer
- Organizer
- T9
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Battery  
Standard battery, Li-Po 1000 mAh
Stand-by
Up to 360 h (2G) / Up to 340 h (3G)
Talk time
Up to11 h (2G) / Up to 4 h 50 min (3G)

 

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