If you are a gadget freak, prepare to drool over yet another cool smartphone, this time from Sony Ericsson! It is true that SE is struggling to get a proper foothold in the smartphone business against the biggies like Apple, Google, Palm & Blackberry. But, SE does manage to come out with some beauties every now and then. Just that, the final package doesn’t seem to be as impressive as the one promised.

This time though, Sony Ericsson believes they have all the right ingredients with their latest gizmo – Sony Ericsson Vivaz. This follows on from the Xperia X10 announced in November 2009, and is the second phone in the new family of communication entertainment phones coming to market in the first half of 2010. Sony Ericsson Vivaz will come to market in Q1 2010.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz – Features

The Vivaz has high quality HD video allowing consumers to produce and broadcast their experiences with the latest video capture and sharing features. Whoa! HD video recording on a mobile phone!

The open platform also allows users to personalise their entertainment experience by downloading great applications through PlayNow and the Symbian Developer Community.

SE Vivaz will have these features:

• HD video – produce and broadcast your best experiences with the latest video capture and sharing features
• Social networking – easy access to social networks such as Facebook and Twitter
• 8.1 megapixel camera – capture life’s moments in high quality
• Face and smile detection – a perfect picture every time
• Sony Ericsson Media Player
• 3.2-inch-widescreen
• 3D games
• A-GPS
• Google Maps
• Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth
• 8GB microSD card

Sony Ericsson Vivaz – Specifications

Screen
- 360×640 pixel
- 16,777,216 colour 16:9 nHD touchscreen (TFT)
Memory
- Phone memory 75MB
- SanDisk microSD™ (up to 16GB)
* Actual free memory may vary due to phone pre-configuration.

Networks
- GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
- UMTS/HSPA 900/2100
Available colours
- Cosmic Black – Moon Silver – Galaxy Blue – Venus Ruby
Possible limited market availability.

Sizes
- 107.0 x 52.0 x 12.5 mm
- 4.2 x 2.0 x 0.5 inches
Weight
- 97.0 gr
- 3.4 oz

We’ll start with the smallest of the Xperia Family: the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini. This candy bar shaped device is small and light weight. It’s designed with a curved back, which fits great in the hand.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 Mini Pro shares the same specs as the X10 Mini. There are only 2 main differences between these phones. One being the slide out QWERTY keyboard and the second being the color available for each phone. Both phones have a 2.5 inch TFT capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 240 x 320 pixels, which is capable of producing 256,000 colors. The internal memory of both handsets is 128 MB. They both run the Android 1.6 operating system powered by a Qualcomm MSM7227 600MHz processor. These phones were meant, as their titles suggest, to be miniature versions of the Xperia X10. Due to their relation to the X10, these devices share similar applications and the unique UX platform. In my personal opinion, the devices could use upgrades such as AMOLED screens and more memory to operate at their full capacity.