Video demo and full SE Satio gallery after the cut

While the touchscreen may be resistive, rather than the currently fashionable capacitive, that doesn’t prove too much of drawback.  The screen requires a firm tap, harder than we first expected, but once you’re used to that it’s generally responsive.  One of the demo units we tried suffered ongoing slow-downs, but others were snappier and showed no such issues; we’ll blame that on pre-production gremlins. 

The QWERTY keyboard uses large, chunky buttons, but still presented one of the Sony Ericsson demo staff some trouble.  Tapping in Facebook login details took longer than you’d expect, and we reckon the keys could do with haptic feedback.  It’s unclear whether that will be offered and was simply turned off (or not coded) on these pre-production models.  There’s also a handwriting recognition mode, though there’s no internal stylus, only a lanyard one similar to that supplied with the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic.

As with the Yari and Aino, Sony Ericsson are stressing their blending of entertainment and communication.  Preloading their “bubbles” Facebook client – as seen on the XPERIA X1 – is one such attempt at that, while new on the Satio is improved Picasa integration.  The Satio will show images uploaded to a Picasa account and then overlay any comments for that image on top; you can reply to comments directly from the photo viewer app itself.  As Sony Ericsson said, it’s not exactly new technology for a mobile device, but it’s a new way of presenting it that cuts down on a lot of unnecessary navigation.

Sony Ericsson themselves admit that the Satio isn’t finished yet, but, with a quarter still to run until it’s expected to hit the market, they have plenty of time to polish out the flaws.  The OS as a whole will hopefully be less prone to sluggishness, and we’d hope to see some haptic feedback on what’s otherwise a relatively finger-friendly on-screen QWERTY keyboard.

Video demo after the cut

The touchscreen runs at 640 x 350 resolution, ideal for showing off photos and video content, and under the hood the Satio runs S60 5th edition.  Google Maps is preloaded, as is a Facebook client, YouTube viewer and full internet browser, and there’s an on-screen full-sized landscape keyboard, a compact mini-QWERTY, T9 and handwriting recognition.

The Sony Ericsson Satio will launch in October, in three colors: black, silver and bordeaux.  No word on pricing, but don’t expect it to be a cheap handset.

Hands-on video and gallery with the Satio here

Press Release:

Visual communication like never before with the Sony Ericsson Satio

Get the ultimate multimedia experience with Satio. Feast your eyes on movies, TV-series’ and video clips thanks to the 3.5 inch screen and crystal clear 16:9 widescreen format – just like watching them live. A friend pulling a funny pose? Snap them with the amazing 12.1 megapixel camera and share the picture with friends.

London, UK – May 28, 2009 – Sony Ericsson today announced Satio which provides you access to all your media in one place – just tap directly into your favourite features with the five standby panels and you’re ready to go. First introduced in Barcelona as the ‘Idou’, Satio puts the future of mobile entertainment in the palm of your hand. You can watch your favourite movies on the bus or catch up with your TV shows while on your lunch break thanks to Satio.

“With Satio you can enjoy any form of entertainment anytime, anywhere. Whether its music or movies you will never be more than a tap away from your favourite tracks or shows,” said Fredrik Mansson, Market Business Manager at Sony Ericsson. “Just tap directly into your favourite videos and music with the unique full touch media menu, standby panels and music player. Snapping perfect pictures also just got so simple thanks to the 12.1 megapixel camera, intuitive touch focus and Xenon flash. Share them with your nearest and dearest via your social networking site, produce huge prints and you can even comment directly on your images.”

Download exciting music, movies and games from PlayNow™ arena to personalise your entertainment experience on Satio and enjoy them in crystal clear 16:9 widescreen format. PlayNow™ arena provides a full range of mobile entertainment available by dual download to both your PC and mobile phone with specially developed ring tones and music tones and DRM-free music tracks and TrackID™ charts from around the world.

Satio
Visual communication like never before

True 16:9, 3.5 inch widescreen – feast your eyes on movies
Express yourself through images – 12.1 megapixel camera, intuitive touch focus, Xenon flash and face and smile detection
Web albums with messages – talk through pictures and share your experiences
Intuitive full touch media menu – tap directly into your favourites, from web pages to pictures and media files
Symbian Foundation operating system – thousands of applications available online
Music player – play your tunes loud and proud
To make your listening experience even better team Satio with the smallest headset on the market, the Wireless Stereo Headphones HBH-IS800 to listen in crystal clear sound. Alternatively, maximise your mobile video experience with the Video Viewing Stand IM920.

Satio supports GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSDPA 850/900/2100. Satio will be available in selected markets from early Q4 in the colours; Black, Silver and Bordeaux.

The Sony Ericsson Satio at a glance

Satio
Camera

12.1 megapixel camera
Up to 12x digital zoom
Auto focus
BestPic™
Face detection
Geo tagging of photos
Image stabilizer
Photo feeds
Photo fix
Send to web
Red-eye reduction
Smile detection
Touch focus
Video light
Video recording
Xenon flash
Music

Album art
Bluetooth™ stereo (A2DP)
Media player
Music tones (MP3/AAC)
PlayNow™
TrackID™
Web

WebKit web browser
Bookmarks
Web feeds
Communication

Call list
Speakerphone
Vibrating alert
Video calling
Messaging

Conversations
Email
Exchange ActiveSync™
Handwriting recognition
Instant messaging
On-screen QWERTY keyboard
Picture messaging (MMS)
Predictive text input
Sound recorder
Text messaging (SMS)
Design

Auto rotate
Gesture control
Media
Picture wallpaper
S60 5th edition Symbian™ OS
Touchscreen
Wallpaper animation
Entertainment

HD and 3D games
Facebook™ application
FM radio with RDS
Java
Video streaming
Video viewing
YouTube™
Connectivity

Bluetooth™ technology
Modem
PictBridge
Synchronisation
TV out
USB mass storage
USB support
In-built WiFi™
Organizer

Alarm clock
Calculator
Calendar
Contacts
Document readers
Document editors
Flight mode
Notes
Tasks
Location-based services

A-GPS
Google Maps™
Turn-by-turn navigation
Accessories
In-Box:

Satio
Battery
Battery Charger
8GB Memory card
USB cable
Media manager
Colour-matched stereo portable handsfree
User guide
Optional:

Video Viewing Stand IM920
Facts and Figures

Size: 112 x 55 x 13.3 mm
Weight: 126 grams
Colours: Black, Silver and Bordeaux
Main screen: 16,777,216 colour nHD TFT
16:9 widescreen
Resolution: 640 x 360 pixels
Size: 3.5 inches
Phone memory: 128 MB
Memory Card Support: SanDisk microSD™
Availability and versions
Networks:

Satio

GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS HSDPA 2100
Satio(a)

GSM GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900
UMTS HSPA 850/1900/2100
Available in selected markets from early Q4 2009.
Legal

1) Facts and features may vary depending on local variant.

2) Talk and standby times are affected by network preferences, type of SIM card, connected accessories and various activities e.g. games. Kit contents and color options may differ from market to market. The full range of accessories may not be available in every market.

Video demo after the cut

From the video, the browser looks slick and speedy with no lag as the page is dragged around.  Interestingly, the Idou prototype uses microSD memory cards, rather than some variant of Sony’s Memory Stick; we can only hope it stays that way until launch.

The Idou has WiFi, 3G HSUPA/HSDPA and a 12.1-megapixel autofocus camera with Xenon flash, together with Bluetooth.  For more on the Idou, check out our hands-on photos and video here.

CNET demo:

SlashGear demo from MWC:

[via Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog]

According to the rep, Sony Ericsson are aiming for October with November considered the “fall-back date” should plans go awry.  Sony Ericsson Sweden would only reiterate that the company plans to ship the Idou “sometime in the second half of the year”.

Previewed at Mobile World Congress in February, the Sony Ericsson Idou is a full-touchscreen smartphone running Symbian Foundation, with GPS, a 3.5-inch display and massive 12-megapixel camera.  More details – plus live photos and video – can be found here.

[via Boy Genius Report]

There’s also plenty of attention paid to the camera and the subsequent image editing functionality.  Sony Ericsson have promised comprehensive on-device tweaking, and going from the screenshots there do seem to be more options than the typical rotate/zoom you’d get on most handsets.

When you hold it up next to two hardware-QWERTY devices, then flick over to shots of the Idou’s on-screen keyboard, it does make you wonder whether the scaling is quite right.  In the SMS composition app, the text box itself is shrunk down to less than a third of the display so as to fit all the keys in.  That’s not so bad when you’re pecking out a 160 character text message, but it could be more frustrating filling in web-forms.

Still, with a tentative release date of “the Summer” there’s plenty of time for all aspects of the Idou to be fettled.  Of course, that’s assuming a potential split of the two companies would leave the Idou even on the roadmap.

This prototype is working, certainly, but there are a lot of gaps in functionality; the phone dialer, for instance, has no text on any of the buttons.  Physical build is good, with soft-touch matte plastics and a fingerprint-friendly glossy screen bezel. 

There’s a live video of the Idou here; SlashGear also shot our own video of the smartphone back at Mobile World Congress – you can see that here.  The MobilMania footage shows how well the Idou handles the sizable 12.1-megapixel photos, saving and flicking through them quickly.

Sony Ericsson haven’t announced specific release details for the Idou, aside from saying that it will launch sometime over the Summer.

[via Unwired View]

What other details we do know are that the Idou uses a resistive touchscreen, rather than a capactive panel, and has what Sony Ericsson are calling “Turbo 3G”, which we’re assuming means either HSDPA/HSUPA or EV-DO Rev.A.  There’s also WiFi and a sliding lens cover, and an onboard suite of photo-editing applications that allow you to tweak shots on-device.  The touchscreen is used for spot-focus selection, and of course there’s Sony Ericsson’s usual Walkman-style media apps with support for the Bluetooth A2DP wireless stereo profile.  The Idou microsite is at http://www.sonyericsson.com/idou/.

Still unclear about the Sony Ericsson Idou is internal or external storage; we’re assuming the handset will come with both some amount of onboard memory, and a Micro M2 card slot to accommodate all those high-resolution images.  Battery details are also unclear, as is the data/charger connector.  From our photos it doesn’t look as though Sony Ericsson have gone with something standardized, like micro or mini USB.

We’re promised a full launch for the Idou – which by then should have a “proper” name, rather than what Sony Ericsson were at pains to point out was a “project name” – over the Summer, with availability in the second half of 2009.

The handset will feature Sony Ericsson’s new Entertainment Unlimited media system, which aims to bring together multiple media and online networking content.  SE are describing this as “Uniting, Broadening and Fusing”, and it will incorporate not only PS3 and online video and audio content, but information from Facebook and other social networks.

Sony Ericsson will make a full Idou announcement before the Summer, with the Idou itself expected to launch in the second-half of 2009.  No word on its official name, which carriers will carry it or anything else.

We’ve got masses more Sony Ericsson Idou photos and video which are currently processing; we’ll add them as soon as possible.