In my opinion they’re quite good. Fantastic even. I mean, some of their high-ends have worse promotional videos (read W995).

Another day, another handset. That phrase largely sums up the S312. Cynical? Read on and find out …

Let’s start with the good. It’s a basic wee handset that will appeal to those looking for a no frills, no nonsense handset. The 2 MP camera isn’t rock bottom spec  and should be fine for random Facebook photography fun. There’s a couple of additional photo features, such as photo blogging, and a photo fix feature to enhance shots. There is also a dedicated video camera key, which is a nice touch I suppose. A photo light is also a nice addition although probably of little use for anything more than basic photography. An M2 memory card slot is also nice to have, whether for pictures/videos or music.

The fact that the handset supports EDGE is good too although realistically you probably won’t be doing much browsing on the small screen.

It is nice to see TrackID featured though. This is a great wee feature that I’ve long sung the praises of and it’s especially nice to see Sony Ericsson include it in their low-end handsets. A2DP support is also a welcome inclusion. Kudos chaps!

Ok let’s turn our attention to the bad. Generic. That one word sums this handset up in its entirety. I’m not being overly harsh when I say that because in all honesty the S312 doesn’t offer anything that we haven’t seen before. What can they include in a low-end handset I hear you ask? It’s not so much the feature set, although that is part of it, but rather the relatively unimagintive design; it’s basically a cookie cutter handset that we’ve seen countless times before from various manufacturers.

If Sony Ericsson are sensible they will price this handset very cheaply although given their track record I have feeling that probably won’t happen. A low price would be the S312’s saving grace because if it were very cheap then its feature set could really compete with the products from other manufacturers in the generic low-end category.

Also announced today is the VH300 – a small and simple Bluetooth headset.

In short it isn’t a bad handset, but it’s nothing to get excited about either. Those who want a basic handset with the odd extra might like it, but for the rest of us it’s not much more than a quick mention in a blog. Move along people, nothing to see here.

All right… My time is up, and I’ll leave you with the video and a question just below it…

So, have I got too much time on my hands or too many phones to be in my hands? That’s the question!

The phones in the video are:

C902, C905, G900, K530, K660, K700, K750, 2x K770, K800, K850, M600, P990, S500, T68i, T230, T610, W550, 2x W595, 2x W760, W800, 2x W890, W900, W950, W960, X1, and Z320.

Ok, now on to the new products – they’re divided into 3 groups for different audiences as seen below.

The first group consists of two entry models, the J132 and the K330. Both are low-end phones with all basic phone features like phone book, torch, (radio) alarm, and the K330 also supports Bluetooth. A VGA-camera with video recording up to 12 minutes is also present and so is Java support.
The J132 comes in Night black and Heaven blue, K330 in Gold on black and Green on black.

Also in this group are the three new Bluetooth headsets HBH-PV715, PV720, PV740.

For the PV-720 you can buy additional style-up covers, so you can personalize it.

The next group contains the F305 – F being for fun. This phone is all about fun and entertainment, it’s equipped with a motion sensor, dedicated game buttons and even stereo speakers.  The phone also has a M2 memory card slot, 2 mega pixel camera and three pre-installed games; Bowling, Bass fishing and Jockey. Additionally, 50 games by Gameloft will be available to download via Playnow. You can get the phone in two colours, Polar white and Mystic black. Along with this phone comes 2 style-up covers and additional the CPP-100 for an extra power boost.

The last group was all about making pictures and sharing them – this includes the S302 and the C905.
The S306 is a 2 mega pixel camera phone with a smooth design and a glossy finish. This phone comes in two colour variants – Crystal  blue and Thunder grey.
And now what you have all been waiting for – the one and only C905. This is basically a camera with phone functionality! It’s so amazing with its 8 mea pixel camera and the big sensor, this is really worth buying. This is the first Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot in the slider form factor, but SE did this on purpose. Their goal as to make a phone that looks like a camera instead of a phone, and to do this they used a metal casing that feels really solid and is a little bit heavier than what we’ve seen in previous Cyber-shot phones.

Also announced were the MD400(g), the CBC-100 battery charger/adapter and the ITC-60 TV out cable for viewing your C905 photos on your TV set.

After the slideshow it was time for lunch, meaning we could finally play with these new models! My personal opinion about the phones;

• J132 and K330 – both really annoying without the back key.
• F305 – looks good and it’s surprisingly small. But the games are not that special.
• S302 – great cam for a 2mega pixel phone still in development.
• C905 – damn, this phone is good! It’s like the phone K850 never became and the UI is real fast.
• Also got my hands on the X1 and its user interface has been speeded up a lot, too.

By Thomas Hondema aka Reversedhex.

[View with PicLens]

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Thanks, MR!

We’ve had a chat with Kenneth Møller, National Account Manager, Sony Ericsson Denmark and Iceland, about today’s announcements as well as some general phones talk. Here’s what he had to say

Q. The new C905 Cyber-shot features an 8-mega pixel camera – was that a necessary step?

A. The amount of mega pixels is one of many factors we’re continuously working with to get the best image quality. With the C905 you can even share your photos via DLNA to i.e. your TV or Playstation 3 and thereby show the photos in a large size. This is where the amount of mega pixels makes a considerable difference.

Q. An important factor when it comes to mobile phone cameras, high resolutions and alike, is the size of the camera sensor. Any news on this front to avoid picture noise, colour errors, and alike?

A. C905 has a larger camera sensor than what we’ve seen in previous models, but apart from that we’re working on advanced features such as face detection and smart focus, which in different ways is what consumers of compact cameras and mobile phone cameras want.

Q. Many will say the C905 lacks optical zoom. Why was this feature excluded?

A. During the development process we’re continuously evaluating based on what combination of features that delivers the best user experience and the best combination of features, size and price. In the case of C905, we think the 8.1 MP in combination with the possibility to share your photos on your TV is the best solution. Apart from this you can now also geo-tag your photos with the built-in aGPS and use it for navigation purposes.

Q. The TV-out cable ITC-60 is announced as an accessory to the C905 – can it be used with other phones?

A. C905 is the first phone by Sony Ericsson with TV-out functionality.

Q. The Sony Ericsson F305 is the first model in a revived F-series of gaming phones. Will this series be reserved cheaper phones, or will we also see more expensive phones in this series in the future?

A. We strongly believe in our new F-series, but can only make statements about announced products.

Q. What makes the gaming experience on the F305 unique compared to i.e. the K850 and W910, both also featuring a built-in accelerometer?

A. With an accelerometer as in F305, you get expanded possibilities to use different movements.

Q. With the Cyber-shot phones now in the C-series, will the K-series be used for price-friendly phones such as the K330?

A. The K-series will be used for phones in the entry-level segment. When it comes to imaging, we’ve got the S-series; Snapshot to complement the Cyber-shot range in a more competitive price level.

Q. The C905 in particular has received lots of publicity in the media and on various forums. Is this a so-called hero product?

A. We announce what we think gives the best user experience in the imaging segment. With the C905, we announce several new technologies and applications, that we believe will take the photos from your mobile phone camera to the next level. That’s why we strongly believe the C905 will communicate to all.

Q. What will the new phones cost?

A. It’s not Sony Ericsson without the operators that can set the prices for the markets, and they can vary by market. Our estimate is that the C905 will cost around the same as the K850 did when it was released.

… and now some more general questions.

Q. The XPERIA brand was launched earlier this year, and even since we haven’t seen any further additions in the XPERIA range. Are there any plans of announcing one or more this year?

A. We’ve announced the X1, which will be released during Q4 2008. We can however not comment further on any unannounced products.

Q. How does the future look for high-end phones by Sony Ericsson? At the latest few announcements the primary focus has been on cheap entry-level models – is it the plan to continue this?

A. We’ll be expanding our product portfolio in full to satisfy all kinds of markets.

Q. Is there still a market for ultra-thin phones?

A. The size of the phone is still an important factor, that must be balanced with the feature set and price.

Q. Numerous competitors have announced luxury models – does Sony Ericsson see a future for these phones or are they niche-products?

A. Our goal is to deliver a unique user experience for consumers with different needs. This goes for all segments.

Q. Professional UIQ-phones are a rare sight nowadays – are there any models in the pipeline or is the platform less suitable than Windows Mobile for this kind of phones?

A. Sony Ericsson today works with a set of different platforms that all add different parts to the portfolio. UIQ is still an important platform, complementing Windows Mobile in X1.

PS. Sorry about any mistakes in the text. Had to do this in a hurry, so the translations are definitely not top notch!

Two other phones were announced today, as expected. These were J132 and K330, both low-end phones with for the entry-level markets. Both feature a built-in FM radio, and the K330 comes with a VGA camera as well. The specifications aren’t ground-breaking, but that’s why they’re for entry-level markets

More coming up in a bit!

PS. Sorry about the late posts today; I had my physics exam today (yes, horribly scheduled!).

We told you about the Snapshot series quite some time ago in a post about the new nomenclature of Sony Ericsson phone names, and today we’ll be unveiling Sony Ericsson’s first phone in this series – it’s called the Sony Ericsson S302 Snapshot.

The S302 Snapshot is a cheap camera-enabled quadband GSM phone with further support for EDGE networks. It’ll be available in Europe (S302) and China (S302c).

The S302 Snapshot sports a fair 2 mega pixel camera with fixed focus, meaning your shots won’t get past the snapshot-level, which is basically expectable from a product with that as its surname. It does, however, feature the more advanced camera interface from earlier Sony Ericsson phones, and considering it’s a low/mid-end solution, that’s not half bad. Further more, it’s got a photo light and it features PhotoFix as well, if you decide to use that.
Your favourite moments can be recorded on video, although it won’t be in that great quality, and the internal memory of only 20 megabytes is also somewhat of a hindrance if you had plans about holding your entire photo album on it. It is, however, expandable with a Memory Stick Micro card.

Photos and videos can be easily transfered via either Bluetooth 2.0 or USB 2.0 (notice the 2’s, did you?). If you don’t want to use either, you can post both your images on a blog, or print them directly with the built-in PictBridge support.

Other features worth mentioning are A2DP-support, media player, support for various audio codecs, PlayNow, TrackID, a built-in FM radio and the Access NetFront xHTML web browser.

The S302 Snapshot measures 101 x 46 x 11 (12) millimetres, and weighs a mere 79 grams, making it quite light. Its display is a 2-inch TFT-display with a resolution of 176 x 220 pixels. The battery life is set to 7 hours of talk or 300 hours of standby.

The phone will be available in early Q4 this year, and announced on the 17th. It’ll come in Thunder Grey and Crystal Blue colour trimmings. Its price is yet unknown, but it’ll be quite low.

JUSTAMP are showing some rather smashing looking SO905iCS unboxing pictures. The SO905i is the first Cybershot branded handset to be released in Japan, and true to form has some impressive features such as a 5 MP AF camera with 3x optical zoom, and a rather impressive WVGA screen (hint for SE: your European customers wouldn’t mind seeing these sort of specs in their Cybershot handsets!).

See the rest of the pictures after the jump.