Aliph Jawbone Icon

We have a new leader in Bluetooth headsets. The $99 Aliph Jawbone Icon is the best-designed and potentially the most flexible Bluetooth headset on the market, thanks to its new application platform. The Icon is smaller and lighter than our other top-ranked headsets, with numerous new features and a streamlined control scheme. Combined with stellar all-around performance, its plusses are enough to unseat the larger Plantronics Voyager Pro as our new Editors' Choice for Bluetooth headsets.

Aliph

http://www.jawbone.com

• Price as Tested: $99.00

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz

I feel that the Sony Ericsson Vivaz is truly a handset worth waiting for. It is laden with features, perhaps most impressively its HD video facility, and is incredibly stylish and lightweight at the same time.
As you would expect full web access is available on the phone for easy access to internet sites, and other multi media feature are also covered to keep the user occupied. The music player supports various audio formats and the screen can display album artwork. An FM tuner is built in as is a 3.5mm headphone jack to allow the use of headphones. The 75mb of internal memory is easily expandable to 16GB via the microSD port, however an 8gb card comes supplied. Battery life is impressive too, with 5 hours 20 minutes of 3G talktime or 440 hours in standby.
Perhaps one of the shortfalls with previous Sony Ericsson models was that they fell into either their Walkman or Camera (Cybershot) range, often focussing mainly on these functions at the expense of others. The Vivaz rectifies this problem very well. Powered by Symbian 60 V5 software, the same as is used in the Nokia N97, the Vivaz is quick, functional and easy to use. The camera facility particularly impresses. The 8 mega pixel device incorporates autofocus, LED flash, face & smile recognition and geo tagging. Whats more the phone can shoot video at a resolution of 720p, or in simple terms High Definition. Video is shot at a rate of 24 frames per second and unlike many other handsets features a light and video calling. A movie button makes this Video function instant, perfect for capturing spontaneous moments. Of course the WiFi connectivity allows upload of these film and pictures to a host of online sites.
The first thing that strikes me about the Sony Ericsson Vivaz is its slimline looks, but without the usual sacrifice of features in order to achieve this. Measuring 107 x 52 x 12.5mm and weighing just 97 grammes, the Vivaz is smaller on all counts than the Satio, and weighs in a sizeable 30 grammes less. A 3.2″ TFT touchscreen dominates the front of the handset. This is a vivid screen and of a good size for such a small handset. Displaying a resolution of 360 x 640 the screen is capable of displaying a massive 16 million colours. An accelorometer chip facilitates an auto rotate function. Adding to the aesthetic value,Sony Ericsson also plan to launch the Vivaz in a range of striking colours.
One of Sony Ericsson’s new handsets due for the first quarter of 2010 is the Vivaz. More akin to the Satio rather than there Walkman series handsets, the Vivaz does a very good job of matching eye catching looks with impressive functionality.

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Another touchscreen coming soon to T-Mobile Sony Ericsson Xperia X10

It would seem that T-Mobile are going to continue to offer high end devices to its users following the launch of the BlackBerry Storm 2 9520 already on sale another is set to join the line up.

Yes, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 is coming soon to T-Mobile. As we know it is the first mobile that Sony Ericsson has launched with Google’s Androids OS on board, together with the 1.6 Android platform it additionally comes with a large touchscreen display.

It is now listed on T-Mobile’s website in the coming soon part and asks interested parties to register for receiving

updates on when it will be actually available for you to get your hands on. So whether your interested next head by to the website and register your interest now. This amazing device from Sony Ericsson includes a 1GHz Snapdragon processor which will allow fast navigation and additionally there is 1GB of internal memory, and of course a memory card slot for additional storage. Some rumours are it will be with us for April others suspect it may be earlier.

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz is a Touch of Greatness

All good things come to those who wait. I have held out on a touchscreen for the longest time, but after seeing the Sony Ericsson Vivaz, I may just have to give in.

With a super sleek look and featuring some of the best video and camera technology out there, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz might be the iPhone’s biggest contender in 2010. Sony has fallen back a little from being one of the top names in the mobile phone world but this new device may help put them back on the map.

Featuring an 8.1 megapixel cam with auto-focus and 720p video capture, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz may just be your new cellular best friend.

Sony Ericsson Vivaz Hands-on

While we’ve seen plenty of images and specs for the upcoming Sony Ericsson Vivaz, full reviews have been thin on the ground. However, thanks to an exclusive hands-on we now know just how much potential this 8.1-Megapixel smartphone has. To find out how a pre-production version of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz gets on, read on after the jump…

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz has been eagerly anticipated, thanks in part to the disappointing reception of the larger Sony Ericsson Satio. Can this Symbian-based touchscreen device do any better, or is it heading for a similar fate as its larger sibling?

Tech website ElectricPig managed to get hold of a pre-production sample of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz. For a start, it’s a lot smaller than the bulky Sony Ericsson Satio, due to the use of an 8.1-Megapixel camera rather than a 12.1-Megapixel chip. According to Electric Pig, this has an impact on picture quality, however, with photographs appearing washed out, and HD video proving a little blurry round the edges.

The 3.2-inch screen impressed, with a sharp 640 x 360-pixel resolution providing crisp images and video playback. It’s via the touchscreen that most functions are carried out, with the Symbian operating system translating your prods and swipes into actions. Responsive and easy to use, it’s one of the Sony Ericsson Vivaz’s better features.

As with many touchscreen phones, the onscreen keyboard apparently falls below expectations, although this could change on full production models. If it doesn’t, however, the lack of text correction could prove a deal-breaker for many consumers.

All-in-all, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz is off to a bit of a mixed start then. Thankfully, there’s still time for updates to be incorporated into the final design, which could lead to a completely different user experience.

Sony Ericsson Jalou’s Camera

The Sony Ericsson Jalou is a fashion phone through and through. It demands attention and it deserves longing looks. But unlike some fashion phones it also has not been created with its form privileged over its functionality. There are many useful features to be found within the Jalou, but it is the built-in digital camera that we shall be dissecting in detail in order to assess just how hot this phone really is.

The Sony Ericsson Jalou camera unit has a 3.2 megapixel sensor and is found mounted on the top of the phone above the secondary screen. There is no flash, although the camera itself is a good little performer and can usually adjust the brightness automatically to make sure that pictures in dim areas are not too dull. The camera has a built-in digital zoom function which can magnify your subjects up to 3.2 times, so whether you are looking for better framing or trying to snap a celeb who has just strolled by in the distance you can easily do so whilst screaming ‘enhance’ like you are in a Hollywood film.

Despite the fairly average image capture resolution of the Jalou, it does sport some useful software apps which can help to enhance the capabilities of the camera. For example, once you have taken a picture, if you are not particularly pleased with the results you can apply the Photo Fix filter. This quickly analyses your picture and applies tweaks and improvements to make it look its best. If the light levels are a little low the brightness will get turned up and if there is a little distortion or camera shake the Photo Fix will attempt to clean the picture up to the best of its abilities.

The Sony Ericsson Jalou camera can work in tandem with the built-in GPS function for some geo-tagging. This means that when you take a picture, the image file will be tagged with information of where you where in the world. With your precise location added you can upload the picture to your PC and store it in geographical order. You can also use the 3G network connection to upload your pictures directly to your blog or photo storage service. Many are compatible with geo-tagged images and you can combine your photos with those taken by others to create panoramas, or compare your shots side by side.

As well as using the Sony Ericsson Jalou camera to make your own website or add photos to your social networking profile, you can subscribe to the photo blog of a friend or family member and have the Jalou automatically download newly added pictures to the phone’s memory. You could then get your mates to subscribe to your own visual blog and follow the goings on in your life through the pictures that you snap with the Sony Ericsson Jalou camera and upload to the internet.

The Jalou can also be used to record video and the quality is again rather impressive in this area. With a solid frame rate, a decent capture resolution and high quality audio all thrown in, you can make miniature movies in moments and then transfer them to your PC for some serious editing.

Most critics have responded with mild surprise to the Jalou. But this surprise has not been levelled at the design, but rather at the wealth of useful features which would not typically be associated with a stylish flip phone such as this. The Sony Ericsson Jalou camera is frequently referred to as being one of the most impressive of its not inconsiderable talents and given that its potential customers will be interested in images as much as with image, this will help to broaden its appeal.

Today’s Best Tariff for the Sony Ericsson W580i Black

The best tariff on Saturday 13th of February 2010 for the Sony Ericsson W580i Black equates to £10.00 per month. This tariff is available from Mobiles.co.uk. The total cost across the whole 12 month contract length is £120.00. This deal would be on the Racoon 30 tariff which gives you 300 free texts and 200 free minutes of calls per month.

The Sony Ericsson W580i Walkman mobile phone is a music phone with a slim slider that delivers the full-on Walkman phone experience. It will store up to 470 full-length tracks, has a 2.0 megapixel camera tucked discretely within, plus stacks of gaming, fun sports and entertainment features.