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Ah, the age old debate… well, the years’ old debate: who to believe: the person who’s made something and is trying to sell it, or the person who has nothing invested in either its success or failure.

Rather a one-sided debate, we’ll agree, but one that’s certainly always amusing to watch from the sidelines. Step forward the contenders on either side of the fight ring that has been erected around the Sony Ericsson Jalou. In the red corner (booo, goes the crowd, boooo) we have the suitably named villain Charles Hunt, head designer on the Sony Ericsson Jalou over at Sony Ericsson. Let’s call him C, for short. Mr C Hunt. Then in the blue corner (wooooo, woooooo!) we have a selection of slightly overweight, scruffy but intelligible online bloggers and Sony Ericsson Jalou reviewers. Oh, and it’s C Hunt coming in with the first punch:

“Structured forms, intricate corners, hidden depths and jewel accents are set to be some of the hottest fashion trends in 2010. You can also expect to see deep and natural jewel colours on the runway next year.”

The bloggers corners ducks and the wild, almost surreal attempt at a punch goes miles wide. Good lord, look at this, C Hunt coming straight back for another effort:

“Packed with unique features and encased in a beautiful facet-cut jewel form, it is a stylish addition to any handbag….”

Wild, crazy almost, and ducked again. Again!:

“Sony Ericsson’s latest style statement is only 73mm long – shorter than your favourite lipstick…”

The crowd booing ferociously as C Hunt starts to sweat and slaver, foam oozing from his fat lips as he becomesa frustrated at the complete lack of effectiveness of what he thought would be the Jalou’s killer blows.

Then, what’s this, the bloggers have discussed something, argued a bit, and are now shoving forward one of their ranks to do something. He’s opening his mouth, wait for it…

“I believe this might be the worst thing I’ve ever seen today. And this is coming from a man who this morning watched two turtles having sex.”

BOOM! There is is! C Hunt is flawed! The crowd goes wild. Truth wins out! World Order is retained… phew.


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Imagine if you had a Ferrari, right, but in that Ferrari someone had dumped the engine of a Ford Galaxy. You’d be pretty annoyed, wouldn’t you. You still look kind of impressive, turn heads as you drove through town, but you’d know as you felt the terrible engine chug and grind you around the roads that you deserved better.

So it is with all smartphones running Windows Mobile platforms. Because, fair enough, a Ford engine is kind of alright, does what it needs to, only breaks down occasionally… But a Ferrari engine, now how damn cool is that? And that’s just what we think of the new Google Android platform that is making it’s first ever appearance for Sony Ericsson in the form of the Sony Ericsson Xperia X3. Sony Ericsson phones have for some time now been very, very attractive to look at, and have sported certain features that have really caught our attention. 12MP cameras, amazing WiFi media connectivity, great screens… but they’ve all been running on Windows Mobile. Not any more… and about time too, we say. The video below gives a little taster of how SE have made the Android system their own, too. The Sony Ericsson xperia X3 is shaping up very nicely indeed.

And that’s about all we have to say on the matter. There’s a Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 review here, and details of Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 deals here, but we’re just going to be spending the next couple of months waiting to get our hands on one of these things and take it for a spin…


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Sometimes it might seem that this blog favours certain phone manufacturers over other phone manufacturers. That’s because this blog favours certain phone manufacturers over other phone manufacturers. It’s as simple as that. We knows what we likes. And we likes what we knows. Other blogs might hide their affiliations and affections in desperate attempts to remain impartial / in favour with all and sundry, but we just don’t see the point in that. We’re here to over biased, opinionated rants and we’re proud of the fact.

What made us write that little intro? Basically, this official press release for the Sony Ericsson T715. As we waded through the almost insufferable turd that it is, we realised that Sony Ericsson are not a company that we are all that happy with. Their products are fine, many of them very fine indeed. It’s more their, well, their personality that we don’t like. It’s like many of the actors and sports people we admire – love to watch them, appreciate their skill and all that, but we’d never, ever want to spend a nice afternoon in a pub with them because they’re terrible people. Sony Ericsson are the Peaches Geldof of the mobile phone world. They’ve got a silly name, think far too highly of themselves and have no sense of decency, no decorum in anything they do.

Someone like Nokia, for example, would have been very upfront and outright about the Sony Ericsson T715 being a phone for poorer people, whether in this country or in emerging market. They would have been proud of the fact that they’d managed to squeeze a modest range of smartphone-esque features onto what is in all honesty an entry-level phone. Sony Ericsson, on the other hand, spend the whole press release  lying outrightly and trying to hoodwink you into believing this is some kind of sophisticated and trendy gadget that’s going to change your life forever. Just to be clear: it most definitely is not, and most definitely will not (check out this Sony Ericsson T715 review
for full proof). Again, we’ve nothing against this phone as such – it does what it’s supposed to (not a lot, but for not a lot of money) – it’s just Sony Ericsson’s attempts to position it as something it’s not are, well, offensive. There we are then. Glad we got that off our chests…


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No.

Is it a cameraphone? No, but it has a 12 megapixel camera. Is it a businessphone? No, but it has email software, full touchscreen QWERTY and document editing software. Is it a… ah, sod it. The Sony Ericsson Satio is whatever you want it to be, as far as we can tell. It may look – with it’s huge, almost all-screen surface, like a camera, but it’s far, far more than that.

With a handy little media panel to tap straight into all of its media-playing functions with one touch, an amazing, nHD screen, great sound and free headphones in every box, and loads more other functions we’ve not quite got the space / finger power to tell you about, we reckon the Sony Ericsson Satio’s going to be making plenty of appearances in people’s palms come its release in a couple of months. For our money, it does what a whole host of other phones have been pretty much failing to do recently – act as a genuine, multifunction media phone, whilst not forgetting that first and foremost it is just that: a phone.

The Sony Ericsson Satio doesn’t overarch in any of its aspirations or claims, but at the same time it utterly delivers with everything it promises. The camera’s more than decent and offers as many functions and modes as the best out there. The media playback is simple and incredibly high quality. The internet connectivity is again up there with the best. And Sony being Sony, they chuck those headphones and even an 8GB microSD card in the box for you to enjoy too.

Perfect? Not quite. But a long, long way ahead of just about all its rivals? Most definitely. There’s a full run through of everything onboard in this Sony Ericsson Satio review, or just have a look at the video below instead:


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In what we think might be a first, the recently announced Sony Ericsson Aino is going to be pretty much ignored by everyone who doesn’t own a certain top-end games console. Because the Aino has onboard several really kind of interesting features. But features that are only really kind of interesting – or interesting in anyway whatsoever – if you own a PS3. How can we say that so definitely? Well, follow us dear reader, on a journey through a list of those…

  • Remote Play – All that music / photos / etc. saved onto the hard drive of your PS3 can be accessed directly from your phone. Whether you’re linked via a local network at home, or even tapping into it from some distant country via whatever internet connectivity that place might have, all of it is accessible to you to play, share or do whatever else you want with.
  • PlayTVservice – All those free TV channels you can watch on the PS3?… yeah, you guessed it – they’re now available for your perusal on the little Sony Ericsson Aino, again no matter where you might find yourself on the planet.

Okay then, patient reader. Wasn’t a very long list to follow us down, was it? But we hope you’ll agree that it pretty much excludes the PS3-less from getting any fun out of this thing. Which isn’t actually true, as the next little line-up proves, but if you aren’t a member of the first gang, there’s not really any point getting to know this lot:

  • Media Home – Synchronise your PC with the Aino. Simple, but effective. And means you don’t need lots of wires trailing all over the place. Huzzah!
  • Media Go – Turns your phone into a remote control and mediaplayer in one, letting you watch, organise and play all your home computer files (photos, music, etc.) using the Sony Ericsson Aino itself.

So, not got a PS3? Well done for reading this far. But, seriously, nothing better to do? Have got a PS3? Yeah, yeah, we know, you’re great. Read this Sony Ericsson Aino review for even more reasons to feel smug. Or feast your gammy eyes on this:


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Sony Ericsson have announced yet another sleek looking phone that goes by the name of the Sony Ericsson Aino. The all new Aino is due to be released later this year and represents a step forward in terms of integration between Sony and Sony Ericsson.
The main feature that is sure to get PS3 owners drooling are the interactive features that allow the user to interact with Sony’s PS3 console remotely. This is the first handset that is able to do this and it now means that users can interact with their PS3 without even being in the room. I am still a little unsure as to how this will play out, but I’m sure both Sony and Sony Ericsson will release further details in the coming months.
However if you can’t wait that long. Why not check out some of the Sony Ericsson W995 deals that are currently available in the marketplace. There are great sites like Moby1 that compare mobile phone contracts from a wide range of retailers in the UK, allowing you to get the best possible deal. You can also sign up to be notified when handsets such as the Sony Ericsson Aino become available. Well worth a visit in our opinion.


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Samsung has announced that it will be releasing an upgraded version of the original Samsung pixon, the name? The Samsung Pixon 12. OK it’s not the most imaginative name to come from Samsung, however it seems that they are building on what was an already successful phone and as the old adage would say, if it aint broke, don’t fix it. It seems that Samsung is looking to rival Sony Ericsson in the megapixel department after they announced the originally named Idou was unveiled as the Sony Ericsson Satio. Both handsets will boast a 12 megapixel camera and both will inevitably take great quality photos.
Unfortunately we will have to wait until the handsets are released to see which one does take the best quality images (as yet we haven’t found any samples of images taken). As soon as we know more we will post an update here at Best Rated Phones.
So what does it all mean in terms of you purchasing your next mobile phone? Well you can be fairly sure that the Samsung Pixon 12 will be released before the Sony Ericsson Satio, so if you can’t wait to get your hands on a mobile phone with the highest resolution camera, the Pixon 12 would be the way to go. In our opinion though, it may be well worth waiting for the Satio to be released as we just love the design of this phone.


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The Sony Ericsson W395 Walkman is a new phone in the Sony walkman series. The official press releasefor this phone was some time in early February. It is the most affordable Walkman slider phone to date. The phone has a 2 inch 262k colour TFT display with a 176 x 220 pixel resolution. The screen is scratch resistant. The battery of the phone allows up to 8 hours talk time, 12 hours music listening time and a whopping 480 hours standby time.

TheSony Ericsson W395 Walkmancomes with 10 MB phone memory which can be expanded using the micro memory stick slot.

The phone supports quad band connectivity and also includes Bluetooth.

The best features are its music options which include a walkman player, powerful built-in stereo speakers with high quality bass, stereo headset and an equaliser. Album art it supported and Bluetooth A2DP stereo wireless headphones and speakers can also be used. The phone has the standard Sony Ericsson entertainment “quirks” that users have grown to love like the TrackID which helps the user to find a song even when not sure of the name and the PlayNow which provides a range of downloadable entertainment content from the handset from themes and wallpapers to unique ring tones.

The Sony Ericsson W395 Walkman has a 2 MP camera with built in support for picture and video blogging. The W395 also has a photo fix application to tweak photos after they have been taken.

Other features of the phone include motion gaming support which makes playing 3D games even better. The phone also comes with an FM radio keeping the user up to date with the latest music. The phone comes with a battery, battery charger, GB memory stick, USB cable, Stereo-portable hands free and a HPM-64 Stereo headset.

Overall this phone is an excellent mid range music phone with its excellent music features.

For network specific deals, follow the links below:

Sony Ericsson W395 on Orange
Sony Ericsson W395 on O2
Sony Ericsson W395 on T-Mobile
Sony Ericsson W395 on Vodafone
Sony Ericsson W395 on 3 Mobile
Sony Ericsson W395 on Virgin


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The Sony Ericsson C901 Filippa Cyber shot is a new phone by Sony Ericsson to be released sometime in the middle of April. It is part of the new line-up of phones Sony Ericsson plans to release this year with the mid range phones released sometime earlier this year and the high end phones later. This phone , also called filippa , ,sports a 12.7 mm candy bar form factor and will be released in 3 colours namely the noble black, sincere silver and a more feminine precious peach. The phone includes a 2.2 inch display with QVGA resolution. This mineral glass display is scratch resistant.

The C901 Filippa Cyber shotincludes 140 MB onboard memory which is expandable using the M2 memory card support to allow even more media storage which will be needed specially when storing videos.

Information about the connectivity options of the phone have not been released, but the phone does include HSUPA.

The phone’s best option as the name suggest is its 5MP camera with autofocus and a xenon flash. The phone will also bring the Cyber-Shot 2.0 user interface along with many other features. These include the Smile shutter technology, where a photo is automatically taken when it detects a smile, face detection and auto rotation. The phone also has illuminated imaging shortcuts which make navigation through photos even easier. Videos can also be recorded.

The disadvantage of the Sony Ericsson C901 Filippa Cyber shot would be that it does not have A-GPS which makes it comparatively less useful for navigation purposes. It also does not come with a TV out port gives it a disadvantage when compared to previous models in its series. The small screen can also seem a bit cramped.

There’s nothing much on this phone yet, until its official announcement by Sony Ericsson. But overall the phone is a good buy for anyone looking to buy a mid range camera phone should consider this phone as a serious option.


For network specific deals, follow the links below:
Sony Ericsson C901 Filippa Cybershot on Orange
Sony Ericsson C901 Filippa Cybershot on O2
Sony Ericsson C901 Filippa Cybershot on T-Mobile
Sony Ericsson C901 Filippa Cybershot on Vodafone
Sony Ericsson C901 Filippa Cybershot on 3 mobile
Sony Ericsson C901 Filippa Cybershot on Virgin


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If you could think of the better phone than the all new Sony Ericsson W995, we reckon that you would be hard pushed. Well, that was until they announced the Idou, but more on that another time. The Sony Ericsson W995 is here and now (well nearly) and has some serious features that are worth a mention. We don’t have a price for the handset just yet, but you can expect the release date to be somewhere around May time. Check the official Sony Ericsson page for more information.
So why are we salivating over the new Sony Ericsson W995? Well firstly it is the first Sony Ericsson phone to combine both the walkman and camera side of things into one device. For your money you get an 8.1 megapixel camera and the walkman facilities that have become so popular over the years since they were first released.
Sony’s new Media Go facility helps you to organise your media files easily and efficiently. You can stream TV and video via your 3G connection, however it is more likely that you will have more success via a Wifi connection, due to speed and coverage issues. There is a nifty little stand that pulls out of the back of the phone which means you don’t have to sit and hold the phone whilst watching TV programs or films.
The screen size is average at 2.6 inches but the camera does come with autofocus and face detection, the size of the screen does allow you to see a decent overall image of the photo that you have taken. Overall we think that this will be the phone to beat in 2009. We have a promo video for you to take a look at below and if you like what you see, you can find the best deals on the network of your choice by simply following the links below the video… Enjoy!

Orange
O2
T-Mobile
Vodafone
3 Mobile
Virgin


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