Sony Ericsson’s Vivaz (above) and iPhone 4

Months before Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 4, a new kid had slipped into the block and was quietly creating ripples among young smartphone users.

Sony Ericsson had launched a phone called Vivaz, which could record video in high definition with its 8.1-megapixel camera. Both features are relatively rare and reasonably impressive. The phone's image and sound quality, with Sony’s technology, are pretty good.

Sony Ericsson is a pioneer in sleekly designed mobile phones – it launched its T- 610 way back in 2003. It could take pictures, send and receive email and even had Bluetooth. It also had an App store where you could buy music and other applications. Since then it had been on a roll with improvements in model after model and reached its zenith with the K790i. This phone could take unbeatable pictures and its sound quality was superb.

Then in 2007, Apple launched the touch screen iPhone 3G and Sony Ericsson lost its way. It did not really know what to do with its numerous models. So it started making cheap sets hoping to make a killing in the low-priced sets market. But these models were really bad. Shops stopped selling them because of numerous complaints from customers.

Sony Ericsson excels in high-end sets. So when I got my hand on the Vivaz, I was pretty impressed. It could do almost everything the iPhone 4 will do except video calling. But it is a good-looking touch screen set with rounded edges at the top and bottom. However, there is a slight problem with the touch. You have to press a little harder to get some action. A similar problem exists with the HTC phones.

You can play around with a range of customisation options usually found in digital cameras, such as white balance, image stabilisation and even smile detection.

Here is a comparison between the good-looking Vivaz and the handsome iPhone 4.

Size and weight: Vivaz is 107x52x13mm, and the iPhone 4 115X58x9mm. This makes the latter the slimmest smartphone on the market although it weighs more at 137gm compared to Vivaz’s 97gm.

Screen: The 3.5-inch screen (measured diagonally) on the iPhone 4 gives you a resolution of 960x640 pixels. The Vivaz, on the other hand, has a screen size of 3.2 inch with a screen resolution of 640x360 pixels.

But the iPhone has been able to squeeze in more pixels on to the screen so that the images and text appear sharper. They call it the Retina Display. Made from the same materials used in helicopters and high-speed trains, the Retina Display glass is chemically strengthened to be harder, more scratch resistant, and more durable than ever. The glass also features an oil-resistant coating that helps keep the screen clean. The Vivaz gets smudgy after prolonged use as the older iPhones used to.

Talktime: The Vivaz has a talk time of 780 minutes compared to 840 minutes on the new iPhone.

Gyro meter: Every iPhone 4 has a built-in 3-axis gyro meter that when combined with the accelerometer provides 6-axis motion sensing such as up and down, side to side, forward and backward and pitch and roll, making it perfect for gaming. Developers can access the gyro using the new Core Motion API to make games and other apps that go well beyond what other mobile devices offer. This makes the iPhone 4 very good for games and entertainment, with access to 225,000 apps on the App Store.

What really distinguishes the iPhone 4 from the Vivaz is the video calling. This cannot be done over a 3G network. Both sides must have Wi-Fi to use FaceTime, Apple’s name for video calling.

But if you are one who is hooked to FM you will be disappointed with the new iPhone. There is no FM. The Vivaz, on the other hand, does have FM with very good sound quality.

If you do not want to wait till September and you need a good phone I suggest you go for the Vivaz. It costs around Rs 25,000. Photos and video can be easily uploaded to the web or sent to friends and family, and can be tagged with GPS co-ordinates so you know where exactly they were taken.

As has become reasonably standard with consumer phones, the Vivaz gives users easy access to YouTube, Google Maps, Facebook and Twitter.

As for me I am going to wait till September for the iPhone 4. I used to be a staunch Sony Ericsson fan, but one bite of the Apple has got me hooked to it.

App Corner

This week there are some more football apps for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. I have also added some BlackBerry apps. Just take a look at them at www.telegraphindia.com/ bitsnbytes/appcorner.

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