Vodafone Unleashes Sony Ericsson Satio Smartphone

Mobile phone operator Vodafone has announced the release of Sony Ericsson's latest cameraphone, the Satio, formerly known as the Idou, the first that comes with a camera with whopping 12.1 megapixel resolution.

It combines both the Walkman and the Cybershot brands which means that you should get the best of both world. Vodafone sells it for £35 per month, which is what you can expect to pay for the iPhone 3G.

On a 24 month contract, you get 900 minutes, unlimited texts, unlimited landline calls and unlimited mobile internet and webmail. Should you want to go on a 18-month contract, you will need to bump the monthly contract price to £40 per month.

The Satio - which was announced in May 2009 - comes with a 3.5-inch touchscreen display capable of showing 640x360 pixels complete with HSDPA connectivity, WiFi, A-GPS, Bluetooth and TV Out but still no 3.5mm headphone socket.

The jewel in the crown remains the 12.1 megapixel camera with a Xenon flash with autofocus, a 12x digital zoom and camera anti-shake filter, all packed in a chassis 13.3mm thick and weighing only 126g. Sony Ericsson has judiciously decided to kick out support for its proprietary M2 or Memory Stick Pro and replace it with a 8GB microSD card.

As for the software platform, the Satio uses Symbian S60 but an Android or even a Windows Mobile version cannot be discounted next year. Other mobile phone networks have yet to say whether they will distribute the mobile phone.