Sony Ericsson Vivaz

The phone has surprisingly much more compact design, especially when compared to the Satio; the screen has been bumped down to 3.2 inches, and while it might look a little bland, the curvaceous design and its size make it both very pocket-able and sleek in looks. The bottom of the screen houses the menu, answer and decline call buttons, while the lock button is relegated to the same as the power, with the camera function keys situated to the right side. Everything is within reach of fingers.
This leaves us now to the camera, located at the back of the phone. It takes images at 8.1-megapixels, and overall the picture quality pretty decent, with great colors in daylight shot and commendable noise reduction with darker shots. Like the Satio, the camera is jam packed with enough features to build a compact camera. It has smile detection, image stabilizing, geo-tagging and picture blogging features, making it as deliciously wholesome.
Even better is the video camera function that allows for video captured at 720p with continuous autofocus, something we don’t normally see outside of digital cameras. Image quality is just as decent, though with notable noise in dark shots.
The phone functionalities, however, take a backseat to the camera. The one big gripe with it is its somewhat problematic touch screen interface. The Vivaz utilizes a resistive touch screen over an S60 interface; it works alright when browsing and selecting large icons, but when it comes to scrolling with the scroll bar or managing through the keypad, the imprecise touch coupled with the unfriendly user interface just keeps aggravating.
Still, with a wholesome array of connectivity options like Wi-Fi and 3G, the phone can function pretty overall.
As a camera phone, the Sony Ericsson Vivaz does what it does best. It’s just unfortunate that the finicky user interface mars the entire package, but if you can live through that, this phone won’t disappoint.
Pros : Compact design, Excellent camera, HD recording
Cons : Annoying user interface, No xenon flash
Sony Ericcson Vivaz Specifications :
Frequency : 3G, HSPA (900/2100MHz), Quad-band GSM, GPRS, EDGE
Screen : 3.2 inch Color 16:9 HD touchscreen (TFT) at 360 x 630 resolution
Connectivity : Bluetooth, USB2.0, Wi-Fi
Others : 8.1 megapixels color camera
Dimensions : 107 x 52 x 12.5 mm
Weight : 97 g

Microsoft LifeCam Cinema

Ever since the creation of Skype and Youtube, tech-savvy people will find an excuse to use a webcam. Everyday videos are uploaded to Youtube – be it from professionals to webcam videos. Having a webcam that delivers clear pictures and videos has become an important aspect when purchasing one. Of course, you can use webcams to do other things as well but we’ll leave that up to your imagination. If you fall into one of the many categories of webcam users, let us introduce you to the nifty Microsoft LifeCam Cinema.

It boasts of being the first consumer webcam with 720pm high definition (HD) sensor, which delivers widescreen video at 16:9 at up to 30 frames per second. We can attest to its HD quality – our video quality was beyond clear and we were pleased that we didn’t look pixilated as we move around. The price is simply too good to pass up for the feature it provides.

The LifeCam Cinema is equipped with Auto Focus and ClearFrame Technology. It is no wonder that videos are crisp and smooth when we were testing it. It is coupled with a digital noise-cancelling microphone and a flexible attachment – giving you the flexibility to video-conference or record in any environment (as long as you have a PC or laptop, of course).

Our only grumble with the Auto Focus function is that sometimes when we move ever-so-slightly (left, right, front, back, you name it), the webcam readjusts its focus. We think it is a tad bit too sensitive to the movement.