Geotagging with the Sony Ericsson Yari
The Sony Ericsson Yari has been dismissed by some as a gimmicky handset that relies on its gesture-based gaming capabilities to provide a quirky saleability that most people will actually ignore. This is a pity as the Yari does a lot more than allow for arm-waggling games. It has a 5 megapixel camera mounted on the back and as with more expensive smartphones the Yari has multiple built-in software functions to augment the basic camera. This includes smile detection, amongst other things, but the one with the most potential is Geotagging.
For those who are as yet unaware of this technology, the Sony Ericsson Yari geotagging function essentially adds a digital tag to the pictures that you take, provided by the built-in GPS function, which gives precise geographical information as to your exact position when you took the photograph. Unless it is explained further geotagging can become an underused and misunderstood function that could otherwise allow the Yari to have a far wider appeal than simply to those looking for a unique gaming phone.
Basic geotagging adds in coordinates relating to your latitude and longitude at the time of capture. With this information you can then look back over your pictures at a later date and find out exactly where you were and from what angle you were looking at your subject. This is obviously useful if you have been on holiday and taken the Yari with you. When you get home you will be able to show your friends and family the routes you took and what the views were like when you combine the geographical information with the images. If you are travelling for a long period and using a photographic blog to keep people updated then the Sony Ericsson Yari geotagging function will be indispensable. The Yari can even be used to sign up to a mate’s photo blog and the phone will automatically be updated with new uploads as they are made available.
The Sony Ericsson Yari geotagging capabilities will allow you to become part of a global community of geotaggers. Photo sharing website Flikr and Google Maps, the latter of which is built into the Yari for use in conjunction with the GPS, allow for geotagged photographs to be uploaded. The purpose of this is to allow users who have not visited an area before to get an idea as to how the surroundings will look from something other than an overhead satellite photograph. It also allows people to show off their photography skills and share pictures of their local community with others from the area. Geotagging projects have allowed for 3D panoramas to be built, usually of popular monuments and sights, as part of a collaborative effort involving many hundreds of individuals. Thus the Sony Ericsson Yari’s geotagging capability could allow you to become part of something much larger.
The camera itself can capture images of up to 5 megapixels in resolution and there is a photo light to help with poor lighting conditions. The Yari will also help you to fix any sub-par pictures, detect the faces and smiles of your subjects to ensure the best possible poses and perform a whole host of additional photographic magic that you might not expect from a modest slider phone.
Hopefully this overview of just one of the many functions of the Yari will show off the versatility of this underestimated handset. Criticisms of its primary gaming functions aside, Sony Ericsson can hardly be seen to have been neglectful of the other hardware and software functions that make for a great modern mobile phone.
Tags: sony ericsson, sony ericsson yari