Sony Ericsson Satio Media Playback
The Sony Ericsson Satio is a bit of a beast, but that is not to say that it is aggressive, difficult to handle or unintelligent. It is rather a monster of modern technology that packs so much into its relatively slender frame that it might be a little overwhelming at first. The 12 megapixel camera, 3.5 inch touch screen and various smartphone functions are there to prove that Sony Ericsson means business when it comes to the Satio. However, since Sony Ericsson has a long history as the purveyor of excellent Walkman phones, it might be easier to start of focusing on some of its core functionality; the Sony Ericsson Satio media playback software.
At the heart of the Sony Ericsson media playback software is an equally-weighted desire to make the most out of both music and video content. In many cases you will find that a phone is better suited to one or the other and there have been plenty of decent music phones in the past, but Sony Ericsson has decided to invest in the idea that the Satio is a hybrid device. If you have used any of Sony Ericsson’s recent Walkman phones then you will be familiar with the interface for music playback. You can add your own play lists, shuffle tracks or view the songs by artist, album or title. It does everything you would expect it to, although it lacks some of the frills that the W995 featured. This means the SenseMe function, which attempted to find a song to suit your mood, is missing. However, many people found this function to be relatively lightweight and pointless, so all is not lost.
When considering video playback, the Sony Ericsson Satio media software copes admirably with a huge number of popular file formats, including MP4 and RealMedia. Sadly there is no support for DivX, but anyone with a bit of knowhow will be able to convert their files in any case. In addition, the Satio does not have its sights set on video playback from on board storage or a memory card; video streaming is very much encouraged. If you use the Wi-Fi or 3G connection you can get online and use YouTube to watch short clips. But the Satio can also handle the task of streaming video from dedicated catch up TV services such as BBC iPlayer. You will ideally want to be connected to a wireless network for the best streaming performance, but most people have access to wireless networks at home and whilst at work and increasingly during the commute, so it should be easy to stay entertained.
Watching movies using the Sony Ericsson media playback software is a rewarding experience, although this is not entirely down to the program itself. Because the touch sensitive screen is a decent size you will be able to comfortably watch an entire film without needing a trip to the opticians afterwards. The screen technology itself is fairly advanced and it has the capability to display up to 16 million different colours and hues. Historically users have not considered the underlying screen technology of mobile phones to be particularly important, but with the Satio and other modern smartphones now competing in the race for superior screen quality and with more and more content viewed on mobile phone screens, the combination of good multimedia capabilities and solid technology will become far more important.
The one feature which slightly hampers the Sony Ericsson Satio media playback is the over-sensitive motion sensor function which automatically rotates the screen to portrait or landscape mode depending on how you position the phone. You may find that the screen will flip around if you move the phone a bit too vigorously, but in all this is a minor quibble with an otherwise excellent media experience.
Tags: sony ericsson, sony ericsson satio