Sony Ericsson releases videocam-cum-smartphone

Vivaz shoots and uploads 720p video

Sony Ericsson has historically only sold mobile phones, but now the firm has launched a camcorder that also makes voice calls.

OK, technically the Vivaz is a smartphone. But SE has equipped the mobile with HD video capture and video shortcut keys to market the mobile at anyone who feels the need to “record spontaneous moments and memories”.

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The dedicated video key lets users quickly capture 720p quality videos, SE said, which can then be instantly uploaded onto YouTube over a 3G or Wi-Fi connection.

Vivaz has an 8.1Mp sensor and supports most handy photography features, including 4x digital zoom, auto-focus, face detection, image stabilisation and smile detection. Stills can be geo-tagged.

The 107 x 521 x 12.5mm mobile has a 3.2in touchscreen able to display videos stored on Micro SD memory cards – 16GB cards are the maximum the phone can handle.

Sony Ericsson's Vivaz: a good choice for entertaining video?

Other notable Viva features include handwriting recognition – useful for anyone who doesn’t like virtual keyboards — 3D games and Assisted GPS for navigation.

Sony Ericsson’s Vivaz phone will be available in selected markets – which we hope includes Blighty – before the end of March. Vivaz will ship in “Moon Silver”, “Cosmic Black”, “Galaxy Blue” and “Venus Ruby” bodies. A price hasn’t been disclosed. ®