And speaking of photos, there's a 3.2 megapixel camera on the back of the C702 which, while not exceptional, is certainly more than the journeyman effort found on many phones in this price range. The fancier elements of the Cyber-shot range are missing, such as the very wonderful BestPic - though there is a burst option - and the Xenon flash, which has mysteriously disappeared from the C902 too.
But there is face detection, which identifies the main fissog within the frame and ensures it gets the best exposure. There's also autofocus, a 2x digital zoom and an LED flash light. Once you've taken your pic you can use the Photo Fix option, which attempts to automatically balance out any lighting discrepancies.
There's a sealed cover for the memory card too
It's hardly a professional tool, but it made a few of our more hastily snapped efforts look a bit more presentable. There's also PhotoDJ that offers more editing control over your pics, allowing you to adjust light and colour, as well as add effects, frames, clipart and text.
Like a few other Cyber-shots, when you hold the phone on its side in camera mode the top row of buttons on the keypad (3,6,9 and #) light up with additional icons and act as shortcuts for the shoot mode, scene settings, self-timer and flash light. Video resolution, as usual, is less than the still pics but it's not bad so long as movement isn't too quick.
Web browsing on the C702 is fast enough, thanks to the 3.6Mb/s HSDPA connection but then it has to be, since there's no Wi-Fi. The browser is competent rather than exceptional but, again, a cut above many in this price range.
COMMENTS
Colour and GPS...
Mine is a nice black, so I hope to avoid being hit on by the wrong crowd.
(The right crowd never hits on me, either, but that's another matter)
The digital zoom is...
Not something that can be used if you take pictures at the highest resolution.
I'd like to have a shortcut for switching on the LED-light that was easier to access than the function hidden deep in the options menu in camera mode.
The GPS...
If you try to use it 'non-assisted' it'll take absolutely ages to lock on.
Also, I have yet to find a simple 'tracklog' function in the GPS-software included. Sure, you can use Google and Wayfinder to navigate the streets of a city, but I also go 'off the beaten path', and head into the mountains. Google doesn't have many mountain trails in their maps...
(There is a log, but it just logs the Co-ords every minute, and that's a 'little bit' too coarse. never mind that you can''t see it graphically.)
There IS a free download in SE's 'Fun and Downloads' section called GPS Navigation, but I have yet to be able to download it. I always get an 'Invalid Program' message.
I guess my old Magellan eXplorist 100 GPS will still be the preferred tool when hiking.
"It's not as rugged as it looks"
That's funny, because it *looks* about as rugged as a crystal vase full of pretty lilacs.
It's rugged credentials...
ain't the only thing that's a bit 'suspect', given, what could only kindly be called, that 'metro sexual' colour scheme. Bleuch!
More Andy Pandy than Andy McNab I say.
Very assisted GPS ?
Pretty amazing that you managed to get a good GPS signal with the C902 ... perhaps you should put the tinfoil hats back on.
