Posts tagged phones
Cybershot Xperience: Making K850i-Shooting Fun Again
Jan 10th
10 years ago when I got my first phone, I never figured that we’d be counting the megapixels on ‘em.
Back in 2008, I bought my Sony Ericsson K850i. I’ve always been an SE fanboy, and, since it was the same week that the C902 got here, the price of the K850i dropped slightly. It was the first 5 MP SE phone, so it still had kinks to work out.
From the K-series phone, people were expecting a step up in camera performance from the vivid photos of the K800.
What we got, instead, was a fantastic daytime/outdoors camera phone. In low light situations, the superstrong Xenon flash would wash out the colors of the subject, especially up close. Colors were pretty bland, which was temporarily remedied by the inclusion of the PhotoDJ app. But even then, you’d have to fix up the colors in post once you’ve transferred your photos.
Looking for a screen adjustment hax, I discovered Witchking’s Cyber-shot XPerience camera driver. It replaces SE’s camera driver with one that’s more robust, flexible and adjustable. One that utilizes the phone’s 5 MP sensor and pushes it.
There are just situations when you don’t have a camera and you need to take a quick photo of something, and since the phone’s always in my pocket — having something else running the hardware to make it better is just.fucking.fantastic.
Here’s a list of added features: (from the se-nse forums post by Witchking)
*Amazingly vivid colours and quality
*ISO Control
for both flash and non-flash shots
*Advanced Auto-ISO Flash mode
*Shutter-speed control
for both Flash and non-flash shots
*Manual Focus
*Manual Contrast
*Manual Saturation
*Manual Sharpness
*Auto-exposure lock on/off
*Advanced Hue/Tint selection
*Manual Colour balance: Cyan, Red, Yellow, Purple
*Forced flash on/off
*Colour Correction On/off
Shutter-speed control?! Manual Focus?! On a cameraphone?!
I’m still getting the hang of it, but here’s a coupla sample shots:
The Samsung Corby Pro B5310
Dec 15th
A few months ago, I went to the launch of the very appealing Samsung Corby — and just a bit earlier, Mikko sends me a link about the CorbyPRO B5310.
It will apparently have a January 2010 launch here in the Philippines, and we (me and Mikko) are pretty anxious to get our hands on the CorbyPRO. Here are the specs from GSMArena:
DISPLAY: TFT resistive touchscreen, 16M colors / 240 x 320 pixels, 2.8 inches
INPUT: Touchscreen / Slide-out QWERTY keyboard
DATA: GPRS / EDGE / 3G / WiFi / Bluetooth / USB
CAMERA: 3.15 MP, 2048×1536 pixels, video
MEMORY: microSD up to 16GB
I’m just wondering if the slide QWERTY adds bulk to the CorbyPRO’s width. Exciting times.
The Samsung Corby Puts The “You” In “Youth”
Oct 19th
October 17, 2009 — Samsung brought in a little more color to SM North as it launched its newest mobile baby: The Samsung Corby. (model: S3650)
This mobile baby, to be precise, is a new full-touch handset that is designed for the socially-connected lifestyles of the youth. (rather than trying to fashion a business phone that can ALSO do that)
With built-in support for the BIG big boys of social networks, (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, flickr, etc) this might be the phone that makes you ditch that big bulky (or mebbe sleek and sexy?) computer of yours at home.
“We see strong growth opportunities in this sector and will continue to pioneer new markets with innovative technology. The Corby is consistent with Samsung’s legacy of developing new products and technologies designed for specific audiences and bringing new devices quickly to market,” explained Charlse Choi – VP Hand Held phones, SEPCO
Having the youth in mind, (and realizing their desire to be different) the Corby shall be known for its sleek body design and bold colors. Having interchangeable slip-on battery covers (called “Fashion Jackets”) in different colors + designs (Jamaican Yellow! Cupid Pink! Minimal White! Festival Orange! They deserve exclamation points!) makes the phone stand up and shout, “No! I will not be just another phone that everyone else has!”
The phone’s UI also has what they dub the “Pop-up SNS” notification, to inform you of any new updates and live feeds from Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. It also incorporates device features into these social networks, meaning a video of your dog going bonkers over its own tail can be posted directly to YouTube, or that secret stalker picture you took from the Corby of your crush can be uploaded directly to flickr, Picasa or Photobucket.
“Globally, we are number one for full-screen touch phones and recognize the importance of social networks in the modern mobile industry. Samsung’s target audiences are at the heart of its business strategy and the design and functionality of Samsung Corby meets the needs of a highly digitally connected and style conscious youth audience – as does the affordable price point,” continued Choi.
The full-touch design makes it easier for Corby owners to manipulate on-screen widgets (of which, it was mentioned, are customizable!), or utilize “one finger zoom,” which allows users to zoom in or out USING ONLY ONE FINGER. There’s also the “smart unlock” feature, which unlocks the phone when the user draws a specific letter, or symbol.
Aside from the colorful phones, there were games, performances that involved orange/pink/yellow-colored girls on stage and a raffle for not one, but two Samsung Corby phones (whose winners are both not me :p ).
For the more technical-detail-looking-reader, here’s the tech specs for the Corby:
|
Network |
EDGE/GPRS, Quad Band (850/900/1800/1900MHz) |
|
Display |
2.8” QVGA 262K TFT-LCD Full touch screen |
|
Camera |
2 Megapixel CMOS |
|
Video |
H.263, MPEG4, WMV |
|
Audio |
FM Radio with RDS |
| Poly 64, SP-Midi, i-melody, MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA | |
|
Value-added Features |
Fashion Jacket (changeable battery cover) |
| Pop-Up SNS | |
| Cartoon UI | |
| One Finger Zoom, Dictionary, Smart Unlock | |
|
Connectivity |
USB 2.0, BT 2.1/ EDR |
|
Memory |
50MB + microSD (up to 8GB) |
|
Size |
103 x 56.5 x 12.0 mm |
|
Weight |
93g |
|
Battery |
960mAh |
|
SRP |
7,990 (!!!) |
***
A very special thanks to Samsung and Kat (who invited me to the event, of whom FOR SURE grew like 2-3 inches since the last time I saw her?)
what the H?!
Oct 1st
There’s this blue ‘H’ symbol that appears near the signal bar that appears on my phone from time-to-time.
What the hell is it for? It’s not in the manual, not in the phone’s White Paper document — and, according to Yahoo! Answers, it’s for HSDPA — thing is, I rarely (never) browse using the phone. I’ve heard enough 3G-billing horror stories to know better, so question is, am I paying for something that my phone activates by itself? Or, is Sony tracking me using satellites?
I’m thinking it might stand for ‘hrudu’ but that’s highly unlikely.
ramblings.