Camera
The UpStage's 1.3-megapixel camera takes pictures in four resolutions
ranging from 1280 x 1600 px to 176 x 220 px. Users also have the choice
of 2X Zoom, three Quality Settings, Brightness and White Balance Controls,
Night Mode, Self-Timer, four Color Effects, 10 Fun Frames and options for
Shutter Sounds. For easy photo printing, the UpStage supports PictBridge
technology for transferring images directly to a printer.
Its camcorder can shoot 30-second MPEG-4 format videos at 15 frames per
second. Video quality can be set at either 100K (Fine), 80K (Normal) or
64K (Economy). Users can expect to have similar image editing options when
they use the phone's camcorder feature which also records sound.
Like other camera phones, image quality can be good when under the right
conditions, but mediocre as a regular digital camera. The UpStage's camera
does not come with a flash, which can be somewhat limiting in low light
situations.
Basic Features
Basic features include Speakerphone, Text/Picture/Video Messaging, Voice
Commands, Alarm Clock World Clock, Notepad, Calculator, Tip Calculator and
Scheduler to manage personal dates and information.
 A
novel feature of the UpStage is its protective case, which doubles as an
extended battery pack. The phone's pre-installed Lithium-Polymer battery
provides about 2.5 hours of continuous talk time. When the handset is stored
into its battery wallet/protective case, talk and music listening time extends
to 6.5 hours of talk time or 16 hours of listening to music. One downside
is that the internal battery compartment isn't readily accessible to consumers,
so if it suddenly dies, they'll have to send in the entire phone to Sprint
customer service.
A point of convenience in the UpStage is that it comes with a 3.5 mm
headset adaptor that can plug in traditional headphones to listen to tunes
on the go. Activate the phone's Airplane Mode (which turns off the phone's
ability to receive calls and access the Internet) and consumers can listen
to their MP3 collection during flights.
The UpStage uses the high-speed EV-DO (Evolution-Data Optimized) broadband
network for streaming media and speedy downloads. Faster bandwidth is a
good necessity for the UpStage, which has access to the Sprint Power Vision
Network for downloading various video clips, games, sounds and music.
The UpStage also offers a microSD slot for up to 2 GB of external storage.
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