Introduction

Clamshell phones are functionally great. Allowing larger screens, more surface area, in a compact size. But as the need for distinctive design increases, manufacturers need to find new ways to differentiate phones by adding a bit more style. Whether it be swivel, slide, or rotating, new new phones need more unique looks to draw envy from peers.

Design

The sleek exterior of the S700 has the classic curves found on previous Sony Ericsson models. The front of the S700 contains a large 262K TFT screen used for viewing the action while shooting photos or playback, while positioned in the back is the 1.3 mega pixel camera complete with lens cover. However, Sony Ericsson's goal has always been to design the S700 to resemble more like a Sony digital camera rather than a phone with a built-in camera.

By working closely with Sony's digital camera experts. Sony Ericsson incorporates overall styling, unique interface, and sleek design, to come up with a revolutionary 3-way design for the S700, resulting in a true camera style cell phone.

The Browsing Style position, with the S700 closed, still allows users to glance, talk, and view messaging without having to open the phone. Access to a variety of applications is possible while closed with features such as Media Player, 3D games, MusicDJ, WAP access, and more.

With the traditional clamshell open position, the Communication Style provides familiar cell phone usability allowing speedy text input with T9.

And the third position, the Imaging Style, by swiveling the screen into a closed position. The 262K TFT screen is now positioned opposite of the camera lens to become the viewfinder. It provides a more traditional digital camera look and feel by allowing 2-hands operations for more stable picture taking.

Camera

With the ever-growing popularity of imaging capability on mobile devices, the S700 redefines the term "camera phone." Camera phones nowadays are meant for talking, with the novel feature of taking pictures. But communicating is still the dominant feature. The S700 takes such strides in imaging, that it's difficult to determine if it's a phone with a camera, or a camera with communications capabilities.

Typically cameras on phones today capture images at 640 x 480 px and are incapable of being printed due to the lack of resolution and picture quality. With the S700, a 1.3 mega pixel CCD camera allows users to take pictures of up to 1280 x 960 px. Large enough and high enough in resolution to print great photos. Other resolutions include Small - QQVGA (160 x 120 px), Medium - QVGA (320 x 240 px), and Large - VGA (640 x 480 px).

The Camera Mode is automatically activated by opening the lens shutter, changing the screen into the viewfinder. As opposed to the "vertical" viewfinder most camera phones utilize, the S700 goes with the conventional horizontal interface more familiar with digital cameras.

Additionally, a robust set of camera features allow users to control spot photometry, choose between white modes (Auto, Bulb, Fluorescent, Fine, and Cloudy modes), filter effects (Negative, Solarization, Sepia, and Black and White modes), and various shooting modes (Night, Burst 4, and Frames). Automatic Exposure Control even allows users to take pictures effortlessly, while the S700 selects the optimal exposure time needed to capture excellent pictures.

Video clips can also be captured with the same lens at either QCIF (176 x 144 px) or Sub-QCIF (128 x 96 px). Encoded in 3GPP codec (H.263 and AMR) format, over a minute of video can be recorded. Bundled with Sony Ericsson's Quickshare software, the S700 allows users to easily share and send pictures with just a few simple clicks.

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