The history of the mobile phone is a long and engaging one and the unstoppable evolution of mobile technology is fascinating, even if you only ever get to experience a fraction of what is on offer at first hand. But rather than reading the encyclopaedic details about the industry and the handsets that have defined it online, you could go back through your own collection of mobile phones that you have accumulated over the years. Mobile phone recycling is only a relatively new concept to mainstream users and you will probably find that over time you will have accumulated quite a few mobiles. Whether they are all piled together in a box in the attic, or dispersed around your house in drawers and old coat pockets, your own mobile history can bring back memories of times gone by and formative events in your life. Sony Ericsson’s Cybershot Range of cameraphones has been developing like every other niche in the market and the Sony Ericsson C902 is a great midrange snapper that will not bring you to your knees with an excessive price tag. Adding it to your ongoing mobile phone collection will provide you with the means to actually capture the events that matter and you will probably look back with fondness in years to come at the C902, whether you keep it in your house or send it to be recycled. But the questions we must answer here are will the Sony Ericsson C902 stay active and relevant in your pocket or bag for longer than the 18 month average contract length, will it end up falling short of this target and getting replaced, or will you stick with it for longer still?

The main reason to keep the Sony Ericsson C902 by your side for extended periods is of course the digital camera function. As part of the Cybershot Range, Sony Ericsson has made sure that the C902 is blessed with the best photographic functions that it can reasonably offer on a mobile phone. Face detection, smile shot and all of the advanced software features that many mobiles lack are all present and correct. You also get a series of touch-sensitive areas arranged around the outside of the screen, which itself acts as a viewfinder whilst the camera is active. These buttons allow you to modify the photographic settings with ease and it is the perfect solution for a phone that does not have a touch sensitive screen. Other phones have physical keys to allow you to switch between modes, or use complex menu screens that can be difficult to navigate if you are trying to fire off a shot quickly. The Sony Ericsson C902 is able to bypass all of this thanks to its touch sensitive control keys.

The next thing to look at when considering whether a phone will go the distance or get replaced is the build quality and the materials that are used. Since this is a camera phone, its biggest physical asset is the camera unit itself. Virtually every mobile on the market comes with a built in camera these days, but a vast majority of these will leave their lenses unprotected and open to pick up scratches, scrapes and dust. Dust is a particularly persistent issue, as if it gets under the lens it is virtually impossible to remove and it can make all of your pictures from then on look pretty atrocious. However, the Sony Ericsson C902 is one of the select few cameraphones that is endowed with a lens cover. Although in this case the lens cover is not a bulky, protruding item that spoils the lines of the phone; it is integrated into the construction, allowing the mobile to retain its clean lines and bar design during general usage, whilst the camera is easily accessible by a simple slide mechanism. By encasing the lens in the outer shell of the phone, it is completely out of harm’s way until it is required, at which point it makes its appearance with minimal ceremony and disappears back into the safe confines of the C902 when you are finished with your photo taking.

The final feature that will hopefully keep the C902 on life support in two or three years time is the PlayNow access. PlayNow is Sony Ericsson’s digital download service that pulls in games, apps and music downloads to make the multimedia content that the C902 can offer constantly fresh and ever-evolving. More and more phones are beginning to offer similar features in the form of app stores and music download services, but Sony Ericsson’s all in one PlayNow solution for the C902 is a combination of the best bits that others offer separately. You do not need to download apps if you want to make the most of the C902, as it already comes with some software to keep you entertained. Since photography is the centrepiece, the Storyteller app is a nice inclusion that will let you map out your life in photographs. It is basically a slideshow app that lets you string together your photographs and then customise them with clip art, speech bubbles and effects. This then allows you to show off your creations to any mates that are nearby. If you want to share your Storyteller photos with more of your mates from around the world, then you can install the Facebook version of the app on your social networking profile and upload your slideshow for all to see.

The Sony Ericsson C902 manages to make a strong case for its continued use through photography. Whilst it will not replace a standalone camera in terms of quality, many people do not have the ability or the desire to keep their digital cameras with them at all times and so the C902 will make up for this.

Tags: sony ericsson, sony ericsson c902

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on Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 6:21 am and is filed under Mobile Phones.
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