Anyway, after trotting over to the T-Mobile store and connecting to my Mifi to the display Satio, I had a good play. The camera is, as I have already discovered, very very impressive. The ‘best pic’ function is good too. Web browsing seemed average and I was a bit disapointed with the speaker but overall, the feature set is very very impressive.

I didn’t buy one though.

The big problem is that it feels like it fell out of a Christmas cracker. The plastic is cheap and it looks like the ‘silver’ will rub off within weeks. I literally couldn’t handle it any more and walked out of the shop knowing that the Satio is NOT for me.

Sometimes I feel I’m a little bit too careful when choosing a phone but when it’s the most used peice of electronics i’m likely to buy for the next year or two, I don’t mind being a bit picky.

It looks like I’ve exhausted all phones from my ‘toplist’ now so there’s only one thing to do…wait.

• Support for WVGA video recording – The already great video recording will be enhanced to fit the wide screen format and hence resolution is also slightly increased to 864 * 480 pixles. (the preset size will still be VGA, user has to change to get WVGA)
• Upload of pictures to Facebook – It will be possible to upload pictures directly from the picture menu you have on the home screen or from the Media UI.
• Youtube video uploading – It will be possible to upload videos to Youtube directly from the Media UI.
• Conversational messaging – “Conversations” will be nicely integrated in the messaging menu in order to easily find and inspire to more conversations with your friends.
• DLNA support – The new software will support DLNA media server for easy transfer of audio and still pictures. (Note that video is not supported)
• UI improvements – On top of above, several minor UI improvements have been done in order to optimize the user experience.
• The Facebook application that is now available on PlayNow for free download will be included in the sw.

Owners are reporting that the device is now faster and smoother too.

The best news, and the news that has put the Satio back on top of the list though comes from Satio owner ‘tpagpuss‘ who has Gravity, Ovi Maps and Opera Mobile 10.5 running on it after modifying the phone to accept Nokia software.  He also linked me to some great low-light pics taken with the flash proving that it’s at least as good as the N82. It actually looks better than my two-year old N82 to me. Finally, I found this blog from another Satio owner who says “Shooting Pictures on the Go hasn’t been this much Fun since i got my beloved N82 some Years ago ” He’s posted a nice gallery of pics taken with the Satio here.

There’s a universal feeling that battery life isn’t that good but i’m betting that it’s going to beat my N82 which needs charging every 5 hours under my usage conditions. Two batteries is normal for me.

• Priority for me: Top-quality camera – Check
• Opera Mobile 10.5 – Check
• Ovi Maps – Check
• Google Maps – Check
• Gravity – Check
• Faster, better screen than my N82 – Check
• One or Two-handed operation – Check

The only thing I’m missing on my list is Ovi Store.

The risk remains that Nokia will come out with a Satio-beater next week but in this day and age that risk is always there. I have no doubt that the Satio will be an old phone in just a month or two. This afternoon I will wander down to the O2 store to see what they can do. I’m a new customer with them since last week and haven’t taken a data or voice plan yet so I’m expecting some flexibility on the price. I’m hoping for flat data over two sim cards and the phone for under 50 Euros per month.

Check back later or follow my tweets to see how I get on.

I took a brief look at the Sony Ericsson Satio a while back but it didn’t really register in my ‘want’ list because I didnt know about the CPU. When I found out that it’s got the same CPU in as the iPhone 3GS (AAS Review) I started to get interested again. Today I checked it out in the T-Mobile shop here in Bonn and sure enough, it’s got a lot of potential. The touchscreen is resistive but, like the Nokia N900, gives good haptic-assisted response. The slider-protected (essential) camera is 12MP and the pre-focus is quick and accurate. The only thing I found missing on the camera side (in my 10 minute test) was the ability to force the flash on (for fill-in.)

A quick test with the browser (on the 360×640, 3.5” screen) showed it to be accurate although over EDGE, I couldn’t really test the speed out. WIth the OMAP 3430 platform at heart, it’s going to be reasonable although with multitasking capability, probably not as fast as the single-tasking iPhone 3GS.

Must-have GPS and MicroSD are also included although the lack of 3.5mm headphone jack is hard to accept. Included headphones look good and included adaptor helps.

Two questions remain though:

• Am I happy with Series 60?
• Will Nokia bring out a new high-end cameraphone at MWC (on Symbian^2)

Series 60 is something that a lot of people moan about. It’s NOT intuitive and there’s a tough learning curve BUT, once you’re over that (I’ve been using S60 for 2 years) there’s a lot to like about it. Being able to choose per-application internet connections, good memory and process management, stable operation and a level of software support that is up there with Apple’s iPhone. I’m also a big fan of Ovi Maps. The application is quick, smooth, allows me to buy daily walk/drive licenses via my carrier’s bill and it syncs well with the online Ovi service. Exchange support works well with Google, the Gravity twitter app is one of the best out there and Opera Mobile 10 beta for S60 is a fantastic browser. SIP is integrated, Do I need any more than that? The Ovi store isn’t that exciting but it’s coming along. Android would be better for me but Symbian S60 comes in at #2 above iPhone and WM6.5. (Maemo 5 needs work to become a 24/7 phone.)

Many of you know that I’m a two-mobile-device man. I don’t believe that convergence can bring me the quality I require from a fully onverged web, pmp, navi, phone, pim, microblogging, camera device (a-la N900) so the phone doesn’t have to have the fastest and best web experience in the world because I’ve got another device for that. My priority is that camera. Capturing life around me and sending it to the internet, keeping up with news and email, twitter, mp3,  organising my agenda and making phone calls and SMS are the most important features I need in a phone.

480 Euro’s is a lot to pay for a phone but it’s only 30 Euro more than I paid for the N82 and 02 are doing some good internet-focused tariffs. (50 Euro per month for 24 months should see me covered for the phone, 5GB Internet usage including tethering/laptop use along with my low-end voice and SMS use. Initial payment – 29.95Euro. TCO, phone and costs – 1200 Euros)

So why didn’t I buy one then? Simple. At my second visit to the 02 shop today the staff refused to let me try a working model despite having one in stock. T-Mobile had a working model on display but their tariffs are focused on a flat and equal mix of voice, SMS and internet. My final option is to buy one from the O2 online shop. The ‘remote purchase’ law in Germany at least allows me 14 days to return it. 

But then again, Mobile World Congress is coming in just over a week!

Sample 12mp Satio image below (click for full size and see how much you can zoom in. its stunning!)

Note the widescreen form-factor of the image. Gives it a modern feel.

Any other N82 owners out there laboring over the same choice?