Recent demands from mobile phone manufactures have included HD video recording. Sony Ericsson have happily obliged by releasing the super slim, and very sexy Vivaz. The phone sports the Symbian S60 operating system which will win over a few Nokia fans and the 8.1MP camera is capable of shooting video in 720p (HD). Sony Ericsson has been supplying powerful mobile camera phones for a few years now, and even though the mega pixel race has slowed down now, they have decided to keep going, and who is going to argue?

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz is very good looking; its slim line chassis and polished finish make the phone an ideal fashion accessory as well as a superb tool for communications and entertainment. The nHD, resistive touch screen measures at 3.2 inches corner-to-corner and has a pixel resolution of 360 x 640. The Vivaz has been released in four colour variations, including Blue and Pink. A slight curve of the back casing allows the phone to fit snugly in the palm of your hand and the built-in accelerometer lets you switch to landscape view with a quick flip of the phone.

The enhanced media support on the Vivaz is emphasized by the expandable memory; via the microSD slot the phones memory can be upgraded to 32GB which is great for storing all your music photos and videos. The camera boots up very quickly and right from the start you get a full screen view finder and a number of effects tools to play with. Both flash and auto focus are present and with smile and face recognition you will never get a shot wrong. The HD video recorder is very impressive and the flash acts as a video light for low light conditions. You can upload all of your photos and videos to the internet thanks to the Vivaz’s direct sharing facilities and YouTube compatibility.

You get an integrated multimedia player; it will comfortably playback a huge variety of audio and video formats and the vibrant display really does videos justice. Your favourite tunes can be used as ringtones and you can also assign individual contacts with there own sound. The Vivaz will enable users to communicate via there social networks, Facebook and Twitter enjoy dedicated applications while alternative include e-mail and Instant Messaging. The SNS features are supported by the phones Wi Fi technology and HSPA mobile network coverage, these connections also supply there services to the full web browser.

The Sony Ericsson Vivaz is remarkably well connected. Navigation is covered by a built-in A-GPS which assists the Google Maps and WisePilot applications in getting you from A-B. Bluetooth is a standard protocol these days; it allows the Vivaz to wirelessly communicate with compatible hardware. The Vivaz can also be linked to both a PC and a TV via various USB and TV out connections.

Sony Ericsson are asking for about £350 for this phone (sim free), it has all the basic technology to qualify it as a smartphone; touch screen, internet and social networking, and thanks to the curved chassis and slim line design it is both pocket and palm-friendly. The Vivaz is a well rounded smartphone with great support for entertainment and media.