Hands-on tour of Sony Ericsson booth

We put the Sony Ericsson mobile offerings through their paces at CES.

Sony Ericsson was strategically located right inside the Sony booth at CES this year, so we decided to give their new phones a hands-on test. Most impressively: a new smile shot feature on at least two new models will hold the frame in view until the subject smiles, and then release to take the picture. It’s perhaps a little disingenuous, and the technology is likely not that advanced – it merely looks for skin tones and then teeth whiteness. We saw a demo were the subject smiled with just her lips and the camera did not take the photo. It also has built- in GPS.

The C905 CyberShot phone, which will come out this spring, includes the feature along with a newly improved interface that matches what you will find on a regular Sony CyberShot camera. The top of the line model will cost about $200, mostly because it snaps photos at just over 8 megapixels, one of the highest for a cameraphone.

The more affordable C510 will probably cost about $80 with a contract and uses face detection technology and an improved lens with an “active cover” that you can use when you need it. The new W508 emphasizes music control with buttons on the outside of the device for play/pause and forward/back. The W508 will cost about $50 with a contract and looks the most stylish – it has a metallic design reminiscent of the Moto RAZR (remember that phone?).