Sony Ericsson Idou: a mobile phone with a built-in 12.1 MP camera

Sony Ericsson kicks off the festivities at the Mobile World Congress 2009 (MWC). The big technology event focusing on mobile devices and services opened today in Barcelona.


Sony's new phone, code-named Idou is the world's first mobile phone with a built-in 12.1-megapixel camera. Hopefully this will be a real progress in picture quality, without weighing down files. After all, 12 MP pictures are 2,4 times as heavy as those taken with a 5 MP. The camera will also play audio and video… Though we are impressed to see such resolution, we would appreciate if manufacturers concentrated on the other more serious aspects of digital photography such as noise-reduction, video, and features such as face recognition. Indeed if the sensor is the most “marketable” element of a digital camera, it is hardly its most interesting aspect.



Idou will come complete with a 3.5-inch touch-screen display (640x320) with a 16:9 aspect ratio, Wi-Fi and flash Xenon The device will run the Symbian mobile phone operating system. Sadly it has proprietary connectivity (no 3.5mm audio jack for headsets). The Idou should be released by the end of the year, at a price still unknown.

Here's for the video: