Sanyo Katana (SCP-6600) Review - Introduction and Digital Camera/Basic Features

Introduction

Sanyo has had a great source of inspiration for the new Sanyo Katana cell phone: the Samurai sword used by Japan 's feudal knights. This was materialized in an ultra-sleek design, the passion involved in coming to the final product having a similarity to the one of Japanese master sword smiths. Specification wise, the clamshell cell phone has a built in VGA camera, is Bluetooth capable, Sprint PCS Vision capable and many more.

Allowing users to express their personality through the design, Sanyo Katana comes in four colors: Blue Sapphire, Mystic Black, Cherry Blossom Pink and Polar White.

Network compatibility includes AMPS (800) and CDMA (800 and 1900). CDMA cell phones are noted for their excellent call quality and long battery life, moreover, CDMA is used widely in North America . Furthermore, Sanyo Katana has Superior Battery Performance and can offer to the user up to 3.6 hours talk time (standard battery).

The dimensions of the cell phone are 99 x 51 x 15 mm, and the thin plastic exterior is lightweight, weighing only 96 g (3.38 ounces) therefore Sanyo SGH-6600 can easily slip into a pocket or purse.

In the matter of display, the cell phone has two screens: an external one and one that is revealed when opening the Katana. The display type is LCD, having 65k supported colors on a screen with the sizes of 240 x 320 pixels. Screensavers are available, also a custom picture can be seen on the screen when assigning a picture to a caller ID.

Digital Camera

The build in 0.3 MegaPixel digital camera allows you to take pictures wherever you want. The resolution of the pictures is 640 by 480 pixels, and the number of pictures that can be taken is limited by the 5 Mb internal memory. The camera has a VGA resolution and offers some options for taking better pictures like:

· Digital Zoom (up to 1-20 steps)

· Brightness Controls

· Self-Timer

· Color Tone/Picture Effects (white balance controls)

· Dedicated internal & external camera shutter keys

•  Sprint PCS® Picture Mail capable

Above all, Sanyo SGH-6600 is Sprint PCS Vision® capable. This feature allows you to download games, ringers, and screensavers or to browse the Web using the WAP 2.0 browser.

Other Basic Features

Connectivity wise, as many other cell phones out there on the market, Katana has Bluetooth technology that should allow users to connect to Bluetooth-compatible accessories within a 10 meter (30 feet) range. Several protocols are included, these are HSP (Headset Profile), HFP (Hands free Profile), DUN (Dial-Up Networking), OPP (Object Push Profile).

Some of the other features include:

· Speakerphone for hands-free operation
(15mm diameter, rear ported)

· Dedicated speakerphone button

· External side volume controls

· 2-way SMS Text Messaging

· Instant Messaging (IM)

· Voice-activated dialing

· Caller-ID capability
(Number, Picture, Ringer)

· Call Screening(Pre-recorded or custom 12-second announcement)

· Voice Memo
(Recording time: 18 seconds each/72 seconds total; 12 messages max.)

· Phone Book(500 name entries with 700 total phone numbers, 1000 Email and 500 Web Addresses)

· Sprint Wireless Backup enabled (Allows you to easily restore contacts when a phone is lost or stolen)

· Call History (Voice calls: 20 outgoing calls, 20 incoming calls, 20 missed calls)

· Calendar

· Alarm Clock & World Clock

· Calculator

· Stop Watch

· Vibrating Alert

· T9 Text Input

· TTY Capable

· 72-Chord Polyphonic ringers

· JAVA (J2ME) MIDP 2.0 enabled

As a main downside, the phone does not have a feature for adding extra memory through a card slot and does not have a great resolution of the pictures. But the speakerphone is nice and loud, making hands free a feature easy to use. A main benefit is also the voice to talk feature, since you could simply just say the name and the phone dials the appropriate number.