Comparing cameraphone image quality can be a tough nut; apart from obvious things like poor focus or grainy quality, it can be a pretty subjective beast. PhoneArena went wild with high end handsets to give us a "thousand-angle" view of what it takes to stand out in an über (notice the umlauted u? We don't do that often, so this is serious business) shootout between three 3 megapixel cams -- including the D900, K800, and N93i -- and the KG920 and N95 at 5 megapixels. Each handset is put through a series of grueling tests including shooting outdoors, night shots, and macro mode with points awarded based on how they fare in each challenge. We won't spoil the read for you, but as a hint the winner rhymes with "okia." Hit the read link to check it out.

[Thanks, Orhan C]

Controlling handset envy is always a challenge in this business -- without fail, manufacturers inevitably introduce your phone's successor just as soon as you work up the courage to plunk down that rather sizable wad of cash. Fortunately, there's a hacker out there for virtually every model from every manufacturer, cooking up ways to keep the phone fresh well beyond its maker's intended shelf life. Such is the case here: yes, Sony Ericsson would like us to toss our K800s in the trash and pick up the re-upped K810, but seeing how our K800s still have that new phone smell on 'em, that seems just a bit silly. Users have discovered that the K800 hardware embraces the K810's firmware with open arms, bringing with it the latter's cooler themes and improved media player, and all you have to do is pay a few bucks to get it flashed. Not a free lunch, but about as close as it gets. Cool, eh? Heck, it's so simple, it barely qualifies as a "hack."

[Thanks, David]

Update: Hold up! The results are in, and it sounds like the upgrade will cause the keypad lights to stop functioning properly -- a dealbreaker in our books. [Thanks, photonphox]

Member shaliron over at Esato appears to have done some serious homework compiling a list of all known Sony Ericsson handsets in the pipeline, complete with nifty color coding to indicate verified, debunked, and new intelligence. We encourage Sony Ericsson fans and non-fans alike to go check out the real deal, but in the meanwhile, we've put together a Reader's Digest peek here at some of the highlights. First up, the music-oriented Walkman series could be growing by a solid six devices in the coming months, topped off by a successor to the UIQ-based W950 codenamed "Maria," a (possibly UIQ-based) clamshell dubbed W910, and the oft-discussed Ai. The camera-focused (no pun inteded) Cyber-shot series will be enjoying a bumper crop itself: a successor to the K800 is allegedly already in the works, "Sofia," packing a 5 megapixel shooter, UMTS, and QVGA recording, while a possible Handycam-branded M600 variant would obviously reign supreme for its video capabilities. Other highlights include a promise that HSDPA will factor into the company's 2007 plans, a wide-scale migration of the FastPort connector to the sides of the handsets, and a shortening of the span from announcement to release of UIQ-based models (a move we applaud). As we said, there's plenty more juicy tidbits to digest over at Esato -- but even with what we've presented here, it's safe to say Sony Ericsson's shaping up for a killer '07. Any UIQ or 3G love for the US of A, folks?

The name's Ericsson, Sony Ericsson. Everyone's favorite purveyor of Walkman and UIQ-based phones seems to have paid good money to get their kit into the latest James Bond flick, Casino Royale -- and they intend to take full advantage of it, coming to the table with limited edition James Bond versions of the 3.2-megapixel K790 and K800 Cyber-shot phones. Truth be told, we think that diehard 007 fans might come away a little disappointed with the offerings, seeing how the only thing that makes them special is their new color -- silver -- and some bundled Bond-themed media (wallpaper, ringtones, and the like). Frankly, we'd expect a Bond phone to be lethal, but we suppose there might be some legal implications involved in putting that kind of thing on the market. At any rate, if silver cameraphones are your thing, better hurry: Sony Ericsson only plans on making them available through the fourth quarter to line up with the movie's release.

[Via Mobiledia, thanks Allen]

There's an old saying that the best camera is the one that you have with you, and it's no surprise to see the camera phone phenomenon take off so rapidly within the last half-decade since everyone seems to carry their phone with them. Until recently, the convenience of a camera with your phone has distracted people from the generally low quality output that camphones produce, but now that Sony Ericsson has stuck the CyberShot brand onto the K800, and Nokia has produced the N93, a phone that has a distinctly camcorder style design, consumers are expecting more from their shooters. Luckily for us, Fosfor Gadgets has compared the quality of the pictures from these flagship camera phones so that we don't have to. The verdict is that both have good cameras, but the K800 comes on top thanks to a decent flash, better output (less noise, more detail), and a simpler camera mode (just pull back the lens cover). The N93 has the advantage of a 3x optical zoom where the K800 has none, but the camcorder style design is cumbersome, and the absence of a flash makes it unusable at parties -- which may or may not be a good thing, depending on how much you want to regret in the morning.

It comes as no surprise to see that Sony Ericsson was looking for a little FCC love for the K790a variant of their "Wilma" Cyber-shot branded phone, sporting 3.2 megapixels of picture-takin' happiness behind its sliding rear cover. With support for GSM 850, 1800, and 1900, this is a phone T-Mobile and Cingular users can really sink their teeth into -- and given SE's strategy of selling direct off its website, we can all cross our fingers that this thing might be showing up in American hands before too long now that the ceremonial FCC blessing ritual has taken place.