What do you get when you take the multimedia versatility of the Sony Cybershot and Walkman brands and combine it the communication and connectivity expected of any up-to-the-minute mobile phone? Well, you get the new Sony Ericsson Satio smartphone!

For gadget aficionados, the promise of a powerful multimedia handset and its ability to capture, document, and share a user’s experiences via high-quality photographs, videos and music are a robust proposition for today’s mobile generation.

Given the consumer want of staying connected and the necessity of updating online social networking, Sony Ericsson’s Satio seems like a promising tool to do al these and more.

At first glance, the Sony Ericsson Satio looks like a sleek and slender digital camera. The body of handset is primarily constructed from a glossy plastic, with chrome flourishes on the side for a light-weight stylish feel. An impressive 3.5in touch screen consumes the front phone real estate and the camera lens is neatly hidden behind a convenient slide panel on the other side.

This undoubtedly houses the best feature of the Sony Ericsson Satio smartphone - its 12.1 megapixel camera which offers a Xenon flash as well as smile detection, panorama and Best Pic modes, and many other features shutterbugs will enjoy.

The Satio's camera takes clear, sharp photos with excellent color reproduction. The widescreen display is one of the best in its class, possessing good viewing angles, rich color and clarity – perfect for viewing your high-quality snapshots before Bluetoothing them to your friends or uploading them onto your blog of Facebook profile via Wi-fi. Photos captured range from 2.5 to 3MB in size.

One nifty camera feature of the Satio is suited to those that like to travel and are always on the go. You can record your location on every photo taken then copy your geotagged snaps to a computer and plot your position on a map using Picassa, or iPhoto for Mac users. But unless you’re a true tech aficionado, this feature is not so much a utilitarian need but a bit of fluff you can brag to your friends about.

There’s more to this smartphone though than just photos, though. The Sony Ericsson Satio is pegged as a multimedia marvel and it also records video and reasonable job.

Its bright touchscreen is in the same 16:9 format as a widescreen TV, making it perfect for watching movies. The handset also boasts an MP3 player and FM radio. However, the Satio’s lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack for all these functions can seem a bit odd.

When it comes to user-friendliness, the Sony Ericsson Satio scores pretty well but does have some kinks to be worked out. Its sleek and stylish look is a handset is a fingerprint magnet and be careful not to smudge or scratch its touchscreen. Despite this design caveat, it feels solid and well built overall.

Those not familiar with the usual form and function of Sony Ericsson mobile phones may find the Satio’s interface a bit awkward at first, but this is can be overcome after some practice. Being a straightforward kind of gadget user, I would have preferred a simpler interface.

The left side of the smartphone has a slider lock key and a microSD card slot, while the right has volume controls, a dedicated camera button and camera keys to switch between still and video modes and review captured images and videos.

Below the display are physical answer and end call keys, as well as a menu button that doubles as a task manager when held down.

The Satio’s Symbian S60T OS does have a few quirks and its 128MB onboard memory isn't quite offset by the included 8GB microSD card.

Overall, the Sony Ericsson Satio is a well equipped smartphone with a wealth of features, but it's lacking in a few key areas.

Its touchscreen is resistive rather than capacitive, and the Symbian user interface is inconsistent. The Satio’s lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack combines with the proprietary USB port to prevent this being a true multimedia heavyweight. However, the Sony Ericsson Satio’s performance as a solid mobile phone, its impressive 12.1 megapixel camera, vividly large touchscreen and excellent multimedia menu is more than enough to make gadget lovers give this innovative handset a try.

While the Satio is one innovative work of gadgetry, for those who are not in the market for a mobile phone with such high-tech photo and video capabilities, they might find the handset a bit cumbersome and rife with features and add-ons that they do not need.

But for mobile shutterbugs that are eager to jump on the visual-based platform of the social networking bandwagon, the Sony Ericsson Satio is not to be missed.

The digicam-phone combo is a winner.

After some getting used to, users will appreciate how fun and easy it is to take snapshots and videos and share them with your friends and loved ones online while having the basic functionality of a mobile phone.