With the Sony Ericsson Vivaz being our first model enabling HD-video recording I decided to try to learn some more on how this has been developed by our development department and if there were special difficulties or challenges around this. I found a colleague that has been heavily involved and asked him some questions.
Here he is – Fredrik Ågren
- Who are you?
My name is Fredrik Ågren and I am the software architect for video support on Sony Ericsson phones based on Symbian OS. I have been working with software platforms for mobile phones since 2000 and first joined Sony Ericsson as a consultant for the P800 model back in 2002. Through the years I have been involved in many of our platforms and products. Most recently I have focused hard on introducing HD video support in the newly launched Vivaz model.
- What was your responsibility when it came to the Sony Ericsson Vivaz
My responsibility in general is to lead the requirement analysis regarding video related features for upcoming models and identify feasible implementations. This means a great deal of interaction with our R&D sites around the world and also close contact with our suppliers which of course is great fun. When Vivaz was still in the analysis phase I worked pretty much full time on leading the HD support analysis. As the feature moved from prototyping into the implementation phase, I’ve also been leading other improvement work for Vivaz, for instance related to video streaming and video telephony.
- How good is Vivaz really when it comes to capturing HD-video, can you share things like average fps and things from analysis you’ve done?
The HD support on Vivaz is great. Vivaz can record HD video at 24 frames per second and we’ve focused quite hard on the picture quality as well. However, it is not a trivial task to secure such heavy processing all the time in a pre-emptive multitasking environment where the phone functionality always has the highest priority. One cool thing though is that we have equipped Vivaz with golden sample CPUs. These are special units from the production line that can run at significantly higher clock speeds when required. This provides the customer a sufficient margin for an always great HD experience with Vivaz.
- What was the biggest challenge in the development?
Sony Ericsson work with high standards so the most challenging part was not to deliver the basic functionality as such but to deliver it with the overall quality our brand requires and to make that happen in time for the product launch. There are many factors affecting the overall end user experience such as frame rate, bit rate, camera startup time, power consumption and the ability to maintain performance while multitasking. We have investigated HD support in previous models but Vivaz is the first opportunity we have had where we could deliver this feature all the way.
- What was most fun?
Most fun for me has been the international cooperation to get this support in place. For a long time we have worked closely with colleagues in Japan and China, so in the end this is really an international feature from Sony Ericsson. I have gained a lot of experience in foreign social and professional working culture and made good personal friends along the way as well.
- Any surprises along the way?
Yes, for sure things happen that you have not anticipated. Still I have worked with projects like this for such a long time so I try to keep that in mind. One example is the cost of getting our golden sample CPUs which in the early days was so high that it was not really an option for us. Still, we continued to focus on optimizations in software so that when the units eventually came at a more reasonable cost, we really had a great platform to work with. This was the time I realized we were actually looking at what would become an HD video enabled product. We work in a highly variable hardware, software and business case environment, so limiting factors one week may not be significant the next. One needs to have a long term goal focus with a short term agile mindset to take advantage of that.
- What kind of videos do you shoot yourself?
I especially use Vivaz for those spur of the moment situations when my two daughters Agnes (3) and Linnea (5) do funny stuff. Sony Ericsson has the slogan “Never miss a shot” and that is definitely valid for video as well. When the kids are all grown up, that’s when I will truly appreciate these clips.
By hunk143
4th February 2010.
13:57
WOW! Nice… Pleased to meet you Mr. Fredrik. Its nice to see people who have been working for symbian even when i didn’t knew anything about symbian stuff! LOL… i mean 2000 is way back. 
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By Daki
4th February 2010.
16:28
Looks like the X10 wont be released until Q2 
atlest according to engadget and their source http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/04/xperia-x10-lands-on-vodafone-uk-in-april/
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By Manish
4th February 2010.
16:32
I loved it when he said, “One needs to have a long term goal focus with a short term agile mindset”!! 
Well, i didn’t knew, it had something called golden sample cpu’s, which improves the multitasking and gives you freedom of shooting HD videos anytime.
I have a few questions for you though,
- Does this HD Recording Feature can be implemented on products that have been launched already, i mean is it a hardware or software requirement?
I know, you need a really powerful processor to handle HD video recording, but what else? Does it have to have some different sensors as well?
If not? Do we have a chance of seeing this on Satio?( ofcourse X10 is on a different platform! )
- Sony Ericsson China and Japan have already products like, Bravia Phone( or handycam perhaps) and waterproof phones, so why don’t we see those implemented in the world market?
- If you have used Satio, how would you rate both Cameras( on Satio and Vivaz ) on a head to head comparison on Image, resolution, details, noise, video, saturation, etc?
- Lastly, is there any way to keep the size(in Mb) of HD video recorded on our phone to be comparatively small.
I mean it eats up our memory on phone and Sd card like anything. Like for what Rik, pointed yesterday.
And Good luck for Vivaz launch. I hope it does really great.
P.S.
@ hunk143
He didn’t worked for symbian from 2000, he joined SE in 2002 and worked on P800, i think Noc would like him.
And yeah, guys did you notice Symbian was announced to be Free and open source and would be available form tomorrow. I think, it has a great future now.
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By freddy
4th February 2010.
17:12
@Fredrik: Nice meeting you. I congratulate you, the HD is very good, excellent, is the best video of current phones. my first question is: which percentage decreases quality by reducing the size in megabytes. For me quality is more important than the size in mb. there are moments such as weddings, birthdays only happen once in life, and really does not matter the file size but quality. VIVAZ should provide a medium quality and high quality. My second question is because 24fps, can be 30fps
@Rikard: I like this side of the blog that you present the executives, developers and the team Sony Ericsson. IS GOOD SEE THE HUMAN FACE BEHIND THE PHONE. I want a video of sony ericsson store that has an S, and there are many Sony Ericsson phones.
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By freddy
4th February 2010.
17:32
@Hunk: You should not worry about X10, Sony Ericsson takes time to “calibrate” UX. you can see how Satio was delayed a year with Symbian, and can be launch quickly after phone based on the same software as VIVAZ. Now,, if they take more time is because are upgrading to Android 2.0 or Bugs
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By Deolan
4th February 2010.
17:57
‘Sony Ericsson Satio has Flash Lite 3 but no standalone support!The Sony Ericsson Satio is the first SE phone with the S60 5th Edition OS. It supports Flash Lite 3.0 in the browser and Project Capuchin for apps and games. So no Flash Lite standalone support.I hoped that SE would support Flash Lite in a similar way to Nokia N97/5800 and Samsung I8910 on phones that have S60 5th Edition as OS. It’s not the case. I understand SE support for their Project Capuchin but it could have been more consistent to keep the Flash Lite standalone support as the other OEM.’
article on biskero.com that i came across.if satio already has it,standalone support shouldnt be hard
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By Liam Burke
4th February 2010.
18:08
Any news on when the next Firmware for the Satio might be released? and what it might contain.
Thanks
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By Jaina
5th February 2010.
10:23
Am hearing that they’ll be bug fixes for the Satio but they’re discontinuing it at the end of this month.
Aside from the camera don’t think i’ve enjoyed the Satio as much as i wanted to. Not planning on buying SE again and will be buying a phone offline this year!
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By Piotr
5th February 2010.
12:46
Hi, Fredrik, I was hoping to talk to a person like you for ages!
I am more than sure you know a hell of a lot more about processors than I do, even though silicon technology is my great love (at least one of the major ones 
).
So after all, will Vivaz be used with an OMAP 3430 with ‘sort-of’ Turbo-Boost (concept similar to the one used in Intel’s Westmere chips), or will it be something completely new? Perhaps it is the new cooprocessors from Texas Instruments? The specs they’ve mentioned is 24fps 720p recording, so that would fit it quite nicely. Also, the one I am mentioning is only being activated when required (that’s why it is a co-processor), so I am not entirely sure which option will Vivaz use.
Vivaz is a brilliant concept, and most importantly a quality product. Most of the people on this blog will remember me as a big ‘enemy’ of Samsung Electronics, however I have no doubt making a comparison to their obscure Omnia HD is unavoidable. I relealise that Vivaz is partially a response to their move, nevertheless, Sony Ericsson would have plenty of time to more or less match their release date, but you didn’t, as technology wasn’t available just yet. So once again, I would like to congratulate the engineering (and possibly marketing team – yes, you Rik ) the fact that customer satisfaction and respect for a customer has once again been your priority. This is the main reason why Sony Ericsson will always be my number one. I believe it is the Swedish division of the company that encourages these values, as Sony itself makes such mistakes at times.
The only thing I don’t like about Vivaz (but that comes to all Sony Ericsson, that there is either huge lens cover, or complete lack of it… I believe some innovation in this place would be necessary. I have to say that on my Satio, the huge cover is annoying me at times, even though it is convenient to use it when taking photos or recording clips.
Finally a note to Manish
I’m sorry if you felt offended my my last message. It wasn’t really for you, you’ve been on this blog since I remember it, and even if sometime you write too much, I always value your opinions!
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By hunk143
5th February 2010.
13:15
@ Jaina, Are you sure of it? OMG! I just bought a Satio two days ago and if it discontinues this month then it’s definetly mine last SE handset too. I have never used any other Handsets else then SE but if they come out doing this then its a shame.
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By Jaina
5th February 2010.
13:22
Well i think it’s rumour at the moment but it’s one of those rumours that is pretty well set in stone.
From what i’ve read, they’ll do bug fixes for the Satio, but with the release of the Vivaz and the poor performance of the Satio, it’s going to get brushed under the carpet.
My best SE phone was the T68i – had that one for ages! Since then bought a walkman phone where the keys started cracking after a week. Never mind! In a few years time maybe i’ll forgive SE and give them another shot.
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By Rikard Skogberg
5th February 2010.
14:07
Jaina and hunk143,
As far as I know the Satio is far from about to be discontinued. Don’t know where those rumors come from. Of course there could be a certain market or network provider that will derange it to make room for upcoming products but Satio as a product will definitely be here for quite a while longer. And as I’ve confirmed earlier there is a firmware update in the works, I hope to get more details around it soon!
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By Anders Lindell
5th February 2010.
14:11
Hi Rickard
I’m dying waiting for the X10, can you give some more infor regarding release date , is it still end March?
Anders Lindell
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By Jaina
5th February 2010.
15:00
Rikard – will these firmware updates just be bug fixes or can you say with any certainty that some will actually contain new things for the Satio?
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By Liam Burke
5th February 2010.
16:42
Thats for that info Rikard, I was a bit worried when I heard that.
Looking forward to hearing about the next firmware.
If you need a tester let me know I available
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By Manish
5th February 2010.
19:34
@ jaina & hunk143
This is the funniest rumor i ever heard being propagated and believed. How come you guys believed Sony Ericsson would discontinue Satio this early? I mean, Satio is such a small baby, if not an infant.
Satio has a long way to go, and it’s their Flagship device.
And following what Nokia did to 5800, i think the next update would really bring some goodies for Satio.
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By Manish
5th February 2010.
19:50
@ Piotr
Never mind!
I always, come up with those thoughts, as i want this place for good interaction between SE team and the users. But, somehow after the launch of Satio, things changed pretty quickly and blog got deserted in every sense, from posts to comments. I just wanted to keep it alive somehow, so, perhaps, i got away with so many comments. But, i never intended to spam it here. If you look at my previous comments, i have restricted myself in posting individual chat replies that are not related to the topic or SE. ( chatting, of what it was becoming at a stage! )
But then, yeah, i have posted a lot of Youtube links regarding X10. ( 50-100 around i guess! ), but that was to keep the discussion alive! Not to spam!
But, yeah i m trying to post some quality out here, from now on. 
And would try and restrict myself from posting one and two line comments.
P.S.
And yes i don’t think Vivaz is a reply to Samsung! As, mentioned by Fredrik, it was the timeline and Costs constraint that found HD into Vivaz. They were working on it, since along time. And yeah, theres more quality that they work upon, rather getting in a timeframe.
And one more thing..
What do have to say, bout the Symbian getting Open Source?
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By Jaina
5th February 2010.
21:38
But it’s not the flagship device anymore. It will very soon be the Vivaz. It hasn’t done well, commercially or critically. Despite the camera people haven’t been happy with it, so it does make sense for SE to quietly brush it under the carpet giving it minimal updates and concentrating on the new Vivaz, X10 and Aspen.
The 5800′s got a different market to the Satio, despite them both having the same OS. The Satio was cornered to have a slightly more upmarket feeling than the Satio and it did, almost work.
Also what Nokia have on their side is a decent app store. With the Ovi store getting an update in March and the Play Now arena still struggling to even get the basics right, it’s just a shame really.
Rant over!
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By Piotr
5th February 2010.
21:43
Personally, I love Symbian being Open Source! Symbian is my favorite OS for various reasons (although there are a few I hate it for e.g. that it is very different to anything else on the marked and many developers, particularly game makers, simply don’t bother anymore (look gameloft)
I really hope this will change with S^2 on, however still… it may be too complicated to reach the performance of let’s say Android (which is relatively lightweight and considering it has significant parts of Linux Kernel, it should be fairly ease to handle as well (I don’t know much about software, so I cannot be certain here).
What I meant by a reply to Samsung was that it is an 8MP phone, with 24fps HD video recording, based on S60v5. I know exactly what you mean, but i hope you’ll agree that for many this will really stink of Samsung.
I am not saying who had the idea of HD recording first, it’s quite possible it was Sony Ericsson, as Sony has much more experience in video than Samsung has.
I think I’ll move to the new thread now
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By karun
10th February 2010.
08:17
The Vivaz has been reviewed by Gsmarena, and they’re pretty happy with it.
http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_vivaz-review-447.php
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