What it is: Sony-Ericsson K850 Cyber-shot mobile phone

Price: Starts at $199 on a three-year contract.

Why you need it: You love the idea of being able to combine your mobile phone and digital camera in one device.

Why you don't: Your camera needs dictate that you have a dedicated device for picture-taking.

Our rating: 4

I t has been a few years since we saw the first grainy pictures produced from a camera phone.

In the interim, the mobile phone's ability to take credible pictures has grown immensely. No longer just a toy add-on, the picture-taking capabilities of some camera phones are now on par with quality point-and-shoot digital cameras.

That's the case in Sony Ericsson's latest offering. The two technology companies joined forces to produce multi-media phones and the recently-introduced K850 fits that profile.

Exclusive to Rogers Wireless, the K850 a candy bar style phone that features a five-megapixel camera with xenon flash and front facing-camera for video calls.

The device has access to Rogers' high-speed wireless network, which will facilitate video calling, fast music downloading and picture and video blogging.

As for photo dedicated features, the K850 has auto focus, an automatic lens cap, a 2.2-inch screen and something called BestPic, which is for shooting sports.

The camera takes nine pictures with one click of the shoot button, letting a user pick the best and delete the remainder.

It also features advanced digital camera features, such as Photo fix -- to automatically improve light balance -- and PictBridge to improve ease of printing.

Rogers offers a free eight-GB memory card (it must be redeemed online) with the phone.

A word of caution: this phone is aimed at consumers who are more interested in snapping photos than talking or texting, so consider that when checking it out.

© The Vancouver Province 2008