Samsung's not the only phone-maker that has gone all Twiggy thin on us. Now Sony Ericsson is joining the fray, too, with the announcement of its 14.5mm-thin Cyber-shot K770i

Upside:
There are lots of things to like about the Cyber-shot range of handsets and most people have come to regard the brand as one of the better camera-phones around. Of the same pedigree as the Sony Cyber-shots, the K770i is equipped with a 3.2-megapixel autofocus shooter and an onboard LED photolight. What's interesting according to the press release is the eight icons across the phone's keypad which when lit up will double as shortcuts to dedicated camera functions. That's twice the number on the earlier K810i and should make it easier for the user to change settings on the fly.

The K770i is also one of the slimmer Cyber-shot phones at 14.5mm thick. It's about 2.5mm thinner than the K810i, but can't beat the K550i at 12.7mm. Still, we're not complaining. Sony Ericsson has also gone back to the more "traditional" choice of buttons for its numeric keypad which we think is a relief. Also gone is the slightly protruding back of the K810i to accommodate the lens cover. The K770i sports a horizontal sliding lens cover and, from what we can see of the pictures, it's flush with the body surface.

Other features on this triband Cyber-shot are 3G connectivity, Bluetooth with A2DP, FM radio with RDS, a front-facing camera for video calls, Memory Stick Micro expansion slot and all the basic applications similar to its previous Cyber-shot siblings.


Downside:
Here's a quick comparison with its K810i brethren, which you can take as a shortcoming or not. The LCD on the K770i measures 1.9 inches--0.1 inch smaller than the one on the K810i--and the phone's memory is only 16MB compared with 64MB on the latter. The K770i also uses LED instead of the Xenon-type for the onboard photolight.

Outlook:
The Cyber-shot K770i will be available in Truffle Brown and, according to Sony Ericsson, is expected out October. No pricing was given.