Gather round my friends, because you’re about to read news of a phone that will be one of the greatest offerings Sony Ericsson has ever brought to the table. This isn’t marketing hype, or over-enthusiasm – it’s the new touch screen Aino (available 4Q 2009). This little multimedia powerhouse is one of the most stacked devices I’ve ever read about. The biggest feature of this phone is the ability to access media (locally or abroad via Wifi) from a Playstation 3 anywhere through remote play, similar to the PSP. Europeans who have access to PlayTV can also use the Aino to enjoy their recorded content, or watch, pause and record live TV all in the palm of your hand.
Electricpig.co.uk has a nice hands on with the Aino.
Sony Ericsson also includes an 8GB MicroSD card with every Aino to compliment the 55MB of built-in memory. Color options include Obsidian Black and Luminous White. GSM (aka EDGE) talk time rounds out at 13 hours, while standby is 380 hours. UMTS (aka 3G) talk time is 4.5 hours, and standby is 367 hours. Video talk time is 1 hour 40 minutes, and Sony Ericsson says continuous music playback is an impressive 31 hours. We assume 31 hours is a 128kbps MP3 file with other settings (brightness, etc) turned down.
Did I mention that the Aino has a 3 inch TFT LCD screen (240×432) with 16 million colors? Yeah. Wow. This is the unofficial PSP phone without UMD. The camera is pretty slick too at 8.1 megapixels and 16x digital zoom. We found the ability to touch focus very interesting – which basically means when you are taking a picture, you can touch on the screen what you want to be in focus. Video recording comes standard, along with face detection, red-eye reduction, and image/video stabilization.
“Sony Ericsson has established itself as the communication entertainment brand and Aino highlights our commitment to bringing the latest communication technology to the market in fun and innovative ways for consumers to enjoy,” said Alexandre Cardon, Market Business Manager at Sony Ericsson.
Music abilities in the Aino are well-rounded as always, with a FM radio (RDS), A2DP Bluetooth stereo, clear bass, clear stereo, built in stereo speakers, and more. You can also set a MP3 or AAC file as a ringtone.
Another great feature is video calling, which isn’t really mainstream in the United States yet but will ensure that this phone is future-proof. Some interesting software offerings include Facebook, motion gaming, Youtube, Google Maps, and DLNA compatibility. The web browser is NetFront, found in most other Sony Ericsson phones.
Sony Ericsson is also touting Media Home, which is an application that essentially syncs all media on your PC via Media Go through Wifi. So, plug in your Aino in the charging stand, and any new songs you have on your PC is now on the phone. I assume that you can specify what folders you wish to keep sync’d with the Aino. Nice touch.
