Sony Ericsson’s new Aino mobile phone lets users access media content on their PS3 via Wi-Fi or over the Internet with a feature called Remote Play. PSP owners may already be familiar with this feature, which allows users to remotely access their PS3’s XMB interface and play music, videos and photos stored on the console. Although the PSP is also capable of playing (a few) games using Remote Play, the Aino won’t have this capability, but it will let users browse the Playstation Store and chat with friends on PSN.
And users in those parts of the world lucky enough to have seen the release of Sony’s PlayTV (Italy, Germany, Spain, the UK and soon Australia and New Zealand), which turns the PS3 into a personal video recorder (PVR), can also use the Remote Play function to watch, pause and rewind live digital TV, as well as watch programs pre-recorded and stored on the PS3’s hard drive.
Besides playing friendly with a PS3, the Aino also gets along with PCs through Sony Ericsson’s Media Go application that lets users transfer music and movie files from a PC to the phone over Wi-Fi. Insert the Aino into its charging stand and it can automatically sync with the media content stored on your PC. Media Go will also organize and automatically format all content on a computer to an Aino friendly format.
The silder form-factor Aino also features a 3-inch, 432 x 240 pixel touchscreen and an 8.1-megapixel camera with 6x optical zoom, face detection, Geo tagging, LED flash and auto and touch focus. The camera can also record VGA (640 x 480) resolution video at 25 frames per second (fps) and features image stabilization.
Included with the Aino is a pair of MH100 stereo wireless headphones for listening to music via A2DP Bluetooth connection, an 8GB SD memory card, and a desk stand charger.
Other features include:
- Video stabilizer
- FM Radio with RDS
- Stereo speakers
- DLNA certification
- aGPS
- USB mass storage support
- Dedicated gaming keys
- Sound recorder
- Exchange ActiveSync
The Sony Ericsson Aino measures 104 x 50 x 15.5 mm (4.1 x 2 x 0.6-inches) and weighs 134 g (4.7 oz). It is available in white or black and will be released in the UK in early October, with the rest of Europe to follow. Further release and pricing info is yet to be announced.
