Sony Ericsson Aino
Sony has finally brought the PS3 connectivity to the mobile with the launch of Sony Ericsson Aino. Now you can pair the phone sans any wire to the Sony Play Station 3 by using the remote play option. With this feature, the phone challenges the multimedia prowess of the major players in the market including the iPhone and Samsung i8910HD. The phone has enhanced functionality and is able to use the multimedia expertise of the play station 3. In other specifications the phone is similar to Sony Ericsson WPP5 and includes BBC iplayer support, an 8 GB memory card and a standard SE interface. The long device has got a slide out physical keyboard and a 3 inch screen. The slide out action of the keyboard is smooth.
The phone has a 8.1 MP camera which is auto focus and has LED flash. The camera can give images having a maximum resolution of 3264×2448 pixels and has features like geo-tagging, touch focus, video stabilizer. The phone’s camera can capture images of excellent quality and videos of satisfactory quality (VGA@30 FPS).
The phone has a Li-Po 1000 mAh standard battery which provides the phone a stand-by time of maximum 380 hours on 2G and 367 hours in 3G network. Aino gets a talk time of 13 hours in 2G network which increases to 4 hours 30 minutes in 3G network. You can play music on the phone for around 31 hours. The multimedia menu is proprietary of Sony Ericsson.
The phone runs on the Java Platform 8 operating system which is also known by the name of A 200 platform. The phone has 55 MB of internal memory. The box includes an 8GB memory card though the memory can be externally expanded to up-to 32 GB. Therefore the phone has good amount of memory for storing the videos, music and other files. The phone book has 1000 x 20 fields and keeps a record of 30 dialed, missed and received calls. There is an option of photo call as well. The phone has the accelerometer and stereo FM with RDS and Track ID.
Messaging options given in the phone include MMS, SMS (threaded view) and email. The messages which are received or sent from a certain contact are organized in the form of speech bubbles. This gives messaging an instant messenger look.
The web browser on the phone is the updated version of the NetFront 3.5 mobile browser which gives a smooth web browsing experience. Aino also has the automatic RSS finder that can help you to gain access to all the RSS enabled feeds when you visit the RSS enabled websites.The phone has GPS with A GPS support and there is a WayFinder navigator which gives enhanced functionality to the phone. The phone has MIDP 2 version of Java. You can buy Aino in in white (luminous) and black (obsidian) black colors.
The TFT capacitive touch screen of the phone has a size of 3 inch and a resolution of 240 x 432 pixels. The ppi pixel density is 165. The touchscreen has a limited functionality which is restricted to certain multimedia parts of the phone’s menu. The touch menu can give you access to the multimedia features like the FM radio, gallery, music, video. The camera can only be operated through the touch menu. The multimedia menu has nice thumb-optimized icons on display. The capacitive touchscreen is highly responsive and is fun to use. The user interface of Aino is Flash based and the phone has a number animations and 3D back grounds that were not given in any other handset of Sony Ericsson before.
The device has a dimension of 104 x 50 x 15.5mm which makes Aino bigger than its other counterparts. The phone has a weight around 134 gm. On a whole the handset gives a good and solid feel and does not seem to be too heavy. It is all plastic but seems durable and long lasting.
Sony Ericsson Aino with its PS3 connectivity is an agent of change. Sony Ericsson’s excellent standard user interface is a great advantage of the phone. The design of the phone is excellent and those who want a camera phone which can give images of good quality can opt for the Aino.