Reactions to the Sony Ericsson Aino
The Sony Ericsson Aino is a touch screen smartphone that may strike some as slightly quirky, given its unique set of features. It crosses the boundaries between a music phone, a media phone, a gaming phone and a business phone and it is hard to stop the chant of ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ from ringing in your ears when you have a closer look at the list of features.
The first function that seems excellent on paper is the 8 megapixel camera mounted on the rear of the Sony Ericsson Aino. As the Aino aims to forge its way into all common mobile territories, the camera is good enough to rival some of the previous Cybershot camera phones. The inclusion of a Xenon rather than an LED flash would have been the crowning glory, but you cannot have everything.
One Aino feature that is sure to be modified, exploited and improved by its more industrious users is the built in Wi-Fi and the two sister-applications of Remote Play and Media Home. The former is an exclusive link-up between the Sony Ericsson Aino and the PlayStation 3. What with Sony being one of the parent companies, it was perhaps inevitable that a mobile device which interfaced with the powerful home console would surface at some point. It is in fact slightly strange that it has taken so long for a partnership to emerge. In any case, the Aino is currently able to access all of the media goodies that you have stored on your PS3 and stream them across the internet to your current location. You can turn your PS3 on and off with the Aino, which means you could be half way around the world and use the Aino to access your PS3 and stream something over a fast web connection if you chose to.
The one thing that is lacking from the Aino at this stage is the ability to access gaming content from your PS3. This is where the ‘Remote Play’ name becomes misleading, hinting at functionality beyond that currently on offer. Since the PS3 is one of the most powerful consoles on the market it is perhaps disappointing that Sony Ericsson has not created a way in which to harness this power on the comparatively diminutive Aino. It seems reasonable to assume that if it is possible to stream video from the PS3 it should also be possible for the PS3 to play a game which you can control using the Aino whilst the visuals are streamed to your handset. This would instantly catapult the Sony Ericsson Aino to the top of the pile when it comes to mobile gaming. There are already teams of bedroom programmers who have produced open source software to allow PC games to be streamed to the PS3 and vice versa, so it seems they could easily apply their talents and get to work on improving the Aino’s gaming ability. Whilst this kind of function may never come to light, we can all live in hope.
The Aino has already caused quite a stir in communities beyond the traditional mobile forums. This is largely thanks to the PS3 connectivity, with PS3 bloggers expressing surprise that such a simple to use yet powerful function had not been implemented before. There is no reason that other handsets with Wi-Fi connectivity could not benefit from similar apps. However, with the official endorsement of Sony, the Sony Ericsson Aino is assured of exclusivity in this area for some time to come.
The Sony Ericsson Aino joins several other smartphones in emphasising the importance of the individual user experience. Social networking and the sharing of media all are promoted as central to the phone’s functionality. However, when coupled with the exclusivity of the Aino’s PS3 connectivity, there is a chance that the ability to truly customise the mobile experience will be hampered. Putting all the emphasis on networking and sharing takes the focus away from users generating their own content for use with the Aino. The Aino may suffer further in this area because it lacks a full touch screen interface. With touch sensitivity limited only to the media screens and to certain camera functions, the ability to move widgets and add applications to your home screen becomes relatively difficult to achieve.
However, whilst the Aino may be compromised by its emphasis on connectivity, this could in fact be its saving grace. The use of Wi-Fi or 3G in conjunction with the various social networking features should help to ensure the Sony Ericsson Aino its place as a vibrant digital hub. One particularly important feature in this respect is the live photo feeds which you can access. If you have a friend who has a photo blog you can automatically get the newest pictures they upload sent straight to your phone and when you upload photos direct from your Aino, anyone else with the same feature will be up to date with what you are doing. You can of course use any pictures you snap as your customised wall paper and the Aino is compatible with animated wallpapers as well. You should expect that after a few months on the market a good selection of well-made wall papers will be available free of charge online. If you fancy yourself as a bit of an artist you might even consider editing your own wallpapers to share with others.
Tags: sony ericsson, sony ericsson aino