Aino, the Sony Ericsson phone that «talks» to PlayStation 3, is starting to hit stores today. The exclusive TMN will be marketed in a package that also includes the Sony console and a game, for a price of 499.90 euros – whose worldwide launch took place today in Lisbon – or separately, at a price of 399.90 euros.
As TeK had already written, the device will only be available to TMN customers, at least until Christmas and as long as it continues to be of interest to the operator, guaranteed the company source, during the commercial launch of the product, which happened today, in Lisbon.
The agreement is part of TMN’s strategy to strengthen its range of phones with which it intends to boost revenue from data services. «We almost doubled the number of smartphones,» said Portugal Telecom’s Executive Director, Luís Avelar, who stressed the importance of giving customers phones that allow them to take advantage of these types of services. In 2009, the data came to represent 22.6 percent of the company’s total service revenue.
In addition to the strong Web component of the mobile phone, with connection to the main social networks, email services and multimedia search engines, for example, the Aino is the first phone to have interaction with a home entertainment console. The connection between the devices, Wi-fi or 3G, allows you to bring videos, images and music saved on the PlayStation 3 disc to your mobile phone, even if you are on the other side of the world, as long as the console is in «standby».
Games are, for the time being, out: the mobile phone has the usual titles for this type of platform, but it does not «receive» PS3 games. It also does not work as a command, does not allow you to navigate the console menus or activate features of the console. Still, you can take advantage of the dead times on the way home to request the download of content to the console over the phone…
Among the other distinguishing features of the mobile phone is the 8.1 megapixel camera, with intelligent auto-focus, face detection, flash and video recording. The screen is 3 inches and 16 million colors and is sensitive to touch, but only when it comes to using the multimedia menus.
The mobile phone costs 399.90 euros, when sold alone, but can be purchased in a promotional package, which, for another 100 euros, also includes a PlayStation 3 and the LittleBigPlanet game. This offer will only be available at TMN stores, including the virtual one, and at Fnac. The purchase of the telephone entitles you to a 50 percent discount on Internet tariffs on your mobile phone, for 3 months.
