Sony Ericsson Aino preview: First look

Sony Ericsson Aino is without a doubt one entertaining slider. It does pretty much all the stuff the other Sony Ericsson feature phones do, but does it better. It brings in some heavy multimedia firepower such as a PS3-inspired touch menu, a large 3-inch touchscreen, VGA@30fps video recording.

Of course, Wi-Fi and GPS are also in the mix to make the device that much more tempting. The Remote Play feature, initially developed for PSP, enables users to control and access media content on Playstation 3 from their phone.

Sony Ericsson Aino

Unfortunately, we don't really find the Sony Ericsson Aino exterior breathtaking. It rather takes a somewhat conservative approach and an unassuming touch-only look, when it's not opened.

Sony Ericsson Aino at a glance:

• General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 850/900/2100, GPRS/EDGE class 10, HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, HSUPA, 2 Mbps
• Form factor: Touchscreen slider
• Dimensions: 104 x 50 x 15.5 mm, 134 g
• Display: 3-inch 16M color TFT display, 240 x 432 pixel resolution
• Memory: 55MB integrated memory, hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 16GB)
• UI: Proprietary Flash-based UI
• Still camera: 8 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, smile detection, image stabilizer, smart contrast
• Video recording: VGA video recording at 30 fps
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, GPS receiver with A-GPS support
• Misc:Partial touchscreen functionality, accelerometer for screen auto rotate, FM radio with RDS, Remote play for Playstation 3
• Battery: 1000 mAh battery

The Sony Ericsson Aino is the first phone by Sony Ericsson to sport a widescreen and touchscreen display. Yes, the 3-inch screen is actually touch-enabled but only in the multimedia part of the menu and the camera interface.

The 8 megapixel camera is all there as well, so you can bet you get all the goodies that Sony Ericsson can offer in one single device.

The Sony Ericsson Aino

Well, the Sony Ericsson Aino is in our lab right now and it's ready for some pre-release action. There are limitations of course - for instance, the camera is nowhere near proper working condition, but there's plenty of time ahead of market release. We really hope to get a better working unit.

But let's not keep you waiting any longer. Head on to the next page for our hands-on scoop of the Sony Ericsson Aino hardware and ergonomics.