At a lavish event last night at London’s Sketch Bar, Sony Ericsson unveiled four new phones, all with the focus squarely on entertainment, gaming and multimedia.
While they may have unusual names – only one of the four new products has the traditionally impenetrable code – Sony Ericsson see this is a positive move, replacing the older names with more memorable phrases.
We’ve been hands-on with the quartet of new phones to find out if they’re up to the job – or if they’re all mouth and no trousers.
Satio your hunger
Sony Ericsson’s latest flagship product is the Satio, with its designers claiming it to be the ‘ultimate multimedia experience’ – and, after perusing its list of features and specifications, we’re hard-pressed to disagree.
A 3.5in, 16:9 touchscreen and 12.1mp camera are joined by Bluetooth, WiFi and HSDPA connectivity and an 8GB microSD card. The touchscreen felt responsive and easy to navigate and has a menu system similar to that of the Aino – scroll horizontally from section to section and then vertically within that section.
This was also the only new product launched last night that doesn’t use Sony Ericsson’s proprietary OS – instead, the Satio uses the S60 5th edition of Symbian. It’s also linked to Youtube, Facebook and Picasa, with Sony hinting at future integration with other social networking sites, such as Twitter.
As well as testing the new interface, we were also given a chance to watch some video on the new screen, which has a resolution of 640 x 360, and came away impressed: it was sharp, bright and vivid, easily rivalling the quality seen on the best Apple, Archos and Creative devices. The media interface also bore plenty of resemblance to the XMB bar seen on PS3 and PSP, with Sony claiming last night that it’s looking to integrate this type of navigation into more products in the future.
While it’s not stacked with smartphone features, the Satio could well be one of the best consumer phones ever released by Sony Ericsson: a 12.1mp camera, gorgeous, responsive touchscreen, an absolute bucketload of media features and more connectivity than you could shake a stick at certainly make it a tempting package, albeit one that could cost a pretty penny when it’s released in the Autumn.
Aino what you’re thinking
Sony Ericsson is stressing that none of its new phones are limited to merely making phone calls and sending texts – instead, they’re entertainment experiences in their own right – and the new Aino is at the forefront of this change in attitude. Sitting in a docking station reminiscent of those included with Archos media players, the Aino also comes with a wireless Bluetooth headset and a boatload of promises regarding the entertainment experience and device integration.
The 3in touchscreen felt intuitive and easy to use last night – scroll left and right to select a section and then navigate downwards within that section – and also included several menus that aped the grid-like layout of the iPhone. The sliding unit also includes a traditional keypad, for those who aren’t too keen on using a touchscreen all the time.
Integration with Facebook, Google and YouTube is already built into the device using the NetFront web browser, with Sony Ericsson also hinting that Twitter, as well as other social networking sites, are on its roadmap for several of the new models. An 8.1mp camera with 16x digital zoom, and Bluetooth is joined by GPRS and WiFi connectivity. An 8GB microSD card is included, providing a decent amount of storage.
Plug the Aino into its docking station and, in theory, the machine can hook up with a computer running Sony’s Media Go software, synchronising your files over WiFi automatically. We’re also promised that the Aino can be used with PS3’s Remote Play feature, which was first introduced for the PSP last year, enabling owners or both machines to connect them together, sharing and using media wherever there’s a WiFi connection.
However, the demonstration we saw last night didn’t exactly go smoothly – the Aino and PS3 couldn’t get it together, despite being mere feet apart – but, if Sony can iron out these bugs before launch, you’ll be able to view any of your PS3’s media content on your Aino, sharing and swapping files in the same way that can be done with PSP.
Gaming on the go
The new Yari, meanwhile, is a mobile with a clear gaming focus and, unusually, motion sensitive features of the kind normally seen in the Nintendo Wii, with Sony Ericsson claiming this is the first motion sensitive phone to be launched outside of Japan.
The phone comes pre-loaded with Tennis and Fitness software, with Boxing and Baseball titles available for a free download from Sony’s online application store. We’re promised dozens further games will be available for the new device, but Sony weren’t at liberty to name names or confirm how many of these would have motion-sensing features.
We’re not entirely sure of the Yari: while the motion sensitive camera worked well when demonstrated last night, the endlessly enthusiastic demo videos featured a group of models playing bowling, boxing and golf games on the train and in a restaurant – and who would do that in public?
The joy of texts
While these three products don’t sound much like Sony Ericsson releases, there’s no mistaking the Walkman W995’s heritage. It’s a slider phone that, like the Satio, promises to include almost every feature you’d seemingly want with a definite entertainment focus.
As well as working with Sony’s new PlayNow With Movies service, the W995 includes integration with the BBC iPlayer as well as proprietary Sony services that could offer small ‘webisode’ content based around existing franchises – the previews we saw last night featured Dukes of Hazard content, for instance. Sony didn’t confirm if they’d run into any issues regarding the license fee with iPlayer, though, responding cagily when asked.
Sony also announced that, if used on the 3 network, the W995 will integrate with SkyPlayer, offering Sky Sports and Sky News coverage and, intriguingly, the ability to remotely connect to your Sky+ box at home and record any shows you’ve missed.
Elsewhere, there’s all the usual high-end Walkman trappings: an 8mp camera, a superb mp3 player, motion gaming, YouTube links and Bluetooth, WiFi and GPRS network connectivity. It’s just a shame that there’s no HSDPA.
In some ways, then, this line of new Sony Ericsson products is very similar – all have a clear focus on entertainment and multimedia, for instance – but we’re not sure if all of these will be entirely successful: after all, who’s going to go shadow boxing with a phone in the middle of the street? Nevertheless, these look like some of the best new media devices we’ve seen for a while, so keep your eyes peeled for full reviews as soon as we get hold of some of this exciting new kit ahead of the Autumn release dates.
