Sony Ericsson's Aino phone taps into PlayStation 3 consoles

Set for release later this year, the eye-popping Aino boasts a three-inch touchscreen, 3G data speeds, Wi-Fi, plus a bonus for PS3 owners: Remote Play support, good for accessing all your stored photos, music, and videos. No, it's not exactly the PlayStation phone we’ve been waiting for, but it's close.

Slated for an "early Q4" release in "selected markets" (no specific word on the U.S. yet), the 4.7-ounch, 0.6-inch thick Aino sports a "luminous" white shell with a black trim (an obsidian black version will also be available), along with a three-inch, 240 by 432-pixel touchscreen and a slide-out, 12-key numeric keypad.

The phone's basic connectivity specs look good; we're talking 3G HSDPA data access, along with Wi-FI and stereo Bluetooth. GPS is also part of the package, along with an impressive 8.1-megapixel camera (complete with auto focus, face detection, image stabilization, and video recording) in back.

More interesting, though—and the first of its kind, as far as I know—is the Aino's support for Remote Play, a feature that lets you connect to your PlayStation 3 via your local wireless connection or over the Internet at large.

You can't play PS3 games or watch Blu-rays over Remote Play, unfortunately, but you can access the main PS3 XrossMediaBar, and you can also listen to tunes or browse pictures or videos stored on the console—from anywhere. You can even turn your PS3 on and off remotely, if you have the right settings enabled. (European Aino users will also get access to PlayTV, a PlayStation 3 TV tuner and DVR.)

Another cool Aino feature: Media Home, an app that lets you sync music and videos from your PC over Wi-Fi, so long as your Aino is plugged into its charging base (similar to the wireless syncing abilities of the Zune MP3 player).

Other features on the Aino include SMS/MMS and instant messaging, along with Exchange ActiveSync support; an FM radio tuner; apps for Facebook and Google Maps; and microSD memory expansion.

Sony Ericsson hasn't announced pricing details yet, but based on the specs, I wouldn't expect it to be cheap.

Related:
Press release