Picking up the new Sony Ericsson Aino, is what I can only describe as the feeling you’d get if you suddenly found out, your toaster is in fact a transformer. (Keep with me) Sure, from the outside it looks like your trusty toast-making machine, but at the flick of a switch it’ll be buttering your bread and eating it for you before you can say breakfast! This is how I feel about the Aino, at first glance, it fits the typical Sony description, but navigate your way inside and you’ll discover the true multimedia monster that lies within

Typically, when buying a Sony Ericsson we’ve had to make a big decision, do you go for a great camera in the cyber-shot or plump for the music player with the Walkman? Well never again…The Sony Ericsson Aino merges its two best features, creating a multimedia masterpiece, or as I like to call it the cyber-man! (Well I think it would have worked.) Anyway back to reality, Sony’s given the multimedia menu a complete overhaul, you’ll find a brand spanking new multimedia menu accessible by the touch screen alone. And let me give you some advice now to save you some time, there’s no point trying to get some sneaky keypad action…it just wont work! So once you’ve got your head round the whole half touchscreen, half slider thing you’re ready to enter the playground.

You’ll quickly get used to the touch media menu, although there’s no kinetic scrolling in sight, the touchscreen’s pretty easy to follow, it’s your basic grab and drag. So what’s it got to offer? Well lets start with the 8 mega-pixel camera, it has everything you’d expect from a Sony, autofocus, LED flash, touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, the list goes on! And for all you whiz kids there’s also a new application to upload your pics straight to your blog. Next, the Walkman, naturally the Sony Ericsson Aino’s got the latest player available both in the new multimedia format or for the less adventurous among us you can still access your tunes using the traditional style player via the keypad. I can’t talk about the Walkman without mentioning its fantastic graphics, giving you the option to choose from a range of interfaces, with different styles ranging from cassette tapes to gramophones, you’ll understand my excitement when you see the player come to life on the 3 inch screen! For me, there was one thing missing, the all important 3.5mm audio jack. You can always rely on Sony to provided good quality earphones, but what happens when you break or loose them? (Something I inevitably do on a regular basis). Don’t get me wrong I understand you can get adaptors to attach ’normal’ headphones or buy a new pair of Sony ears, but lets face it, it’s a pain in the arse. Since most manufacturers have realised this already, I was surprised to see Sony Ericsson going against the mass, but it’s just a small hitch so we’ll move on.

The first thing you’ll notice when delving into this little transformer is the impressive styling. Sony Ericsson has really gone all out with the flash-based graphics on the Aino. You might notice distinct similarities between its menu and those on the PSP or PS3; well it’s not a coincidence. There’s still a lot of work to be done before we could call this a ‘Playstation phone’ but Sony’s definitely laying the groundwork for the gaming/mobile merge with the Aino. If you love your PS3, you’ll love the Sony Ericsson Aino, using some very clever technology Sony has re-created the remote play feature, (We’ve already seen it on the PSP) meaning you can control, interact and stream any of the stuff you’ve got stored on your PS3. If you’re anything like me, PS3less, then this remote technology means nothing. But wait, Sony has already thought of that and have some more technology for us waiting in the wings. Media Go software allows you to download all that multimedia stuff you’re hoarding straight off your PC to the Aino via WiFi. And if that doesn’t do it for you, how about being able to watch, pause and record live TV? Yeah, I thought that’d keep you quiet for a while.

It seems Sony have thought about just about everything for the multimedia hungry among us. Its net browser’s the updated version of net front 3.5 and it gives you a much better experience than you got with the Yari. Pages are loaded quickly and nine-times out of ten it gets the zoom for reading pretty much spot on, you can now copy and paste text off the web too... Well, I’d expect nothing less from my trusty robot in disguise. Software-wise it’s not quite up to Android or iphone standard, purely because it’s missing an application store, however there’s a load of stuff for Google, Facebook and Youtube for you to be getting on with.

The Sony Ericsson Aino packs quite a punch. It’s got enough multimedia weaponry to keep the virtual athletes satisfied. At last, hardcore gamers will be able to step outside, complete with computer profiles safely tucked in their pocket! Have Sony Ericsson begun the next generation of gaming?