Sony Ericsson announces three new phones – Yari, Aino and Satio (Idou)
At a London press conference yesterday, Sony Ericsson announced three new entertainment-oriented phones slated for release in Q4 2009. First up, the Yari — a gaming phone that uses gestures and motion control in lieu of traditional buttons. It features a 2.4-inch QVGA display, 5 megapixel camera, aGPS, Bluetooth and ships with a standard headphone, 1GB microSD card and cradle. Two variants of the Yari will be available, one supporting GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSUPA 900/2100 and a second AT&T 3G-friendly “a” version supporting GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSUPA 850/1900/2100. The Yari will be available in Achromatic Black (as shown in the far left above) and Cranberry White. Hit the jump for a full rundown on the Aino and the Idou Satio.
The Aino is touted as a PlayStation phone and sports Remote Play alongside PlayStation 3 — a feature that allows you to control your PS3 and access its media content from your phone. This portrait slider also includes GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900 and UMTS/HSPA 850/1900/2100 connectivity, a numeric keypad, 3-inch 240 × 432 touchscreen, 8.1 megapixel camera, aGPS, Bluetooth, social networking integration and ships with wireless headphones, an 8GB microSD card and docking cradle. The Aino will be available in Obsidian Black and Luminous White (as shown in the center above).
Last but not least is the Satio, originally introduced as the Idou back at MWC 2009 this past February. The Idou is Sony’s flagship phone for 2009 and will feature a 3.5-inch, 640 x 360 16:9 touchscreen display, 12.1 megapixel camera with auto-focus, xenon flash and 12x digital zoom, 128 MB internal memory, microSD expansion (8GB microSD card included), WebKit-based browser, on-screen QWERTY keyboard, FM radio with RDS, aGPS with turn-by-turn navigation, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and the Symbian S60 5th edition OS. The Satio will be available in black (as shown above), silver and bordeaux.
Read (Yari)
Read (Aino)
Read (Satio)
The Idou/Satio would have to hit market litterally TOMORROW to be have the slightest chance at being a success.
Not because it’s a bad phone; it looks quite impressive. However, it competes with the iPhone and coming to market in the fall could prove to be fatal.
Moreover, Sony Ericsson has done pretty badly software wise on their last few “flagship” devices (i.e. P990); therefore, I remain rather doubtful.
Finally, Symbian S60 v5 still appears to be WAY behind of the iPhone OS, WM 6.1/6.5 (when properly customised) and WebOS.
To my experience Symbian is WAY ahead of iPhone OS an WM – the only one which is ahead of it is WebOS
finally a new article all you guys posted yesterday was the pre hands on ..very cool by the way
-> AT
One could argue that Symbian is slightly behind tech wise but it still dominates the smartphone market with a ~50% worldwide marketshare.
@damiaking — The Pre hands-on was stickied at the top of the homepage but we ran several additional articles throughout the day.
is the idou going to get NAM 3G bands? left this detail out BGers.
3 let downs
these WON’T WORK with T-Mobile at all
sorry
These phone CAN work on TMobile, but the 3G won’t work since their is not no VI band(1700) included.
“Moreover, Sony Ericsson has done pretty badly software wise on their last few “flagship” devices (i.e. P990); therefore, I remain rather doubtful.”
P990 problem was severe lack of RAM and a beta OS (when it was launched)
The P1 didn´t have problems
yeah, i agree with AT. the satio looks like a great phone, huge screen, amazing camera. but a Q4 release makes it more like SE’s flagship phone for 2010, a little late to make much of an impact against the likes of n97, pre and the upcoming iphone. too bad, because i think that the quality of the camera is a big deal when considering smartphones
haha too little too late!!
I am very much in love with the camera resolutions! I mean, 5mp, 8mp, and 12mp??? I mean, while Nokia is still whipping up 3.2 and 5mp shooters, SE just decides to jump straight into the world of 12.1mp!
I guess I know what to ask for this Christmas!
satio seems great and nice , as mobile and camera.