Sony Australia’s proclivity for handsome markups on overseas pricing of consumer products appears to have spilled over to the Sony Ericsson joint venture, which yesterday announced release of Aino, an unlocked Sony Ericsson mobile that can be used to control a PlayStation 3 games machine.
Sony Australia’s proclivity for handsome markups on overseas pricing of consumer products appears to have spilled over to the Sony Ericsson joint venture, which yesterday announced release of Aino, an unlocked Sony Ericsson mobile that can be used to control a PlayStation 3 games machine.
The sassy little Aino, with a crisp three-inch display, was launched in the USA last week, at US$600 (A$667). In Australia it will sell for a recommended A$949: a 32 percent uptick, even when Australia’s GST is added.
While the Aino can be used as a remote control for the PS3, and to access photo, videos and music files on the PS3, it won’t allow users to play PS3 games on the mobile.
Still, Sony-Ericsson is tossing in a pair of Bluetooth stereo headphones and a matching charger stand to sweeten the deal.
The Aino also includes an accelerometer; 8.1-megapixel camera with 16x digital zoom; and video recording. It works on 850/1900/2100 GHz HSPA services, which means Aussie Aino buyers should be able to hook up to any of the major 3G networks.
