for a mobile console:
a smartphone app is a good solution to the problem of online gaming on the go. vita allowed me to add my device to my phone's data plan but that requires a $10 a month "device access fee". i'm not paying that. tethering things to the phone directly is a step in the right direction. i'm not sure it entirely solves things because data is still very expensive and frequent online mobile gaming is still going to be cost prohibative (at least in USA) but it is better than what vita offered.
for a mobile or home console:
replicating some OS features onto a smartphone is nice. loads of things are allowing people to control them with their smartphones these days including things like controlling the heat/air conditioning of my house. i'm particularly fond of being able to view my infants baby monitor on my smartphone. people like these features and being able to turn off the console (parental controls) from my smartphone is not a compelling feature but still very nice. i would appreciate it if the playstation app was as feature rich as nintendo is currently advertising their app. hopefully playstation takes note and improves.
for a home console:
if a smartphone application is the only way to do voice chat then that is fucking retarded.
