CES 2006: Sony highlights
Just back from the Sony press conference and guess what – there’s no press pack or images until tomorrow. So here goes with the highlights.
* 55inch SXRD Grand Wega Projection TV. 50 per cent thinner than previous model.
*Loads of new TVs including 46inch Bravia LCD sets. All High def and many 1080p compatible.
*82inch LCD TV prototype
* DVD Bluetooth mic. Works with camcorders. Ideal for ensuring you get to hear your kids own voice in the nativity play – or something like that.
* DSC-T9 top-end digital camera with Super Steady shot.
* Sony Nav-u GPS system with one Gigabyte hard drive that has maps of all of the North America pre-loaded. 3.5inch display.
* Sony also claims to have sold four million PSPs in North America. Also its High Definition camcorder the HDR-HC1 is selling out faster than Sony can make them.
* See also Blu-ray and camcorder stories
Overall though this wasn’t the huge statement we were expecting from Sony. Sure the company must have spent a huge amount on the stand, but groundbreaking innovations were pretty thin on the ground. If Sony hadn’t been able to crow about the monster success of the PSP, the potential of the PS3 and its superb HD story (from camcorders to top-end TVs) there would have been very little to talk about. Even the much trumpeted Sony Ericsson Walkman phone turned out to be a slight rejig of a model launched last year.
AT CES 2005 Sony execs must have looked on in horror at the huge number of innovative products offered by both LG and Samsung. I think they might be feeling a little queasy again when the show opens later today.
Pic and further coverage from Engadget
