CES 2009: Sony press conference
So, here we are, breath bated, to see what it is Sony are going to unveil. Judging by the handout we’ve just received you can expect tellies. Lots of them.
We start off with some talk about Jeopardy. Jeopardy was the first game show to be broadcast in high definition, fact fans. The relevance to today? Not entirely clear.
Now we get an advert with KaKa. He seems to be a footballer. A footballer who uses Sony products, by all accounts.
Hopefully, we’re going to get to some products soon.
We get the obligatory chat about hero products of 2008. It’s no surprise that the eReader is highlighted as one of the big successes.
There’s a new Walkman line up, which features ‘Zappin’ technology, which will scan for the most popular part of a song. It’s not clear why that might be at all useful – hopefully they’ll be coming back to that. Anything with a name like that has got to be worth knowing about.
There’s the unveiling of four new digital photo frames. These things just won’t die. There’s a couple of 10-inch models with Bluetooth and storage between 1-2GB, and you can view the contents on a TV via an HDMI cable.
There’s also a couple of new Handycams – the HDRCX100 is fully spec’d. 8GB of internal memory, Smile Shutter etc. The 520V has a 240GB hard drive for 101 of HD video. You can also take 12 megapixel still images and the GPS will geotag your photos and videos.
They’re now targeting web savvy youngsters. The ‘Webbie’ HD camera line comes in shocking orange, purple or (thank god) silver. It records in MPEG4, s you can easily upload to Youtube et al, There’s a 5x optical zoom, 2.5-inch LCD screen and a 270degree swivel function. They’re going to be available from tonight. Get down to your local Sony store, folks.
The Vaio line gets a little love as well. They reckon they’ve got something to trump all over ultraportable lines – The P Series. First thoughts are that it’s long. In fact, it’s got an ultrawide 8-inch screen, so you don’t have to scroll horizontally.
Ooh, they took a dig at netbooks. They’re boasting 3G broadband integrated (Verizon in the US), WLAN and Bluetooth, as well as GPS and a webcam. Pre-orders are being taken from tomorrow, and it’ll be available later in the month.
High Definition is in Sony’s DNA apparently, which sounds painful.
Sony are EXCITED (that was emphasised) about the high definition capabilities in the PS3.
Ooh, OLED. Now we’re talking. Bigger? Cheaper? What’s it going to be?
Gah. Just prototypes. There’s a model which is just 0.11-inch thin display, and there’s a 27 and 21-inch model of the existing model. Folks, if you’re after OLED, you’re still going to have to make do with a screen the size of a postage stamp.
There’s a new eco line of Bravia TVs. The VE5 delivers the same high quality of Bravia TVs, but uses 40% less energy. There’s a hot cathode fluorescent lamp (HCFL to you and me), a light sensor, which dims the picture according to what the lighting is, and a Presence Sensor, which turns it off if there’s no movement in the room. You can just imagine leaping around in order to keep your TV on – popular, no doubt.
There’s more on Bravia Internet Video, which streams movies and content straight to the TV from the likes of Amazon.
The XBR9 Bravia has better picture quality than ever before, as well as access to the internet. There’s 240Hz Motionflow, and Bravia Internet Widgets. These are supported by the Yahoo Widgets, which gives you access to key functions such as stock updates, Flickr access etc.
We’re coming to the end, which is weird. There’s been no big news. Ah yes, Sir Harold Stringer’s keynote is tomorrow morning. Expect more then.
3D – Sony are on it as well. CES 2009 is clearly the year of ‘Yeah! 3D! It’s going to AWESOME!’. Is anyone convinced?
They’re going to have some 3D prototypes on the stand we can check out. And these ones come with glasses. AWESOME.
