Las Vegas, Nevada
Hello and welcome to our live blog of Sony’s press conference, one of many big name presentations on a packed media day here at the 2015 International CES.
It’s time for one of the big guns! Sony always holds its CES press conference at its booth on the show floor at the Las Vegas Convention Centre so, after a day attending presser after presser at Mandalay Bay up the strip, the world’s tech media has pounded to pavement to attend this presentation.
Kazuo Hirai, president and CEO of Sony Corporation, has taken the stage to begin, and kicks off by making a joke about how bad Annie was and then describing the recent hacks as “vicious and malicious hacks”, before praising his colleagues for standing up to the criminals who attacked the Japanese company. He specifically referenced the hard work of the Sony Pictures staff that worked tirelessly to bring The Interview to cinemas and on streaming services over the Christmas period.
Sticking with the theme of content streaming, Hirai announced that PlayStation Vue will soon begin an invite only beta testing program in New York. This video streaming service will allow users to access a wide range of Sony and licensed content on demand, similar to what Netflix offers.
Hirai had now pivoted to cartech, announcing that its High Sensitivity CMOS Image Sensors will be incorporated into vehicles to improve their safety.
To the home, when Hirai announces Sony Life Space UX, “an exciting concept” that gives life to the home, such as a Ceiling Screen, a Tabletop Screen, an Ultra Short Throw Projector and a Light Bulb Speaker. On that note, the new Symphonic Light Speaker will project sound just as a light bulb emits light, with even 360-degree coverage. “It fills your room with music while lighting up your daily life,” Hirai says, “creating an ambience of light and sound that feels just right in your living space.”
Hirai is now discussing Sony’s transformation efforts. “Our efforts have been concentrated in unique positions where we can outperform the competition,” he says, highlighting PlayStation 4 (“more immersive gameplay than ever before”; 4.1 million units sold over the Christmas 2014 period for an 18.5 million unit total), Alpha mirrorless cameras (great reviews; new models coming with optical 5-axis image stabilisation; ‘4D Focus’ to capture fast-moving images), and Sony’s music and film studios (with specific reference to The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and 22 Jump Street, along with Iggy Azalea’s hit Fancy).
And now to the new products, Hirai throws to Mike Fasulo, president and COO of Sony Electronics.
“I believe our products this year demonstrate greater focus and more relevance than ever,” begins Fasulo, before outlining Sony’s goal to make life and work pursuits more rewarding.
“Over the past couple of years, Sony has been leading in the promotion and adoption of 4K, ” he continues, “and we’re seeing even greater demand for our 4K TVs.”
Big claps! Fasulo just demonstrated a new 4K TV that is thinner that Sony’s Xperia Z3 TV; arguably the biggest clap of press day! Sony has a new 4K processor called the X1 and it focuses on Colour, Clarity and Contrast to deliver brilliant 4K and best in class upscaling, according to Fasulo.
More applause as Fasulo confirms that Sony’s Bravia TV ranges will all run Android TV, including quick and easy interfaces like voice search, he says. You’ll also be able to control Sony Bravia Android TVs from a smartphone, tablet and even a Sony smartwatch: from the wrist to the screen!
Greg Peters has been getting around! The Netflix streaming chief was at LG this morning and now he’s come on stage to essentially repeat the same spiel about the streaming giant’s new Recommended TV program. Sony, naturally, joins LG in having this nod of approval!
In Sony Handy-cam news, it’s 4K for 1K! Sony has a new 4K camcorder hitting the market this year for sub US $1,000. More oohs and ahhs from the assembled crowd: if this doesn’t get you excited about video cameras, nothing will!
And now Tony Hawk is in on the action. The skateboarding pro is flogging Sony’s new 4K action cam. And the great man is here! Tony has joined Fasulo on stage, action cam in hand for a heavily scripted Q&A with the Sony executive.
“How has the Sony action cam helped your creative?” Fasulo asks.
“Now we can take the camera for granted,” replies Hawk.
Tony actually goes into quite a bit of detail about the camera, saying that he doesn’t need to worry about rigging or crews or lots of equipment; he just fixes the camera to his skateboard and gets on with the action.
“What can we expect from Tony Hawk Inc?” quizzes Fasulo.
“A new TH skateboarding game, coming to Sony of course,” replies Hawk.
To Hi-Res Audio, where Fasulo describes having 10,000 songs in your pocket as “a novelty”. Sony fancies itself in this category as it is the pioneer of the technology and certainly is the loudest in promoting it. And the big news: there is a new logo so consumers know exactly which products are Hi-Res Audio when shopping. One of them is the new Walkman NW-ZX2, which has been built for outstanding sound. This Walkman will include DSEE HX, an digital sound engine for upscaling existing MP3 files to Hi-Res Audio quality.
Sony’s wireless multiroom system will run Google Cast, giving it access to popular services like Deezer, Rdio, Play Music and Pandora, but not Spotify, according to the image displayed on the big screen.
Rolling out next month is Sony’s SmartWatch 3, which has a modular design so you can attach different straps, depending on your personal style or particular circumstance. “It’s the only smartwatch device with a built-in GPS sensor,” Fasulo says.
In Sony concept news, the Smart B-Trainer is an all-in-one headphone set and fitness device, with audio playback and biometrics all packed into a small, wireless form factor. Fasulo delights in telling us that the headset will offer you audio encouragement while you are exercising. There was a similar product launched by Parrot at CES Unveiled last night, called the Zik Sport.
That’s it! Shows over! I was expecting something really special to end but, alas, not today…