The next gen of the Walkman Sports MP3 Player is here, and we’ve unboxed it to give you an up close and personal look at the gadget.

Just like its predecessor, this li’l guy can charge for 3 minutes for up to 1 hour of music play. This time around, though, you can actually listen to your jams while you do laps in the pool. Check out the video:

And how can we not be? At four times the definition of HD*, these TVs are game changers and we think it’s time that even more people know about it. So now, after talking about 4K with all of you since January, we’re ready to begin the conversation with the rest world. Enter our new broadcast spot…

The commercial stars director, Garth Davis who not only acted in the spot, but was also behind the cameras, directing and collaborating with Academy Award®-Winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda. In the spot, Garth is inspired by the sharper details and richer colors of the Sony 4K Ultra HD TV to create a film-inspired commercial complete with fiery water and (naturally) a spaceship . In Garth’s words, “we’re working at the highest end of both technology and creativity. ”

Check out the commercial below, and let us know what you think by using #Sony4k. And for those of you wanting to know more about how this was made, stay tuned. We have a behind the scenes video coming for you within the next few weeks.

*Actual panel resolution of XBR‐X900A 4K Ultra HD TV is 3,840 x 2,160 pixels (in 16:9 aspect ratio). HDTVs have a panel resolution of 1,920 x 1080 pixels.

When we set out to revamp a Sony Store, we do so with you in mind. Developed with a laser focus on the guest experience, Sony’s award-winning new concept store design features a light, bright and flexible layout that makes it easy for you to enjoy Sony’s latest products—all in one place. Fashion Valley is the seventh store, to date, to undergo a full conceptual refresh.

Here’s a sneak peek:

If you’ve been waiting to check out our new 4K TVs in person, they are prominently showcased in the new store. And our smaller gadgets like cameras and VAIO® models are set up throughout the center of the store for easy access – so you can touch, feel and experience them, first hand.

What’s cool about this particular store is that the layout lends itself to the addition of an immersive listening environment featuring Sony’s ES Premium Home Theater line. Fashion Valley is one of only two stores, nation-wide, with this elevated auditory perk.

A series of events were set up to celebrate the grand opening of the newly refreshed store, including a ribbon cutting and commendation ceremony on Friday, May 17 and an all-access public grand opening event on Saturday, May 18 – get details on Facebook!

Keep checking the Sony blog for information about this store and others. To see what people are saying about Fashion Valley and other Sony Stores by following @SonyStore #SonyStore and #Sony619 on Twitter.

Today, Pinterest and a few select partners, launched what will now be referred to as “product pins.” These pins are aimed at making it easy for you, the pinner, to see that the pin is something that actually exists and is available for purchase. It also gives you key information that may help you decide if you want to click through (i.e. price, availability, and full product name). Good stuff, right? We thought so too.

So to celebrate these new pins, we thought we’d curate for you the list of the top 5 most pinned Sony products of all time. Check out the below and tell us if you are surprised to see what made the list. And since we believe Pinterest isn’t just about the products, we’ve also included our top 5 non-product pins of all time for your pinning pleasure.

For all you developers out there, of course this means you can now access the software and contribute to this project. And this is all before the tablet is even available in the US. A special thanks to our Sony Mobile team for helping us create the package early and a huge thanks to the Android developer community for all your support. We can’t wait to see what you’ll do with the code. As usual, we must emphasize that the purpose of this project is not to make stable software suited for daily use. The AOSP for Xperia Tablet Z project starts off in a very similar state as the current status of AOSP for Xperia Z. Check out the code on our GitHub for the latest technical status.

Want to participate?

All collaboration and contributions will be handled through the GitHub tool, so just head over to the project you’re interested in on GitHub. In the readme files over at GitHub, you will find all instructions needed to compile and build the project. Make yourself familiar with the code, and feel free to have a look at the issue list to see where you might be able to help out. And just as before, all contributions will be managed by Björn Andersson and Johan Redestig who maintain the gits for all our AOSP for Xperia devices. We hope to see a lot of developers engaging in these projects!

Now, check out the below video to see how the software looks when running on the Xperia Tablet Z.
For more information on this project, please visit Sony Mobile’s Developer World site.

Well, we’ll share the full details of the commercial with you when it comes out, but for now, we thought we’d have some fun letting you tell us what you think is happening through  a good old-fashioned, “Caption This” contest. So prepare your wittiest remarks now and you may be one of two crafty peeps to win their very own Sony NEX-3N camera.

Haven’t read up on the 3N yet and want to know more about what you’re spending valuable minutes captioning for? Here’s the scoop.

The NEX-3N is our newest in the NEX line of mirrorless cameras, and it is our smallest and lightest one yet. Although tiny, the camera still has the same size sensor as a DSLR, meaning your photos are the same quality as something shot by the pros. Good stuff, right? With this camera, you’ll be able to see details in photos you’d never catch with a phone and we thought it made a nice metaphor for how a 4K TV changes the way you see television. Plus, it’s just a sweet prize.

You probably know how these “Caption This” contests work by now, but should you need a refresher, here’s how to play.

1. Take a look at the below picture. Normal, right? It was taken on Miranda Beach in New Zealand, on the set of our Sony 4K commercial shoot.
2. Formulate a witty and/or insightful remark about said photo.
3. Include your caption below in the comments (along with your email address so we can contact you)   

OR

3. Tweet your caption to @SonyElectronics using the hashtag #Sony4K. (hint: Make sure to follow us so that we can DM you if you win).
4. Wait to find out if you are one of the winners. Contest starts now and ends May 21^st at 11:59 A.M PST. We’ll holler at the winners before the end of the month.

And there you have it. If you are someone who likes to read the official rules, you can find all the info on the Sony 4K Commercial Caption This Contest here. Good luck and happy captioning.

This new PC is “Fit” for everyone — from students to business users who are looking for a step up, but don’t want to break the bank. There are lots of new features and upgrades we’re excited to tell you about, be the first to know & get the details from SGNL by Sony:

If you haven’t figured out what to get your mom yet, might be nice to send these to her along with a brand new Sony camera. You can thank us later.

Take it away, Me Ra …

My family recently spent three weeks in Egypt.  By using our skills in photography, video and writing, we set out—as a family—to capture another side of this country different from what the news headlines show.

Whether your travels are mission focused or for the purpose of vacation and rest, here are seven photo tips to help you capture your family travels.

1. Start with a Narrow Focus

There is a daily temptation to overshoot everything because of how visually stimulating travel can be. The result will be the opposite of fun — leaving me with thousands of images to go through when I get home.

To avoid this, my husband and I will choose “capture days” (days we focus on shooting and video). This way the kids get a break from mom’s camera, and my focus is narrowed to an excursion, activity or time of day versus trying to capture everything. For example, the first time we went to the Great Pyramids of Giza, we didn’t take any photos so we could take in the experience with the kids.

This also gave me a chance to create a vision of what I wanted to capture versus shooting a hundred photos of our family at the pyramids. Two days later, I had my idea and we went back with a narrow focus of what mom envisioned for capturing her kids at the pyramids

2. Use Continuous Shooting Mode for Freezing Fast Action

Jumping off sand dunes was one of our family’s favorite parts of the trip. To freeze this kind of fast action, I set my DSLR to Continuous Shooting mode.

This way my camera takes several pictures at once. When the kids (and dad) are on the move, you want to overshoot the action because you have no idea which facial expression or fraction of a second will catch the action best.

3. Look for the Ordinary in an Unusual Setting

Even though you are far from home, look for the ordinary occurrences that your kids do. After a long day of sight-seeing, we were all tired and needing some down time. Pascaline found a space for herself under the hotel room’s desk.

Even though listening to music or playing games in an ordinary thing, the unusual setting made the story. By off-centering her and having two thirds of the photo be the bright window light, I was able to increase the drama of the story even more.

4. Get in Close

If the background in your photo doesn’t add to the story you are capturing, get in close.  And then, get in even closer.  We often stand to far from our subjects, and in doing so, we lose the drama of the story.  Before I take the shot, I will do a quick scan of everything that is around my subject in the frame.  If there is something in the frame that isn’t accentuating the story, it’s a distraction from the story.  This is when I know I need to move in closer.

5. Play with the Picture Effects

While you wouldn’t want all your photos to be taken with Picture Effects, its fun to once in a while add a little extra pizzazz to your image. This image of Blaze was taken at sunset with one of the Picture Effects (making the outer sides blurry and leaving the middle sharp).

This is another photo that is straight-out-of-the-camera, meaning I haven’t done any editing to this on my computer. How can you not love a camera that creates magic like this?!

6. Hand the Camera Over to the Kids

I’m fascinated by what my kids see, how they take in the world around them. The kids now have their own cameras so they can be free to capture the stories they see. But when they were little, we would give them little photo assignments like “Take 10 photos of things that you wouldn’t find at home.”

Giving them photo prompts and a focus helped avoid hundreds of photos of the same thing. I was always amazed at what they came back with—their imagination and eye being raw and unhindered. While we were walking through the alleyways in Cairo, my husband and I were more focused on keeping the family together.

I never even thought to look up. But Pascaline did. She was fascinated by how close the buildings were to each other, their shutters, the blue sky and curious onlookers.

7. Get Mom in the Photo

Mom is often missing in action when it comes to family pictures. Make sure you hand the camera over so you can get in the photo too.

Instead of looking at the camera and smiling, get an action shot of you with the kids — like debating who should jump off the sand dune first.

And for all the moms who want to look slimmer in photos, make sure your body is angled to the camera versus standing straight on and looking boxy. Moms don’t want to look boxy in photos. Slimmer? Yes. Boxy? No.

Me Ra Koh is a SONY Artisan of Imagery who hosts “Capture Your Story with Me Ra Koh” on the Disney Junior channel.  Get “Five Photo Tips that Will Change Your Photos Overnight” when you sign up for Me Ra’s newsletter!

To celebrate the deep-rooted Mexican heritage and history of San Diego (where Sony Electronics USA is headquartered), our VAIO® computers took a trip to Old Town San Diego aka the “birthplace” of The Golden State.

It was the first permanent Spanish settlement in California, developing into a Mexican community of adobe buildings in the 1820’s. The VAIO Duo and VAIO T13 take you on a photo tour of historic buildings, shops and unique sights.

We’ve also got sweet VAIO deals for you, check them out:

Save an extra $50 on select Sony VAIO E14 Series CTOs w/code SONYE14SAVE50, now starting at $450 (excl tax & exp 5/11): http://bit.ly/Yxj4Ie

$100 off VAIO S Series 15 CTOs w/code SONYS15LAPTOP starting $750 + free Blu-ray drive upgrade (excl tax & exp 5/11) http://bit.ly/Y9keqV

$100 off a VAIO S Series 13 CTO Laptop (SVS131290X standard) w/code SONYT100 starting at $700 (excl tax & exp 5/11): http://bit.ly/13OI2F4

Save $100 on a VAIO T Series CTO Ultrabook (Standard) w/code SONYULTRAT100 starting at $549.99 (excl tax & exp 5/11) http://bit.ly/174aH7j

We’ve made it easier to get to the accessory finder – in the main navigation, it is under Shop All > Product Services >Find Accessories as well as in the footer.

AIBO is happy to keep you entertained while you search for what you need. Try it out and see what AIBO does while you find what you need for you favorite Sony gadgets.