So you missed the press conference and you just don’t have the time to go back and watch the livestream? Don’t worry, we get it, you are busy! But fret not, just because you couldn’t watch it yourself, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get to hear exactly what went on. Consider this the Cliff’s Notes version of the press conference – all the pertinent info you’d need to sound like you watched it live. The news, the people, who said what… all of it is below. And if after reading you still want to catch the flavor of the show, you can catch the recording of the live stream here.
The Speakers:
Sir Howard Stringer kicked off the Sony press conference by talking about Sony’s reach across the world. He shared the four following stats:
- 900 million products in households
- More than a billion people annually who watch Sony TV shows and movies
- 60 billion hours of Sony Music listened to each year.
- 300 million new Sony networked devices in market over the next three years
He ended his portion talking about how the new networked devices combined with the content hosted on the new Sony Entertainment Network, would give consumers the ability to access the content they want or own, anywhere and at any time. Next Kaz Hirai took the stage and gave a tour of Sony Entertainment Network. He talked about why this platform exists – to give consumers a single, cloud based, place for all their networked content (games, music, movies, TV shows), with one login and one digital wallet.
Kaz also talked about Sony’s emphasis on the mobile market as a whole. Since so much of the content that you all are consuming comes from your mobile gadgets, Sony is dedicated to raising the bar in those categories. As such, the much anticipated PlayStation®Vita launch will happen in the US on February 22. The Sony Tablet™ P (also known as the tablet that folds) will be coming out shortly as well. And finally, Kaz shared the details on two new Xperia™ phones before passing the reigns to Phil Molyneux. Phil’s portion of the speech was all about the products. He showcased our new Handycam® products, two new Google TV™ boxes, and our latest Bloggie® camera innovation – Bloggie® Live™ camera. He also touched on the VAIO® Prototypes, a Micro0crystal LED technology for TVs and some of our 4k Innovations. The details of his speech can be found below in the “News section” The press conference wrapped up with two special guests. The one and only Will Smith took the stage to talk about his Spring release of Men in Black III – A Sony picture. And then the lovely Sony Artist, Ms. Kelly Clarkson performed” Mr. Know It All” to close out the show.
Who Was There:
Who wasn’t there would be an easier question to answer. With more than 1,000 guests, the Sony booth was packed for the conference. We had reporters and bloggers from all types of outlets – everything from Mashable and Engadget to the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. The crowd had a great energy during the event and after, as they explored the booth floor.
The News:
Well,there was a lot… but below were some of the key products and services announced:
- SEN – with Video Unlimited and Music Unlimited well underway and growing, what’s next for SEN is called PlayMemories Online™ service – a cloud based service to host all your personal videos and photos the same way you do your music. Launches in spring
- Xperia™ ion and Xperia™ S- The Xperia ion is Sony’s first LTE smartphone, with a stunning HD 720p Reality Display powered by our Mobile BRAVIA® engine – the same technology that powers our award-winning BRAVIA® TV line. Thin and lightweight with a durable aluminum body, its 12MP camera also delivers fast picture taking, virtually getting rid of the lag time we often see when using a camera phone. The Xperia ion will be available exclusively to AT&T® in the U.S and will come to market this spring. Its counterpart, the Xperia S, also provides a full HD experience with an iconic minimalistic design and will be available globally in March. Both models, will be Playstation® certified.
- Google TV – This summer you’ll see a Blu-ray Disc™ player with the Google TV platform that will be packed with new features, including: a new remote controller, equipped with a touch pad and intuitive interface for easy operation, a backlit keyboard for high visibility and a microphone for voice search. Furthermore, we have enhanced the linkage with mobile Android™ devices including Sony Tablet™ S and Sony Xperia™ phones and others with the mobile Media Remote™ app.
- Bloggie Live camera – Meet the HD Mp4 camera with built in Wi-Fi. This new Bloggie® camera let’s you stream quality video, live, directly from your camera using a free Qik™ account. And the best news, it is already in stores as of today.
- Playstation® Vita – The much anticipated Playstation Vita is coming to the US – and soon. On Feb 22nd the Vita will launch with Netflix® capabilities, letting you do more than just game from the device.
- New Camcorders – With the 2012 line of camcorders comes a new technology called Balanced Optical SteadyShot™ image stabilization. In the top models, this technology is included to reduce handshake blur and can do so by as much as 13 percent (compared to previous models). Also announced were new models of camcorders with built in projectors. These latest versions come with new accessories, enhanced audio and the ability to throw an image up to 100 inches on a wall.
- Balanced Armiture Headphones – Think microsized, ear bud style, noise cancelling headphones. These tiny little wonders have drivers that are ¼ the size of traditional sound insulated headphones, making them both functional and beautiful. There is even a rinsable version, for the athletes of the world.
- Sony Walkman® Z Series Media Player – Android™ based and Wi-Fi enabled, this Walkman player makes music discovery easy. The newest Walkman player comes with all the functionality of the Android Market™ and access to apps. It also easily connects to your TV via DLNA® or an HDMI® cable (sold separately), giving you the ability to play your content on a much larger screen.
What the World Thought:
All in all, we were excited by the positive sentiment that poured through about Sony’s direction and the new products – first via Twitter, and then as the news articles began to come out. We heard lots of excitement over the Bloggie Live camera and the Micro Crystal LED technology, and of course plenty of love for Will Smith and Kelly Clarkson. After CES we’ll be back to share some of the top news articles so you can hear what others thought of these announcements, so stay tuned. Until then, we’ll be posting a post every day with a video from the floor. If you’d like to influence what we shoot, be sure to check out the daily poll on sony.com/ces. So there you have it – everything you missed from yesterday’s press conference and it only took you a few minutes to get caught up. Now you can go about your day, resting assure that you are up on the latest and greatest Sony news. And by all means, feel free to go forth and impress others with all your knowledge!