PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Consumer electronics specialist Sony has shown off ten new tech products at the IFA 2014 trade show in Berlin.
Kazuo Hirai, president and CEO, said: "Each of our latest Sony products seeks to do more than just deliver new functionality, but actually change the way you interact with technology, and the way it integrates into your life. We seek not only to meet your needs, but through our Kando-inspiring technologies move you emotionally, and elevate your experience to new heights,” said Hirai.
Sony unveiled ‘Life Space UX’ for the first time in Europe – a ‘new approach to the user experience and product creation, leveraging the user’s surroundings and living space to enable content to be enjoyed more naturally and in entirely new ways’.
Masaru Tamagawa, president of Sony Europe, unveiled Sony’s latest product line-up (listed below), while Kunimasa Suzuki, president and CEO of Sony Mobile Communications, presented the mobile product range.
Products unveiled at IFA in Berlin include:
1. Xperia Smartphones – Xperia Z3, Xperia Z3 Compact
Sony will allow users to play their PlayStation 4 on these new smartphones using PS4 Remote Play.
The Z3 has a 5.2 inch display, a rounded aluminium frame and tempered glass panels, with a body measuring 7.3mm in width and weighing 152g. The Xperia Z3 Compact is ideal for one-handed use with a rounded liquid reflection frame and tempered glass panels – it weighs 129g. It is also dust-tight and waterproof.
The Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact are scheduled for launch in Japan and other regions this autumn.
2. Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact (pictured)
Billed as ‘the world’s slimmest and lightest compact tablet’, measuring 6.4mm thick and weighing 270g, the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact is also the first to offer PS4 Remote Play, enabling users to enjoy the PS4 gaming experience on its eight-inch screen.
3. Xperia Smartphone Xperia E3
Xperia E3 shares the same premium design style as Sony’s latest flagship Xperia Z3 series, boasting a scratch-resistant 4.5 inch screen, a 5 megapixel camera and Sony’s creative camera apps. Xperia E3’s ‘shake to start’ app enables users to customise shortcuts to their favourite apps and access them with just a flick of the wrist.
It has a high-speed Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor with quad-core 1.2GHz CPUs.
4. SmartWear
Sony is also launching new SmartWear products, which can be used in combination with compatible smartphones, tablets and apps to record users’ daily life data via ‘Lifelog’.
Sony SmartWear products enable users to log both their motional activities, such as the number of steps they take, movements they make, and sleep patterns, as well as emotional activities such as pictures they take, music they listen to, calls and messages.
With GPS and 4GB storage memory built in, SmartWatch 3 supports Android Wear by Google, while the SmartBand Talk is equipped with a curved always-on e-paper display to enable hands free calls and voice commands.
SmartWatch 3 and SmartBand Talk will be rolled out globally starting this autumn.
"Going forward, Sony will further proliferate its range of SmartWear products, such as Smart Tennis Sensor, which attaches to the base of the user’s tennis racket and visualises every shot on their smartphone, and its prototype SmartEyeglass – transparent lens eyewear which superimposes useful information onto the user’s field of view," said Sony in a statement.
5. Lens-style Camera ILCE-QX1, DSC-QX30 and DSC-QX10 (Copper, Pink)
Sony is also expanding its Lens-style Camera lineup with two new models that link with smartphones via Wi-Fi, and can also be directly attached to smartphones or used separately to allow users to take pictures of themselves and video from any angle.
ILCE-QX1 features the same APS-C CMOS image sensor as Sony’s mirrorless interchangeable-lens cameras, and is compatibile with interchangeable E-mount lenses based on the α Mount System.
DSC-QX30 features the same 30x optical zoom Sony G Lens, Optical Steadyshot and auto-focus functions found in Sony’s Cyber-shot models, making it possible to capture photographs that could not be taken using just an internal smartphone camera, such as distant subjects, with less blur.
6. Action Cam Mini HDR-AZ1VR (Live-view Remote Kit)
The HDR-AZ1VR is a wearable camera which features a small and light body weighing approximately 63g – two thirds the size of the current model, HDR-AS100V, due to the new Live-view Remote equipped with a GPS recording function.
It can be attached to sports equipment such as bike handlebars and helmets, and has a 170-degree field of view. It’s aimed to record footage of action sports such as skiing, snowboarding, mountain climbing, surfing and more.
7. PlayMemories Camera Apps
Sound Photo and Light Trail have been added to PlayMemories Camera Apps, an app download service which allows users to add a variety of functions to their camera.
By recording sound before and after the shutter, Sound Photo allows users to relive the moment they experienced while taking a photo. Light Trail is an app which can reproduce light trails from the headlights of a car or fireworks in a single picture.
8. New high-res audio products
Sony’s line-up of High-Resolution audio products promises to take users ‘beyond the level of CD quality’, with a total of seven new products, including digital music player Walkman, headphones and a portable amplifier, to its existing range of 32 Hi-Res audio compatible products. Sony is also introducing a total of three new Hi-Res audio compatible headphones.
9. 4K Ultra HD BRAVIA TV S90B series
The S90B series (75/65), with its combination of curved LCD screen and multi-angle live speaker system, is a new series of 4K Ultra HD BRAVIA TV. This series uses Sony’s 4K picture engine 4K X-Reality PRO, X-tended Dynamic Range technology, and wide colour gamut Triluminos Display as well as surround sound to provide the feeling of being at a cinema.
Amazon will start providing Ultra HD content on Amazon Instant Video and Prime Instant Video this year, and 2014 4K Bravia models will be able to receive this service in the US, UK and Germany.
10. Life Space UX
Sony previously announced Life Space UX at CES earlier this year – a new concept which ‘utilises space itself to generate experiences’, such as the 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector, which is scheduled to go on sale at the end of September, as well as a tabletop screen, ceiling screen and wall mount display concept models.
At IFA 2014, Sony is showcasing its line-up of products that comprise Life Space UX, including concept models and prototypes that incorporate new technologies.
These concept models include an LED bulb speaker, a normal sized light bulb which contains speakers and connects wirelessly with smartphones, a portable waterproof ultra short throw projector which, when placed on a refrigerator door or in a bathroom, can project a 23 inch image capable of being manipulated by touch.
The 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector is scheduled to launch in Europe by summer 2015.
Read more IFA 2014 news here and follow PCR on Twitter for the latest stories
