CES

Sony Bravia XBR-55X900A and XBR-65X900A 4K Television Feature NFC with One-Touch

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 15, 2013 | 4 comments

While the Sony Bravia XBR-84X900, the 84-inch 4K flagship television will probably have to wait till its 2nd revision to feature NFC tech, the smaller siblings, the Bravia XBR-55X900A and XBR-65X900A will feature the bluetooth based tech from the very beginning. For those not familiar, NFC stands for near field communication and is based around bluetooth. What the technology offers is a simplified way of pairing two devices by taking profiles and pass codes out of the equation. Instead, when two devices are touched by one and other, the bluetooth profiles are automatically connected and paired. In fact, even if bluetooth is off on your device, the simple process of touching the devices will automatically turn on all the needed functionalities of your device like its bluetooth. (Hello security issues!) In fact, those of you looking for a demo of the technology need look no further than after the jump where we have further details and a video demo.

Sony Bravia XBR-55X900A and XBR-65X900A 4K Television Details

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 14, 2013 | 10 comments

Not wanting to wait till CES 2013, Sony announced and released the Bravia XBR-84X900, their first consumer 4K television. A first of its kind for Sony, the 84-inch mammoth television is called an Ultra HD TV, boasting 4 times the resolution of traditional HD sets. Think iPhone and iPad Retina display, compared to other smartphones out there. As is the case with any new technology, let alone one that is 84-inches, the 84X900 comes with a hefty price tag of $24,999, targeted at those that money is not taken into consideration for their purchasing habits. This of course begs the question of adoption. How can Sony hope to drive the price of this product down and expand its market share if its too early for a price reduction? The answer seems to be a simple one and one that Sony did, which is to offer the television in a 55-inch and 65-inch model as well. Lets talk details, after the jump.

2nd Generation Sony 3D Digital Recording Binoculars Preview

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 14, 2013 | 0 comments

Nearly two years ago, Sony announced a pair of 3D Digital Recording Binoculars, the DEV-3 and DEV-5. Packed with 10x optical zoom, both units are capable of recording 1080p HD video while capturing stills with a 7.1 megapixel camera. It also wouldn’t be Sony without them incorporating their Exmor R CMOS sensors which are designed to provide noise free images, even in low light situations. But once again, this digital recording binocular has a trick up its sleeve—or maybe two tricks. Sony opted to include not one, but two Exmor R CMOS sensors in both the DEV-3 and DEV-5, allowing for native 3D 1080p video recording with dual f/1.8-3.4, 0.5-10x optical zoom lenses, and a pair of 1,227-dot viewfinders. Other features include manual focus, SteadyShot, and Image Stabilization. With no word from Sony since then, we always wondered if these were a one time product but alas we were wrong.

At CES 2013, the 2nd Generation Sony 3D Digital Recording Binoculars was unveiled to the press. No price point or spec difference were given and in fact, the only unit present was inside a glass case. Still, the striking and slimmed down redesign should be a positive sign for techie nature lovers. As our video after the jump shows, despite the unit being a prototype, the final production model shouldn’t differer too much. Our inside sources have also told us to expect a Q1 2013 ship date though that can always change. After the jump, our video preview.

Sony 4K OLED Video Preview

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 10, 2013 | 0 comments

During the Sony CES 2013 press conference, the company’s new CEO Kaz Hirai unveiled the company’s latest groundbreaking television, the Sony 4K OLED TV. Measuring in at 56-inches, the gorgeous TV offers 4 times the resolution of HD in vivid colors and clarity. Though the introduction of the TV itself was plagued by technical difficulties, thanks to the blue screen of death, it still didn’t take away from the TV’s show floor presence once the unit was fully working. After the jump, a quick video preview of the Sony 4K OLED tv.

Sony Xperia Z with One-Touch NFC Preview

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 10, 2013 | 0 comments

One of the big initiatives that Sony is undertaking for 2013 is the incorporation of NFC technology in their fleet. Based around Bluetooth, NFC allows for the quick pairing of devices to allow transfer of data. The Sony Xperia Z, their flagship smartphone, features this tech as does a number of accessories from Sony like NFC-enabled speakers, home theater systems, sound bars, and backup servers. In its most basic form, NFC takes away the complication of connecting devices via Bluetooth and instead, does the pairing by touching two NFC devices together. Then, depending on the content, the transfer of information can happen via Bluetooth or through Wi-Fi. In the case of small files or streaming of music, no Wi-Fi connection is required and all of it can happen via Bluetooth. After the jump, you can find a video demo of the Sony Xperia Z and Sony home theater system and the transfer of music playback via NFC.

Sony 4K OLED Keynote Debacle Explained, Caused by Microsoft

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 9, 2013 | 0 comments

One of the unfortunate and low points from the CES 2013 Sony press conference came during the unveiling of Sony’s 4K OLED television. Presented by the 8-month-old CEO, Kaz Hirai, the 56-inch OLED TV was touted as a one-of-a-kind television. While competitors only showed a similar device in concept form, Sony had a finished and working model, something they wished to brag about. Soon after Kaz would finish his announcement of the OLED television and the crew began to roll the TV which was placed on a cart onto the stage, the crowd and CEO took note of the black screen with no content, which seemed to indicate issues with the unit. While the young CEO played it cool and continued to go on with his keynote, the crew began to work frantically on getting an image to appear on the OLED TV which moments ago had displayed a dazzling image. Kaz would eventually finish his keynote address without the OLED television ever working properly. The unwelcome situation has now turned into a embarrassing moment for Sony and many journalists and attendees have written off the event as a blunder for Sony. However, as it was much apparent to those with keen eyes, the troubles did not actually lie with the TV.

Sony Xperia ZL 360 Video

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 8, 2013 | 0 comments

If your appetite is stil not curbed after our Sony Xperia Z image gallery from the CES 2013 Sony booth, then the only solution for you is to purchase the new 5-inch screen phone. Of course, seeing how the device won’t be available till Q1 2013, I encourage you to check out our 360 video of the flagship Android phone, after the jump.

Sony Xperia Z Image Gallery

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 8, 2013 | 1 comment

As expected, during Sony’s CES 2013 press conference ( read our live blog coverage), Sony announced the Xperia Z. The previously leaked 5-inch Android smartphone with a 13-megapixel camera and water- and dust-proof casing is intended to be Sony’s flagship device and battle the iPhone and Galaxy devices. A majorly touted feature of the Xperia Z is its built in NFC, which is intended to make the sharing of content easier across a host of new Sony devices like speakers, headphones, and servers with a single tap. In addition to the mentioned specs, the Xperia Z also features a 1080p Reality Display, Snapdragon S4 Pro quad-core processor, fast-capture camera, and 4G LTE with an expected Q1 2013 launch date. After the jump, you can find our Sony Xperia Z image gallery of the new flagship Sony smartphone.

CES 2013 Sony Press Conference Live Blog

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 7, 2013 | 1 comment

We’re live at the CES 2013 Sony press conference. Throughout the week, expect regular updates on this site, as well as our Twitter, Facebook pages, and YouTube channel. More than ever, all eyes will be on Sony, helmed by Kaz Hirai who will have been in command for nearly a year, come this Spring. What new exciting products and initiatives will Sony have to announce to battle the likes of Apple and Samsung? We’ll find out shortly and you can follow our live blog of the event, right after the jump. The live blog is set to start at 4:45 PST.

What Do You Want to See from Sony at CES 2013?

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 4, 2013 | 12 comments

CES, the tech Mecca of the world is always a magical time for readers and journalists alike who have to frantically choose between what they can cover and what they can’t. A big reason for this is due to the barrage of new products announcement by companies like Sony whose products range from televisions, to clocks, tablets, smartphones, docks, and home theater systems. So before we hear from Sony on what their 2013 year and products will look like, we want to hear from you. What do you wish to see from Sony? Let us know in the comments section.

Sony Xperia Z and ZL Appear on an Official Website

by A Glitch | Jan 2, 2013 | 6 comments

Unfortunately for Sony and fortunately for the public Sony has accidentally revealed two of their flagship phones on their website. There has already been many reports on the 5-inch phone code-named the Xperia Yuga. The Yuga is supposedly the Xperia Z and a previous phone code-named the Sony Odin is supposedly the Xperia ZL.

According to many reports surrounding the phones they will be running Android which should not come as a surprise to anyone. Supposed pictures of the phone from a while back were proven to be real with the pictures released recently of the phone. There are a few odd things about these new Sony phones though. For one the power buttons on the right side of the phone seem to be a bit oversized. Second, the ZL appears to have its front facing camera in the bottom right corner of the phone.

CES 2012: Sony Booth (pictures)

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 16, 2012 | 21 comments

Media and interactivity with you, our readers, has been our big focus at this CES. We’ve already uploaded quite a few video previews of different Sony products like the Bloggie Live, Sony Xperia S, and the Sony Tablet P. We were also lucky enough to be able to attend Sony’s Monday night press conference which we’ve already posted plenty of pictures from. The following pictures will now take you through a virtual tour of the many different products from Sony’s 2012 CES booth.

Plenty more high res pictures await you after the jump.

Sony Bloggie Live Unboxing (video)

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 14, 2012 | 22 comments

Our editor and social media manager Allegra and I had a chance to attend CES 2012 as you can probably tell from our main page. For those of you who missed it, we provided a live blog from Sony’s press conference and have done several videos from the show floor. Our friends at Sony, specially Sukhjit, were also kind enough to gift us the just-announced Sony Bloggie Live, just two days into our long week of coverage. Of course, this gave us a unique chance to not only use a superior camera than our current Bloggie Touch on the floor, but to also offer you a new video unboxing. We’ll of course be doing a proper review of the Bloggie Live once we’ve spent some more time with it. Till then though, here is our Sony Bloggie Live unboxing.

CES 2012: Sony Bloggie Live and Bloggie Sport Overview (video)

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 12, 2012 | 18 comments

During CES, Sony announced two new versions of the Bloggie MP4 cameras. The Bloggie Live and Bloggie Sport are the newest additions to the Bloggie line, bringing in a similar, yet fresh, take on the popular MP4 cameras with all new functions. Starting with the Bloggie Sport, Sony designed this camera with sport enthusiasts and outdoor adventurers in mind. Capable of being dropped, submerged in up to 6 ft of water, and dustproof, this 4GB unit is really the perfect camera for those who want to capture their most extreme moments in 1080p without having to worry about coming home with a dead camera. The Bloggie Live, on the other hand, targets the geeks in us who want to keep up with our Facebook and YouTube channels. With built-in Wi-Fi, the Bloggie Live is capable of posting videos directly to the mentioned services from any location. The Bloggie Live is also true to its name in utilizing Qik service by allowing you to stream your videos live to the web for your audience to see in real time. Again, all that is required is an active Wi-Fi and in minutes, you’ll be on the web. Below is our video overview of the Bloggie Live and Bloggie Sport from the Sony CES booth.

CES 2012: Sony Press Conference Photos

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 11, 2012 | 12 comments

If you haven’t already seen our transcript from Sony’s CES 2012 press conference, go ahead and check that out as it’s got some great information on what Sony did in 2011 and where they are headed in 2012. The following is a gallery of pictures from that event. We’ll be posting plenty more pictures from Sony’s booth in the coming days.

Plenty of additional photos await you from the Sony CES 2012 press conference after the jump, in full resolution (if you’re into that kind of thing).