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Sony at CES 2014: PlayStation Now, Xperia Z1 Compact, and futuristic interfaces

Sony's CES 2014 press event was a bit more of a subdued affair than in years past, but that doesn't mean the company didn't drop a lot of news. The company's resurgent mobile division introduced a new, compact variant on the Z1, its 2014 TV lineup features a new wedge shape, and there are even more details about how consumers will get 4K content to their new TVs. Sony also gave us a preview of its new life-tracking Core technology — something we'll surely hear about more in the future. Read on for all of the announcements from Sony's big event on the CES show floor.

  • Jan 10, 2014

    Vlad Savov

    Sony returns to the swagger of its glory days

    sony logo_1020
    sony logo_1020

    During the 1990s, Sony was the world’s preeminent tech brand, dominating the field with its innovative designs and consistently superior products, but the past decade hasn't been so great.

    The Japanese company lost its crown to Apple through a series of calamitous decisions and strategies that were more outlandish than forward thinking. So when Kazuo Hirai took over the mantle of CEO in 2012, his first task was merely to steady the ship. Two years on, however, Kaz is done patching up holes and making apologies, and Sony appears ready to lead from the front once more.

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  • Sean Hollister

    Jan 9, 2014

    Sean Hollister

    PlayStation Now will require a DualShock controller for TVs, tablets, and phones

    PlayStation Now
    PlayStation Now

    PlayStation Now could be the future of gaming, but you're going to need a proprietary controller to play. Though Sony has announced that the streaming game service will come to tablets and smartphones — perhaps even non-Sony devices — the company doesn't plan to let you use a touchscreen. To play PS3 games, PlayStation marketing VP John Koller tells us, you need to have the gamepad they were originally designed for. "You need to have the DualShock to be able to play," says Koller.

    Sony tells us a DualShock 4 will do for the PlayStation 4, and the PlayStation Vita handheld buttons can continue to work the same way they do now. Sony's new Bravia TVs will specifically require a DualShock 3 controller, though — and so will tablets and smartphones, according to the executive.

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  • Rich McCormick

    Jan 8, 2014

    Rich McCormick

    Sony's XSP-N1BT turns your smartphone into an in-car entertainment system

    xsp-n1bt-sony-dock
    xsp-n1bt-sony-dock

    Sony has shown off its new XSP-N1BT smartphone cradle receiver at CES. The device sits in your car's dashboard, where it uses your smartphone to interface with your vehicle's audio system, becoming a head-unit that can play music, stream internet radio, and make hands-free calls. The cradle replaces your smartphone's native interface, replacing it with Sony's App Remote 2 when connected. App Remote 2 might not look as stylish as other smartphone interfaces, but it does offer voice control, allowing users to "hear and compose text messages and emails, obtain mapping information, and listen to notifications" without needing to move their hands.

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  • Joshua Topolsky

    Jan 7, 2014

    Joshua Topolsky

    Sony CEO Kaz Hirai says cloud TV won't compete with cable, 4K adoption could take seven years

    kaz-hirai
    kaz-hirai

    At a sit-down with Sony CEO Kaz Hirai, the company head spoke on the new products and services announced at CES 2014, some of which were just introduced today. One of the more interesting developments on center stage was the announcement of a new streaming cloud TV service that could be Sony's first real initiative to take on the living room in a cohesive manner.

    Hirai was tight-lipped when discussing the service's features or Sony's partnerships, but he was quick to defend against the notion that Sony's cloud TV would be running up against cable providers. "We're not trying to compete with the cable operators — we're trying to resolve one of the biggest hurdles, which is watching live TV and streaming content on different devices." However, he did note that on live TV broadcasts, there was a chance for friction. "Everybody's been talking about it, I don't think anyone has been able to do it," Hirai said, describing a system that could, when all is said and done, look a little something like what Microsoft is trying to do with the Xbox One.

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  • Kwame Opam

    Jan 7, 2014

    Kwame Opam

    Up close with Sony's futuristic Life Space UX projector

    Gallery Photo: Demonstration of Sony's Life Space UX projector
    Gallery Photo: Demonstration of Sony's Life Space UX projector

    Sony unveiled Life Space UX, its wildly ambitious vision for future home displays, onstage at CES earlier today. In a tiny room in a tucked-away corner of their booth, we got a closer look at the interface — and we came away impressed.

    Sony's demonstration was set in a mocked-up living room of the near future. There was nothing terribly futuristic about the setting, which was surely the point; Sony intends for each display to live seamlessly on the surfaces we normally interact with on a regular basis. Projectors concealed strategically in the room displayed a number of concepts, like a skylight showing a spring day. At the kitchen table, another projector showed a tablet interface ready for playing with, very reminiscent of the original Microsoft Surface. Meanwhile, the mirror on the far wall showed off a library of magazines.

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  • Chris Welch

    Jan 7, 2014

    Chris Welch

    PlayStation Now hands-on: you'll never think of gaming the same way again

    PlayStation Now
    PlayStation Now

    Sony has finally spilled the details on its Gaikai-powered streaming service PlayStation Now, and we wasted no time in giving it a try. PlayStation Now lets owners of Sony hardware (including PS4, PS3, Vita, and Bravia TVs) stream some of the company's greatest games — all from the cloud. The demo at Sony's CES show booth features four titles, including The Last of Us, God of War: Ascension, Beyond: Two Souls, and Puppeteer, all running on a Bravia HDTV, and all running without a PlayStation 3 anywhere in sight. For our demo, we first booted up God of War. The game's loading time left a bit to be desired, but once it was running, things went on without a hitch. Yes, there's a slightly perceptible lag between button presses and the corresponding action onscreen, but we still managed to slay numerous enemies in God of War's brutal style without it being a problem.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jan 7, 2014

    Andrew Webster

    Life Space UX: Sony unveils its wild idea for the future of interfaces

    At CES 2014 in Las Vegas, Sony's Kaz Hirai just announced an ambitious new interface concept — Life Space UX. The idea is to merge your home and technology into a seamless experience. "The conventional boundaries are being transformed, if not vanishing altogether," said Hirai. In a demonstration, Hirai showed off windows doubling as screens and vice versa. "Imagine being an avid surfer and having the perfect wall-sized window to see the world's most vivid surf spots in real time on your television," he explained.

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  • Dieter Bohn

    Jan 7, 2014

    Dieter Bohn

    Sony announces cloud-based TV service with live TV, DVR, and video on demand

    sony cloud tv
    sony cloud tv

    We were expecting Sony to launch something like PlayStation Now, which is cloud-based streaming for games. But Sony seems to have larger ambitions, launching a TV service that will provide live television, video on demand, and even DVR in the cloud. It will offer universal search "across live and on-demand video content" — letting you just keep your content in Sony's cloud and use it across all of your Sony gadgets — in fact, the company says it will work on 70 million Sony devices.  That presumably includes the PS4, PS3, Vita, smart TVs, and Android devices. It's not clear at all what Sony means by "live TV" yet — building an all-in-one service like this is fraught with complications with studios, cable companies, and has been a big target for lawsuits.

    Sony already offered video on demand service, so it's not a complete shock for it to grow it into more, but this sounds a bit more ambitious than what you'd think. The DVR in the cloud is particularly interesting, and it fills out the Sony Entertainment Network in a big way. Sony's online offering had long been a sore spot for customers, but here at CES it certainly looks like it's beginning to fill out nicely. If Sony can pull off this TV in the cloud service — which begins testing later this year — the company's ecosystem of devices and services may finally cohere into the "One Sony" vision that CEO Kaz Hirai has been pushing for.

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  • Andrew Webster

    Jan 7, 2014

    Andrew Webster

    Sony has sold 4.2 million PlayStation 4s

    Yesterday Microsoft announced that it had sold 3 million Xbox Ones as of the end of 2013, and today Sony has revealed an even bigger number — as of December 28th the PlayStation 4 has sold 4.2 million units. The news was announced by Sony's Andrew House at today's CES 2014 press conference in Las Vegas, and it's double the number we last heard, when Sony revealed that it had sold 2.1 million units as of December 3rd. Of course, Sony had a brief head start, which may account for the higher sales numbers — the PS4 launched on November 15th, whereas the latest Xbox hit store shelves one week later.

    According to a Sony press release, those consoles were accompanied by over 9.7 million copies of games sold at retail and in the digital PlayStation Store, and the company says that PlayStation Plus subscriptions have increased by 90 percent globally since launch.

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  • Sean Hollister

    Jan 7, 2014

    Sean Hollister

    Sony announces PlayStation Now, its cloud gaming service for TVs, consoles, and phones

    The PlayStation 4 may not be the most important part of Sony's gaming strategy anymore. At CES 2014, Sony has just announced PlayStation Now, a service that will bring streaming PlayStation games not only to PS4, but also PS3, PlayStation Vita, and even televisions, tablets, and smartphones.

    It's the company's public-facing brand for Gaikai, the cloud gaming technology it purchased in June of 2012, which the company previously said would bring PS3 games to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita later this year. Sony says the technology is already working here at CES, with attendees able to try critically acclaimed action title The Last of Us here in Vegas. The full service will let users rent games or pay for a subscription that will let them "explore a range of titles." Sony will launch a closed beta in the United States at the end of the month, and plans to roll out the service more broadly by the end of this summer.

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  • Nathan Ingraham

    Jan 7, 2014

    Nathan Ingraham

    Sony's new Core fitness tracker will be the 'heart' of its wearable experience (hands-on)

    Gallery Photo: Sony Core Smartwear hands-on
    Gallery Photo: Sony Core Smartwear hands-on

    Sony's not new to the wearable market, but the company just entered the fitness-tracking market in a big way — during its CES press conference, the company announced Core. It's a tiny chip that Sony called perhaps the tiniest gadget it has ever made, and the company's planning to put it into a number of products, starting with a smartband that'll be released this spring. Core will include the typical fitness-tracking metrics, but Sony says it'll also function as more of a life journal as well, tracking photos you took, "special moments," and other live events — kind of like the Day One journaling app with a fitness tracker.

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  • Bryan Bishop

    Jan 7, 2014

    Bryan Bishop

    Sony's tennis racket sensor will help you improve your swing (hands-on)

    Sony Tennis Sensor
    Sony Tennis Sensor

    CES isn't just about 4K and connected cars; it's a place where you can get a look at prototype technology from some of the biggest companies in the world. In Sony's booth this year, it's showing off what it calls the "Tennis Sensor." The small nub affixes to the end of an ordinary tennis racket, and is able to detect the motion and vibration of the racket whenever you hit a ball. That information is then sent via Bluetooth to a tablet or smartphone, where Sony's software can tell you the speed of your swing, the type of swing, and even where on the racket you connect with the ball.

    Unfortunately it's still in the prototype stage at this point, but a shipping product based on the technology could be a great fit for people trying to improve their game. The best part? You don't need to know anything about tennis to give it a try. Believe me.

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  • Sony's new shape for TVs: the wedge

    Sony's taking a new approach to TVs this year. While its competitors have been busy making their sets slimmer or giving their displays a gentle curve, Sony decided to focus on another shape. At CES today, it's unveiling a series of TV sets featuring what it's calling a wedge design — sets with deep, triangular sides that taper in thickness as they rise. It's a striking and stylish look, and more importantly, it allows Sony to take advantage of the extra space. Rather than building in a set of basic stereo speakers, Sony uses the added room to include three more-capable speakers on either side of some of the sets.

    Sony says that the speakers will deliver better bass, a wider sonic range, and clearer vocals than a common pair of TV speakers. Though they take up a bit more room, the speakers are a natural addition: if you're going to get a gorgeous new TV, you may as well get good speakers to compliment its good looks. An HDTV featuring the wedge design, the Bravia W850B, will be available this winter, while Sony's first 4K wedge TV, the XBR X900B, will be available this spring in 55-, 65-, and 79-inch models. The XBR X900B includes a host of smart features as well, including built-in Wi-Fi and a camera to let you video chat from the couch.

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  • Josh Lowensohn

    Jan 7, 2014

    Josh Lowensohn

    Sony refreshes VAIO line, adding 11-inch Flip model and faster Wi-Fi

    Sony VAIO Fit 11A (embargoed)
    Sony VAIO Fit 11A (embargoed)

    Sony's starting off 2014 by adding a new, smaller notebook to its Vaio line, while updating and adding to the software that comes out of the box on many of its other machines. New to the lineup is the 11-inch Vaio Fit 11A, a 2.82-pound Intel quad-core notebook with a hinge that can convert into a tablet, or be stood up for viewing videos. On the lid are two cameras, one in front, and an 8-megapixel camera in the back that can take a picture of what's in front of your device. There's also a backlit keyboard, a solid state drive, a touchpad that works with Sony's Vaio gesture control software, and a bundled Vaio Active Pen accessory.

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  • Dan Seifert

    Jan 7, 2014

    Dan Seifert

    Sony brings its flagship smartphone to the US as the Xperia Z1S for T-Mobile

    Gallery Photo: Sony Xperia Z1S for T-Mobile hands-on pictures
    Gallery Photo: Sony Xperia Z1S for T-Mobile hands-on pictures

    Sony announced today that starting January 22nd, the Xperia Z1S will be available from T-Mobile. The Z1S is a variant of the Xperia Z1, Sony's current flagship device that's been for sale in different parts of the world for the past few months. It features a 5-inch, 1080p display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2GB of RAM, and Sony's 20.7-megapixel camera. Like its predecessor, the Xperia Z, the Z1S is also waterproof, though it can be submerged a bit deeper than the Z (up to 4.9 feet for up to 30 minutes) thanks to its higher IP58 rating.

    The Z1S runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Sony's custom interface and apps. It has a number of apps to take advantage of its high-powered camera, including a new "background defocus" app, which lets you simulate the blur effect of a large camera and bright lens with your phone.

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  • Sam Byford

    Jan 7, 2014

    Sam Byford

    Sony's A5000 mirrorless camera shows the future of NEX

    sony a5000
    sony a5000

    NEX is dead — Sony is now using the Alpha brand for its line of E-mount mirrorless cameras. The first example of this was the ultra-cheap SLR-style A3000, and now at CES 2014 Sony is revealing the A5000, a mirrorless camera that follows in the footsteps of the NEX-3 series. That means it's all about offering strong image quality in a small package without much in the way of physical controls — like the NEX-3 cameras, there's an APS-C sensor (this time with 20 megapixels), a tilting screen, and a sparse button layout on the back. There's also Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity — in fact, Sony claims that the A5000 is the world's lightest interchangeable lens camera with Wi-Fi. Pricing and a release date have yet to be announced.

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  • Jan 7, 2014

    Vlad Savov

    Sony heeds the call for a small superphone with Xperia Z1 Compact

    Gallery Photo: Sony Xperia Z1 Compact hands-on photos
    Gallery Photo: Sony Xperia Z1 Compact hands-on photos

    Sony has been doing a lot of research on its customers. The first thing it found was that "the consumer who’d prefer to have a smaller device doesn't want fewer features." So the company took the Xperia Z1’s flagship spec sheet and fit into a 4.3-inch handset. Then Sony learned that calling a device "mini" suggested it was somehow inferior, so the name Z1 Compact was born. Finally, consumers demanded more and bolder colors, to which Sony has responded with two new hues of lime green and luscious pink. Throw in an important (and overdue) upgrade to an IPS display and the Xperia Z1 Compact becomes the perfect hardware proposition.

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  • Sony's Handycam FDR-AX100 brings 4K shooting to home filmmakers

    Shooting 4K usually means making a choice between getting a good price and good image quality, but today Sony is introducing a new camcorder that tries to give consumers both. The new 4K Handycam FDR-AX100 is a relatively compact camcorder capable of shooting 4K video at both 24 and 30P. But more importantly: it has one of Sony's larger sensors for a camcorder, and it'll sell for about $1,999.99 — a comparably low price for high-quality 4K footage.

    The FDR-AX100's 1-inch sensor isn't one of the biggest out there, but it's the same size as what Sony puts into its RX100 compact camera, which still manages to take photos that look great. Sony promises that'll follow through to the AX100 too, and the footage we saw from it looked promising. In Sony's press release, it also reiterates several times over that this camera will be capable of capturing "beautiful bokeh" with ease.

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