Sony invites us all to “make.believe”

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 18:04

Opinion and Analysis

Sony has ushered in its new “Spring Summer Collection 2009” of high quality consumer electronics, along with a new group-wide philosophy of “make.believe”, where the spirit of creativity and imagination can make anything possible, replacing the previous “like.no.other” slogan. It’s easy to believe this new strategy will be quite a success!

Sony’s proud heritage as a very high quality technology company in the consumer electronics, computing and broadcast TV markets, along with its major content businesses in games, movies, music and TV shows has made Sony a major player in the technology market that still commands the respect of consumers and competitors.

Yes, Sony has serious Japanese, Korean, Chinese, American and European competition, but it hasn’t stopped the company from still being a major player, forging ahead with improvements and new innovations to its large range of product lines – on a very regular basis.

Although questions have been asked over whether Sony is now just another re-badger of Chinese made goods, one only needs look at the quality of the actual hardware Sony produces, and the quality of the software and user interfaces on its devices, screens and the PSP and PS3 gaming/media consoles.

Sony’s build quality, like that of its best competitors, is very high, and nothing like the build quality or user experience of those very cheap Chinese brands.

Sure, Sony’s prices aren’t the very cheapest, especially when part of buying the Sony brand is paying for the Sony name, but you really do get what you pay for, and that really can be some great technology and with very cool and useful features.

Sony’s range encompasses three new smartphones through the Sony Ericsson brand, a range of Cyber-Shot handheld and Alpha D-SLR cameras, new video handycams, digital photo frames, netbooks, the PS3 slim, audio systems (including iPod docking and video playback), Walkmans, Blu-Ray players and Bravia TVs.

Not all of the devices were refreshed, some of the items on display were part of the “current” range, but there were definitely some standout items.

One true eyepopper is the upcoming “VAIO X Series” notebook. With the processor type, speed, battery life and pricing still being kept “super secret”, to be unveiled for a Q4 2009 launch (which is soon), we did see the X series switched off which showed how very impressive it still is.

Weighing “less than 700g” and being “less than 14mm thick”, it’s around the same size as today’s 10-inch netbooks but barely thicker than an iPhone 3GS, which itself is only 12.3mm thick.

With any luck it’ll have a dual-core processor of some kind, and not just an Atom processor, while not costing the earth to buy... but seeing as it is so amazingly thin, it’s won’t be as cheap as a netbook, given Sony’s new regular sized netbooks start at AUD $999.

Another smooth technological wonder is the Handycam Hybrid 64GB Full HD Camcorder. Ditching the hard disk (for this model) onto the same scrap heap as the tape recorder, this new model features a third new level of video movement correction, this time focusing on eliminating wrist movements that would otherwise cause video judder on playback.

As with the previous model it also includes GPS geotagging and a lighter, smaller size thanks to the flash memory and the removal of the optical viewfinder, while still delivering high quality, high definition video that far outclasses the video your standard digital camera or smartphone can record.

Those wanting even more storage and an optical viewfinder will find the 240GB hard drive equipped bigger brother the model to go for, but without that third dimension of anti-shake technology the 64GB model is the clear technological winner in Sony’s handycam lineup.

Sony’s new PSP Slim also made an appearance. Announced at E3, it’s the next level of PSP hardware evolution while still offering the same gaming hardware as the original PSP model. Fitting nicely in the hand, much like an iPhone, it has no mechanical UMD drive but instead stores all of its games and media on 16GB of internal storage, which can be expanded through use of a Memory Stick media card.

Software is downloaded through an iTunes-like program which can synchronise games purchases and content to the device. Although the screen size is smaller than the original PSP it’s still a very cool games device and despite having no touch screen remains a very solid and strong competitor to the Apple iPod Touch/iPhone and Nintendo DSi threats.

Although there were still plenty of other technologies on display besides, from iPod dockable sound systems, new Walkmen audio players, digital photo frames and even a very impressive 12.1 megapixel Sony Ericsson “Satio” smartphone, which competes strongly against the Nokia N97, Samsung Omnia HD, HTC Touch HD 2 and the iPhone 3GS itself, there was one more standout device.

And that’s an actual camera, one not connected to a phone, in this case being the Cyber-shot WX1 Digital camera.

Besides featuring a big 2.7-inch touch-screen on the back, 10.2 megapixels, 5x optical zoom, 10 shots per second “burst mode” and a new “Exmor R CMOS sensor” that promises great photos even in low light, the new “panorama” photo mode really impresses.

Unlike other cameras which require you to take three or more photos in succession as you take your panoramic shot, lining up the scene on your camera’s screen and hoping to get it all right, the WX1 takes panoramics to a whole new level of simplicity.

Simply select the panoramic mode, press the shutter button to take a photo, and then horizontally move the camera in front of the scene you are capturing to take the rest of the panoramic shot.

No more shutter presses, just moving the camera through the air after the first press. The resulting photo is 7 megapixel quality, which is still very printable into a great photo, and is astoundingly simple to use.

So, if you’re in the market for some new consumer electronics this year and going into the holiday shopping season, Sony has some impressive new technologies that will make a splash in the marketplace, compete strongly against everyone else and continue Sony’s legacy of technological innovation.

Now it’s up to the consumer to choose, and while we’ll see through GfK market reports just how well Sony does in the next reporting season, it’s easy to see that many will remember another Sony slogan when they next go tech shopping... “It’s a Sony”.