MobileTechTalk Sony showed their hand at MWC and deliver the X range as well as a few surprises.
For those of us who are of a moderate age can remember a time back when Sony did more than make phones and TV’s. Back in their heyday when the Walkman brand was huge, Mini disc existed and Sony thought lets build a robot dog. Yes they made a robot dog called Aibo and I can assure you everyone wanted one. The snag was it cost about two grand and that was back in 1999 money. Sony was essentially king of the electronics world and they would regularly showed the world what it could do, making insane things. Sony are in my mind always at their best when they are innovating and coming out with something that challenges the world. Okay so some of the things they do are flops (Betamax, Mini Disc) and some are anti-consumer pains (memory stick / pro / duo) but they push things like no other consumer electronics company can do.
For example, Sony have given us the Qualia range, the legendary R10 headphone, the insane Crystal LED TV, the more recent SS-AR1 speakers and of course the incredible but mad Aibo.
It is with this spirit in mind therefor that I view Sony’s latest offerings at MWC. Sure they also announced some phones, rectangle slabs with a glass front, like every other phone out there. They however also announced a few more curious items. There is the Eye, the Ear, the Projector and the Agent. The names are odd, very odd in that they are so stupidly simple and sensible with the exception of the Agent. I mean Agent, what the hell is that, a mini Mulder and Scully?
The Ear
It is a Bluetooth earpiece that connects to Sony’s “Google Now,” so you push a button and you can tell it things or you can have it read things to you. Like it could read your text messages to you and you could dictate a response. So erm yeah sort of ish useful I suppose. I’m sure more uses will come in time and I could see it being a real boon if you’re blind or have sight issues.
The Eye
This is getting weirdly crazy. If you have seen a dash cam, you know the cameras you put in your car so you can record the road in front. I guess so if you hit someone you can prove it really wasn’t your fault, or to capture crazy stuff on Russian roads. It’s like that, but for you. Yes your own personal dash cam. Apparently the thing will respond to voice commands so you can take pics on command I suppose. Also they say you can have it detect faces, so if you meet anyone you can have it automatically take a pic. I can’t tell if its fantastically quirky, cool or creepy, maybe all three?
The Projector
So this is some kind of projector. Sony basically said nothing about it but it would appear as though the idea is you sit it next to where you want the image projected and then it has some magic powers that let you “touch” the projected image and use it like a touch screen!!! How awesome is that?!?!?!? Yes you can turn your wall or your table into a touch screen!!! Okay so I realise in the real world this may not work smoothly but come on, it’s just so crazy I want to play with one.
The Agent
I do not understand the name, Agent, what the hell is that supposed to mean? So I’m going to call it the HAL. Come on, look at it, it monitors what you say and watches you with a camera. All it needs is a little red LED in it and for it to then start calling you Dave. It will just like HAL control all of your environmental needs, well whatever “smart home” things you have anyway. Sony suggest the lights, greeting you when you return to the pod bay, err I mean front door, adjusting the cryostasis pods, the central heating, you know that kind of stuff. I bet it’ll even sing you Daisy Bell if you ask it too. It’s just so nuts I want one, I so very much want one so I can make it call me Dave and hear its protestations when I order it to open the pod bay doors.
