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CES 2009 Keynote: Sony

by Iyaz Akhtar on Jan 8, 2009 at 12:45 PM

We’ll be live blogging Sony’s keynote by Howard Stringer very soon.  Either way stick around to this page for live coverage of all the announcements (you can reload the page by hitting Ctrl+R or F5).

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Live Updates

02:39 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Stringer asks Usher if he misses the album.  Usher talks about singles.  He likes albums better.  Howard is wrapping up by talking about imagination and looking towards the future.  That’s it.

02:32 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Song is over.  Howard comes back on stage and Usher mocks Sony like Hanks did.  Laughs all around.

02:27 PMJG Mason said:

And now onstage is Usher.

02:27 PMJG Mason said:

Stringer pulled the Vaio out of his jacket pocket.  Questions arise if his suit had a custom made pocket…

02:26 PMJG Mason said:

Sony phones to come with music preloaded.  and now he showing the oddly rectangular Vaio netbook.

02:25 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Gracenote database on Sony Ericson phones

02:23 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Each shot is interesting since you have to kind of reprocess your orientation to understand the scene.

02:21 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

He is talking about 3D— time for Monsters vs. Aliens clip by dreamworks

02:15 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Demo is over, now here is Jeffrey Katzenberg.

02:13 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

3D American football—Wow.  Okay, this is awesome.

02:13 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

We’re seeing a Pixar Cars-based 3D demo and it looks good.  The illusion of depth is very good.  I don’t know how comfortable this would be for a long form movie.  The clip was about a minute or two.

02:10 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Talk of their sugar-based bio battery, solar devices that look like art, and the greenheart phone.  Now we’re talking Digital Cinema. Time for the 3D Demo.

02:09 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Reggie leaves the stage.  Time for Sony to talk eco-friendly products.

02:07 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

The two are sharing a story to the crowd: Stringer did a documentary on the Yankees in ‘77 so he wound up watching Reggie belt a ton of homers in the World Series.

02:03 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Sony and the new Yankee Stadium.  Sony’s their CE provider.  550 flat panel Bravias in the park, Sony branding, Sony HD broadcast facility, and Playstations in suites.  Reggie Jackson is here.

01:57 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Dr. Oz is here and is calling us all fat.  Pretty safe bet with a bunch of tech journalists in the audience.

01:56 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Sony and Harpo doing a new show.  Some doctor from Oprah is getting his own show, “Dr. Oz” in the Fall of 2009.  JG is thrilled.  He’s jumping up and down in his seat.  Scary.

01:54 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Electronic Arts is joining PlayStation Home.  And Howard is back on stage.

01:50 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Now we’re talking about Sony Online Entertainment (SOE), portable video content and MTV is joining up to provide 2000 hours of programming.

01:48 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Going over the PlayStation Network.  17 million registered users on PSN.  Now talking about the LittleBigPlanet video game.  The game lets you create levels.  Then you can upload it to the network.  Others can play your levels.  That’s pretty cool.

01:45 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Stringer is talking up the PS3 and how it helped win the format war.  He is also pointing out how its integration with the PSP is very important to its success.  Kaz Hirai, Group Exec, Sony comes on stage.

01:43 PMJG Mason said:

“Blu-ray doesn’t stop here.” 3D at home with Blu-ray is coming.  Next film from Pixar is 3D called, “up”.  We’ll be shown a Cars short in 3D.  And Toy Story 3 is being done now with Hanks and Allen back.

01:39 PMJG Mason said:

Blu-ray allows movie goers to see all the detail pixar puts into their films.  Lasseter touts special features, BD Live brings in internet into the experience.  For example, their new Sleeping Beauty has a movie menu that changes with your ambient weather (known via internet).  Pretty cool.  The castle is shown in the Las Vegas’ weather.

01:34 PMJG Mason said:

Sony as 50% of the marketshare of Blu-ray players.  Also impressive.  John Lasseter, of Disney,  is here to tell us why Blu-ray rocks.

01:32 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Flex OLED is an interesting concept.  Stringer mentioned it could be a new eReader.  That could be cool.

01:31 PMJG Mason said:

Flexible OLED, eco friendly Organic TFT Flex OLED.  Playing video and squeezing Beyonce (video playing)...

01:30 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

So Sony wasn’t kidding when it said “Support Open Technologies” by working with Chumby.  Very impressive.

01:30 PMJG Mason said:

New alarm clock, combo with Chumby???  looks really nice.  Wi-Fi video, interactive features like a new music video of the day as well as exclusive content from Sony before it is released to the public.  Weather, video clips, photos, emailed content.  Pretty cool.  Open source Chumby based platform.

01:27 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Price of the camera?  “An extraordinarily reasonable price.”

01:26 PMJG Mason said:

New Wi Fi Cybershot camera, connects to internet and to Bravia TVs.  Free access to AT&T hotspots.  Available now.

01:23 PMJG Mason said:

By 2011 90% of their products will connect with the internet and each other.  Interesting.

01:22 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

(my last update was after Hanks left the stage, btw.)

01:22 PMJG Mason said:

“If you can imagine it, we make it happen.”  Sony’s aim to make the products compelling to consumers.  Today, he wants to introduce seven imperatives.  Embrace Fusion of industires, adopt a service enhanced industry; be multi-functional; support open technologies (wait, this is Sony right?); advance the shared experience; create new value chains; and finally, go green.

01:18 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Stringer laughs “Generally speaking, a plus.  This is the third time I’ve done this, and maybe the last.”  Big laughs from the crowd.

01:16 PMJG Mason said:

Hanks mocking the glasses, playfully.

01:15 PMJG Mason said:

Stringer is showing off a special prototype glasses that allow you to watch a movie at the same time as looking through them.  The opacity of the images is dimmed down a bit so you can see everything, but still watching the movies.  Great for driving!!  not.

01:14 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Stringer’s on stage.  Now Hanks and Stringer are pacing the stage.  We’re on to a glasses demo.

01:10 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Hanks is cracking himself up actually.  Now he’s going over Sony has taken over the world.  Prompter seems to have stalled, so Hanks stalled.

01:08 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Tom Hanks is cracking up the audience mocking Shapiro’s keynote.  He called a Blu-ray player a “bluetooth player” while discussing his experience with Sony.  He’s reading the prompter, but the material is pretty amusing.

01:05 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

Shapiro is going over Howard Stringer’s career before introducing him to the stage.  Here he comes, Sir Howard Stringer.  Lights go black.  Now a movie trailer for Tom Hanks in “Angels & Demons.”  They’ve got some serious subwoofers in here.  Tom Hanks is here.

12:45 PMIyaz Akhtar said:

We’re at Sony’s Keynote waiting for it to start.  Right now Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of the CEA is speaking.


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