allgeektout

Sony’s press conference is happening today at 4:15 pm at their booth in the Las Vegas Convention Center. I’ll be there, constantly updating to make sure you know everything that they announce, as they announce it!

NOTE: What, you thought just because I had figured out why tether wasn’t working I would start liveblogging? Of course not! Next I had to deal with batteries! But never fear, for this not-quite live blog reads JUST LIKE YOU WERE THERE!

4:01 pm - Sitting in our seats. There was a cylinder on them that contained RealD 3D glasses. Guessing that means that Sony’s press conference will focus on 3D just as much as Samsung’s.

4:02 pm - Earlier, we heard music that sounded suspiciously like Taylor Swift’s “Love Story”. Possibly could have been coming from another booth – it’s pretty loud in here – but I think it’s coming from behind the black, plaster curtain that is in front of Sony’s stage.

4:17 pm - They pulled back the “curtain” and revealed about ten more rows, so everyone had to move up. Thankfully, I read about this happening last year, so I was prepared.

4:21 pm – Lights are dimming, telling us to put on our glasses for a “Special 3D Experience.” Looks like it’s about to start?

4:22 pm – Curtains up on stage parting. Two guitars. Confirms my theory.

4:22 pm – Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock in 3d on the screen.

4:23 pm – Just less than a minute of that, then introducing the Chairmen, CEO, and President of Sony – Sir Howard Stringer. “There really is no experience like 3D.” They’re going to start doing Jimi Hendrix’s music in 3D in a “wide variety of packages”.

4:24 pm – About to announce an artist who has been with Sony since she was 14. And…

4:25 pm – Yup, it’s Taylor Swift. “The New Grand Ambassardor for Sony Electronics”. This is going to be filmed in 3D, live apparently.

4:25 pm – She’s also going to be documenting her life on tour with Sony products. “It lets me take those beautiful things I get to see and turn them into video blogs.”

4:26 pm – Now she’s talking about how she likes using technology to connect with her fans because she thinks they are very cutting-edge.

4:26 pm – She’s only going to be doing a quick performance because she has to get to the People’s Choice Awards.

4:27 pm – Oh, wow. The screen behind her is showing what’s happening live 3D. That’s pretty cool.

4:28 pm – She’s playing “Love Story” if anyone’s curious. There’s only one camera, so they’re circling around, but I wonder what this would be like if they could cut between camera angles.

4:29 pm – Strike that, they just cut camera angles. Maybe they’re second camera is hidden? or I just missed something.

4:30 pm – Or it’s right on top of me. I can’t tell if that’s a camera or not. Just shot confetti, which probably would have looked really cool on screen, if it didn’t have the unfortunate side-effect of concealing the screen.

4:31 pm – She’s done performing, and she’s off. “The once and future queen of pop music,” says Sir Stringer. Tells a few jokes. “If you can’t tell I’m killing time while they’re getting equipment off stage.” Invites Stan Glasgow, President and COO of Sony Electronics Inc.

4:33 pm – This is being streamed live to a global online audience via CNET and uStream. I guess that makes live blogs a bit obselete (about as obselte as not-quite live blogs).

4:33 pm – They have “3D pods” in their booth. Can’t wait to check that out.

4:34 pm – Caught sight of the teleprompter. Also, there’s going to be a special announcement between Ford and Sony in a day or two.

4:35 pm – Talking about the success of Sony despite the economic turmoils, thanks to Sony Style stores and sony.com. As well as it went, he’s even more excited about 2010.

4:36 pm – Make dot Believe (Make.Believe) is a “new and engaging effort to establish a connection with their customers in all they do.” They want their customers to believe that “anything they can make believe, they can make happen.… The dot marks the place where creativity meets reality. It is intended to mean different things to different people.”

4:37 pm -  A movie about Make.Believe – unfortunately not in 3D. Talking about an album artist… revealed to be the art director at Sony Music. Not exactly the average consumer that Make.Believe allegedly appeals to.

4:39 pm – Make.Believe is going to be appearing on their products. I don’t see how that isn’t a regular marketing campaign.

4:39 pm – He calls the 2009 Bravia TV designs monolithic – and yet the music that plays as they descend from the sky is not from A Space Odyssey. Feels like a missed opportunity.

4:40 pm – They are designed to be viewed at a 6 degree angle. Concealed touch sensors, glossy and matte finishes, and they’re thin – “Looks good on or off”. Advanced motion flow technology.

4:42 pm – Bravia Internet Video, from YouTube, Wired, and Netflix. They’re taking it to the “next level” with easy integrated wireless – for content, widgets, and… something we’ll hear about soon.

4:43 pm – Pre-orders start tonight, if you want one. They aren’t shipping until Early March. As part of Make.Believe, they monolithic design will also be seen in other audio-video products. Reveal more products, still without Space Odyssey music.

4:44 pm – Blu-ray continues to make more significant strides. They have the broadest Blu-ray lineup, ready for people to switch to Blu-ray. Listing a lot of the different players they have, from entry-level to PS3.

4:45 pm – One delivers full 1080p streaming over the internet, monolithic design. A new home theater system combines a blu-ray player, and built in-5.1 surround sound (and a monolithic design, I assume).

4:46 pm – Introducing dash, which is a fancy bedside clock that has widgets. Seems a bit like a chumby, but with the Sony logo and design sensibilities.

4:47 pm – “Personal internet viewer”, with over 1,000 free apps. Wi-fi connected. Designed to provide glances at your favorite parts of the internet in a dash. Also movies and video clips. “You can even update your Facebook status”.

4:48 pm – Kazuo Hirai is invited on stage to talk about “Convergence of content, services, and technology”. 3.8 million PS3s during the five weeks following the last week of November.

4:49 pm – Talking about popular PS3 games. Most of them are multi-platform with the 360, except for Uncharted II.

4:49 pm – He’s introducing plans for expanding the PSN beyond the PS3 and PSP. He’s going through a bit of history, talking about how it was launched in 2006.

4:50 pm – In 2008, they launched Premium Video Content. 300 films/1,200 TV episodes to 2,700 films, 16,000 TV episodes today.

4:51 pm – Now it’s been expanding to Europe, with plans to add more later this year. 38 million registered accounts around the world. 780 million pieces of content have been downloaded so far. 25 petabytes a month.

4:52 pm – Now they’re “harnessing the power of the PSN and leveraging the network across multiple devices.” They’re mainly expanding the premium video, it seems – which I suppose is most of what’s not game-related on the PSN.

4:53 pm – First expansion is going to be premium content to their other devices – internet enabled Bravia and Blu-ray devices starting next month. Will also be available on Vaio laptops AND any Windows-enabled PCs. People can use their existing PSN account if they already have one.

4:53 pm – Talking about the close ties between the different parts of Sony. “It’s become clear we need a more organized central structure.”

4:54 pm – Last month, they established a new company Sony Network Entertainment, Inc (SNEI). Will drive execution for network strategies across the entire Sony group. So their plan for a more central structure is to make another company.

4:55 pm – Giving the stage back to Stan. It doesn’t end with the PSN for Sony. More products are revealed on the side. Talking about the Reader Daily Edition. Can purchase on the Reader Store on the product, and they’ve made deals with Dow Jones and the New York Post for exclusive daily content.

4:56 pm – WSJ is available, as well as the exclusives “Market Watch” and “WSJ +”, and the only digital New York Post. Also, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune.

4:57 pm – Digital Imaging products will finally use SD and SDHC cards in addition to the Memory cards. And Sony will be making their own SDHC cards, naturally, from 2 GB to 32 GB.

4:58 pm – Handycams. 17 new models launching tonight. Most of them look very similar, but one of them looks like a more professional camera.

4:58 pm – The more professional is a “prosumer” model, full HD progressive scan, three exmor CMOS sensors. Some of these features are in the HD Handycams.

4:59 pm – “Golf Shot” takes a few seconds of motion, and takes a collage of 18 still images. “Maybe with this feature, I will have my own Make.Believe moment”. Very quiet charges.

5:00 pm – Announcing “Bloggie”. “That’s right, Bloggie.” Looks like a Flip camera. Available starting tonight.

5:00 pm – Now onto Cybershot. Two new Cyber-shots with Exmor R CMOS sensors. First to include full HD 60i video. Improved high contrast shooting. World’s first still camera to include GPS + Compass technology. Apparently it lets you figure out where pictures were taken, but there’s already geotagging for that.

5:01 pm – A Party Shot device is a dock that uses face detection technology to take candid photos at any time.

5:02 pm – TransferJet allows two devices to communicate by being close. It’s going to appear in a lot of Sony products in 2010.

5:02 pm – Nigel Barker from America’s Next Top Model enters the stage to the tune of “I’ve Got a Feeling”.

5:03 pm – Barker mentions that he wants a Bravia to descend from the ceiling of his bedroom. Then he starts to talking about how the Cybershots are amazing. “They all come with this great G-lenses… they’re extraordinary… they’re second to none.”

5:05 pm – The cameras are producing “near to perfect pictures.” Now he’s about to take a panoramic shot. “Everyone smile with your eyes!”

5:06 pm – Now they’re showing off TransferJet, by transferring photos between their two cameras. Talking about how easy it is as he walks you through pressing lots and lots of buttons.

5:07 pm – Three pictures in about a second between the two cameras.

5:08 pm – Apparently there are already 40 companies supporting it. Digital picture frames and VAIO will integrate it soon.

5:08 pm – “This year’s a little bit different” with regards to VAIO. They’re taking steps for environment. 24.5 million pounds of electronic waste recycled since 2007.

5:09 pm – By 2017, they want to lower every product’s energy consumption by 30%. Long term, they want a Zero Environmental Foot Print.

5:09 pm – The VAIO W Series Eco-Edition, an environmental computer. Parts are made from recycled CDs and DVDs. It will ship in a carrying case of recycled plastic bottles. It won’t have a printed user’s manual.

5:10 pm – They’re revealing the VAIO F series. Meant for multimedia and gaming. Blu-ray, 16:9 widescreen, HDMI connectivity. Use Intel’s latest quad-core CPU.

5:11 pm – Also, the Z series. Just 3 pounds, solid state drive, Blu-ray drive and HDMI output. Intelligent switching between graphics intensive and battery saving modes.

5:12 pm – Annnnnddddd we’re back to 3D. He’s inviting Sir Howard Stringer again.

5:12 pm – Sony Total Experience – differentiating and connecting their products. “Embracing open technologies”… is that really a Sony thing? It took them until today to finally use SD, a non-proprietary technology.

5:13 pm – “And now… wait for it… we intend to take the lead in 3D”. Does he watch How I Met Your Mother? They’ve made a partnership with RealD, and yesterday they made a partnership with Discovery and IMAX to make a unique 3D network.

5:14 pm – He’s showing us a preview of the network. Glasses back on.

5:15 pm – “A television network dedicated exlusively to 3D” Is that really something you can dedicated a network to? “Discovery Sony IMAX 3DTV” A bit of a mouthful. It was less of a preview, and more of a collection of videos from all three of them.

5:16 pm – They’re inviting people up from IMAX and Discovery. Discovery is talking about how they’ve always pushed the envelope, from SD to HD, and so on. Now they’re looking forward to being in 3D.

5:16 pm – “IMAX has been in the 3D world for a while, and it’s been a lonely place.” Also talking about how they’re excited to be partnered with these two.

5:17 pm – Talking about Sony Pictures making 3D movies. Hoping for a passing mention of Zombieland 2, but doubting it. They’re opening a 3D Technology Center on the Sony lot. Education, and production, for 3D technology.

5:18 pm – Sony Music is also using 3D. Kenny Chesney will have the “Summer in 3D”, with more 3D concerts in the work. I’m surprised, given the earlier performance, they weren’t announcing Taylor Swift in 3D.

5:19 pm – The first Consumer research project with CBS, the Sony 3D Experience. Talking about how the World Cup will be in 3D… in “select locations”, with a 3D film of the tournament on Blu-ray.

5:20 pm – Golf will also be in 3D, partnership with the PGA Tour. And they’re joining ESPN as an official sponsor starting this June with the first 3D network, ESPN 3D. ESPN president coming on stage next, George Bodenheimer.

5:21 pm – At least 85 3D events in the first year of ESPN 3D. 25 FIFA World Cup matches in June and July. Now they’re talking about how they worked together with HD previously, and how they’re glad to be working together again.

5:23 pm – The PS3 will be the foothold for 3D products in the home soon. Through a firmware upgrade, it will support 3D Blu-ray movies, and I’m guessing games eventually as well.

5:24 pm – This summer, the first 3D Bravia will be launched. It will have two shutter glasses, that look different from the RealD glasses. And they’ll also have the Monolithic design.

5:25 pm – There will also be a 3D capable TV, without the glasses and transmitter. They’re also showing a prototype of their 3D OLED TV. Except it’s a screen on a screen, so it’s very hard to actually tell what it looks like. Not a very impressive demo.

5:26 pm – Several 3D Blu-ray titles over the next few months, though the only one they’ve shown all presentation is Cloudy with a Chance of meatballs. Presentations at 42 Sony Style Stores starting tonight at Caeser’s.

5:27 pm – And it’s over!