Sony Design To Show Off Product Concepts At Milano Salone Internationale del Mobile 2010

For the first time ever, a showcase of Sony Design will be revealed exclusively within ZonaTortona as part of the Milano Salone Internationale del Mobile 2010 (April 14 – 19th). The exhibition will be a visual insight into Sony’s creative essence and evolving approach to design. The focus of the exhibition was Monolithic Design; a new design concept that Sony has recently introduced across its TV and home entertainment range. This design concept was ignited by a passion to bring about change in people’s attitude in relation to their living space and encourage a change in lifestyle behaviour through the presence of these TV and home entertainment products.

The exhibition space at Salone drives this design concept to another level; visualising the exploration of a human-centric design essence symbolised through lifestyle-focused concepts.

Exclusively for this exhibition, Sony’s Design team has invited London-based designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby (BarberOsgerby) to indulge their creativity and design knowledge, and work alongsideSony designers to realize a deeper integration of products within contemporary lifestyles expressed through conceptual archetypes.

Project leader Kaz Ichikawa, Sony Creative Centre commented, “We are most excited to reveal our future design vision at what is the most creative, lifestyle-oriented platform in the world. The Milan exhibition is a new demonstration, a showcase for the strength of our creative energy.”

Ichikawa added, “When we first met with Edward and Jay we sensed a meeting of minds which we deemed imperative for the union of creative ideas. Moreover, we felt their design ethos was complementary to our design philosophy, and their work as a pair of leading contemporary designers brings a new interpretation of individuality, lifestyle and experimentation to the whole experience.”

“Sony has been a part of the design lifestyle since iconic products like the Walkman were launched,” said Edward Barber, “so this project was a hugely exciting challenge for us. It’s been a real opportunity to show a different side of our practice. The result is a spectacular experiment.”

Jay Osgerby added, “The exhibition has given us an unprecedented opportunity to understand and explore Sony’s design. It’s been an inspiring process that has enabled us to develop new archetypes that inhabit an unexpected architectural landscape.”

The impressive space of Officine Stendhal at Via Stendhal 35 will house this forward insight into Sony’s approach to design and will run from 14 – 19 April 2010.

Wyclef Jean To Perform For Free Online February 10th

Wyclef Jean kicks off “Live Sets,” a series of live online concerts brought to you by Sony’s new global brand message, make.believe (pronounced “make-dot-believe”). “Live Sets” will feature the live performances of three popular artists streamed in a digital environment, providing an intimate, authentic experience for an on-site and online audience. The Wyclef Jean performance is scheduled for Wednesday, February 10, from the Canal Room in New York City, and will be streamed live to online audiences at Sony’s Facebook, Wyclef.com, Crackle.com, myplay.com.

Wyclef will perform songs from his body of work as a solo artist as well as hits from his former group, the Fugees. Two more Sony make.believe “Live Sets” are anticipated for spring 2010 with artists to be named. In addition to the concerts, each artist will provide exclusive interview footage and share his or her own make.believe story to inspire fans across the country with the idea that “anything you can imagine, you can make real.” Footage will be available on Sony’s Facebook, Crackle.com, myplay.com and the artists’ websites.

Free Realms Hits 8 Million Unique Players

Sony Online Entertainment announced that more than eight million unique users have registered to play Free Realms, the free-to-play, family-friendly hit online video game. Free Realms has steadily increased its player base by continuing to support development of compelling content and shared user experience. New features, such as Player Housing, have encouraged players to customize and create their own unique definitions of gameplay, while instigated Live World Events and player parties engage the community at large, allowing players to interact, discover and explore.

“Free Realms is more than just a virtual world for our players; it is a portal for imagination. A place where players transform their house into a jumping maze for friends to compete or a petting zoo that boasts all their pets,” said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment. “Our job as developers is to listen to and predict what they want and give them the tools that inspire and compel them to share their experiences with eight million others.”

Later this week, Free Realms is scheduled to kick off the Festival of Hearts, a special month long event that celebrates love, friendship and kindness. All players will be able to participate in themed events, daily social activities and storyline quests that incorporate traditional items and rewards which embody the holiday: hearts, candies, forget-me-not cards, flowers, love potions and more. Heart Breakers are invited too, as even the Stone Hearted can participate in the world events that ensue. New Hippo, Tiger, Beetle, Groundhog and Owl pets will also be available in the Marketplace.

Recently nominated in the category of Best New Social/Online Game by the organizers of the tenth annual Game Developers Choice Awards, Free Realms continues to redefine the scope and pace of online games.

In Free Realms, players are free to do or be anything: Fight like a ninja, cook a tasty meal, raise a pet, battle goblins, set out on epic quests or connect with friends through a safe, social networking site. Also available is the Free Realms Trading Card Game: a full-featured trading card game, playable both digitally within the Free Realms online game and offline via physical card decks sold wherever you buy trading cards. Free Realms players can also pop into select retailers to purchase Station Cash cards, which can be redeemed for Station Cash, and used to buy virtual goodies or upgrade to a Membership status in the game.

Super Bowl XLIV Will Be Mostly Shot Through Sony HD Cameras

More than 50 Sony high-definition cameras will cover every angle of the National Football League’s championship game, Super Bowl XLIV (New Orleans Saints vs. Indianapolis Colts), to be broadcast Feb. 7 (at 6:25pm ET) on the CBS from Miami’s Sun Life Stadium. NEP Broadcasting will provide several trailers for pre- and post-game, main game and the half-time show. The Sony gear used by NEP for the main broadcast in the United States includes HDC-1500 multi-format cameras and HDC-3300 super-motion camera systems, which will be positioned throughout the stadium. In addition, a Sony MVS-8000A production switcher, HD videotape recorders, displays and supporting production equipment will also be used to deliver the game.

According to George Hoover, senior vice president of engineering for NEP, the Sony cameras and switchers have continuously proven themselves in high-profile live event productions, and he’s confident in their ability to perform flawlessly again during the game.

“These technologies deliver a range of functions that are critical to delivering quality live football coverage,” Hoover said. “The cameras work extremely well, they have fast response and very good sensitivity, and the switchers give us the flexibility we need.”

“The technology used to cover a game of this magnitude needs to have the power to fully integrate the level of graphics that NFL fans have grown accustomed to while still producing as clean a feed as possible,” said Ken Aagaard, senior vice president, operations and production services at CBS Sports. “The Sony HD equipment offers a significant level of production flexibility and the image quality is extremely high. This all translates into delivering an enhanced viewing experience for the consumer at home.”

This is the fifth consecutive year that Sony has provided its professional HD equipment for the NFL’s big game, and its technology has evolved to meet the game’s increasing production requirements and more complex camera angles.

“This is the biggest stage for television broadcast production,” said Rob Willox, director of Sony Electronics’ content creation group. “Our multi-format live production technology is the perfect fit, and will help to add an extra layer of excitement and reality for viewers.”

Want to read more about Sony’s predictions for who will win the Super Bowl? Check out a fun Super Bowl post by Social Media Evangalist Sukhjit Ghag on the Sony Electronics blog. I also found great interest in some of the most recent Super Bowl posts on DVICE.

Sony Pictures To Shed Nearly 450 Jobs

Despite another profitable quarter, Sony Pictures is preparing to lay off nearly 450 employees (6.5% of its total work force) in the coming weeks, according to an recent internal e-mail sent to staff. Most of the layoffs be in the USA, and will come in the home-entertainment and IT departments; the impact should be evident in every division, including motion pictures, TV production, and corporate. The memo indicated that affected employees haven’t yet been notified. Co-chairmen Michael Lynton and Amy Pascal said that certain challenges face their business, such as digital piracy, and social media undermining the studios’ marketing efforts.

Here is the full memo from Michael and Amy to employees:

Dear Colleagues,

In our article in The SPE Reel in December, we spoke about the shifting landscape of entertainment and its impact on the economic model at the heart of this industry. Despite the records our studio set at the box office, we’re not immune from these forces, and we said then that costs needed to be controlled as part of a sustained and strategic effort to remake Sony Pictures for the future.
Since that time, in all-hands meetings and small groups, our division heads and executive team have been in touch with many of you to talk in more detail about the transformation of the studio and the kinds of changes being considered.

Last week, the first steps towards the creation of a new operating model for our studio were taken in our home entertainment division and the IT department.
Today, we want to let you know, in a timely manner, what will be involved in the crucial – and difficult — next phase of this process.

In several stages, we will have a workforce reduction, with most of the notifications taking place by the first week in March. It will affect each of the studio’s divisions, with the majority occurring in home entertainment and IT, and in the United States.

We do not have final numbers or specific dates for all reductions now, because decisions regarding proposals for certain international offices are pending. Local laws will be governing a consultation process with employees in those locations.

The decision to take this step was difficult. But it’s being done in the context of a strategy designed to help us safeguard our competitiveness and chart our own course through these troubled waters.
The need is clear: from the growth of online piracy, to the social media effect on the performance of films, to the way people have changed how they watch television and acquire DVDs. The business is going through a rough period of trial and transition, and we have an obligation to take the steps necessary to get through it.

As we said in December, we are grateful to everyone at Sony Pictures for helping us meet the challenges of this time in our history from a position of strength. And we are confident that the changes we’re making, as difficult as they are, will keep us on a path toward greater success in the future.

Michael and Amy

Sony Bravia KDL-40EX40B with Integrated Blu-ray Player

Here is another Sony product that has not gotten any attention…just yet. Sony introduced a Bravia TV with an integrated Blu-ray player something similar to what Sharp has been doing for a while now. It’s a pretty good size and solution for small areas and not at a bad price point as well. There are two models available in 32 and 40 inch sizes (KDL-32EX40B and KDL-40EX40B). Being a Bravia TV it offers all the regular features like Internet widgets, DLNA, Wi-Fi ready with an optional USB dongle, USB media player (plug in a USB device and enjoy movies, photos and music on your TV using USB playback). Not sure if this Bravia will make it to the US, but will definitely be sold in Europe. Check for all the specs here at Sony Latvia site, where we spotted it.

Now, if they made a similar awesome TV slider I own like TAV-L1 (DVD/SACD integrated within a speaker panel) only with a few design changes like: make it slimmer, offer bigger LCD panel, I’d be all over it.

Sony Tablet? Not a Bad Idea.

All right, so it looks like another device in a growing market is coming your way to manage your DLNA devices, HD content, Internet and Social Media – in one word – tablet! We are not talking about a Tablet PC, as we know Sony tried it way back in early 2000 with VAIO PenTablet PC PCV-LX900 series and earlier its VAIO UX mini computer series (or UMPC – what an ugly term!). People want a device that is intuitive and easy enough to surf the web, check on their tweets, post something on Facebook. So what will it be Sony? Will it be a VAIO Tablet or a generic Sony device? We do know Sony has been working on a device, and that is good news.

To back up the above statement, Sony CFO Nobuyuki Oneda (it’s interesting to hear such news from a Corporate Chief Financial Officer, by the way a very humble man, I got to meet once) mentioned: “That is a market we are also very interested in. We are confident we have the skills to create a product,”  who was speaking at a Tokyo news conference held to announce the company’s quarterly financial results. I am pretty confident that its bright engineers are more than skilled to create a very attractive, so to say Sony Style tablet and it is the software that will be in this tablet that is what I am worried about. Again, it’s is all about user experience nowadays and if it is not friendly, a customer is usually turned off by it and the product becomes a flop or a niche that gets adopted by a small devoted crowd. Let’s look at Mylo for example. Awesome idea, it was a good time to be introduced at, marketed to young generation, had its own set of apps, instant messaging, web browsing – Internet device My Life Online. All those statements describe great potential and lots of profits for the company, but at the end – have you tried using it? I sure have and am left disappointed – great hardware, but flawed software! Sometimes I wonder, if any of the top executives ever get to spend some time with a product before it hits the market and see it for themselves, question themselves would I want to use it every day? I know it is probably hard for a company like Sony that produces multiple categories of products and I do not see Sir Howard playing with every VAIO or checking out every Sony Ericsson phone.

So where am I going with this? I guess I want Sony to succeed and bring something extraordinary to the market, something that is not half-baked and mass produced so that they are keeping up with a fruit company. I am sure Sony saw what iPad does, and even threw some reverse psychology in the mix stating that it will help its PSP sales and Reader market, and what Sony needs to do is look at iPad’s shortcomings, check all kinds of comments posted by readers of popular technology blogs on the topic of Sony tablet just to see what a customer really wants, tie it all into your upcoming Sony Network content and create a groundbreaking device. It will need to stand out however and be very unique, so take a look at some interesting patents you have so far and see what you could implement. OK, pretty? Anyways, prove your statement: “Believe that anything you can imagine, you can make real”. Only in this case, I would change it and say: Believe that anything you(customer) can imagine, we (Sony) can make real. So Make.Believe, y’know..

That’s all I wanted to share with you all. I would love to hear back from you and see what your thoughts are too.

Sony Japan Releases Jill Stuart Sweet Limited PSP Package

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ) announced that a PSP JILL STUART Sweet Limited Package will be available on March 4, 2010. Produced in collaboration with Jill Stuart, a highly popular women’s fashion brand from Sanei-International Co. Ltd., the special package will be a limited offer at a recommended retail price of 21,000 yen (including tax). PSP Jill Stuart Sweet Limited Package comprises the PSP handheld entertainment system (PSP-3000) in an elegant Blossom Pink color, a special pouch and a cleaning cloth both designed specifically for the bundle pack by Jill Stuart and a 4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo (Mark2).

The special PSP pouch comes in a champagne-gold color with crystal embedded shoulder chain strap, allowing users to coordinate with their outfit and carry around their PSP more fashionably. The glittering silver Jill Stuart logo is printed on the cleaning cloth as well as on the package with pink crystal motif design.

No Worries – The Sony VAIO F Laptop Is Okay And Back On Sale

Update: The so-called “high-pitch noise” is different than the driver fix available at esupport.sony.com and requires the VAIO F to be either sent in for repair or end users can leverage Sony’s in-home servicing. Contact VAIO support today.

According to dozens of forum users at Notebookreview.com, owners of the new Sony VAIO F Series VPCF112FX/B, VPCF11JFX/B, VPCF11MFX/B and VPCF1190X CTO were experiencing an odd high pitched whine or buzzing sound (aka whining) while using the laptop. The issue caused several consumers to call Sony for support, but they were unable to provide a fix over the phone – this led to several of the laptops being returned, exchanged, and so forth. Things got even more confusing when the VAIO F was no longer available to purchase on SonyStyle around the world. Then the CTO model disappeared, leaving many to speculate that there was issues with the i7 processor, manufacturing issues, and every other conspiracy theory under the sun. We initially wrote a story about the whole situation, providing a temporary fix for those annoyed by the sound.

We spoke to Sony and they cleared up the confusion – a Sony representative has informed us that they “received reports from the market that some F series end users were experiencing a pitched noise under certain conditions. As a result, we decided to halt shipments momentarily while we conducted in-depth investigations. The matter has now been resolved, corrective measures have been applied to our manufacturing process and the F series is shipping again. For those end users who are experiencing this pitched noise level, a on-site solution will be deployed in the coming days.”

I’m personally very happy to hear this news that it wasn’t a larger issue, as I think this is one of the best laptops Sony has offered to date – the price and features (especially that i7 processor) is very hard to beat. We also noticed that the VAIO F is back on sale at SonyStyle USA.

Sony Finally Posts A Quarterly Profit In Q3 FY09 Results

After a seemingly endless string of quarters with profit loss, job cuts, plant closings and the prescription of “restructuring,” Sony has finally posted its first quarterly profit in a year and slashed losses in its full-year projections. Sony was very candid in their Q3 FY2009 Earnings Announcement, as Sony Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda stated, “We think we’ve bottomed out and we can do fairly well going forward.”

We have full coverage below, but please check out WSJ’s analysis, and the official Sony Q3 FY09 Earnings Announcement (slides).

Sony also stated it can expand its LCD TV sales by at least 33% to 20 million units in the next FY while maintaining profitability. It’s no secret that the electronics arm of Sony has faced five straight years of losing money in its TV segment, putting it in 4th place in the USA while Vizio, Samsung, LG and Toshiba steal precious market share.

Sony says it expects to see significant growth potential in the e-reader market. The company expects to sell more than one million units in the current fiscal year and sees that figure doubling or tripling in the next few years.

One of the biggest concerns for Sony is restoring profitability to its overall core electronics line and Playstation division, as both nearly account for two-thirds of Sony’s revenue. The WSJ reports that over the last year, “Sony has closed 20% of its plants, eliminated 20,000 jobs and overhauled its supply chain to reduce its costs by 330 billion yen ($3.63 billion).” Sony’s re-alignment of manufacturing sites (57 total as of December 2008) will face a 10% reduction, and the company is ahead of target with the number of sites to be at 46 by March, and 45 by May.

Sony revealed the plant closing in March will be the Sony Precision Engineering Center (makes lenses and other products) in Singapore, as well as the plan to transfer the Sony Manufacturing Systems Corporation’s Isehara Plant (which deals with measuring systems) in Japan to Mori Seiki Co., LTD. The plant closing in May will be the Sony Precision Engineering (makes components used in digital single lens reflex cameras) in Malaysia .

Here are the Q3 FY09 consolidated results:

Quite amazing to see the contrast in operating income compared to last quarter. Nearly every segment of this quarertly reports have dramatically improved.

..and the adjusted year to date FY09 consolidated results:

As we can see Sony’s sales are down for the year compared to last year, but operating income has risen sharply. So the revised forecast for FY09 should look like this now:

As you can see operating income losses and income before taxes have been cut in half. Operating income as a whole is up 27%, with capitial expenditures down nearly 12%. R&D costs are also down very slightly at 2%. Here is a segment by segment breakdown of what went right and what went wrong last quarter, starting with Consumer Products & Services.

As we can see, BRAVIA, optical pickups, stereo components and System LSI’s for the game business all saw a decrease in sales. However, as Sony’s range of LCD’s in that quarter were usually quite expensive, lower sales didn’t affect operating income in the TV division as operating income in that segment was stronger. Cyber-shot cameras also saw good return for Sony, which traditionally does very well during the Holidays.

Here’s the Networked Products & Services information:

VAIO PC sales rose considerably in nearly all regions. However, Playstation sales were down with less consumers purchasing PS2 systems and games. PSP hardware sales were also down – this doesn’t surprise me much as Sony has been facing increased competition from Nintendo, Apple, and other companies getting into handheld gaming. PSP Go sales have been slow – there needs to be a price-cut and some sort of innovative promotion soon. Despite the decrease in sales, profitability was relatively unchanged due to an improvement in the cost of PS3 hardware.

Sony expects to lower production costs of the PlayStation 3 by 15% in the fiscal year ending March 2011, resulting in a benefit of “tens of billions” of yen. Currently, Sony loses about six cents for every dollar of PS3 hardware sales. PS3 sales rose 44% in its fiscal third quarter. Sales got a bump after Sony dropped the price by 25% to $299 in September for its model with an 80-gigabyte hard drive.

B2B & Disc manufacturing did pretty well last quarter, despite a 0.5% decrease in sales. Disc manufacturing increased due to higher Blu-ray disc sales. B2B lagged slightly due to a decrease in sales of broadcast and professional use products brought on by the continuing difficulties in the business environment of developed countries.

Sony Pictures once again had another stellar quarter with a 16% increase in sales worldwide and a 25% increase in the USA. Blockbuster movies such as 2012 and Michael Jackson’s This Is It led the way to higher theatrical revenues. Home Entertainment sales were up due to Angels & Demons and Terminator Salvation sales, and TV revenues rose from the new Dr. Oz Show.

Sony Ericsson in comparison to all other segments didn’t do well at all – sales are down by nearly 40% to 14.6 million units! Sony states that this was due to a downturn in the global handset market, and a faster than anticipated shift to touch screen phones in the mid-priced sector of the market. We can only hope the fantastic XPERIA X10 and other devices planned for 2010 will usher a return to profitability and higher sales.

Here are Sony’s FY08 and FY09 unit sales of key consumer electronics and game products by quarter: