Sony NSX-46GT1 Internet TV Will Debut on October 12

Have you been wondering when you finally get to witness Sony’s entrance into Internet with the big boys like Google and Intel integrated in its TV’s hardware? Sony has been sending out invites to press informing about the event taking place in NYC on October 12. It’s interesting to note, that Sony has been showing off the hardware and what the TV will look like since early May, however the platform and interface have not been fully revealed to the public. Recently Engadget reported that BestBuy at its event of holiday line up of products, sort of debuted this TV a little bit too early, but again all the details about its user interface were still scarce. As you can tell by looking at the pictures below, this TV is a totally different beast and we have not noticed any BRAVIA branding. The NSX-XXGT1 (expect a few flavors of sizes foe this TV as in 24, 32, 40 and 46 inches) will be powered by Intel’s Atom processor  which is hoping to lessen its dependence on personal computers and serve as the brains of the smart TVs. I wonder what happened to the idea of Cell integration in Sony’s TV and other networked products? Is it simply too powerful and won’t be utilized to its full potential? Looks like Cell co-developer Toshiba is taking it to their TV production.

Anyways, the big push in this Sony’s TV is its Android powered interface with amazing search capabilities, picture-in-picture feature and supposedly viewers can also make search requests by speaking into a remote that will also run on Google’s Android operating system. Expect to see Chrome browser on that Sony TV as well. Sony is inviting developers to start creating more content related apps for this product. Sony also recently launched a new site devoted to this new TV technology: http://discover.sonystyle.com/internettv/

I guess we have less than two weeks to learn what this TV is all about, but for now my Sony Bravia XBR-HX909 and Qualia 005 are powered by VAIO VGX-TP20 that has an array of browsers installed, so I look forward to be impressed. Sony Internet TV should be available in other regions in 2011. Also if you don’t want to splurge on a new TV, Sony will be selling Internet TV box/Bluray player NSZ-GT1 that will bring Google TV experience into your current Bravia or whatever brand you got.

My Sony NEX-VG10 Story and Unboxing Pictorial (Updated, Now With Video)

Updated (see video below)

Sony camcorders have not been my fix like VAIO computers have been, but I have been paying attention to its development throughout several years. So far I have had only 3 Sony camcorders and the usual reasons for me to obtain one were 1. style and design 2. ease of use 3. something really unique that would differentiate it from any other products in its line. Those are my 3 main points I adhere to when I purchase pretty much any Sony product. My first camcorder was a Sony DCR-IP220 – network camcorder, that utilized MicroMV tapes, had bluetooth built in, as well as ability to be connected to the Internet, upload pictures and video to an online service (SoNet), check email. Oh yea, almost forgot to mention, it was the first camcorder to shoot 2 megapixel pictures! Back then (in 1999) it was huge and I thought my $2000 camcorder was it. Later on I have upgraded to an HD camcorder DCR-CX10 – very light and capable of recording to Memory Sticks directly, no need to worry about internal hard drive failures.

With recent NEX series introduction, I took some time to see how NEX-3/5 is being adopted by consumers, learn to see if Sony would continue its development through firmware upgrades (as Sony can be notorious for introducing a topnotch product and never improve it, even though the manual for it would state that “your Sony product is firmware upgradable for new features and improvements”). The idea of interchangeable lens really attracted my attention, as I got tired of regular CyberShot cameras and desired to create more professional looking shots as I review more and more Sony products. So I really wanted to have a compact DSLR camera that would look beautiful in public as I cannot stand the looks of real DSLR camera bodies. So NEX pretty much was the answer, and I just needed to figure out which model to go with, as the only big difference between the two is video shooting: NEX-3 does it in MPEG4 and NEX-5 ups it to AVCHD format. It’d be all great and easy to decide for me, but Sony put a recording time limit, kindly reminding a consumer that this is a DSLR camera to take pictures not long videos.

I ended up picking up NEX-3 in Red and with the introduction of NEX-VG10, it sorts of brought everything together for me. All in all I ended up with two products that can share its lenses and create amazing content, even shoot 3D panoramic pictures!

Check out pictures below and video is coming soon as well.

From NEX-VG10

From NEX-VG10

From NEX-VG10

From NEX-VG10

From NEX-VG10

From NEX-VG10

From NEX-VG10

From NEX-VG10

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CEDIA 2010: Sony Booth Pictorial/Video

The Custom Electronic Design and Installation Association (CEDIA) is a global trade association of companies involved in the electronic systems industry. Founded in 1989, it has 3,500 members who specialize in home automation, networking, communication, security, lighting control, HVAC and entertainment systems. The organization influences public policy, provides referrals, promotes better business practices, educates members and provides other benefits. CEDIA hosts an annual trade show, the CEDIA Expo, to allow exhibitors to showcase the latest technological advances to industry professionals.

CEDIA Expo has been held in Atlanta, GA (my home town) for the last several years, and will transition to Indianapolis next year.

Sony had a healthy presence at CEDIA 2010, offering a robust booth experience that demonstrated their latest products in home theater receivers, Blu-ray, 3D gaming, 3D photography, LCD TV’s, and projectors. Sony’s big announcement during the show was the VPL-VW90ES, which is a $9,999 Sony ES 3D HD Projector With 240Hz. We also did a hands-on With Sony AV Receiver Remote App on an iPad, which was really cool.

On a side note, I was hoping to see some kind of demo for Google TV, but apparently it remains confidential until its October 12th unveiling in NYC.

Here is a video of various footage we caught during our time at Sony’s booth during CEDIA 2010, including VP of Television Chris Fawcett and VP, Home Audio and Video Brian Siegel talking about Sony’s refreshed Home Audio and Video lineup:

Here is our gallery of pictures taken at Sony’s booth during CEDIA 2010:

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CEDIA 2010: Hands-on With Sony AV Receiver Remote App

During CEDIA 2010, Sony showed off its innovative multi-room (aka zone) remote control app that is available for iPhone (and iPad) called AV Receiver Remote. The app basically allows you to operate your Sony receiver and/or components connected to your Sony receiver (such as a Blu-ray player). The software is pretty amazing for its first version, and allows you to do many things. We were impressed with the ability to select zones and set custom backgrounds for them, and power control so you can turn on lights in the desired room.

The app also allows you to select the input for the receiver, and also play specific music, photos and videos on your TV. Rhapsody, Shoutcast, FM, AM and Sirius options are also available that allow you to tune into your favorite feed. There are even macros you can program so your usual routine becomes extremely simple (e.g. theater, party, going away settings).

I soon realized that this app, especially on an iPad, is an incredible all-in-one remote control. Not only odes it control media, but it can also do lights. While AV Receiver Remote cant rival more expensive custom solutions, the fact that the app is free is a great play by Sony. You can download the app on the iTunes store and actually play around with it in demo mode.

The AV Receiver Remote app, in its first version, is pretty amazing. However, we would like to see Sony update the app to support the retina display on the iPhone 4. We also were a little disappointed that the app, on the iPad, had to be scaled to size using the built-in app zoom.

Here are some various pictures of the app in action. If you can’t see the pictures when they pop up because the video is blocking them, just scroll down past the video then click on the image again.

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The following Sony receivers are compatible with this application:

• STR-DA5600ES
• STR-DA4600ES
• STR-DA3600ES
• STR-DN2010

CEDIA 2010: VPL-VW90ES – The $9,999 Sony ES 3D HD Projector With 240Hz

Sony has announced the VPL-VW90ES projector at CEDIA 2010 for the US market, and it has become Sony’s flagship device for an incredible HD and 3D cinematic experience in the home. The projector is unique because it is a model of two firsts; it is the first front projector from Sony to feature 3D capability, and it is the first Elevated Standard (ES) projector ever. The price is reasonable at $9,999 – which seems high at first glance but is actually quite competitive. Several other manufacturers have released 3D projectors this year and also simultaneously with Sony at CEDIA 2010, but they simply do not compare in quality.

There are several advantages for Sony right now with this projector compared to the competition (aside from 3D capability), incredible quality, an early release date of November, and a 240Hz refresh rate. The 240Hz technology, which is not available in any other 3D projector, “minimizes cross talk for minimal image distortion” according to Sony. Other noteworthy features include two active shutter 3D glasses and transmitter included with the projector, which is capable of 1,000 ANSI lumens and a dynamic contrast ratio of 150,000:1.

Looking at some of the competition, the VW90ES will do well because there isn’t really much out there that can rival it. Mitsubishi has a 3D DLP front projector called “Diamond 3D” that also has SXRD technology like the VW90ES, with 120,000:1 contrast ratio, 120Hz SXRD technology, 1000 ANSI lumens, and will come with one pair of active shutter glasses. There is no price or release date for that projector, though, with some mumblings of a 2011 release. Don’t forget about LG’s recent release, the CF3D, which uses passive 3D glasses and has some key advantages, namely brightness, but costs five thousand more than the Sony VW90ES. There is also competition from Sharp, which has announced a somewhat similar projector (XV-Z17000) that has lesser features, but there is also no indication of price and a confirmed 2011 release. Then of course is the Runco D-73d, which is a super high-end 3D projector which uses passive 3D glasses and costs $50,000. I won’t even bother discussing that beast.

CNET’s Crave has a good comparison of specifications for the currently available 3D projectors.

I watched some 3D content on the VW90ES, including PS3 gaming clips, exclusive film footage of Green Hornet, and so forth. The experience was very impressive, and there was indeed less crosstalk on motion scenes. In some ways, it almost feels like this 3D revolution is really made for projectors, because when I think about all of the 3D I have seen, its only great for me when its on a large display. If we were talking about 3D TV’s, it only has a wow-factor if its at least on a 52′ set. As for the projector, I am holding off on giving further impressions at the moment because I want to check out the competitor’s products mentioned above at CEDIA 2010. Based on seeing projectors from other companies in the past, though, I could most certainly tell that Sony has set a very high standard in its price range that will be very difficult for any other company to surpass this generation. I find it very hard to believe that the competition will have 3D movement as fluid as the VW90ES.

The VW90ES joins an elite list of Sony products that integrate easily with leading home automation systems including Control4, Crestron, AMX, Savant, Ultimate Remote Control, RTI, Vantage, and others. The projector is also Control4 Certified and includes an AMX Device Discovery Beacon.

Sony Japan Introduces CMT-L7D Walkman Dock

Sony’s latest addition to ever expanding line up of Walkman Docks is this quite versatile, do it all multimedia hub – CMT-L7D. It is by far more than just a Walkman Dock. With its 9-inch LCD and an output of 100W, it will play your DVDs as well as become a Photo Frame with various transition effects, when not in use you can use it as a clock or a calendar. There is also support for an external USB device, SD cards and Sony’s memory stick with MP3, WMA and AAC file support. Quite a versatile system! I only see one thing that is missing – a touch screen. 9 inches of LCD estate would be perfect for touch functions, swiping and scrolling and even better if Sony could slap Dash features into this thing, it would definitely rock. But since we most likely will not see this product hitting US shelves (most likely), we will be content.

It should be out in October for about $600. Check out video and pics below. You may read more about it in Japanese here.

Photokina 2010: Is This The Sony A77 DSLR?

Photokina is the world’s biggest trade fair for the photographic and imaging industries. It is held in September every two years at the Cologne Trade Fair in Germany.

Sony got everyone buzzing with the preview of a new DSLR they are going to release soon, and according to the rumor mill this looks to be the A77. It will have translucent mirror technology like the A55/A33, and will also feature AVCHD movie recording. We found this exclusive high resolution picture of the A77 with vertical grip in Sony Japan’s press image repository.

Imaging-resource, who attended the event, gave a very good summary of the upcoming A77: “Sony announced that what looks will be the A700 replacement will be based on their translucent-mirror technology, as seen in the A33/55. Sony didn’t give many details, but they did say that it’ll have a new sensor capable of full-resolution HD recording, and will be “much more powerful” than the A55.”

Photokina 2010: Firmware Upgrade Coming Soon For Sony NEX Cameras And Camcorder

Photokina is the world’s biggest trade fair for the photographic and imaging industries. It is held in September every two years at the Cologne Trade Fair in Germany.

During the event, Sony announced that a firmware update is coming soon which will add fresh functionality to the Sony NEX-5/NEX-3. Autofocus operation is now supported when using A-mount SAM and SSM lenses with the optional LA-EA1 Mount Adaptor (upgrade for NEX-VG10 is available from mid-November). There’s also a new custom function that allows assignment to buttons of frequently-used functions. This allows you to set a wide range of functions (such as white balance, ISO, exposure mode, etc) to the center and lower-left buttons on the back of the camera. And the biggest addition has to be the ability to record movies with aperature control.

This is pretty big news for NEX owners, who have already been rewarded with several firmware upgrades already that enabled powerful features such as 3D Sweep Panorama, and solved other issues.

Another positive aspect of this firmware upgrade is fixing the issue where you had to always restart at the top of the menu system when you hit the Menu button. Now you can just go back to the menu you were in previously without having to start all over.

Imaging-Resource also notes that there is “a user-selectable option to make the NEX menus wrap so scrolling off the bottom will take you back to the top entry again.”

This is merely a few thoughts on the impending firmware upgrade, and we found the full story about the NEX-3/NEX-5 firmware upgrade at Imaging-Resource a very well-written preview of what is coming. Check it out.

Photokina 2010: Seven New Sony E-Mount Lenses Debut

Photokina is the world’s biggest trade fair for the photographic and imaging industries. It is held in September every two years at the Cologne Trade Fair in Germany. Sony showed off several interesting developments for their digital imaging products. One exciting proposition was the announcement of seven new E-mount lenses that will further compliment Sony hardware that uses this system, such as the NEX interchangeable lens cameras and camcorder.

Here is the list of the new E-mount lenses Sony will offer throughout the next several years:

• Wide fixed focal length CZ available in 2011
• Telephoto zoom available in 2011
• Macro available in 2011
• Portrait available in 2011
• High performance standard zoom G available in 2012
• Wide zoom available in 2012
• Mid-telephoto available in 2012

Here is the completed family picture of all the currently available E-mount lens and the aforementioned newcomers:

Photokina 2010: Color Concepts For Sony NEX Interchangeable Lens Camera

Photokina is the world’s biggest trade fair for the photographic and imaging industries. It is held in September every two years at the Cologne Trade Fair in Germany. Sony showed off several interesting developments for their digital imaging products.

Sony did a cool thing with the initial debut of the NEX by offering several color variations, such as black, silver, and red. At Photokina, Sony showed off a Pink, Orange, Brown, and Blue NEX-3. They also had a Gold, Pink, White and Beige NEX-5 to show that Sony has no reservations about making their future NEX cameras as stylish as possible.

The NEX-3/NEX-5 interchangeable lens camera has had a positive reception since its debut. The NEX camera series are very small, yet powerful and has a new E-mount lens system. It also has a converter that you can use for A-mount lenses, which is helpful for photographers who have invested a great deal in that system. The quality of NEX pictures and videos are impressive and the user interface was full of features. I’ve used the camera several times to take pictures for the site and found it a marvel to handle.

It’s not very often you can hold a camera which is slightly larger than a point and shoot that has features commonly found in advanced DSLR’s. With these color concepts, future NEX models will look even better than ever.