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OF ALL THE press conferences that happened so far at the world’s biggest mobile conference this week, probably the most noticeable aspect was Sony’s absence.
Instead of holding a session to reveal its latest flagship phone, it opted against that and quietly announced a new tablet and mid-range device instead. Considering that HTC and Samsung made major announcements here, it felt odd not to have Sony in the mix.
There is a logic behind this as the senior product manager for Sony Mobile, Jun Makino, explained to the TheJournal.ie. For one, it really depends on what your definition of flagship is, and the other is there’s really no need for Sony to release one at this time, he said.
“The Xperia Z3 has been performing very, very well. It is the best selling Z series smartphone that we have,” said Makino. “Also the Z3 Compact has gotten the best satisfaction from the people who bought it and it’s going very, very strong for us,
What we bring to the Xperia Z3 really meets what the customers today want from a smartphone so we’ll continue to push with this… but we actually brought two flagships, the mid-range flagship [the M4 Aqua] and the tablet flagship [Xperia Z4] this time.
Relating to the Xperia Z4, the tablet is signalling a move between tablet and laptop, coming with a Bluetooth keyboard and changing to a Chromebook-like interface when connected.
It’s an obvious move considering how tablets are now being repositioned as a device for businesses as well as the recent launch of work profiles for smartphones (Android for Work is one while Sony has its own version Xperia in Business).
While the Xperia tablets are primarily entertainment devices, Makino believes this was a natural evolution of the tablet and what they can offer people.
“The logic behind this [move towards business] was really the customer experience, what customers want in a tablet,” says Makino. “What we wanted to do was to be able to make a tablet that caters nicely to those business users, especially the email users when they’re in cafés or at home or outside the office and give a laptop-like experience… Whether we wanted to aim for a twin laptop/tablet, it was a natural use of how the customers use it, and we feel that’s an optimal way to cater for that.”
But obviously, our differentiation factor is our size in the entertainment aspect… and the two-day battery life. We’re not saying you only need to charge it every two days, what we’re saying is you don’t need to worry about charging midday. You don’t need to worry about thinking about how much battery you will have. We want to make it worry-free for people to use.
Perhaps more importantly, Sony is slowly shifting its focus more on the software and services it can provide.
That doesn’t mean it’s going to abandon hardware anytime soon, but both Sony and Makino wants to grow the services side and provide more unique content for its users. Its entertainment service Xperia Lounge has 15 million active users – which isn’t massive considering it launched in late-2012, but it at least shows it still has potential – and the aim is to grow that.
We are still a product maker, but it is only the entrance to the greater, bigger world of the experiences that we can provide… through the products, we really want to enable people who can access Sony Music, Pictures, Movies or the Playstation and beyond that as well.
Quinton O’Reilly is at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona all this week. Follow all the goings-on at @TheJournalTech.
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It’s all well and good until Stevie starts humping the microwave during the night
@DarkHorse: That’s a silly comment . This is very serious but the article doesn’t tell us how to access , so its a useless article.
@rory conway: I mean not really, as they haven’t been on sale yet. They’re flying to the States later this month, where a care home will be trialing the beta version.
Can he make a good cup of tae though? Or boil an egg? Or put a few sods of turf on the fire?
As long as it’s used to complement human interaction and not replace it, it’s a good idea. Having spent summers at college working as a home help, i am aware that i was the only person many elderly people spoke to during the day. My being there for a chat was at times more important than my ability to light the fire
@Anne Marie Devlin:
Very good point.
May I be the first to welcome our new robot overlords.
Seriously though, cool bit of tech.
Japan, the US and other places are vastly more developed in the technologies required to implement practical autonomous robotic supports.
It’s a good idea but only if Trinity College collaborates with the best abroad.
As matters now stand, one small country does not have the embedded knowledge base, the centre of expertise, the resources and the funding required to make a massive project of this nature anything more than a prototype.
@Fiona deFreyne: Do you just put everything down? Ireland has produced leading technologies in the past beating those with more resources and been at it longer. They could easily develop key components for the future of all robot via software or hardware.
@Kal Ipers: it is a matter of scale, accumulated expertise, level of previous investment in R &D, historically, accumulated IPR, the legacy knowledge and expertise not to have to reinvent any wheels and the large numbers of highly quality researchers required to develop cutting edge technologies in areas off deep machine learning. The scale of investment required for success is truly huge.
We have talent here but it is fair to say that we have had a brain flow to the US and to Cambridge in the UK in relevant disciplines. There are many reasons for this.
Trinity can’t play a valuable role as an adjunct to leading research elsewhere.
Honda has already achieved much techological success in Japan with robots dedicated to health care for the elderly. I don’t know if there can be technology sharing and cooperation arrangements.
Knowing the scale of the problem is a first step. I would not select Ireland a a base for developing new generation rockets for outer space exploration or other areas of resource intensive projects. Robotics and autonomous intelligence devices is one of the mist resource intensive areas that could be selected.
@Fiona deFreyne: None of that has anything to do with your constant putting down everything. Again I reject your view and that is mostly because it is always negative.
@Fiona deFreyne: so you don’t know how to do it huh?
They should really get in touch with the Japanese on this subject. They have been pouring money on this subject for decades and a trip to them could shave years off the project.
Also, the arms are way too short and lack any function. Infact, the whole robot cannot do more than a smartphone. I feel like someone is laughing right now.
Ye it would be if the likes of rich politicians didn’t want to force the elderly out of their home
@WilhelminaMCallaghan: When was that ever suggested or done?
Sounds like a great idea. I thought they’d need to be a lot stronger though. And have a hoist, or arms, to help them in and out in the bathroom? But they’d never get bored listening to people, I suppose, there’s that.
All the wiley aul fellas will be figuring out how to bypass him so they can slip off to the pub and bookies
Can it make a good cup of tae though? Boil an egg or throw a few sods of turf on the fire?
I assume he meant Kryten from Red Dwarf not Croydon from Deep Space Nine lol
Fck that, sophia the robot destroys stevie
If you want to watch a creepy interview with a robot check this out.. http://uk.businessinsider.com/interview-with-sophia-ai-robot-hanson-said-it-would-destroy-humans-2017-11
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: True, it doesn’t have much to say for itself. It wouldn’t pass the Turing test; you can tell it’s a bot. But there’s always the ELIZA effect. Sure the robot carers are meant primarily for people with no one to listen to them all day. I think there’s a huge market for them considering that retired people are living so much longer.
@Patrick J. O’Rourke: scary stuff! I’d say cults will purchase loads of these and put them out there in homes and such like to brainwash everyone!!
Daughter got a Furbie one year for Christmas thing turned seriously nasty and using bad language and had to be re-set… A Furbie!!! Yup dangerous road ahead…
@Lydia McLoughlin: Maybe they’ll persuade a few people that bus fares aren’t tuppence any more. Mind you, the bad language can’t have been that bad if you understood it.
Petril?
have your say