Sony in the Spotlight

Sony should hold its own trade show every year. The company continues to show the innovation that we usually only see from small startups. All those resources seem to be put to good use. First, lets start with MiniDisc. When MiniDisc was first released, it catapulted to cult status in Japan and Europe, but hasn't really caught on in the US, until recently.

Minidiscs use ATRAC compression to provide sound quality that is superior to equivalent bitrate MP3s. In addition, the portable players have a good supporting component cast, so the sound quality is very good. This year, Sony introduced MDLP, LP standing for long play. You can now increase the storage on a MiniDisc by two or four times, with a negligible reduction in sound quality. This technology comes to the US this spring, as we saw two new MD players that have not been seen before, the R700 and R77. Both devices resemble the current R70 with the addition of MDLP.

Sony R700	Sony R77 and Digital PC-Link
Sony MD recorder with PC titling	Sony's next generation Music Clip

Super Audio CD

Sony introduced a few affordable SACD machines at CES too. These use the same decoding chips as the more expensive models, but feature less extravagant chassis and power supplies. The new devices have also improved the seek time for SACD media.

Sony's not affordable SACD player

DVD

Sony also had a few new progressive DVD machines, and a DVD recorder. Next to these were Sony's new 40 inch XBR WEGA direct view, and a 60 inch rear LCD projector.

Progressive DVD player

DVD Recorder

Pets

We also got a chance to play with the Aibo, version 2. These virtual pets can learn and interact with the owner (or guardian as they are called in San Francisco) thanks to advanced digital cameras and microphones.

Stroke its back and the tail will begin to wag. Tell it to dance, and it will. Plus there is no cleanup with the Aibo. The budget version of the Aibo costs $1,590 and the deluxe version $1,930. There is also a $500 Aibo programming kit. You can enhance the Aibo's personality with a memory stick too! They are available in gold, silver and black.

Let's boogie!

Look into my eyes…

Can your dog do all this?

Car Audio

Sony also showed off lots of its car audio technology including satellite radio and a hard drive based Sony in-dash receiver. This receiver rips CDs at 20x, compresses them, and stores them to an internal hard drive. Over 400 CDs can be stored on this device.

You'll never run out of music with this.

We'll talk about the MemoryStick enabled Car Audio stuff on the next page.