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Sony Goal: 90% of ALL Our Products Networked By 2010
Posted by Brian Lam at 3:20 PM on July 2, 2008
Wow. Stan Glasgow, at dinner tonight with a few journalists, told us that Sony plans to network 90% of all of their products, thousands of models, by 2010. It's a matter of getting content on and between devices. He said that the goal was to have it happen automatically or with a click of a button.
The VAIO was mentioned as a focal point of the strategy, and by that method, Windows. But Glasgow also mentioned that there would be additional software to help them achieve this goal and differentiate themselves from other computer makers, hopefully without the bloat you see in today's VAIOs. I have some concerns about their software expertise but they have been addressing that recently. I am more concerned about their expertise in hosting services, like Xbox Live versus the maturity of the Playstation store. Glaslow also went into slightly more detailed answers as to how their cross product connectivity is being shaped, continuing past what president Howard Stringer said about each group no longer being insulated from each other during development. He said that software development would start from the beginning of product cycles and that specific designers were in charge of setting up the UI similarities and setting up the common kernels. There were central groups that supposedly connect all the other groups. I should hope the networking efforts happen within the next generation of product because this gen's examples are not that strong; Hancock will be, this fall, the first title available on the Bravia internet link streaming system released ahead of disc releases. But given the US$299 price tag and the bad reviews of the movie, they need to do a lot better. As far as content streaming goes, I don't think that Sony's internet video strategy will fly until they build this hardware into every Bravia TV. Speaking of connectivity, Glaslow also mentioned that a Sony Reader E-book with wireless connectivity was being developed. As a close, I'd asked Glaslow why there were so many Sony products and why were the names so confusing. He'd replied that he'd agreed it was an issue, but that there were many sides to the problem including tracking a specific model through design to manufacturing, when they had so many SKUs. And that it was possible to do different internal and external names, but the problem with iconic names is that submodels get lost in the shuffle. I thought to myself, I guess they should probably not release so many models because we find it pretty confusing when shopping Sony.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
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stallionz
Posted 4:12 PM 2/7/08
Would make it that much easier for the cylons to hack us.
stallionz
vokey25208
Posted 4:06 PM 2/7/08
omg this would be EPIC!
vokey25208
Ph30nix
Posted 4:04 PM 2/7/08
i want a docking station that puts my photos on my tv (assuming i have a sony tv) and transfers my pics wirelessly (or wired actually...) to my pc which I use to display media content on said tv...
and my camera is naturally also my cell phone...and the TV displays caller ID info via bluetooth when my phone rings
and a sony dvr that pauses and records the tv i'm watching while i'm on the phone...
make it happen
Ph30nix
WinkMe
Posted 3:58 PM 2/7/08
I would seriously go all sony... not that I don't already..
I'm guessing the 10% would either be useless to network together (and wouldn't make sense) or just cheap shit they dont care about.
WinkMe
itchytooth
Posted 3:55 PM 2/7/08
The good news: 90% of products will easily network with one another
The bad news: 10% of each product will resist your every effort at networking it with each other product, which will be equally resistant. It will be like trying two grab two live catfish and make them gracefully waltz together around the cramped dining room of your dollhouse.
itchytooth
MrBlahBlah
Posted 3:50 PM 2/7/08
I would love for them to pull it off. I'm just concerned that they won't be able to. It is a huge company.
We just gotta keep in mind that reorganizations now probably won't a consistent effect until a few years from now.
MrBlahBlah
Griffehpoo
Posted 3:49 PM 2/7/08
Backwards compatibility? I'm talkin' about remote play on my tape Walkman, here!
Griffehpoo
Ambiguous Blob 2.0
Posted 4:38 PM 2/7/08
Oooohhhh, sounds cool! So the PSP phone that they eventually release will be able to connect to everything (provided it's a Sony of course) and access ALL of your gadgets data and content?....
I was thinking about this today too as I was begrudgingly managing all of my media files on my Nokia N95 8GB, deleting old stuff so I could fill it up again with new content. When it dawned on me that Apple's pushing something similar to this with their .mac revision and their upcoming iPhone 3G and Macs (or so I hear they'll be doing when it's relaunched soon), and personally, I think it's brilliant!
Actually, the more I think about it, it's just the way of the future. In a sense these recent announcements by both companies are just strategies for talking about exactly this in generalities to avoid showing their hands to the competition. I guess in the near future consumers won't have to worry about having X amount of Giga Bytes of storage on their phones/PMP/convergence devices (iPhone 3G enthusiasts I'm looking at you) when they can just stream ALL of their content directly from their home devices on to their devices over an existing infrastructure (hmmm, the idea of a wearable phone watch thingy, like some of Nokia's concepts, doesn't sound so far fetched now...)! YAY! Now let's just make sure that we have both the network bandwidth and reliability this would require on a day to day basis to make it useable on a mass scale and at a reasonable price (I bet the telecoms will love this!...) Apple and Sony (or whoever)...
Maybe this can all be accomplished with/over the open portion of the spectrum that the FCC auctioned off a while back? Well, that is once it finally gets going in the near future... Coincidentally, I think Sony's estimated date for networking a majority of their products coincides nicely with the planned roll out of the open spectrum if memory serves me right (right?), nice... Is this because of Android and Googles plans and announcements Sony? What are your plans exactly for Android again Google?.... Can we expect something like this from your OS powered handsets too? Of course it's all just speculation on my part, and entirely my opinion, but still I can't help but think that the future looks bright for us gadget enthusiast!
Ambiguous Blob 2.0
bdonohue
Posted 5:12 PM 2/7/08
I definitely misread the title... I thought it said " 90% of ALL Our Products working by 2010.
Even with Sony's track record in the recent past, I still give them props for their computers and headphones
bdonohue
Mike918
Posted 5:02 PM 2/7/08
What if someone decides to hack my toilet?, then it will be a real problem :P
But anyways, this will could be good, like check the fridge temperature or something like that with your laptop while you surf Gizmodo.
Mike918
Brian Lam
Posted 5:00 PM 2/7/08
@WinkMe: We wish.
Brian Lam
WinkMe
Posted 4:53 PM 2/7/08
OR MAYBE their plan is to converge 90% of all of their gadgets, leaving only 10% to be unique....
WinkMe
HawkSkater0
Posted 10:09 PM 2/7/08
Finally networked toothbrush, because a toothbrush aint a toothbrush unless it has wifi.
HawkSkater0
designguybrown
Posted 11:08 PM 2/7/08
It all depends on the cost and quality of the 'content' being circulated. Expensive silly crap in = useless, underused network gadgets - though there is something oddly enticing about having your MGS4 game jumping from your PS3 to your digital picture frames to your compact to your kitchen fridge monitor...
designguybrown
Joseph
Posted 10:54 PM 2/7/08
I agree with everyone else that thinks this is a great idea! I'm not even a fan of Sony products since my MiniDisc flopped, but its a great goal nonetheless. Also could be a great marketing technique to get people on the Sony bandwagon, but if Sony really wants to make a move (And right here is where I take A LOOOOONG shot); they need to provide an API to their devices. Allow some smart people to actually get under the hood and create great products as opposed to Sony Engineers (Who are smart too).
Joseph
Mandatory_Field
Posted 11:26 PM 2/7/08
@itchytooth: Which will prove to be especially bothersome, when that 10% includes some of their PCs....
Mandatory_Field
monkeystuff
Posted 4:16 PM 2/7/08
Sony's been riding the Walkman gravy train for waaay too long. They also got lucky with the original PlayStation when Nintendo made the mistake not to go with the optical disc in the early/mid 90s'.
At best, Sony put out mediocre products and market the hack out of it, yet all the gadget fanboys just worship Sony.
Truth is, Panasonic/Matsushita, Sharp, Toshiba, Fujitsu make much better CS product than Sony.
monkeystuff
Absent Blue
Posted 12:28 AM 3/7/08
Sony is becoming hive-minded... people, I think it's time we considered Sarah Conner-like actions.
Absent Blue
heroineworshipper
Posted 4:42 AM 3/7/08
Hopefully this won't happen. DLNA is such a nightmare, just look at everyone using DLNA instead of USB mass storage devices.
heroineworshipper
heroineworshipper
Posted 4:34 AM 3/7/08
It's DLNA hell for everyone. Sony will never allow simple NFS in lieu of its beloved plug n' play punishment.
heroineworshipper
rimplestultskin
Posted 6:31 AM 3/7/08
why has big brother found his way into all these new convenience features?
rimplestultskin