Sony detailed their Blu-ray plans, and new product releases today at CES. Sony CEO Howard Stringer was joined by “The Da Vinci Code” author Dan Brown and actor Tom Hanks for a star-powered CES keynote address Thursday morning.
Sony talked up the PlayStation Portable and its ability to watch television programs any time, from anywhere, but the PlayStation 3 was nowhere to be found. You can watch TV on a PSP by using Sony’s LocationFree Player although a LocationFree Base Station is necessary (sold separately). The PSP has built-in WiFi for music and video downloads.
Sony’s portable eBook reader, was also shown. It uses electronic-paper technology called “E Ink”. E Ink is a private corporation that includes among its investors and strategic partners; TOPPAN Printing Company, Philips, The Hearst Corporation, Gannett and Motorola.
Sony’s ebook will hold about 80 books at a time. Sony will sell eBooks through its Connect download service, which has previously focused on music sales.
The Portable Reader System will be available in spring 2006 but does not yet have a price tag. A similar device has been marketed overseas as the Librie.
Sony also showed new Walkman-branded phone from Sony Ericsson, available in the spring, that will play MP3 and AAC music files and include a 2 megapixel camera.
