Sony Releases Internet-Enabled, Hard-Disk Video Recorder
Wed Sep 4, 1:36 PM ET
Lisa Gill, www.NewsFactor.com
Linking the entertainment value of video recording with the brains of a home computer and the breadth of the Internet, Japan's Sony Corporation ( NYSE: SNE - news) unveiled a device Wednesday that seeks out and records television programs it believes its owners would want to watch.
The consumer product, one of the first releases in the new Sony line dubbed CoCoon -- COnnected COmmunity On Network -- will use a 160 GB hard drive to record about 100 hours of programming or 15 hours of high-definition TV shows. It can also record music and movies for playback.
Given a constant connection to a broadband service, the device locates television programming information online, then, using up to 44 user-selected keywords, makes a "match" and records the program for later viewing.
While the video recorder will also use past program selections and stored programs as a guide for recording new material, if the user decides not to select a certain program the device will apologize for its choice.
The CoCoon device also has the ability to be networked with cell phones and PCs, allowing for the programming of television recording via the networked components.
TV Programming Shifts
The release is a first shot in the company's campaign to shift home entertainment toward a new breed of Internet-enabled, multifunctional devices.
Predicting a revolution in television viewing, Sony president Kunitake Ando told a news conference that the broadband era will usher in an age where devices such as audio-video products and mobile terminals will connect consumers to the Internet.
"The TV will change fundamentally," Ando said.
The company said it intends the CoCoon series to join the effort it has already initiated, with its televisions, PlayStation 2 ( news - web sites) game consoles, mobile phones and PCs all to be tied to the Internet and networked with each other.
Banking on Convergence
Sony will release the CoCoon device in Japan on November 1st for around US$1,110, with a later rollout scheduled for the U.S. The device will compete with similar products, including digital video recorder TiVo ( news - web sites) ( Nasdaq: TIVO - news).
Analysts also point to Microsoft's ( Nasdaq: MSFT - news) new Media Center, to be released in December, as another opponent for Sony. Previously known as "Freestyle," the operating system will reside on specially manufactured Hewlett-Packard ( NYSE: HPQ - news) computers and will marry television programming, personal video recording, music, movies, DVDs and pictures on a single device.
With the Media Center, users will be able to record, pause and replay television shows, play and organize music selections, store and view still pictures and video and play DVDs. Controlled by a remote, the PC is intended to be viewed from across the room.
Creating Entertainment
"Every company in this space is trying to figure out the best way to throw software applications together with improved hardware to create a new consumer media experience," Steve Vonder Haar, analyst for Yankee Group's Interactive ( news - external web site) Media Strategies unit, told NewsFactor.
Such magic bullets, said Vonder Haar, are what each consumer-related company is trying to find, often seeking revolutionary products over those that are merely evolutionary. And while companies are to be lauded for pushing the envelope, Vonder Haar said, analysts and manufactures might be too focused on searching for the "ah-ha!" moment in digital entertainment convergence.
"The revolutionary force is just the ability to digitize media and have enough computing horsepower to do it in an elegant fashion," said Vonder Haar. "The various product iterations from companies like Microsoft, HP or Sony are merely details along the way."
AI
