Howard Stringer keynote speech @ CEATEC [Archive]

mckmas8808

12-Oct-2005, 22:23

He had a lot to say about the CELL microprocesser. Indeed half of Sony's future is banking on the CELL technology and it surely is the de facto standard for all the future products that Sony will be bringing out in the coming years. How Sony will implement the CELL into general consumer products isn't clear yet. What's obvious is that Sony has decided to make it's move towards the high-definition era and it sees CELL technology as something that can guarantee Sony a major leap ahead of it's competitors. Stringer's words were more than a proof of this observation.

Wow half of Sony's future. I hope it works out for them.

"The PS3 is only the beginning for CELL. That's why industry analysts called CELL a monumental technological advance. In our new CELL development center, we have a team dedicated to developing new applications for CELL technology. Currently customers directly communicate and share images and videos with eachother through portable devices. In order to enhance the customer experience we'll look for ways to integrate intelligence into our devices. New intelligent devices will be powered by smaller and more powerful processors and will be directly connected to one another or through the internet."

I'm starting to believe that they are really thinking about using CELLs to work through the internet. Interesting.

"The adoption of HD technology will lead to enormous opportunities for sales of high-definition devices and content. That's why we're increasing the percentage of Sony products supporting HD from 35% today to 75% in fiscal year 2007. High-Defintion will be the center of the digital living room and so will Sony."

Expect other companies to follow. This is how more people will buy HD sets. The companies will basically force it on them. Great.

"We're currently testing discs in our labs with a capacity to store 22-23 hours or more of high-definition video. And because of its superior storage capacity we have obtained broad support for Blu-ray from the IT industry and the majority of major film studios". Quoting paramount's official statment, Sony's boss said that one of the key factors for Paramount joining the Blu-ray association was Bluray's inclusion as a standard disc player inside the Playstation 3 game console.

WOW!!:shock:

Link http://www.ps3portal.com/?view=article&article=193&PHPSESSID=6fc7b63a78bc4fcc60469ae6724276d5]LINK
Care to discuss.

Bad_Boy

13-Oct-2005, 03:58

we have a team dedicated to developing new applications for CELL technology.
what if the "psp2", say in a 2-3 yrs or so, has a cell processor in it O_O.

thats one of the first things i thought of when i first saw the size of the cell...
http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/ne/p/2005/020705cell_processor.jpg
;)

Dr Evil

13-Oct-2005, 04:36

what if the "psp2", say in a 2-3 yrs or so, has a cell processor in it O_O.

thats one of the first things i thought of when i first saw the size of the cell...
http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/ne/p/2005/020705cell_processor.jpg
;)

Cell is not small..., but it could very well power psp2 in few years.

AlphaWolf

13-Oct-2005, 06:44

If sony is banking that much on HD they'd be best to bring down the price of their units.

Platon

13-Oct-2005, 07:24

If sony is banking that much on HD they'd be best to bring down the price of their units.

Agreed, otherwise they will never become mainstream and that will only benefit their competitors that will not try to "force" consumers the HD era. Somehow I feel everyone or atleast many are really rushing to this "HD era", why?...

scatteh316

13-Oct-2005, 07:41

Agreed, otherwise they will never become mainstream and that will only benefit their competitors that will not try to "force" consumers the HD era. Somehow I feel everyone or atleast many are really rushing to this "HD era", why?...

Of course they would still go mainsteam, all people have to see is that " Sony " badge on the machine and bam....they buy it. That was always the case when i worked in a electrical store, people ALWAYS wanted Sony even if the prduct was not as good as others.

People trust the Sony badge, and that is what Microsoft and Nintendo are fighting, not the PS3 but the Sony name.

_phil_

13-Oct-2005, 08:17

People trust the Sony badge, and that is what Microsoft and Nintendo are fighting, not the PS3 but the Sony name.

Perhaps that instead of fighting the Sony name and Brand recognition ,they sould improve their own ?

Platon

13-Oct-2005, 08:58

Of course they would still go mainsteam, all people have to see is that " Sony " badge on the machine and bam....they buy it. That was always the case when i worked in a electrical store, people ALWAYS wanted Sony even if the prduct was not as good as others.

People trust the Sony badge, and that is what Microsoft and Nintendo are fighting, not the PS3 but the Sony name.

I don't know if tha is so valid anymore. Sure, people might have the perseption that Sony=quality and prefer them over many competitors but then you also have the cold harsh reality where not everyone has the $ to buy the latest stuff and the most high end stuff. Actually that is the reality for the absolute majority of people, it is the pocket that dictates your purchases most of the time. And I think that is a bit that Sony is realizing as it seems that their other divisions except the PS are not doing that great and have a really stiff competitions from cheaper companies...

Platon

13-Oct-2005, 09:00

Perhaps that instead of fighting the Sony name and Brand recognition ,they sould improve their own ?

By now I would say that the Playstation as a brand is bigger than Sony, by that I mean that people are bying it mostly because it says Playstation on it, not Sony...

rabidrabbit

13-Oct-2005, 09:23

By now I would say that the Playstation as a brand is bigger than Sony, by that I mean that people are bying it mostly because it says Playstation on it, not Sony...
I agree, I know at least two people that have a PlayStation (not hardcore players obviously) and they've been surprised when they've learned that a Playstation is indeed a Sony device :).
On the other hand, one of them is the same person who thought the xbox is a new PlayStation... PlayStation Xbox :D

pipo

13-Oct-2005, 09:35

That's mainstream...

I know I guy who got a PS1 to play Mario.

london-boy

13-Oct-2005, 10:08

If sony is banking that much on HD they'd be best to bring down the price of their units.

Man your word is The Truth.

SONY STOP RIPPING POOR SONY-BUYING-FREAKS LIKE ME OFF! Dammit i had to resort buying "cheaper" electronics from other companies, that's just not right! :wink:

london-boy

13-Oct-2005, 10:10

Cell is not small..., but it could very well power psp2 in few years.

I think it is very very possible. Cell is not necessarily "the Cell in PS3". Being a very scalable processor, PSP2 would just need a smaller version. Definately not a 3.2GHz chip with a full double core PPE and 7-8 SPEs which would just be a total waste, and carbonise our hands in 2.43 seconds! But a smaller version could very well make it there.

Shifty Geezer

13-Oct-2005, 10:15

I think it is very very possible. Cell is not necessarily "the Cell in PS3". Being a very scalable processor, PSP2 would just need a smaller version. Definately not a 3.2GHz chip with a full double core PPE and 7-8 SPEs which would just be a total waste, and carbonise our hands in 2.43 seconds! But a smaller version could very well make it there.1 GHz 1:4 Cell would be very fast for a handheld and I imagine very do-able.

Shifty Geezer

13-Oct-2005, 10:19

Just started reading that article and in the beginning I read this...

Sony's PSP, only 9 months after it's launch has sold "Six million" units. Most successful portable game console in history.
Huh?! How is PSP the most successful portable in history? What on earth is their criteria?

threepac3

13-Oct-2005, 10:22

rabidrabbit

13-Oct-2005, 10:23

Well, since every single piece of console has or will be "the most succesfull ever"...at least somewhere, sometime, in some analysts opinion.... what did you expect ;)
Standard PR talk, nothing that hasn't been heard countless times before.

london-boy

13-Oct-2005, 10:26

Just started reading that article and in the beginning I read this...
Huh?! How is PSP the most successful portable in history? What on earth is their criteria?

Well.... It IS the most successful one among all handhelds that use UMD and are called PSP!

Shifty Geezer

13-Oct-2005, 10:55

london-boy

13-Oct-2005, 11:09

Things about 'high-definition and high-drama'

:lol: I think that will never stop making me laugh. Ever.

mckmas8808

13-Oct-2005, 14:23

I stopped reading this article proper when I relaized it was all postd before on this forum. Things about 'high-definition and high-drama' and 'twice the power of XB360' and the imprtance of Cell have been covered elsewhere already. Nothing at all of interest in the thread.

Well that's true but somethings didn't get pointed out in the other thread. Like Sony's push of the CELL chip and their deep care for HDTV. You can really get the feeling that a CELL chip will go in their next PSP handheld from this article.

london-boy

13-Oct-2005, 14:25

Well that's true but somethings didn't get pointed out in the other thread. Like Sony's push of the CELL chip and their deep care for HDTV. You can really get the feeling that a CELL chip will go in their next PSP handheld from this article.

I know you're all wet from the excitement, but remember it's still PR. And coming from Stringer especially.
Not doubting anything, but i do use my salt-grain-goggles in these occasions.

Shifty Geezer

13-Oct-2005, 14:42

Well that's true but somethings didn't get pointed out in the other thread. Like Sony's push of the CELL chip.That did come up, because I remember talking about it explicitly as the only meaningful take-home point from Stringer's comments.

mckmas8808

13-Oct-2005, 14:48

I know you're all wet from the excitement, but remember it's still PR. And coming from Stringer especially.
Not doubting anything, but i do use my salt-grain-goggles in these occasions.

Hey can you stop painting me as a Super Sony head. You act like I go goggles for teh Sony!!! I just like their technology and ideas that's it. I do like other things too. And to Shifty my bad I must have missed it.

london-boy

13-Oct-2005, 14:50

Hey can you stop painting me as a Super Sony head. You act like I go goggles for teh Sony!!! I just like their technology and ideas that's it. I do like other things too. And to Shifty my bad I must have missed it.

Hey i'm not painting anything! Just doing a little drawing here and there that's all. The full picture is easy to figure out :wink:

My point was that this is still PR, whatever the guy said. End of.

mckmas8808

13-Oct-2005, 15:07

My point was that this is still PR, whatever the guy said. End of.

Your right, but the hard thing is what's gonna happen and what's not gonna happen. It's obvious that some of these things will unfold the way Sony wants it too, but which ones is the question. Will PS3 take out like he wants? Will Blu-ray be a success? Will Sony with the help of IBM and Toshiba actually make CELL a success for a processer? Will they ever drop the damn price of their HDTVs so they can actually sell one?:evil:

I hope they do push for 70+% of their TVs in 2007 to be HDTVs. That would basically make the consumers buy them if the other companies do the samething. I wonder if companies like Samsung, Hitachi, RCA, etc will be doing the same thing around 2007? I think with the correct amount and quailty content and good prices will make HDTV's success inevitable.

london-boy

13-Oct-2005, 15:10

Your right, but the hard thing is what's gonna happen and what's not gonna happen. It's obvious that some of these things will unfold the way Sony wants it too, but which ones is the question. Will PS3 take out like he wants? Will Blu-ray be a success? Will Sony with the help of IBM and Toshiba actually make CELL a success for a processer? Will they ever drop the damn price of their HDTVs so they can actually sell one?:evil:

I hope they do push for 70+% of their TVs in 2007 to be HDTVs. That would basically make the consumers buy them if the other companies do the samething. I wonder if companies like Samsung, Hitachi, RCA, etc will be doing the same thing around 2007? I think with the correct amount and quailty content and good prices will make HDTV's success inevitable.

Well i expect that new TVs will start to be HD-Ready soon. So that if you go into a shop to buy a new TV, you'll only be able to get a HD one. Will take a while but it will happen.

And their HDTVs are kinda getting cheaper. Slowly. Kinda.

Platon

13-Oct-2005, 22:08

mckmas8808

13-Oct-2005, 22:14

I have seen other companies saying doing this in the future. They just never said a date. Platon it's inevitable. The same companies did it with VHS players. Remember that in America Congress still is deciding on a cut off date. And of course Sony wouldn't sell 70+% of there TVs in HD if the price wasn't right. That comes with the territory.

london-boy

13-Oct-2005, 22:39

I am still a bit sceptical about making people buy HDTVs by just increasing their amount out there. I don't think that will work unless that includes some really serious price cuts. Right now those things are not affordable by "common" people aka the masses. And I don't see other companies following Sonys lead. If they see that they can stil sell loads of normals TV why would they stop, on the contrary, now they would have one less competitor to worry about...

HDTV prices in europe are coming down in price quite quickly. You can already find HDTVs for about £500. By xmas and next year they will be very affordable.
I already mentioned that when they first came out, widescreen TVs were much more expensive than HDTVs today. So i think we're getting a good deal.

In the US, HDTVs are already cheap.

mckmas8808

14-Oct-2005, 00:55

HDTV prices in europe are coming down in price quite quickly. You can already find HDTVs for about £500. By xmas and next year they will be very affordable.
I already mentioned that when they first came out, widescreen TVs were much more expensive than HDTVs today. So i think we're getting a good deal.

In the US, HDTVs are already cheap.

QFT.

london-boy

14-Oct-2005, 09:14

Not only that, but (and this kinda shocked me) we actually get a proper standard of HDTVs (or somehting that's very very close to one), which is a much much better system than what's used in the US. Or at least clearer.

I've also already mentioned this, but in Europe, if you buy a HDTV (with the HD-Ready sticky) you're pretty much "safe" for the future because our sets only get the HD-Ready logo if they (1) can display true 720p or more, (2) have HDMI (or DVI with HDCP), which makes it future proof with Bluray and HDDVD movies, (3) component capable of taking a HD signal, (4) support BOTH 50Hz and 60Hz (saves SO much trouble it's not even funny) and i'm sure there's something else but i always miss it. If one of those isn't there, you know you're not buying a HDTV - if someone scams you into buying a non HD-Ready TV when it isn't you are protected and can return it anytime.

In the US, by contrast, a HDTV is just a TV that can display 720p and up. And the HDCP (HDMI or DVI) mess will hurt them big time.

So yeah, now that prices are decent and will keep on decreasing, Europe is AT LAST getting a good deal out of something.

Shifty Geezer

14-Oct-2005, 09:54

london-boy

14-Oct-2005, 10:01

What bothers me though is cheap HDTVs=bad HDTVs. What's the point in shelling out on higher resolution if the rest of the display, refresh rate, contrast, colour balance etc., is inferior to your SD CRT?

I'm not just waiting for a price drop, but for comparable cost and quality. I still don't like most LCD and Plasma screens I see.

Heh that's another issue altogether. LCDs still have that black levels thing which i personally got over. Plasmas have other little things. But it's not like CRTs are devoid of flaws!
In the end, when fed HD material, all HDTVs will look amazing. The problem is that many LCD sets look a bit crappy when fed bad analog sources. It's all about living i the past or looking to the future. I can take bad analog images in exchange of amazing HD ones, some people just can't.

Shifty Geezer

14-Oct-2005, 10:05

Heh that's another issue altogether. LCDs still have that black levels thing which i personally got over. Plasmas have other little things. But it's not like CRTs are devoid of flaws!No, but I guess I've lived with them all my life so have learnt to ignore them.

london-boy

14-Oct-2005, 10:11

No, but I guess I've lived with them all my life so have learnt to ignore them.

Well get used to it biatch cuz cee-artee har teh doomed! :lol:

Shifty Geezer

14-Oct-2005, 10:16

That's not a problem, when carbon nanotube technology is around. Carbon nanotubes juts sounds so geeky I've gotta have a TV with it no matter how bad the picture :p

london-boy

14-Oct-2005, 10:24

That's not a problem, when carbon nanotube technology is around. Carbon nanotubes juts sounds so geeky I've gotta have a TV with it no matter how bad the picture :p

Come on SED is coming out....

Shifty Geezer

14-Oct-2005, 10:29

'Carbon nanotubes' sounds cooler than 'surface-conduction electron-emitter display'. Case closed.

london-boy

14-Oct-2005, 10:32

'Carbon nanotubes' sounds cooler than 'surface-conduction electron-emitter display'. Case closed.

But SED is basically CRT-by-pixel, so it looks like a plasma or LCD but u get CRT-like images, more or less... u do know that... right? :wink:
Besides they could just rename it Photon Nano Fusion Missile Image Enhancer Display. Sounds cool enough to me...

ims

14-Oct-2005, 10:33

Ssome sony products are so overrated and overpriced imo. Eg: the pioneer Plasma Display Panels's (specially the 435XDE) and a few of the Fujitsu's piss all over the Sony ones.

Ims

london-boy

14-Oct-2005, 10:36

Ssome sony products are so overrated and overpriced imo. Eg: the pioneer Plasma Display Panels's (specially the 435XDE) and a few of the Fujitsu's piss all over the Sony ones.

Ims

Agreed, although the Pioneer isn't exactly cheap either. Not sure what the price of the Fujitsu is.

Today it's better to go for Samsung, Hitachi or Toshiba, they make very affordable sets of medium to high quality.

Shifty Geezer

14-Oct-2005, 13:29

But SED is basically CRT-by-pixel, so it looks like a plasma or LCD but u get CRT-like images, more or less... u do know that... right? :wink:Yeah, SED's are FED's, only Toshiba's solution doesn't use carbon...

So far, some of the biggest proponents of this approach could be Canon and Toshiba. The two manufacturers have formed a joint venture to make surface conduction electron emission (http://news.com.com/Toshiba+adds+new+TV+tech+to+the+mix/2100-1041_3-5482129.html?tag=nl) (SED) panels, and Toshiba will produce large-screen SED televisions in 2006. Although Canon and Toshiba's description of SEDs is very similar to that of FEDs, the two companies are using a different particle than carbon, industry analysts said.

SED's can't be bad if Canon's involved. I've a Canon 35mm SLR that's very cool so I have an afinity for Canon as a company. But without a technology equally geeky sounding as Carbon Nanotubes they just can't get me excited enough to care.

I'd recommend 2-Dimensional Vortex Nanoprojection Technology. That'll sell SED to me.

Carl B

14-Oct-2005, 13:48

SED, next-gen plasmas, LCD, OLED - there's plenty on the horizon to look forward to in display technology.

As for Sony, I think the move towards all HD sets is a good one; they need to re-barnish their image as a maker of high-end electronics, and to me that means all high-end, all high-quality. Restore the brand luster. From there, they can move back downmarket with some lower priced offerings. But if Sony doesn't rebuild the value of it's brand name, then the price premiums it charges based on such will be forever diminishing, and as one knows in the modern CE space, if you can't charge more based on brand, then you're going to lose out to commodity players.

Shifty Geezer

14-Oct-2005, 13:50

I agree. I also knew Sony as the more expensive, high-end product. You paid more to get more. For cheaper tech you bought cheaper brands.

ims

14-Oct-2005, 13:56

I agree. I also knew Sony as the more expensive, high-end product. You paid more to get more. For cheaper tech you bought cheaper brands.

I think the point i was making was that Sony were overpriced (imo) in that PDP market compared to some of the rivals. I mean some of the Fujitsu panels are absolutely superlative. But yeh in general you get what you pay for. Just with Sony I feel that you pay more for the badge name than the quality of the product nowadays (imo). I dont think it used to be like that 5 years ago

Ims

london-boy

14-Oct-2005, 13:58

I think the point i was making was that Sony were overpriced (imo) in that PDP market compared to some of the rivals. I mean some of the Fujitsu panels are absolutely superlative. But yeh in general you get what you pay for. Just with Sony I feel that you pay more for the badge name than the quality of the product nowadays (imo). I dont think it used to be like that 5 years ago

Ims

As of today, that's the case yes. I'm sure they'll fix up. Their Wega Engine is quite promising, they have Samsung panels on their flat screens. It's just a matter of getting the right technology and price it competitively.

Simply put, there are better flat screens than Sony's, and at a cheaper price to boot!

Carl B

14-Oct-2005, 14:03

Exactly. Where Sony needs to go is to have the best flat screens out there, or at least equivelent, and then go ahead and charge more for them. They need to go back to being the Louis Vuitton of electronics, to use an analogy out of left-field. People will willingly pay more for perceived quality, and it's imperetive that Sony rebuild that brand luster... because it's been sliding a little of late in the consumer electrnics space.

Shifty Geezer

14-Oct-2005, 14:25

Can anyone offer any insight as to what's in use in the TV media industry? It used to be the case that every monitor and bank of screen used Sony Trinitrons. Do they still command this space or are other companies making inroads? That's always been one of the strong points of the Sony home brand, that they service a lot of professional equipment too. Whether you're filming a home movie or a multi-million dollar Hollywood epic, Sony cameras are an option and used to be the option of choice for most that could afford it.

Of course, kudos to other companies for catching up and overtaking in the technologies. I'd like to know how these rivals compare in pro space though.