"Four pillars highlight Sony's plans for the future although we'll have to wait awhile for the PS3 to join the cause...

As widely expected the Playstation3 was a no-show at Sony's pre Consumer Electronics Show (CES) press conference being held in Las Vegas. Instead Sony Corp utilised its presence to continue highlighting its vision for the future of entertainment, leveraging all of its assets to exemplify its position as a total entertainment company as previously predicted.

From electronic products and technologies to music, movies, TV shows and videogames, Sony Corp aims to turn the world of consumer electronics into a world of consumer entertainment. Focussing on the four pillars of entertainment, Sony Corp announced new products and strategies relating to high definition, digital cinema, video gaming and e-entertainment.

The primary talk of the show was once again a chance for Sony to talk about High-Definition, or more specifically their vision for High(er) Definition. Randy Waynick, senior vice president of Sony's Home Products Division, kicked off the CES press conference announcements by expressing Sony's commitment to "elevating high definition to 'higher definition' by delivering an HD experience that encompasses not only the display but also content, creation and editing both from the consumer and professional point of view."

A number of new products were unveiled such as the 82" BRAVIA flat-panel LCD prototype, the first Sony Extended Video YCC (xvYCC) compliant television, which expands upon the colour data range, and when used in conjunction with Sony's Triluminous backlighting system, results in more realistic colours and incredible detail levels.

Naturally Sony used the event to demonstrate the laudable Blu-ray Disc in action, including Sony's first BD player that will be available on general release in summer 2006, along with a BD recorder, recording media, broadcast cameras, internal and external drives and a series of Blu-Ray equipped VAIO PCs.

"All of these devices, along with recordable media, Playstation(TM) 3, and the highest quality pre-recorded content from Sony pictures, Sony BMG and other content creators will surely get the BD format off to a terrific start later this year," Waynick said." [more]