We reported last week on Sony's initiative with bold business plans to carry through 2010 and beyond. What got lost in the shuffle was Sony's commitment to make 90% of its electronics network-enabled by 2010. That means your computer talks to your television which will talk to your digital camera, wirelessly. Not a bad thing at all. It looks good on paper, but how will they actually make it happen?
The nice people over at Gizmodo sat down with Stan Glasgow, president and Chief Operating Officer of Sony Electronics Inc. for dinner and had a casual conversation about the plan. He said connectivity would happen automatically or with the click of a button. Let's hope it's just that simple.
Here's what Gizmodo reported about the talk:
"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 $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."
Unless Sony brings out more products that appeal to more users, all the connectivity in the world won't matter. But, if they can bring their digital audio player market together with the mobile phone division, provide more popular titles and perhaps lower the cost of the Bravia Internet Link, it's all just more hype at yet another business dinner. Someone pass the salt. —Leslie Shapiro
The entire business plan can be read here.
