CES: Sony unwraps Internet appliance, Bluetooth module

Sony Friday unleashed a panoply of high-tech gizmos at the Consumer Electronics, offering new ways to blend consumer electronics with personal computers and content from the Internet.

Among the products unveiled was the eVilla Entertainment Center, a glorified Internet appliance that allows home users to access e-mail, news reports and online shopping sites, as well as download multimedia content such as video clips and Internet radio stations.

Due to ship in the second quarter of 2001, the eVilla is priced at $499 and comes with a 15-inch, flat-panel Triniton display of the type used in Sony's Wega televisions. The unit runs on Be's BeIA operating system, uses the Opera Web browser from Opera Software SA, and will play multimedia content delivered in Real Networks' Real format.

"This network entertainment center not only allows users to enjoy entertainment aspects of the Internet in new ways but does away with the inconveniences of a PC," said Mike Vitelli, president of Sony's consumer electronics group, speaking at a press conference.

To use the appliance users will need to subscribe to an eVilla ISP chosen by Sony. The system has no hard drive, but users will receive 10M bytes of online storage with their ISP account. The unit also works with a Zip drive via one of two USB ports, and includes a slot in the front for Sony's MemoryStick storage media.

"The price is very impressive," said Richard Doherty, director of The Envisioneering Group, a market research company in Seaford, N.Y. "That 15-inch Triniton screen is not your average display."

The eVilla connects to the Web using a 56K bit/sec dial-up modem and also includes an Ethernet port for "future broadband access." Sony officials were keeping mum about the microprocessor driving the unit.

Also unveiled here was the "Infostick," an expansion module that brings wireless Bluetooth capabilities to any device that supports Sony's MemoryStick. Slotting the Infostick into the MemoryStick bay of a digital camera, cellphone, PC or other device allows users to transmit images and other data wirelessly from one device to the next.

A Sony representative showed a working prototype of the Infostick being used to transmit a digital photograph from a camera to a Bluetooth-enabled notebook computer. Pricing wasn't announced for the product, which is expected to be available later this year, the representative said.

Also on show was a prototype of a portable "AV/IT gateway device," a feature-rich Web tablet that can be used to surf the Internet, send and receive e-mails, and watch television broadcasts or MPEG 2 video streams around the home. The device consists of a portable LCD screen about the size of an A4 notepad, which works in conjunction with a base station equipped with a wireless modem and terminals for telephone, audio and video inputs.

The base station uses 2.4GHz wireless technologies that provide access to audio and video content at a range of up to 30 meters in ideal conditions, Sony said. The LCD screen is touch sensitive and can also be used as a remote control for controlling a DVD player or digital satellite TV box.

"This product really captures the essence of Sony, combining (audio/visual) and IT technologies in a way that can enhance people's lives," Sony's Vitelli said. Taken together, the products shown here build on Sony's strategy to provide the hardware, software, content and networking technologies to make the "digital dream" a reality for consumers, he said.

Doherty of the Envisioneering Group was impressed by the synergy between the products on show here. Slots for the MemoryStick storage media, for example, are included in the eVilla Entertainment center and the AV/IT gateway device, as well as various other Sony products on show here such as notebook computers and digital video cameras.

One challenge for Sony will be to ensure an adequate supply of components for its products moving forward. The company was embarrassed recently by its inability to meet demand for its new PlayStation 2 game console because of a shortage of components. Sony has probably learned its lesson from that blunder and may try to produce the most essential components for the new products itself, Doherty said. He noted that the PlayStation 2 was conspicuously absent from Sony's product parade at the press conference.

Other Sony products on the horizon include a hybrid DVD player that will be able to play back two types of DVD formats-DVD RW and DVD + RW. The development of rewriteable DVD has been hampered by high cost and by incompatibility issues between various formats. Sony's hybrid DVD player, which is scheduled to be available in mid-2002, is being designed to address those compatibility concerns, Vitelli said.

More information about the eVilla is available at www.evilla.com/. Sony, in Tokyo, can be contacted at 81-3-5448-2111 or at www.sony.co.jp/.