Sony revealed their complete 2012 line-up of products earlier today in London and, for the first time in over a decade, a new smartphone joined the display of integrated consumer electronics. The Xperia S was shown alongside DLNA speaker technology, high-end iPod docks and a range of Android based Walkman products.
Still carrying the ‘Sony Ericsson’ branding, the Xperia S was shown streaming music via a ball shaped Bluetooth speaker – the SRS-BTV25, released at the end of last year.
Elsewhere, we got a better idea of the Xperia S SmartTag functions and how Sony think consumers will use them. The NFC enabled keyring-sized tags can be placed anywhere and can be programmed to activate certain phone functions. Keeping a SmartTag in your car could prompt your phone to activate GPS and launch Google Navigation, for example. Sony couldn’t confirm how many SmartTags will come bundled with the Xperia S and suggested that different retailers would offer different bundles for the premium price phone – current estimates suggest a £425 price for the pay-as-you-go version.
Disappointingly, the demo team couldn’t get the novel watch accessory to sync with the Xperia S and deliver Facebook, Twitter and SMS functions. Google app Android functions were shown across a range of products too – from set-top Google TV boxes with built-in Blu-Ray players to traditional tablets and laptops. 2012 really does seem like the year when connectivity across home technology gets serious, if only because it’s hard to find a Sony product which isn’t wi-fi enabled or offers Bluetooth or DLNA streaming.
The DLNA features on the Xperia S are key to the range of other Sony products too. The new range of Sony TVs offer quick (around 6-7 seconds) streaming of movie content to screen just like the recently released Tablet S. Side by side, they look like a matching phone and tablet and the thinner, stylish range of 4K 3DTVs show that Sony is banking on style and ultra high-end specs to take on Samsung and LG this year. Even the new range of Sony docks include a £500 premium price AirPlay iPod dock designed to “compete with the likes of Bowers and Wilkins” say Sony, clearly aiming at the style market and the luxury Zeppelin dock produced by Bowers and Wilkins, not to mentioned the forthcoming DA-E750 valve powered hi-fi dock by Samsung.
Sony are expected to reveal a UK release date for the Xperia S soon and early March looks likely.
