Sony at IFA 2012: Tablet S, 4K TV, Windows 8, and more

The distinction between the two versions of the flagship T device is actually bigger than Sony would have you believe: The Germany-only Xperia T has a dual-core Qualcomm processor, clocked at 1.5GHz, is thicker than the Europe-wide Xperia TX, positions the power button differently, and has a slightly less unified design. The specs are otherwise a total match, including the 4.6-inch 1280 x 720 display, 13-megapixel Exmor R camera, and Android 4.0 OS.

Both handsets take inspiration from Sony’s successful Xperia Arc smartphone of 2011, including the subtle concave curve of the back (now even subtler), though they upgrade the back cover with a new soft-touch matte surface that feels a lot better in the hand than the glossy plastic of the Arc. Alas, Sony couldn’t restrain itself from injecting glossy sheen entirely, and there’s a reflective strip wrapping around the sides of the Xperia TX, framing the display in an unnecessary sliver of glitz.

At large gadget conventions like IFA, the most-talked about company is often the one who isn’t there: Apple. This year, the elephant in the room is actually Microsoft and its two Surface tablets. The Surface is now the de facto competitor and the standard by which these Windows 8 OEMs will be judged. Sony and Samsung have revealed their latest tablet strategies at IFA 2012 as they prepare to enter the all-important holiday season. Both have shown off new tablets, hybrids, and phones — but as much as the two companies are going head-to-head with each other, they will also be competing with Microsoft’s Surface, and not just on specs.

Samsung’s strategy to compete is, in a word, “ecosystem.” The company appears to be attempting to build an ecosystem on top of Windows 8 in the same way it has been trying to build an “S App” ecosystem on top of Android. With Windows 8, Microsoft is not only providing an operating system but competing against its own vendors with the Surface. Samsung can’t simply just release PCs and tablets anymore, it needs a better story.

It may not have been the most significant of Sony’s announcements today at IFA, but it’s certainly the largest: the company introduced the XBR-84X900, its first 4K TV. We got a closer look at the TV at a small event in New York City, and there were definitely a few gasps when the first footage — of an orchestra, of all things — came on screen. We spent a few minutes watching the TV’s montage of 4K video, and nearly everything we saw looked fantastic (other than the weirdly low-res volume display, that is). It sounded good, too, thanks to a ten-speaker array on the TV. Of course, our expectations are high given the likely sticker price of this beast: Sony plans to announce pricing next week, but rest assured it’s going to be a huge number.

The question, as always: where will content come from? The TV can display footage up to 3,840 x 2,160 in resolution, but there’s not that much of the content out there. We asked Sony America COO Phil Molyneux that question, and his answer was basically “it’s coming later.” Sony recently launched a 4K camera, the FS700, and the company’s hoping that will help bring more content that’ll look great on the new screen. For now, though, upscaling’s the name of the game.

Sony held a big press event at IFA in Berlin today, but we spent also got to spend some time with Sony Electronics America COO Phil Molyneux in New York. What’s interesting is that Sony isn’t announcing the intriguing VAIO Duo or Tap 20 Windows 8 PCs in America just yet — Phil told us that SEA wants to announce those later in a more focused way. But we did get to talk about Sony’s updated Tablet S, which looks quite nice.

Interestingly, Phil told me that Sony chose only to update the previous Tablet S and drop the funky dual-screen Tablet P. “The clamshell type, although it’s very innovative, it seems consumers weren’t embracing it to the level we expected,” said Phil. “So we put our focus and our energy into creating a beautiful new second-generation tablet.” That’s sad news for fans of alternative form factors, but it’s far from a surprise — dual-screen products have almost universally failed in the market, and Sony needs to prove it can deliver a compelling standard tablet before it does anything else.

Sony is just about out of letters to use for its Xperia lineup. (Look for the company to patent a new alphabet in the near future.) The company today announced three new phones — the T / TX flagship and the lower-tier V and J models. At face value, there isn’t much aesthetic difference — similar design, slightly different materials, the lack of “Xperia” on the front plate for Xperia V and J. (The J in particular also seems especially prone to fingerprints.)

The Xperia T is the clear flagship here, with 4.6-inch HD Reality display and Sony’s Mobile Bravia engine. The dedicated hardware camera button did pull up the app fast and taking pictures in the environment was fairly quick, but we’ll reserve final judgment for a review unit. The phone will be known as the Xperia TX in the markets, with the only difference being that Xperia T is “the ultimate HD experience as used by James Bond.” Seriously, it’s on the adjacent spec sheet — the “one Sony” synergy is strong with this one. Until their Q4 launch, enjoy the new Xperia lineup vicariously in pictures.

We’ve just gotten our first look at Sony’s VAIO Duo 11, a “hybrid-style ultrabook” with a hinge that slides the keyboard in, turning it into a Windows 8 tablet. The touch-equipped device looks light as a notebook, but it’s hefty as a tablet. The 11.6-inch device is supposed to weigh about 2.9 pounds, a little more than Microsoft’s Surface, but it’s not too difficult to hold with both hands. The display units have a separate supplementary battery, which adds significantly to the weight. The final battery time isn’t set yet; Sony promises us a “full work day” with the supplementary battery attached once the tablet has been released. The version I saw used an Intel Core i7 processor with 8GB of RAM, but customers will be able to select an i5 or i3 as well.

Update: Video hands-on!

Sony’s new $399 Xperia Tablet S has the familiar “folded magazine” form factor as its previous tablet, but it’s way thinner and fairly light. It’s quite nice, actually. Performance was smooth in in the time we had it (which, admittedly, are ideal settings), and there’s an interesting dongle to cover up the port for complete “splash-proof” protection — but thankfully that can be plugged in and still work with the various stands and docks. Sadly, the Tablet S is running Android 4.0 at this point — no hints of what Jelly Bean might look like on this — and the Remote Control app wasn’t functional. A shame, too, since there are some pretty impressive-looking TVs just a few feet away.

We also got to spend some time with the $99 keyboard dock, which plugs into a dock connector port on the bottom of the tablet and provides pass-through power from a wall charger. The keys themselves are a capacitive, much like what Microsoft’s Touch Cover for Surface, and the gaps in between are felt, so you can tell them apart just by touch. That said, typing fast was a little harder than you’d expect — there’s no tactile sense of when you’ve hit the key enough. It seems like a little practice would improve things a lot, but we’ll see when this thing ships next month.

GoPro is the name everyone thinks of when it comes to small rugged cameras that can be mounted virtually anywhere, but now Sony is aiming to grab a piece of that pie. The new Action Cam HDR-AS10 and Wi-Fi-equipped HDR-AS15, announced today, can shoot full 1080p HD video and 16-megapixel stills in nearly any weather condition. Both cameras weigh about three ounces and feature ultra-wide angle Carl Zeiss lenses that can capture a 170-degree field of view and have Sony’s SteadyShot image stabilization system.

Sony claims that the camera’s Exmor R CMOS sensor offers “stunning low light sensitivity with improved image clarity and drastically reduced grain,” though we will have to see how that stacks up in real-world use. The Action Cam has five different video modes, including 60p and 120p slow-motion modes (at 720p resolution), as well as Interval Still Recording modes for time-lapse photography. Recording is controlled by a large start / stop button, and the camera can store footage on either Sony’s Memory Stick Micro cards or the far more popular microSD and microSDHC cards. There is also a stereo microphone and an HDMI port to display footage on an HDTV.

Sony has just officially announced its new 84-inch 4K television at its IFA 2012 press conference, the company’s first 4K TV, and its first TV with passive 3D viewing. Sony says the new XBR-84X900 television is capable of upscaling content to 4K (that’s a resolution of 3,840 x 2,160) from any source, including things like digital photos from the PlayStation 3. As you can see from the picture above, the panel is a sizable stand-up unit with two long vertical speaker bars — Sony says the TV incorporates a 50 watt “10 unit live speaker system” that provides 5.1 surround sound. The XBR-84X900 is also a connected television with Wi-Fi, and Sony says it can be controlled with a smartphone or tablet via the company’s Media Remote app.

The announcement extends Sony’s recent foray into the world of 4K with new video cameras and projectors, and comes even as Sony has said it plans to reduce its investment in its flagging TV business. Sony says the new 4K TV will be available this holiday season, though no price has been announced yet. Stay tuned for our hands-on with Sony’s new 4K beast, and be sure to check the rest of our IFA 2012 coverage for other announcements.

The other new feature is Wi-Fi connectivity: the NEX-5R is Sony’s first interchangeable-lens camera to come with Wi-Fi, and the implementation is actually quite clever. It connects with Sony’s PlayMemries apps and service, giving you an easy way to backup and transfer photos off your camera. There are Android and iOS apps for PlayMemories, and both apps work well and connect easily to the camera — PlayMemories is a fairly mature service, so Sony didn’t have to reinvent the wheel for a Wi-Fi camera. Sony’s also going to be developing “Camera Apps,” small bits of added functionality or new features, which can be easily downloaded to the phone instead of requiring a huge firmware update.

Otherwise, the changes between the NEX-5N and the new NEX-5R are fairly evolutionary. The camera has a tiltable touchscreen with tap-to-focus and tap-to-shoot functionality, and can shoot 1080p video at 60 frames per second. It only weighs 7.7 ounces, too, which is perhaps its most compelling advantage over a DSLR.

Today at its IFA presser, Sony announced a 20-inch touch-enabled tabletop PC it’s calling the VAIO Tap 20. Featuring a unique adjustable stand that lets owners orient the device between upright and lay-flat positions, and paired with Microsoft’s touch-centric Windows 8 operating system, Sony describes the Tap 20 as “a fresh, new concept in home computing.” The company has tailored the PC for use in the living room, claiming its Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2 technology makes for smoother movie viewing and boasting of its audio prowess thanks to proprietary ClearAudio+ and S-Force Front Surround 3D sound. The Tap 20’s panel carries a resolution of 1600 x 900.

AIO’s have had touch capabilities for some time now, though Sony’s solution knocks out one of the more common complaints associated with such hardware: arm fatigue. When moved into a flat orientation, the Tap 20 might stir memories of Microsoft’s original Surface computing technology, an association solidified by the built-in “One-touch” interaction with supported NFC devices.

Speaking of Windows 8 Pro, the Duo 11 is a Pro device, carrying an Intel Core i7, i5, or i3 processor depending on configuration — there’s no Windows RT here and no sign that Sony is planning an RT variant (yet). Look for it to launch in late October, just in time to capture the first wave of Windows 8 retail launches.

During its big press event at the IFA trade show today, Sony unveiled its new Xperia T, V, and J smartphones. The Xperia T (known as the Xperia TX in some markets) is the company’s new global flagship model. It includes a 13-megapixel camera Sony’s “sleep to snap” fast shutter feature. The T has a 4.6-inch HD Reality display with Sony’s Mobile Bravia engine. It is powered by a dual-core, 1.5GHz processor that can play back 1080p HD video, and runs Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich from the get-go, though Sony promises that an update to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean is planned. The Xperia T is PlayStation Certified and will be available in black, silver, and white color options. Sony says it will be available worldwide in the coming weeks.

Similar to the T, the Xperia V adds LTE connectivity and the “highest level of water resistance available in a smartphone.” It has a slightly-smaller 4.3-inch HD display with Sony’s Mobile Bravia Engine 2 and a dual-core, 1.5GHz processor. Both the T and the V feature Sony’s new “one-touch” NFC technology that lets users pair the phone with accessories such as headphones and external speakers by just tapping the phone against the accessory. The Xperia V is also PlayStation Certified and runs Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich with a promised upgrade to Android 4.1 Jelly Bean to come after launch. Expect to see the V in black, pink, or white when it hits shelves in Q4 of this year.

Sony’s first round of tablets, the Tablet S and Tablet P, were interesting ideas that weren’t always well executed. But the company’s back at it, announcing today at IFA the new Xperia Tablet S. The new device looks a lot like the Tablet S, particularly the folded-back-magazine aesthetic, but it’s clear Sony took cues from what it — and its competitors — did right with all older tablets. The Xperia Tablet S is waterproof, and runs Android 4.0 on a Tegra 3 processor, but more than its pure power Sony’s promoting some of the software on the device. The Tablet S was a nifty IR-capable universal remote control, and Sony’s beefed up the functionality even more, adding support for macros so you can turn on a bunch of devices at once or easily tune to a certain channel with one press. Sony’s app also features a visual TV guide, which looks a lot like the Peel setup on some of the Galaxy Tabs we’ve seen.

There are more software tweaks, too, like a “Guest Mode” that lets you quickly configure which apps and settings are available to a particular user — turning off the Play Store for your kid could be huge. Some of Sony’s cross-platform services also come preloaded, like PlayMemories and the Reader app. Small Apps are basically the pop-up widgets we’ve seen on the Galaxy Note and others, which give you a quick pop-up with a notepad or calculator. In general, Android has been customized much like it is on Xperia phones – this is the first tablet with Xperia branding, and it fits into Sony’s lineup nicely.