Sony Unveils New Calling-Capable SmartBand Talk, Android Wear SmartWatch 3 and Lens-style cameras

[RedOrchestra]

WOW ... it's getting crowded out there ... lots of good stuff showing up in the market at price points considerably less than Apples.

Since most users of tablets are just FaceBookers, YouTubers, etc, etc, etc and don't have a clue about operating systems - it'll be pretty hard for them, and their parents, to justify the higher mark-up of Apple products.

 

[zebtron]

"When are you coming home?" because this is what i want to be seeing on my wrist.

If this image is supposed to convince me I need a SmartWatch it is failing to do so.

It's what you want to be seeing on your wrist when you're driving and your phone is blowing up with texts.

Also, it will save a ton of battery life on your phone since you don't have to log into/use your phone every time you want to read a simple text. (I hide text content from the lock screen.)

 

[charlituna]

[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


Not content to allow Samsung to steal the spotlight, Sony today also kicked off the IFA 2014 conference with its own press event that unveiled new wearable devices, new smartphone photography accessories, and several new mobile devices. Sony's newest hardware is slated to arrive in the coming months with price points that are yet to be determined.

And thus Sony sets themselves up to repeat the great "failed to kill the iPad" craze of 2010.

These companies need to get the clue that it's not about when you announce but when you release. If Apple does release a wearable it will likely be announced next week with a clear price and a better release date than "coming months".

Frankly Sony's specs sound like they read all the iWatch rumors and just shoved all of it together. They might not even have a fully working prototype, much less component and production deals, which is why they can give these two details yet. The lack of this information is going to make the common populace less likely to wait when Apple has something on the market they can already buy

 

[lzyprson]

I give it to Sony for trying and I agree with a lot of your posts.. Some of this stuff looks pretty good.

I was really a proponent to the made for iPhone lenses until i tried a nice one for the first time a couple months ago... I use a DSLR of course, but also a point and shoot as well as my iPhone. last year when i got the 5s i completely stopped using my point and shoot after finding out that iPhone pics could be printed and blown-up to poster size with no distortion whereas my point and shoot could not...

Point and Shoots are going the way of the dinosaur. Would you rather carry your phone and camera, or your phone and only a lens to enhance what your iPhone can already do?

I don't think a phone could ever replace an SLR, but i'm starting to doubt that , because the phones are getting soo good... (and so thin...)

 

[TechZeke]

I like how everyone is releasing everything ahead of the iPhone 6/rumored iWatch event. So far, Apple has allot of stuff they need to compete with. Right now, Tim Cook is either 1) indifferent, 2) scared from all these new devices, or 3) confident that his product is going to be much better. Hopefully it isn't the second one.

 

[Ventilatedbrain]

Sony is showing life.

Every year i use a different OS on phones, 2 years ago, i sold my 4s for a nexus 4 and this year i sold my 5s for an Xperia Z1 compact.

As a result i really like sony and i am enjoying the phone, I used to charge my iPhone 3 times a day because of work, this lasts me a full day.

Its not perfect and it no iPhone, but it is a very charming handset and the fact that i could get it in lime lured me even more..

 

[GeneralChang]

It almost makes you feel bad for Sony, because these are actually cool products, but you know no one is going to buy them

I know. I like the idea of those external cameras, and the rest of their device linup seems much better quality than Samsung.

 

[charlituna]

Sony, Samsumg, MS, they are all shaking. Showing their roadmap right before Apple's keynote.
I definitely understand Apple's secrecy

The roadmap doesn't matter. When the product can be bought does. This is a repeat of all the tablet announcements to beat the ipad. But none of them went on sale before the iPad and Apple scored like 80% of the marketshare in a matter of a few weeks

 

[theluggage]

Who is going to buy a lens extension for a phone instead of just a camera?

Its not a lens extension - its an image sensor as well, basically a complete camera minus the display.

You have a phone with a large, super-high-res display & touchscreen, serious processor power and copious flash memory plus WiFi and mobile network connectivity - running a standard OS with a huge range of apps. Its considerably more powerful than the 'computer' built into your typical digital camera. The only thing stopping it being a better camera than your camera is that it is knobbled with a microscopic image sensor and tiny lens with a focal length the size of a gnat's whisker and rubbish light-collecting power.

Using a powerful smartphone as a "front end" for a decent lens and sensor, rather than duplicating all that functionality in a camera (and needing a separate mobile data account), makes a lot of sense.

 

[charlituna]

I see everyone is getting their products out before Sept 9th? Let Apple see everyone's products first so they can adjust the Keynote as needed? Nice...ummm...strategy?

Apple is unlikely to adjust a thing. They have enough to talk about without giving attention to these announcements.

 

[Mildredop]

It's not about what Apple releases. It's about what Apple rumored to be working on, plan to work on, or will work on. Other companies learned their lessons from the first iPhone. Back then, nobody care that Apple was working on a phone. They sat on their asses until the iPhone took them by surprise. this time, they're more proactive and keep an eye on Apple at all times. That is the inspiration.

Laughable.

 

[Oracle1729]

Sony, Samsumg, MS, they are all shaking. Showing their roadmap right before Apple's keynote.
I definitely understand Apple's secrecy

I think this is where Apple's secrecy is going to hurt them. Why is Apple so scared to show their cards before they play them?

I bought a galaxy S4 on a nice long Canadian 3-year contract a few weeks after the iPhone 5S came out. I prefer the iPhone and iOS in every way except for me, the dinky little iPhone screen ruined it. As of today, everything official from Apple *still* says their screen size will not change it's only because of those leak Timmy promised to double down on blocking that we know the next iPhone will have a better screen. If Apple spilled their roadmap a little, I'd have held out for iPhone 6 instead of switching to android.

I wanted to buy a mac mini in summer 2013, but I wasn't buying tech that was over a year out of date then. Earlier this year, I gave up waiting and put together a nice little i7 haswell windows 7 box. I'd much rather have waited for a new mini, but how long can you wait with no idea if or when there will ever be a new version?

 

[RedOrchestra]

Apple is unlikely to adjust a thing. They have enough to talk about without giving attention to these announcements.

History shows that Apple spends the first 20 minutes of their Keynotes BASHING the competition, then break out into 5,000 amazings + 5,000 awesomes - September 9th will be standard fare.

 

[chagla]

"When are you coming home?" because this is what i want to be seeing on my wrist.

If this image is supposed to convince me I need a SmartWatch it is failing to do so.

you make it sound like showing message is the only thing it's capable of doing... is that so?

 

[Fenez]

I just can't imagine these wrist devices being a huge benefit..I haven't worn a watch in years because the time is on my phone...all the other stuff they are supposed to do seems redundant..who knows, maybe they can come up with a device that appealing?

 

[TTile]

The roadmap doesn't matter. When the product can be bought does. This is a repeat of all the tablet announcements to beat the ipad. But none of them went on sale before the iPad and Apple scored like 80% of the marketshare in a matter of a few weeks

Marketshare is an irrelevant data point. It's analogous to saying that GM is better than BMW because the former sells more cars.

 

[neuropsychguy]

That watch looks heavy. I wonder what Apple is cooking up with their iWatch. 6 more days!

I'd limit expectations for the 1st version of the iWatch. Now the 2nd version is where things will get interesting.

 

[Jessica Lares]

I wish they made the camera adapters for the iPad.

 

[TTile]

I think this is where Apple's secrecy is going to hurt them. Why is Apple so scared to show their cards before they play them?

I bought a galaxy S4 on a nice long Canadian 3-year contract a few weeks after the iPhone 5S came out. I prefer the iPhone and iOS in every way except for me, the dinky little iPhone screen ruined it. As of today, everything official from Apple *still* says their screen size will not change it's only because of those leak Timmy promised to double down on blocking that we know the next iPhone will have a better screen. If Apple spilled their roadmap a little, I'd have held out for iPhone 6 instead of switching to android.

I wanted to buy a mac mini in summer 2013, but I wasn't buying tech that was over a year out of date then. Earlier this year, I gave up waiting and put together a nice little i7 haswell windows 7 box. I'd much rather have waited for a new mini, but how long can you wait with no idea if or when there will ever be a new version?

Apple leaks information to certain sources from time to time. There were mentions of a larger screen iPhone almost a year ago. As for the Mac mini there has been absolutely no news on it so I wouldn't be surprised if it took another year (or more) until it was updated.

 

[Mockenrue]

Incredible how what a company (Apple) might do can inspire others to actually do...

So the watch was inspired by the Apple rumor and had nothing to do with the Pebble watch craze on Kickstarter? And the band was inspired by the Apple rumor and had nothing to do with successful products like Fitbit, Nike Fuel Band, etc.?

But somehow Apple's 5.5" phone is not copying or following the Galaxy Note line that was mocked by Apple and fans upon release, but has become one of the most successful electronic product categories...

 

[coolfactor]

That watch looks heavy. I wonder what Apple is cooking up with their iWatch. 6 more days!

Definitely interesting times, eh? What if Apple comes on stage and doesn't even talk about wearables? Wouldn't that just be the biggest shocker? But then again, what if they come on stage and introduce an iWatch that's out of this world amazing? Both are possibilities. I must admit, I'm torn. I just hope that the iWatch isn't some accessory and extension to the iPhone. It needs to be fairly standalone in its operation.

 

[Huracan]

How many of these are they selling? Don't seem like a product I would personally buy. Haven't read all the details, but how would you talk with this. Talk to the sleeve, then pull wrist to ear to hear the other side of the call with your elbow up in the air above your head? Not for me.

 

[grahamperrin]

When you know, Jack.

When you know that the delicate wrists of ladies are not flattered by a small microwave oven door surrounded by unshapely black rubber from a car radiator hose.

That's when I'm coming home, Jack Williams.

PS while I think of more reasons to stay out, can you message me with the time? I can't read it on this wristwatch.

 

[tgwaste]

is this a mac rumor?

 

[IJ Reilly]

Off-topic: That AAPL stock tho.

Technical factors rule on otherwise quiet news days. Probably lots of stop orders out at around $100. I set one myself a couple of days ago, which executed this morning at $102 and change.