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Sony Announces New Smart Home Speaker With Built-In Google Assistant and Gesture Controls

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Sony today announced a collection of new products that it plans to showcase during the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin, Germany this upcoming weekend. One of the biggest additions to the company's line-up is a new smart home speaker, called the LF-S50G wireless speaker, which looks similar to Apple's upcoming HomePod, has a built-in Google Assistant, and is being pitched with a "high quality" music-focused message.

Users can start off music playback by saying "OK Google," and from there they can ask the assistant for any information that it normally provides, including basic trivia, unit conversions, nutritional information, recipes, and more. The sides of the speaker have an LED clock display, while the top includes various sensors that support gesture controls for starting a song, skipping a song, and adjusting volume.

sony-speaker.jpg
"Now you can get Sony's awesome sound quality and design with the Google Assistant built-in," said Mike Fasulo, President and COO of Sony Electronics. "This functionality is another example of Sony's commitment to customer choice by delivering new and innovative technologies."
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The LF-S50G wireless speaker includes a 360 degree, vertical two-way facing speaker system, which Sony said provides for "maximum sound coverage" in any average-sized room. The device's full range speaker reproduces vocal and treble notes, while a dedicated subwoofer reproduces bass sounds and an omnidirectional two stage diffuser evenly spreads the sound to anyone in the room. For music playback, the speaker supports smartphone pairing through Bluetooth and NFC.

Sony is billing the device as a kitchen assistant thanks to its included clock and timer functionality, as well as its IPX3 splash-proof design and a water repellant surface. Users will also be able to control connected smart home electronics, and connect other supported Sony wireless speakers that have Chromecast built-in, syncing the same music across multiple speakers in one home. The LF-S50G wireless speaker will cost $199.99, and Sony said that it will go on sale this October.

Sony also revealed a trio of new wireless headphones that are coming to the 1000X family of products, each bringing advanced noise cancellation features for users. The collection includes the "truly wireless" WF-1000X with an in-ear design, the WI-1000X with a behind-the-neck design, and the WH-1000XM2 with an around-the-ear design and more sound options to adjust to various noise levels and environments. The WH-1000XM2 headphones are the newest versions of the MDR-1000X from last year.

new-sony-headphones.jpg

The first device, the WF-1000X, is similar in functionality to many wireless headphones on the market, like Apple's AirPods. When taken out of the included charging case, the earbuds automatically connect to the user's smartphone, and Sony said that the case allows users to listen to nine hours of music on the go. In terms of price, the WF-1000X earphones will cost $199.99, the WI-1000X will cost $299.99, and the WH-1000XM2 will cost $349.99, and all three devices launch in September.

For more information on Sony's announcements, check out the company's IFA-focused press release here. One of the other notable unveilings centered around three new Xperia smartphones coming this fall, with a flagship feature called the "3D Creator." Sony described this as its in-house solution for 3D object scanning that allows users to create avatars, play with augmented reality camera effects, set a live wallpaper, send to friends as a sticker on social media, print on a 3D printer, and various other AR-related options.

Article Link: Sony Announces New Smart Home Speaker With Built-In Google Assistant and Gesture Controls
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2017/08/31/sony-new-smart-home-speaker/
sshambles said:
That home speaker looks familiar... especially in those 2 exact colours...
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Yeah, but Sony didn't knock those together between June and today so it's more like Armageddon and Deep Impact being made and released almost simultaneously.

I have a bunch of Sony BT speakers and they're very hit and miss sound wise... the small SRS-X33 sounds great while the large SRS-X77 is very dull and underwhelming. So there's no telling where this one will go. Love the clock, though... and regrettably, Google Now runs circles around Siri. But then there's no AirPlay or W1, so pairing will be the usual mess. Hmmm.
 
There’s a big difference between the AirPods and the wireless earbuds from Sony. The latter have active noise cancellation. A big deal for those of us who need to but out noise on commutes etc. The AirPods, great as they are, are useless in this regard. It’s also a reason why their battery life isn’t as good as the AirPods.
 
jonnyb said:
There’s a big difference between the AirPods and the wireless earbuds from Sony. The latter have active noise cancellation. A big deal for those of us who need to but out noise on commutes etc. The AirPods, great as they are, are useless in this regard. It’s also a reason why their battery life isn’t as good as the AirPods.
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Well, hearing what's going on around you is kind of why we were equipped with ears in the first place, so it would appear that the AirPods have a massive advantage right there. I ditched beatsx in favor of AirPods for that reason (the beatsx don't have active noise cancellation, they just block way too much out and in a very unpleasant way).

Then again my first executive order as president of the world would be to ban active noise-cancelling headphones and make manufacturing and distribution thereof punishable by breaking wheel, so I'm slightly biased... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (same penalty for tailgating, texting while driving and chewing with mouth open).
 
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Anuba said:
Well, hearing what's going on around you is kind of why we were equipped with ears in the first place, so it would appear that the AirPods have a massive advantage right there. I ditched beatsx in favor of AirPods for that reason (the beatsx don't have active noise cancellation, they just block way too much out and in a very unpleasant way).

Then again my first executive order as president of the world would be to ban active noise-cancelling headphones and make manufacturing and distribution thereof punishable by breaking wheel, so I'm slightly biased... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (same penalty for tailgating, texting while driving and chewing with mouth open).
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I have the AirPods and I think they're great but they become pretty useless on my train commute, when the bass thrum of wheels on track sucks all the dynamism out of music. I use AirPods for when I need to hear the outside world and noise cancelling ones for when I don’t.

So, a pair of noise cancelling earbuds for using on the train is an ideal solution for me. Sometimes my over-ear ones just get too hot in the summer. Why are you so against noise cancelling headphones when they’re clearly so useful for certain people in certain situations? It seems a bit narrow minded.
 
jonnyb said:
I have the AirPods and I think they're great but they become pretty useless on my train commute, when the bass thrum of wheels on track sucks all the dynamism out of music. I use AirPods for when I need to hear the outside world and noise cancelling ones for when I don’t.

So, a pair of noise cancelling earbuds for using on the train is an ideal solution for me. Sometimes my over-ear ones just get too hot in the summer. Why are you so against noise cancelling headphones when they’re clearly so useful for certain people in certain situations? It seems a bit narrow minded.
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Your particular use case seems harmless and warranted, but that's far from always the case.

Apart from the fact that I think that such headphones are an antisocial, narcissistic two middle fingers in society's face (which is just my opinion and therefore unimportant), it's impractical as hell to be surrounded by voluntarily deaf people, and occasionally dangerous to both parties. To the users themselves ("Hey, knife-wielding terrorist at 3 o clock! HELLO?" "Hey, watch out for that falling grand pian-" *splat*"), but also to anyone around them, depending on situation. I've seen plenty of drivers using them. Car horns? Police/ambulance/firetruck sirens? Bystanders screaming "Hey stop, you just hit a stroller!!"? Naaah, screw that, I'm in my own universe! Here comes the bass drop!

One dark night a few months back I was walking on the sidewalk and catching up with a guy walking his rottweiler, I recognized the Sennheiser Momentum's glued to his ears and I thought "I bet this moron's gonna freak out when I pass him by out of nowhere, I just hope his humungous dog doesn't freak out by proxy". Well, the dog was cool, since it probably had me on the radar since the last block, but the guy practically jumped out of his clothes, scared witless by the mundane and highly regular existence of other people on the same street. It's not quite as imbecilic as walking around blindfolded with a bucket on your head, but almost. They should be used responsibly, but since we're dealing with humans, that's off the table about 2 seconds after the unboxing.
 
jonnyb said:
There’s a big difference between the AirPods and the wireless earbuds from Sony. The latter have active noise cancellation. A big deal for those of us who need to but out noise on commutes etc. The AirPods, great as they are, are useless in this regard. It’s also a reason why their battery life isn’t as good as the AirPods.
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Valid points. I don't require any noise cancellation, but if I did, the Airpods would be a disadvantage here. I think this is one area Apple can improve upon in the future with noise cancellation and a water resistance rating.
 
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