Sony shows first products in high-end Qualia line

NEWS

Sony has unveiled more details about its Qualia product line, which is designed to bring cutting-edge technologies to real-world products, but which has remained somewhat ambiguous so far. The company said initial products, arriving in August, will include electronics such as monitors and digital cameras. The consumer electronics giant announced late on Monday in Tokyo that the first products of the Qualia project will be available in Japan beginning 24 June. The Qualia line, which started in May 2001, will be made up of high-end consumer electronics products meant for the affluent consumer. They will be sold only through Sony stores initially and will be available in Japan, with European and US availability to be determined. Proposed Qualia products are reviewed by Sony's Qualia committee, which is made up of company chief executive Nobuyuki Idei and chief operating officer Kunitake Ando along with the heads of the company's various business units. The executives will review the products for functionality, specifications and ability to elicit strong responses from consumers. The new line is meant to drive innovation for features and products that can be used in other parts of Sony's various businesses. "By pushing the envelope, we hope that innovations will trickle down throughout the Sony line," said company spokesman Greg Dvorken. Business realities sometimes prevent truly innovative products from hitting the market, but in the case of Qualia products, engineers will be given more flexibility to develop a product, Dvorken said. The Qualia idea will likely be applied to other parts of Sony's business, but it will begin in electronics -- the company's largest revenue contributor and the department that took the hardest fall in the company's disappointing performance in the last fiscal year. During its fiscal year-end earnings call in late April, Sony Electronics' Tokyo-based parent reported disappointing results, causing its stock to drop more than 20 percent in the course of a couple of days to a 52-week low. The company cited the decrease in the sales of Vaio PCs, as well as CRT televisions, as some of the reasons for the electronics business' results. "This is a good time for Sony to be getting new and exciting products out the door," said Susan Kevorkian, an analyst with research firm IDC. "They have to play to their historical strengths, innovation and marketing." Kevorkian added that the company seems to be falling behind in product innovation and cited the portable digital audio space as an example. The company pioneered the Walkman, but it has taken a back seat to others, such as Apple, which developed the popular hard drive-based iPod player. "Cool technology is never enough in and of itself, it still has to appeal to the segment you're targeting," said Kevorkian. Sony has 17 Qualia products in the pipeline, but it announced four late on Monday. On 24 June, Sony will release the Qualia 015, a 36-inch color monitor that will sell for 1.3 million yen (about £6,700), and the compact Qualia 016, a 2.11 megapixel camera that will sell for 380,000 yen. The Qualia 016 camera will measure 2.7 inches wide, 0.9-inch high and 0.7-inch deep and will use the company's Memory Stick Duo removable flash memory format. The Qualia 015 monitor offers improved images through the use of filters. On 1 August, Sony will release the Qualia 004 -- a 6.2 megapixel digital projector for 2.4 million yen. And on 11 August, Sony will release the Qualia 007 Super Audio CD System high-end audio system for 800,000 yen with 700,000-yen 100W speakers. The Super Audio CD format offers better audio quality by cramming more than twice as much data onto a disc.

See the Hardware News Section for the latest update on everything from MP3 players and PDAs to supercomputing. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

ZDNet UK Live

@GrueMaster. I prefer horses for courses rather than one size fits all. I, and I suspect most other computer users, do not really wish to have...

2 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

The product that scares me every time I have to use it is the Office 2007 version of Excel. The first bug that I found was applying the median...

2 hours ago by greycynic on Ten flawed products that derail productivity

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

3 hours ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

4 hours ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

4 hours ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

5 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

5 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material

For Gnome 2 die-hards, it is possible to add icons to the bottom panel (or top top panel, if you prefer) which provide the exact Gnome 2...

6 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

Your comments would seem pretty naive and immature. Your 'solution' appears to be, "gee, let's all just give in to the hackers and give them...

6 hours ago by ramwellian on Cloud computing security: no more oxymoron?

"Interesting thought ... If you installed Win7 as a dual boot on a machine that previously only had Linux, and it wrecked your Linux installation,...

6 hours ago by BugStalker on Windows 7 Declares War on GRUB

This is an excellent summary of Ubuntu and Mint and the interface differences between them. Most such articles take a very partisan position for...

6 hours ago by whs001 on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

@ewallace. Not so clear. Anyone can obtain the text, for example from here http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2379. I support ACTA so long as it and...

7 hours ago by Moley on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions

I think WinRT is fantastic. I just wish it was an option for people that didn't want to go through Microsoft's App Store with its attendant...

10 hours ago by 45283 on Why Windows 8 needs architectural hygiene for WOA

Nine people? £30m? Who's back pocket is that lot going in? And IF they say it is for new buildings, what about all the ones the government has...

11 hours ago by Burn-IT on Police set to launch three £30m e-crime hubs

Just to be clear, nobody knows what is in the text of ACTA, here is a photograph of the text of ACTA http://twitpic.com/8h9iju as submitted to the...

11 hours ago by ewallace on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions

Unfortunately main issue is that ASUS is refusing to accept that they make some mistake on this version of asus Transformer prime. 1 - GPS sensor...

12 hours ago by fgvrg56 on Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Wi-Fi & GPS problems?

@Marcus A fair question. Just talked with Archos which said it was working on an announcement for next week....

13 hours ago by Ben Woods on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule

Any update on this, considering the claimed "first week of February"?

14 hours ago by Marcus Karlsson via Facebook on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule

Bill Goodrich : Just as al_langevin pointed out, with Windows Server 2008 there is no Services for Macintosh anymore. It's gone, not available....

23 hours ago by apexwm on Windows Server 2008 drops the ball for Mac compatibility

Replying to an old topic that I'm currently facing with my CEO (who is on a Mac). Our servers are primarily Windows Servers, office is about...

1 day ago by txtrainguy on Windows Server 2008 drops the ball for Mac compatibility

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Sony shows first products in high-end Qualia line

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Sony soups up PlayStation2

Sony division to offer self-destructing movie downloads

Six new desktops lead Sony's PC charge

Apple bucks a falling PC trend in UK and France

Apple takes top PC spot from HP

Post your comment

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in Desktop Hardware

Apple bucks a falling PC trend in UK and France

Apple takes top PC spot from HP

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Test Analyst - Business Intelligence /Data Warehousing

Test Analyst - Business Intelligence /Data Warehousing

Technical MI Manager - 50-60k - Leeds

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Case study: How cloud enables growth

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

News & Analysis

Reviews

Blogs

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features

ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Workspace IT / Desktop Hardware

Sony shows first products in high-end Qualia line

Daily Newsletters

Topics

Related stories

Post your comment

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

Latest in Desktop Hardware

Featured white papers

Latest jobs

Inside ZDNet UK

Resources

About Us

Member Services

Special Features

Advertising Features