TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Sony Corp gave a fresh peek on
Wednesday into its strategy for linking consumer electronics to
the Web, unveiling a Net-connected video recorder that can seek
out and record TV programs it thinks its owner would like.
The device, which uses a hard-disk drive instead of optical
discs or magnetic tapes, will be the first of Sony's "Cocoon"
line of products that aim to become an alternative to the PC
for accessing Internet content.
"Until now our home network strategy has been PC-centered,
but in the broadband era, in addition to the PC, we'll have
non-PC gateways such as audio-video products and mobile
terminals," Sony President Kunitake Ando told a news
conference.
"The TV will change fundamentally," he said.
The recorder includes a 160 gigabyte hard-disk drive, able
to record 15 hours of high-definition TV or up to 100 hours of
standard quality programs, with a possible expansion to 320
gigabytes.
Hooked to an always-on broadband Internet connection, it
accesses programming information online and records TV programs
that match preferences selected from among 44 keywords.
It can also analyze previous choices and items stored on
its hard disk to discern a user's tastes and automatically
record programs that fit that profile.
It apologizes if the user rejects its selections.
Sony will also offer a service, for a fee, that lets users
set the machine from a cellphone to record a TV program.
The product will be rolled out in Japan on November 1 but
the company has not decided when it might be put on sale
overseas.
JAPAN FIRST
"We did the same with the Vaio: We create momentum in
Japan, and then take it abroad," said Koichiro Tsujino, head of
Sony's Network Terminal Solutions Company.
He said this strategy would let Sony take advantage of
Japanese interest in hot new technology, which is stronger than
among highly price-conscious U.S. consumers.
And indeed, the Cocoon machine won't be cheap: Sony expects
it to retail for about 130,000 yen ($1,110) and has targeted
initial production of 5,000 units a month.
Sony has outlined a strategy of opening four home gateways
to the Internet: TVs, PlayStation 2 game consoles and mobile
phones, as well as the PC.
Unlike Sony's Vaio PCs, Cocoon does not use Intel Corp
microchips and Microsoft Corp software, which have taken the
lion's share of profits in the PC sector.
Cocoon uses the freely available Linux operating system and
a microprocessor based on reduced instruction-set computing
technology developed by MIPS Technology Inc
Future products may include DVD recording or other
functions, but for now executives were stressing the advantages
of hard-disk drives, which hold up to eight times more data per
square inch than a digital versatile disc (DVD).
They also said Cocoon goes a step beyond digital video
recorders using technology from TiVo Inc, which Sony has
licensed.
A company spokeswoman cited broadband connections and
greater disk storage capacity among Cocoon's advantages.
Details of the product strategy were not enough to halt a
slide in Sony's shares, which followed the rest of the market
in a slide to new lows for this year.
Sony ended Wednesday trade down 3.19 percent at 4,850 yen.
($1=117.13 Yen)
