Showing posts with label Sony. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sony. Show all posts

Dec 1, 2017

Top Online TV

Vizio took home the gold in Brand View’s latest analysis of 4K TV online selling. Brand View analyzed online performances of the top five most-listed 4K TV brands in the following sites: BestBuy.com, Walmart.com, Target.com, Crutchfield.com, and Frys.com.
In calculating the scores, Brand View used the following criteria:

Discoverability
*Can shoppers find the products on the digital shelf?
*Do the products return on the first page of results when searched for by category, or by keywords, such as “4K television” or “4K TV.”

Representation
*Is the brand name present and correct in product descriptions?
*Is key product information, including descriptions, images and videos, accurately listed on retailer websites?

Engagement
*Are shoppers engaging with the brand online?
*How do the product reviews and ratings represent the brand?

Although Vizio took top billing with an overall score of 3.6 stars, it was a tight race, with LG coming in a close second at 3.3. Brand View determines its overall rankings using a proprietary weighted method, not an average

Vizio 3.6
LG 3.3
Samsung 3.0
Sony 2.8
Hisense 2.3
Incidentally Toshiba recently sold its TV and visual solutions business to Hisense.

May 1, 2015

History of CDs

Compact discs, or CDs, were one of the defining technologies of the 1990′s and 2000′s. They successfully killed cassette tapes, and are likely the last physical audio technology that we will ever have, as digital formats now dominate the music industry.

CD’s were actually invented during 1974, nearly a decade before they even became available to the public market.

The inventors were the Dutch company Philips and the Japanese company Sony. In the mid 70′s, both companies independently began working on technologies that could imprint digital sound onto a small plastic disc. The two companies joined forces to develop the technology as fast as possible. The first album ever recorded on CD was ABBA’s The Visitors in 1981 LINK.

Mar 13, 2015

Five Company Name Origins

Etsy, The online crafts marketplace tried to use a “complicated name-generating script” that never worked. Rather than fix the kinks, they ran with the program’s codename, Etsy, and told the media it was an interpretation of the Italian (“oh yes”) and Latin (“and if”) sayings.

Microsoft, Paul Allen not Bill Gates, came up with the name for their billion-dollar PC dynasty. He found inspiration from the creation of MICROprocessors and saw the future of computers in SOFTware, leading to the blend of terms.

Instagram, Seeking a title that personified the belief of “right here, right now,” the folks behind Instagram merged the terms “instant camera” and “telegram” to play off the app’s speedy interaction. It took them a week and half to think of something that could be recognized and “spellable” for bar crowds.

Sony, Combine the Latin term for sound ‘sonus’ with the American slang for bright youngster ‘sonny’ and you have the name for a billion-dollar electronics business. Founder Akio Morita believed ‘Sony’ was a way of letting the public know they “were sonny boys working in sound and vision” in the industry at the time. It is also an easy pronunciation in all languages.

Twitter, The social network considered Twitch. Former CEO Jack Dorsey was not sold on it, so he had the team pick a name from a hat and ‘Twitter’ became its dual-meaning of bird chirping and chattering to describe the service.

May 19, 2011

Pocket Picks

Back in 1982, Sony came out with the 'Watchman', a flat panel black and white TV that was 7 inches by 3 inches, with a 1 3/4 inch screen and weighed about 22 ounces. It hit the US two years later, in 1984. It was amazing for its time.

Sony also had the 'Walkman' portable music player that you could carry with you. It came out in 1979.

Apple just took those concepts a few steps further with it's iPad, which combines TV, music, and computer technology in roughly the same size package. It just took 30 years for smaller, faster technology to catch up. I can hardly wait for the next 10 years, when all of this technology will be placed in a pair of glasses, and voice controlled.

Apr 1, 2011

Video Cameras

In 1956, Ray Dolby, Charles Ginsberg, and Charles Anderson invented a video camera (records electronic images) that was the first machine to record both image and sound. The machines sold for $75,000 each and only sold to large TV networks until the 80's. The first commercial color video camera to utilize a completely solid-state image sensor called a charge-coupled-device (CCD) was developed by Sony in 1980.

Now we make homemade movies with an HD Video camera or hand-held camcorder (videocamera recorder) that can easily fit in any pant pocket.

Oct 27, 2010

Sony Walkman Farewell

Sony’s portable tape cassette player first released in 1979 has finally reached the end of its production life. The final batch was produced in Japan in April, 2010 and no more will be produced. Over 200 million cassette Walkman players have been sold.

The Walkman is widely credited with pioneering the concept of personal, portable audio beyond the radio. It helped spur on the cassette as a popular format and also maintained interest in albums. Interest began to fade in the 1990s when the Discman took over, and more decline followed with the iPod introduction. Wow, from revolutionary idea to demise in a few short years.

Jul 6, 2010

Internet TV and Hulu

I have written about this before. Seems like internet TV is inevitable. Now it looks closer than ever.

Last month, the same week Hulu announced a paid plan, news surfaced that it is talking with CBS, Viacom, and Time Warner TV divisions to add their shows. Free Hulu already includes “Fox, NBC Universal, ABC, ABC Family, Biography, Lionsgate, Endemol, MGM, MTV Networks, National Geographic, Digital Rights Group, Paramount, PBS, Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros. etc.

If paid Hulu (suggested $10 per month) works, the networks will have proof that they can circumvent cable and satellite companies and have the profit go directly in their pockets.

Bad news for the greedy cable companies. However, this will not happen overnight and the cable box is still easier for the uninitiated. I love competition.

Hmmm, think I found a new use for my old PC. You don't need a PC with much memory or fast speed, it all comes directly from the net. Just add a short cable from the PC to TV and all is well. An extra bonus is that you can do email or Facebook if a commercial shows up. As a bonus,YouTube looks great on a big screen.

Mar 15, 2010

3D is a Big Deal

Sony is announcing six new 3D ready TVs this year. Some come with the glasses and others require a separate purchase of glasses and infrared transmitters. It is planning for 3D to be ten percent of its TV sales. Panasonic and Samsung already have 3D sets available at Best Buy. Vizio, the number one largest LCD TV seller, is following with a 72inch, 480Hz LED 3D HDTV screaming stunner in August, with smaller 3D sets to follow. The 72inch is slated to cost a comparatively measly $3,500.

At least a dozen 3D movies are coming out this year and a large number of theaters are upgrading to 3D capable screens.

ESPN has been testing it for two years and recently announced it is coming out with an all 3D network June 11, and plans to have at least eighty-five 3D events ready this year. One caveat, the new network will go dark when no 3D is available. Discovery announced plans for its 3D network to begin broadcasting in 2011.

Gamers are also in on the 3D craze and Microsoft and others announced some of their new games in all 3D.

Just when we all have slipped into the HDTV age, another new technology makes it obsolete. Still, I don't see full scale adoption for another 4 - 5 years, but I do smell upcharges coming sooner to a cable network near you.