Sony Electronics Forms 'Business Incubation Group' to Help Bring Conceptual Design to Consumer Market

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Mar 29, 2016, 01:00 ET

SAN DIEGO, March 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Electronics today announced the establishment of the Business Incubation Group (BIG), to consolidate its new concept design and technology products under one umbrella for US and Canada. The group comprises a number of currently segregated business hubs including - Life Space UX, Digital Paper, SmartEyeglass and Sports Entertainment Business. Each business entity pushes the boundaries of innovative technologies, by creating products that span and integrate conceptual consumer technology, human interaction and the environment around them. By forming the BIG, Sony can easily share resources, simplify and align go-to-market strategies, and help build class-leading products from engineering concept to end-user availability.

"At Sony, we have a strong heritage of pioneering consumer technology that impacts our daily lives. Each BIG business unit demonstrates our continued efforts in R&D and our focus on developing technology that embraces innovation and new thinking," said Mike Fasulo, President, Sony Electronics. "By consolidating and forming our new group, we can help drive these concepts out of the minds of engineers and into the hands of our consumers. Sony is paving the way with exciting and game-changing products that challenge current thinking, break new grounds and stimulate the human senses."

One group member, Sony's Life Space UX, creates products that change a user's interaction with the physical environment and their entertainment experience. 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector is already available in the US. This projector, when placed at the foot of a wall, transforms the entire wall into a life-size window into another world with an expansive 147 inch image that boasts four times the clarity of Full HD. Showcased on the east coast for the first time at the recent Architectural Digest Design Show in New York City, three new Life Space UX products will be available in the US in May 2016.

Already available in Japan is the LED Bulb Speaker, which seamlessly blends right into any living space. By screwing the speaker into a light bulb socket, users can enjoy music wirelessly anywhere in their home. The LED Bulb Speaker will be available for about $239.

Sony will also be launching the 10cm cubic Portable Ultra Short Throw Projector, equipped with internal speakers and battery. The projector is capable of throwing a 22" to 80" image onto walls, tables, or any other adjacent surface, in spite of its compact size. The projector will be available for about $999.

Finally, Sony will release the Glass Sound Speaker, which fills every corner of the room with crystal clear sound through the tube-shaped organic glass that envelops the LED source. It also showers the room with a warm glow that harmonizes beautifully with any interior. The Glass Sound Speaker will be available for about $799.

Other group include the "Future Lab Program" which embraces an approach to technological research and development that emphasizes an open creative environment and direct lines of communication with society, through which it aims to co-create new lifestyles and user value in the future. As part of this approach, the program will share concept prototypes with users while still at the development stage, and look to them for inspiration, leveraging their feedback to refine and evolve its projects.

Sony demonstrated first concept prototype in the US for the first time, at the recent South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas. The project, known as "N," is a concept prototype featuring a hands-free user interface that creates a new way of experiencing audio such as music and sound, allowing the user to receive audio information without having to insert any object into his or her ear.

For more information, please visit www.sony.com/news.

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