In the race for virtual-reality dominance, Sony's PlayStation is about to win a critical lap: In October 2016, its VR headset will be the first tied to a video-game console. That's important because the PS VR, as it's known, can take advantage of the 36 million PS4 consoles already in homes across the planet. And, for those starting from scratch, the $400 price tag of the PlayStation 4 is far less than the $900 plus PC required to run competing products. It's VR gaming made easy.
For decades, aircraft design has focused on a central compromise: if an aerial vehicle wants to fly fast, it needs a plane-like body that cuts through the air and generates lift, but if it wants to take off and land vertically, it needs rotors and a much slower body. Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) is the kind of ability that usually comes with a pricetag of billions of dollars, like in the F-35B or the V-22. New drones can offer that ability at a fraction of the cost, like this new one from Sony's drone wing Aerosense.
Not all of the big announcements coming out of the annual E3 video game conference in Los Angeles this week deal with flashy new virtual reality or augmented reality. In fact, one of Sony's bigger reveals centered around good old fashioned TV. Sony announced that its streaming TV service Playstation Vue will soon be available to all Playstation 3 and PS4 game console owners across America, allowing them to purchase up to 85 channels separately or in various different bundles (priced at different tiers). The move could entice more Playstation owners to ditch cable TV entirely, ironically by imitating some parts of cable's business model.
Reality just isn't cutting it anymore. That's the only logical explanation for surging interest in virtual and augmented reality (AR) devices, and one Sony apparently believes: Today the company announced its own pair of awkward electronic glasses called "SmartEyeglass."
Among the problems with Google Glass—and there are many—is a general lack of style. Those who don't wear glasses regularly can find it cumbersome, while those who do may find it doesn't play well with their existing models. Sony's aiming to solve those problems with a new microdisplay that can turn any pair of glasses into a Google Glass-like device.
What time is it? Time to get a smartwatch made entirely out of electronic paper. That's what Sony's rumored to launch sometime next year, according to Bloomberg, and it makes sense: There's intense and burgeoning interest in wearable technology.
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