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JimNeusom
September 19th, 2005, 07:26 PM
Sony's LocationFree TV

By Jim Neusom

Sept 19, 2005



We all have to give Sony it's props...They've done it again

The Sony PSP is fastly becoming the device of choice for youth wanting mobile entertainment. Now they have come out with something for adults. The Sony LocationFree TV system (www.sonystyle.com (http://www.sonystyle.com)) is the ideal portable device (notice I didn't say mobile) for adults who want a large viewable high-resolution screen, interoperability with all home entertainment devices, and full wireless capability. It could quickly become the adult equivalent of the iPod, doing to file sharing and video streaming what iPod did to music distribution, making it easy and convenience.

Sony has announced that next month it will release its LocationFree TV. This lightweight personal viewer, available in 7- and 12.1-inch screen sizes, will wirelessly capture audio and video from an unobtrusive base station, that can be hooked up to your DVD player, VCR, or home stereo (even a TiVo or cable box). With your personal screen in hand, you can feel free to move about the house, or go outside to the pool or patio. You can take it on the road and it will connect with the base station via the Internet. Wherever there's a Wi-Fi hot spot, you can view the content in your home DVD player or VCR.

Back in the early days of cable when there was only three main broadcast channels, the question was: Why should I pay for what I'm already getting for free??? Now it is almost inconceivable of homes without MTV or the Discovery channel. Ken Kutaragi, President of Sony Computer Entertainment, has reorganized Sony into a concentrated one stop shop for multimedia entertainment, and is long on his way to restoring to prominence the once vaulted Sony band name. Sony is a true triple threat; great content, efficient delivery, and market power.

Think I'm joking? Remember when direct-to-video was a dirty joke...now movies generate millions of dollars and never see a big screen theatrical release. LocationFree TV can be the beginning of direct-to-digital. Today the most popular online application for Adults is streaming video; the most popular in-home digital device is Tivo like DVR's; the newest fad in online communication is VideoBloging; guess what's going to happen when you converge these digital technologies with the portability of large color screen, that’s works almost anywhere...that is the promise of LocationFree TV.



Using a touch screen…you control a base station that connects to any video source. Cable or satellite boxes, Tivo's or DVD players. You can also browse the Web and check email from the LocationFree screens. And because they have Ethernet and Wi-Fi capability…you can network them with your PC and take your entire multimedia collection on the road (photo's, music, movies). And the neat thing is…you can access your TV content…live or recorded…from wherever you have a high speed Internet connection. Imagine the possibilities...Sharing home movies with friends and family while on vacation, incorporating full multimedia presentations into off-site business demonstrations, real-time news and stock reports while enjoying a latté at Starbucks.

The LocationFree TV system is still in the last stages of development, but we have high hopes that it will fulfill its promise--any gadget that sends wires packing is a winner in our book. Right now the LocationFree systems is kind of pricey, 7-inch model, will be priced around $1,000, with the 12.1-inch, going for $1,500, but like all consumer devices the price is expected to drop. For a full featured interactive demo, check out Sony's website at http://204.57.184.157/flash.html (http://204.57.184.157/flash.html)

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About The Author:

James I. Neusom, II is the founder and publisher of the City Lights Reporter an online news journal that focuses on afrocentric and multicultural technology based, issues, people, and websites. He is also an e-commerce software developer, Webmaster, and Internet promoter.

His stated corporate goal is to assist African Americans and people of color in the achievement of social and economic equality on the Net. He is a credentialed freelance writer and his opinions and insights can be found on websites, community publications and many international publications.

He is a national speaker, and donates his time to teach and encourage small, minority and women owned business to get involved in Internet technology.

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phillel
September 21st, 2005, 10:43 AM
And because they have Ethernet and Wi-Fi capability…you can network them with your PC and take your entire multimedia collection on the road (photo's, music, movies). And the neat thing is…you can access your TV content…live or recorded…from wherever you have a high speed Internet connection. Imagine the possibilities...Sharing home movies with friends and family while on vacation, incorporating full multimedia presentations into off-site business demonstrations, real-time news and stock reports while enjoying a latté at Starbucks.
i hope that they include that functionality. it would really be nice to be able to access your computer's audio and video files anywhere with a hispeed connection. as for now, it seems that you can't do that with this product. the Home Networking FAQ's say that you CAN connect to your home network's router with LocationFree TV, but you CANNOT access other devices on your home network via the LocationFree TV :eek:. Huh??? that seems like an obvious feature people, including me, would want to have. i don't get it?

JimNeusom
September 21st, 2005, 12:16 PM
Hi Phillil,

Yes, Sony has included the PC option into it's LocationFree TV system.

For more info, follow this link to a PC World article;
http://www.pcworld.com/resource/article/0,aid,122422,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp
Sony Brings Location Free TV to PCs



Network base station can stream live television and video content to remote PCs.

Martyn Williams, IDG News Service
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Sony will begin selling from October a network base-station that can stream live television and other video content through a home network or across the Internet to remote PCs.

phillel
September 28th, 2005, 01:07 AM
well, i guess what i was thinking was...what if i'm out of town in a hotel with a hispeed connection and my laptop. i think that this base station will allow me to access my PVR or DVD player or live TV back at home, so for instance, i can watch tv from my PVR. but i don't think that this system will allow me to watch video files stored on my desktop PC back at home:

Users log into the device via dedicated viewer software and from there it's possible to watch live TV, change channels, and access and control any additional audio-visual devices hooked up to the system, such as satellite or cable TV tuners or video disc players. it seems like it can connect to audio-visual devices, but i don't know if it can make a pc-to-basestation-to-pc connection.