Sony starts off by showing off Internet-integrated products
Sony North America President Phil Molyneux speaks at the Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
LAS VEGAS — Move over 3-D televisions. Internet connected TVs are the new darlings of the massive Consumer Electronics Show — the annual gala for everything from audio woofers to digital cameras to smart phones — that opened here Wednesday.
Web TVs, which allow users to access the Internet from the living room couch, have been around for about two years. But they are improving. And after 3-D televisions flopped with consumers in 2010, TV manufacturers and retailers are turning to Internet TVs as a better understood feature they hope will attract buyers.
Sony, whose North American electronics headquarters is in San Diego, will be leading the charge with its lineup of sets powered by Google TV — which allows full Web browsing. Other manufacturers are likely to be touting TV connectivity as well. Vizio, for example, is introducing a lineup of TVs that include “Vizio Internet Apps” that allow the TV to stream content from Netflix, Amazon, Pandora and others. Some of Irvine-based Vizio’s more expensive TVs, however, will support full-fledged Internet browsing.
“By March, more than 50 million TV screens in the U.S. will be Internet enabled by Sony Playstations, Sony Internet TVs and Sony Blu-ray players,” said Howard Stringer, chief executive of Sony Corp., at the company’s news conference Wednesday night after showing off the 3-D products and Internet-connected TVs that dominate the company’s line. “This is a significant base of connected products ... Size does matter.”
Sony had a larger display area on the show floor this year than last year, perhaps a signal of optimism from the consumer electronics giant of a better year in 2011.
The company furthered its 3-D push with lines of camcorders, cameras and Vaio computers with 3-D capability. It also touted 3-D content, with Seth Rogen and Jay Chou, the stars of Sony’s new “Green Hornet” movie, taking the stage in the souped-up car used in the movie.
Among the new products is a set top box that will be capable of delivering all Time Warner Cable channels to Sony Internet TVs via the Web, instead of using cable lines. The company also will launch a new streaming music service that will allow music to be streamed from the Web to several Sony devices, including TVs.
“Our goal is to bring a totally new experience to consumers,” said Phil Molyneux, president of Sony Electronics in San Diego.
More than 120,000 people will attend the CES show over the next several days at the Las Vegas Convention Center. About two dozen San Diego companies are expected to show off their wares, including Qualcomm, Entropic Communications and Cricket Wireless.
Internet-connected TVs account for about 15 percent of sets sold today in the United States, said Ross Rubin, an analyst with industry research firm NPD Group. Insets with a screen size above 40 inches, the number sold with Internet connectivity is much higher.
In a recent study, NPD found that of those people who have purchased Internet-connected TVs, more than half have connected the sets to the Internet, which is usually done with an Ethernet cable.
As more TV makers embed Wi-Fi as a way to connect TVs to the Internet, Rubin expects their popularity to grow. Several TV makers are expected to roll out sets featuring Wi-Fi. Sales of 3-D television were disappointing in 2010 in part because there were only a few dozen 3-D movies and other content available, said Paul Gagnon, an analyst with Display Search, which tracks TV technology.
However, 3-D TV will remain a hot topic as well as 3-D video games and new sets that allow viewing with less expensive glasses that are debuting at the show.
A few firms such as Toshiba are displaying 3-D technology that won’t require glasses.
“One big thing that is coming up at CES is a new version of 3-D TV, and they will use passive polarized glasses, which are the same glasses you use in the cinema,” said Chris Chinnock, senior analyst with technology research firm Insight Media.
LG, Vizio and Phillips are expected to show off sets that use inexpensive passive glasses instead of active shutter glasses, which can cost $100 a pair, he said.
“Sony and Samsung will stick with active shutter,” he added. “Vizio and LG also have active shutter sets. But I think they see the next big wave being a passive solution and they want to get out ahead of the curve.”
In addition, ancillary devices such as Bluray players are being introduced at the show with embedded chips and software that will allow them to connect to the Internet through the TV, which also may prove popular with consumers, say analysts.
TV makers likely will battle over whether consumers need full-blown Web browsing and applications on their TV, or whether they’ll be satisfied with more limited Internet access to targeted sites such as Netflix and YouTube.
Google TV powers Web browsing. But it also requires TV makers to embed a processor chip in their sets at extra expense.
“If you look at the Sony Google TV or Blu-ray player, they’re at about a $300 premium,” Rubin said. “When we look at things like searching the Web or apps for your TV, we’ve found that consumers are interested in that functionality, or at least early adopters are. But there are many variables.”
One of the variables is the surge in tablet computers. Rubin thinks tablets could become the device where consumers use apps while sitting on their couch — leaving the larger TV primarily for watching video.
New tablets from Motorola, Blackberry maker Research in Motion, Acer, Lenovo and many others will be unveiled, said Caris and Co. analyst Craig Ellis. In September, 32 tablets had been introduced to the market or had been announced to be coming to market soon worldwide, he said. At the show, he expects that number to surge to 69 devices.
That doesn’t count e-readers, which are expected to be hot products at the show.
The rise of tablets is important for San Diego’s Qualcomm, which not only makes chips that allow these devices to connect to the Internet via cellular networks but also makes the powerful Snapdragon application processor chip that serves as the brains to run the devices.
Ellis says Intel leads in processors running tablet computers, but Qualcomm and others are fighting to win a place in these devices.
Verizon Wireless is making a big splash at the show this year compared with past years — with good reason. It has spent billions to roll out its high speed 4G wireless network using Long Term Evolution, or LTE technology.
“This is uncharted territory for Verizon,” said Michael King, an analyst with industry research firm Gartner. “They have never been a technology front-runner. For them to do the first nationwide LTE network, and what is truly the first LTE network in the world, this is groundbreaking for them.”
The carrier now serves 38 cities with 4G, including San Diego. The service has been limited to devices for connecting laptops to the Internet. At the show, Verizon is expected to show cellular phones that can run on 4G.
Rumors have been circulating for months that Apple’s iPhone could be coming to Verizon’s network, but nothing has been disclosed. Verizon expects to offer 4G coverage, which includes download speeds of 5 megabits to 12 megabits per second on average, in all areas where it currently has 3G coverage by 2013.
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