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Sony
merges wireless Web-surfing pad with TV
Sony unveiled a wireless Web-surfing device that also acts
as a television, signaling that momentum is finally building
for the long-awaited devices known as Web pads, last week.
The Airboard, which will be available in Japan on Dec. 1,
consists of a portable LCD display that locks into a base
station with a TV antenna and wireless modem.
The device also acts as a remote control for other household
electronics, such as a CD player or DVD player, that have
been plugged into the base station. The 10-inch LCD display
is a touch screen, on which owners can navigate the Web and
send emails. The Airboard will allow “picture-in-picture”
simultaneous viewing of both Internet and TV content, Sony
said.
The Airboard can also act as a display, showing digital images,
such as photographs, stored on a Sony Memory Stick. Although
many companies, including Gateway, have discussed or announced
plans to ship a so-called Web pad — namely a portable
LCD with touch-screen access to the Web and email — Sony
may become the first major manufacturer to actually introduce
such a product.
These mobile Internet appliances have been touted as an ideal
method of Internet access at home, but some of the hype has
died as costs of LCD panels have risen and supplies of many
components have become an ongoing issue. Gateway’s Web
pad isn’t expected to appear until the first quarter
of 2001. Some companies will likely show off their Web pads
at the Comdex computer trade show in November.
The Airboard initially will only be available in Japan, but
Sony often uses Asian markets as a testing ground before releasing
products in the United States and Europe. Sony says the product
will be easy to use and will appeal to buyers intimidated
by the current crop of digital devices, PCs, and home networking
products. “Sony strongly believes that the Airboard will
not only liberate users from the burden and complication of
conventional information devices to help solve the digital
divide, but also create the potential for a new networking
business aimed at a new range of users,” the company
said in a statement.
The device is designed as a sort of all-in-one remote control
and Internet appliance and fits into Sony’s strategy
of creating a networked home full of Sony computers, stereos,
DVD players and televisions, which can talk to each other
and share information via wireless Internet connections or
through Sony’s portable Memory Stick. Sony, which calls
its vision “AV/IT Convergence,” for the intersection
of audio-video products and information technology, is focusing
on a number of gateway products, which will anchor the entire
strategy.
These gateways include the PlayStation2 game console, the
Clie personal digital assistant based on the Palm operating
system, the Vaio line of PCs, and now the Airboard. Marketresearcher
International Data Corp. (IDC) predicts that TV set-top boxes,
handheld computers and game consoles will increase from the
11 million units shipped last year to 89 million units in
2004. Revenue on such products will grow from $2.4 billion
last year to $17.8 billion in 2004, IDC predicts.
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