Sony, the Japanese tech company, it ruled the consumer market with the Walkman, Vaio laptops and the Trinitron TV and even made big bets on Hollywood by acquiring Columbia Pictures, still exists but its priorities are now different.
Sony continues to thrive in the high-end consumer electronics space with the PlayStation brand, Bravia TVs and mirrorless cameras, despite increasing pressure from its American and Korean rivals.
Several people own Sony products in their childhood, and they invoke great memories even if you haven’t use them in years.
Sony is a brand in the collectors community and people are ready to pay a huge sum for rare devices.
Today we’re going to take a look at just some of the weirdest and out-of-the-world products that have come out of Sony’s lab through the years.
These devices may not be as successful as Sony’s other products, but they did showcase how this company was once willing to take risks and had no inhibitions to roll out crazy products in the market.
Sony Tablet P
Sony experiment with a device that was meant to excel in multitasking.
The Sony Tablet P wasn’t anything like the iPad, which was crushing Android-base tablets in 2011.
With two displays and a hinge, Sony tried to make a dual-screen tablet but it never receive commercial success.
The Sony Tablet P was too ambitious for its time.
It boasted two 5.5-inch displays, although it weight a hefty 372 grams, the tablet could easily be slip in a back pocket.
The Sony Tablet P feature two 5.5-inch displays.
The Tablet P was also power by the 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor.
Sony Tablet P had a 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 processor and 4G but the software was a big let down.
The tablet lack built-in multitasking features and third-party apps weren’t dual-screen friendly.
Sony’s own apps were optimise for the Tablet P but these were mixed-bags.
Since the launch of the Sony Tablet P, many companies have experiment with dual-screen and foldable devices but we are yet to see a device that convinces users to ditch their existing phones for something like the Galaxy Z Fold or Surface Duo.
Sony Rolly
An MP3 player, a built-in speaker and an autonomous robot in the shape of an egg.
Sony Rolly Launch in 2007, the Rolly is till date Sony’s most weird device.
It never took the tech world by storm but it show that the designers and engineers at Sony had full liberty to think of something as wild and bizarre as the Rolly and bring it to the market.
When the egg-shape music player plays music, it flaps its side flippers, flashes lights and jiggles like a robot.
Sony Rolly was unique enough to be easily differentiate from the iPod, the dominant music player of its time but Sony’s digital-audio player didn’t do well commercially.
The Sony Rolly had two speakers, but it lack a built-in headphone jack.
Users at a time want an MP3 player that they could carry in their pockets but Sony was looking to tap in a new demographic with a device that offers a unique experience to people.
Sony Vaio VGN-UX50
Sony launch its first Ultra-Mobile Portable Computer (UMPC), the VAIO VGN-UX50.
Marketed as a new breed of ultra mobile PCs, the UX50 was a handheld computer with a tiny integrate keyboard and a slide-out touch capable display.
Sony Vaio VGN-UX50 wasn’t a pocketable device but rather design in such a way you can hold it in your hands and use it.
The Sony Vaio VGN-UX50 specifications were beefy of its time, including an Intel Core Solo CPU, a 30GB hard drive, Wi-Fi, a fingerprint reader, and front and rear digital cameras.
Sony FES Watch U
Sony FES Watch U is a completely customizable watch with an electronic ink face and strap display. High on experimentation, the Watch U wasn’t exactly a smartwatch.
It didn’t bombard you with notifications on the wrist or let you measure your heart rate.
Instead it simply focuse on customisation and the ability to personalise the e-paper watch face and watch strap.
Known as a ‘fashion watch’, the main proposition of the Watch U was to change the entire look of the watch.
All you need to do is use an app on your smartphone and choose between 100 preinstall designs, choose the one you like and use those designs on the watch.
Sony Xperia Pureness X5
The Sony Ericsson Xperia Pureness X5 was aim at the crowd who want simplicity.
Sony Xperia Pureness X5 lack a built-in camera, no GPS, no memory card slot but its claim to fame was its see-through transparent display.
When you turn on the phone, there’s no colour to the 1.8-inch display, which is almost completely transparent.
The interface of Sony Xperia Pureness X5 just floats in the air, something you get on the now-defunct Google Glass.
