It's almost impossible to talk about technology giants without remembering Sony. Yes, some may only remember the Playstation as a reference product but Sony has participated and actively participates in the evolution of electronic devices. See the highlights of Sony represented by its innovative products:
SONY MICRO TELEVISION
Before the rise of pocket TV, Sony made the smallest and lightest TV in the world for the first time in 1959. Some models worked with batteries, making them truly portable.
SONY WALKMAN
It is probably the most iconic music player of all time, the Sony Walkman was originally called Soundabout in the USA and Stowaway in the United Kingdom. It was launched in 1979 but the original prototype of a portable audio cassette player was created by an audio engineer because of Sony's vice president who intended to hear opera during his frequent air travel. By 2009, more than 385 million Walkmans had been sold.
SONY WATCHMAN
Introduced in 1982, Sony Watchman was one of the first pocket TVs with a grayscale display. It made its way to Europe on 1984 and its production was halted in 2000.
SONY DISCMAN
Just five years after the launch of the Cassette Walkman and two years after the release of the first audio CD, Sony launched the first portable CD player in 1984, the Discman.
SONY HANDYCAM
First introduced in 1985, Handycam used a new small video cassette format, the Video8. It was much smaller and more portable than conventional bulky cameras.
SONY MINIDISC
First released on 1992, this time Sony tried to create a digital version of the analog audio cassette by reducing the size of an optical disc and sticking it into a sturdy plastic shell. The format died in 2013, with the discontinuation of the MiniDisc player.
SONY PLAYSTATION
The original Sony PlayStation came to life through a project between Nintendo and Sony to create a CD-ROM for the Super Nintendo. Nintendo would break the agreement with Sony, a fact that infuriated its president, Norio Ohga, who from then on committed himself to develop a console to rival Nintendo. Then comes SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT, Sony's division responsible for all PlayStations.
SONY AIBO
Sony's Robotic Dog was one of the first consumer robots, launched in 1999. These “entertainment robots” were described as “the most sophisticated product ever offered on the consumer robot market” by Carnegie Mellon University. They were well ahead of their time but in 2006 Sony stopped production to cut costs.
SONY CLIÉ
Clié was a series of personal digital assistants (PDAs) running the Palm operating system developed and marketed by Sony between 2000 and 2005. The devices have introduced many new features to the market for PDAs, such as a jog-wheel interface, high-resolution monitors, and Sony technologies such as Memory Stick slots and ATRAC3 audio playback.
SONY VAIO X505
An ultrabook before they even existed, as it is, the Sony Vaio X505 cost $ 3.000 and was one of the thinnest computers in 2004, only 9,7 millimeters thick. It weighed about 822g with a nickel-carbon body and was the first notebook released with the isolated keys, ie "gum" style, it was launched long before Apple launched the MacBook Air.
SONY ROLLY
Sony Rolly marks the evolution in Sony's robotics in 2007. Rolly is a digital music player that could roll on a table and dance to music. Its enclosing speaker doors give the impression of arms, which combined with lights and the ability to rotate, allowed users to choreograph complex movements for specific musics.
SONY XPERIA Z AND TABLET Z
At a time when many technology giants were launching smartphones and tablets with little innovation, Sony decided to launch its water-resistant versions.
SONY PLAYSTATION 4
Now in the 4 version the Playstation which was released in November of 2013, sold 4,2 million units by the end of the year. Right now he and his faithful companion, Microsoft's Xbox One, represent the new generation of video games leaving all the other consoles behind.
A company with a history of innovative launches such as those presented above certainly deserves the title of technology giant.
Source: The Guardian
