CES: Sony Brings Everything From Dancing MP3 Robots To OLED HDTV

Las Vegas (NV) - Sony has impressive additions to its television, MP3 player, and mobile phone lines as shown during its pre-CES press conference.

Robots to Blu-ray to OLED TVs...Sony’s CES press conference

The first thing thrown at us during the event was "Rolly" (pronounced "roll-ee"), a robotic MP3 player that dances to its own music. It sounds crazy, and it is.

The Rolly contains 2 GB of built-in flash memory. It has on-board speakers, Bluetooth connectivity, and the ability to stream content in real-time from a computer. However, the most unusual part of the specification list is "self motion". It is fully robotic and actually a big push forward for Sony’s work in that field, according to what was said in the conference.

Also, for the first time in a while, we actually saw some interesting cell phones from Sony, all under the Walkman brand. First up is the W760, Sony’s first 3G Walkman handset, with tri-band and EDGE capabilities.

The W760 also tackles an idea not very popular in the US - gaming. It has "tilt control", which essentially will let users shake their phone around and around to perform specific controls in mobile games. There are also two buttons designed ergonomically to be dedicated to gaming controls.

Next is the Z555, a phone with a rather feminine touch to it. Its "diamond-inspired design" and bejeweled keypad are unlike all of Sony’s other phones. There is a really notable feature on this device, called "gesture control". Users will actually be able to wave their hand in front of a phone to ignore a call, among other programmed gestures. Both of these phones will be out later this year.

Finally, the announcement that was so big Sir Howard Stringer had to come on stage, is that Sony has launched an OLED HDTV. An 11" model is available today at Sony Style stores. It is only three milimeters thick and has a one million to one contrast ratio. Sony is also working on creating larger screens, including a 27-inch prototype that will be on display during CES.