Hi, this is Wayne again with a topic “Sony’s Mike Fasulo on the future of 4K — CES 2015”.
Hey guys, it’s bryan bishop with the verge here at CES and i’m sitting down with the president and coo of sony electronics mike Fasulo, mike thanks for joining us this morning, my players Brian great to be here. Thank so much so you have your press conference yesterday. I interests a lot of cool products, including the new Walkman, which our readers are going insane for. It is gorgeous. It plays high resolution audio and also cost twelve hundred dollars. How are you get people you know to buy into that? It’S like a beautiful device, but it’s expensive, it’s obviously our pinnacle device.
I mean it’s, you know stainless steel, although components are crafted particularly to optimize audio. So you know it is the pinnacle piece of the listening experience on the go, but we’ve got the most broadest lineup of high res audio in the industry, and I introduced quite a few products last night in high res over. So the key is we’re delivering better sound or all applications of consumer use right. You think consumers are ready for that, because you’re Rick we’ve been in an era where it’s like mp3s and people, don’t kind of don’t care, I think they’re ready for it. I think they’re confused by you know what does it mean? You know the industry, oh good, good news is i announced last night that consumer electronics association will adopt with its members the high res audio logo, which was part of sony’s founded right now so they’ll adopt that across the industry at least Im consumers to see an Indicator on products, and no this is high res audio or not.
What we really need to do is educate folks on why iris? Why do I even care – and it’s you know music – is such a lifelong passion that folks now you know they have large libraries but they’re interested in better quality sound, and now we can deliver to the met, affordable prices that you know different applications on the go In the home, wireless multi-room, etcetera yeah, with some beautiful devices and I’m and also in the visual front, you had some insanely thin TVs yesterday that were that were beautiful and also some interesting content deals. You mentioned that Netflix is going to be. You know streaming on HDR high dynamic range, a 4k content to sony tvs and 2015. You talk a little bit about that partnership yeah.
So I mean last year I and I think, on the verge. I actually discussed this. Last year we announced, with with Netflix the launch of streaming 4k. We were the world’s largest delivery of 4k content and Netflix partnered with us very closely. So we’re expanding that we’re. You know we’re still going to build upon the library and content delivery, but the two other areas that we’re now moving towards is taking the pain point away from the consumer on how they receive the content being strained right.
So you know, looking at bit rates of each home, you know, is getting a different broadband speeds and looking at resolution coming in and making that seamless to the consumer so that you know when they click on there one-click sony remote and hit Netflix that what appears On the screen is living up to their expectation in high quality, so that partnership is really working out. Well, our engineers and their engineers are working hand-in-hand and we’re really excited sure. Yeah high dynamic range is one of those things. I first saw true a HDR content. You know last year’s CES and manufacturers are showing it off and it’s probably the biggest you know most visceral jump in quality. Most arresting changed since the jump to HD. Do you think that’s going to go and let you know Sony’s TVs with 4k with HDR.
Give me that push that’s going to kind of you’ll get 4k into the mainstream. I would tell you 4k is in the mainstream now much pleasant surprise. We haven’t seen an acceleration of an adoption of a new technology or even a TV platform like we’re seeing in 4k. I can’t remember since when clearly faster adoption than HD was, and this year you know. Usually I get asked the question on estimation of how many units, no one, can estimate because consumers are buying in such high demand, and I think it’s because i always say seeing is believing. So i think when customers go and get a demonstration and they actually see the difference in the picture quality in the skin tones, I mean lifelike skin tones read your true reds blues or true blues, and you know this leads to high dynamic range and with our New products that I announced last evening, the x 900 city, which frankly, is thinner than our smartphone xperia, smart right. It’S point2, i guess its inch right because it’s less than X, 0 0 point 2 inch. But it’s got a processor in it that we call the x1 what the x1 does is.
It improves the picture quality of any source coming in, but it also looks at the colors. We also have a technology and consumers. I don’t want them to care about technology right, I’m care about what is it do for me. So when you’re looking at a color palette, you know it’s very difficult in a TV to attract red, green and blue. Equally, all right, you I like one and another one diminishes, but with our X 1 processor in our true luminous technology, we can actually look at trueness of color, regardless of which is coming at red, green, blue or any variation of its really remarkable.
And you can see you and I can see the difference and I always encourage consumers to go out and get a demonstration yeah if the demos have always been wonderful, but I think for people make it to their home, obviously about what they can actually watch at Home, I think there were four stripping partners you mentioned yesterday on stage one was YouTube one with Sony’s on the other. Two were Amazon and Netflix. Is that enough content like how much it’s it’s taking a while? Obviously, netflix ruled out Breaking Bad, which is like a you know. So many pictures, you know television program Sony’s, you know working behind. I assume to help, like you know, put more 4k master content out there. Is that enough? Do we need you need more providers out there that are offering 4k content UTVs? I don’t know if it’s ever enough. You know, but this choice. So you know today anything you put on a sony.
4K, Ultra HD is going to look better anything any broadcast stream played back the best its download right. So if you buy our server and downloaded comment content, that’s going to be the best picture, quality in native 4k short, but anything is going to upscale to a better picture, then without working. So there’s no reason to wait. The product automatically today make sure your signal makes your screen that screen better. The industry is rally. This is this is going back to the adoption you know with HD, we didn’t adoption across all industries. At the same time, you know it was kind of chicken n da right.
You know content side. Well, there’s not enough of hardware. Install hardware side now sign up of content with all verticals now moving in 4k and ultra high-definition from the studio’s from producers from the content companies from new distribution platforms, whether it’s streaming or otherwise, and clearly the manufacturers so you’re going to just see that perpetuated. You can see more and more content coming more and more capability but, like I said, any content, high-definition blu-ray terrestrial looked better on a sony, 4k television yeah. How does HDR fit into that because that’s I mean this there’s certain standards that they’re still being worked and obviously, but you know, companies are basically things you can master than that connects being created.
A netflix is obviously going to be showing it off. You know, are you ready, they’re going to see a difference between you know true, HD, our content and there’s regular 4k content when they’re seen on their CVS? Well, i don’t know if i make the comparison to regular porque and shoe HDR, because what we try to do is present it to the consumer in the intention of the filmmaker in the Creator, whether it’s a filmmaker or creator right and different producers directors. Creators have different, you know filmmakers like film, but film has a grain to it. You know naturally has a grand tour, so you know to just we want to be able to display that like the filmmaker intended, I you know some consumers may say: well, there’s a grain in it. Well, that was because the filmmaker intended there to be for anyone.
So what we try to do is the the most natural picture, quality that was intended by whatever the customers watching internet content. You know, like i said, filmmaker content, so skin tones are one of the most difficult things to portray, naturally on a screen, and if you look at our skin tones, if you look at our life light color palette, I don’t think you’ll find. I know you won’t find anything better touch it and the expecting other of your streaming partners to adopt HDR in the year ahead or is this can be netflix for 2015? I would, I would anticipate more, I mean specifically, I can’t tell you who, but I would anticipate with Sigma right and how many titles you expect to see from netflix this year. We’Re not disclosing that as as a good but we’ll have some time, it’ll be fun.
Yeah well Breaking Bad, be involved. I just asked because it’s a favorite show it was obviously like I said it’s a sony pictures television show was one of the first shows on netflix in 4k. Is that is that going to be around the corner? We both enjoy breaking bad netflix and summers fair enough, fair enough.
One. Other question was asked on the TV front: android TV is a big part. Obviously, the TVs are running a droid TV sony said a history of google TV that may didn’t work out so great ahead of its time.
Certainly, but was there any trepidation beforehand? You’Re, like oh I’d, move down this road, it’s not so great or you just you know what was. It was no trepidation at all. What the good news with Google TV was with Sony and Google able to learn from a consumer application of what really matters, and I think the new venture that we’re entering into together is working like Netflix hand in Engineers with engineers on the consumer experience. You know what matters to the consumer and what I loved about last evenings. I love a lot of things about last evenings announcements, but we were able to show across multiple categories across multiple screens across multiple consumer products moberly, as well as in the home, simplicity and better quality with the Android level, all right! Well, there’s in your smartphone, your SmartWatch on your television.
Now it’s it’s seamless which no one else has done so with google and android platform and sony we’re delivering more convenience and obviously better fall right. Yeah, i got to say i love the google cast integration and i love the remote. The remote is your straight up badly. It’S awesome, rotas attempt bar yeah.
I like it a lot Billy nice well cool. Well, this is a lot of exciting products thanks so much for taking the time really appreciate it. I’M gon na go look at some really awesome and super thin TVs right now, but thanks for joining us guys, .