Live from Sony's (first) CES 2009 press event

By Jacqueline Emigh and Angela Gunn | Published January 7, 2009, 7:41 PM

It's Sony's answer to the netbook: its latest very slim P-series Vaio. But even that is taking a backseat to none other than Jeopardy!, another Sony property, complete with Alex Trebek live and in person.

Thinner screens pervade the Sony booth at CES 2009.

Jacqueline Emigh, 4:39 pm PST: The show begins with Sony Senior Vice President for Communications Rick Clancy speaking, after having been introduced by none other than Alex Trebek. They're filming Jeopardy! at the booth next door.

Sony executive Rick Clancy was introduced by Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek

Next, the head of Sony's US electronics division, Stan Glasgow, introduces products. "I don't have to tell you that the last few months were very challenging," Glasgow began. "There were moments that I found myself struggling to be optimistic."

While US sales were down, for the holidays, Bravia TVs and several other products exceeded expectations, he went on.

Angela Gunn, 4:48 pm PST: Glasgow had an amazingly honest moment right up front, talking about how the economy these past few months was "staggering" and "disorienting."

The crowd at Sony was absolutely staggering for Day Zero.

JE, 4:43 pm PST: "We are also taking the lead in the US with Internet TV," Glasgow added.

Sony's display at CES this year will be divided into two areas. One is "Out-of-Home," where the company will showcase products like its Walkman X series with integrated Wi-Fi and noise cancellation. Another is the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 handset.

Sony will introduce the W508 Walkman at CES, along with a new Cybershot camera with noise cancellation, and five new digital photo frames.

The new HDR-520V camcorder will include a 240 GB hard drive. And another new personal camcorder series called the "Webbie HD" will support MPEG-4 compression on-board, picture motion browser software, 5x optical zoom, and 20x digital zoom. That model will be available starting tonight at Sony Style stores. A second model will ship in the spring.

JE, 4:48 pm PST: Glasgow then introduces the Sony Vaio P-series computer. It fits in a purse or jacket pocket, unlike many other netbooks, and it features Wi-Fi and cellular wireless access with an option for Verizon Wireless. It also includes the Xross Media Bar made popular on the PS3.

AG, 4:49 pm PST: It weighs about 1.4 pounds, and is about the size of a business envelope. It includes 3G broadband, Bluetooth, and 802.11. Pre-orders for the device will begin tonight online and in Sony Stores.

Seriously, people were cooing. I saw it before the presentation kicked off, and it's insanely small. My only caveat is the chiclet-style keyboard.

JE, 4:51 pm PST: In the "In Home" area at the opposite end of Sony, Glasgow says, "HD is in everything we do." Blu-ray is doing well, he reports, adding "PS3 is driving everything we do."

"In the home, virtually all products need a great display. Last year, we shipped the world's first organic LED TV. It was gratifying to see this reaction, [just] gratifying."

This year, the company will be introducing more OLED TVs, including one with a 0.9-inch display. Sony will have more to say about this during its keynote address tomorrow, Glasgow said.

AG, 4:55 pm PST: How funny, considering that Sharp said flat-out at noon that OLED "still has a way to go" before prime time.

JE, 4:55 pm PST: "When other people talk about green computing, it's just talk." Now, Sony is reading its Eco series of green TVs. They use a hot cathode fluorescent lamp (HSFL), and an eco-switch for zero-watt consumption. They'll join three other new Bravia models.

AG, 4:56 pm PST: Sony did the recycling-partner thing last year, so they're that much ahead. It's new goal: For every pound of product created, a pound of waste will be recycled.

And especially to make some readers' heads explode, we speak now of environmental programs -- a slew of them, best delineated when we're not so much in a rush. For now, think "Eco Bravia" -- six environmentally aware sets in all, plus tons of support tech.

Bravia's Internet video technology will be built into its new top-of-the-line XBR9 sets -- "interactivity integral." Glasgow had an earlier model at his own home, and is clearly an actual fan.

JE, 4:59 pm PST: Sony added its Internet link module two years ago, and was the first to stream video from YouTube, etc. Now Sony is building that Internet link directly into Bravia, in new models available in the spring. The Eco Bravias will be available later in the summer, and these too will be supported by Internet Widgets from Yahoo.

AG, 5:01 pm PST: Yahoo widgets are the stealth partnership of the day, and here we hear them again. Perhaps widget are the company's true calling post-Yang.

JE, 5:02 pm PST: There's a hint that CEO Sir Howard Stringer will also have a 3-D-related announcement during tomorrow morning's Sony keynote.

View comments by with a score of at least

PDC 2009: What have we learned this week?

There was the freebie that no one will forget, the heebie-jeebies courtesy of Scott Guthrie, and a teensy bit clearer picture of how this cloud thingie should work.

Live report: Will Google Chrome OS change Linux?

The mysteries of just what Chrome OS is, and how much of an operating system it truly is, may be resolved today.

PDC 2009: Microsoft cares about Web browser performance

The effort to give users of the world's dominant Web browser the impression of quality, is a personal one for the man who leads that battle.

Nokia re-affirms its commitment to Symbian, sort of

Maemo won't necessarily be replacing Symbian in the Nokia N-Series, but that's definitely a place where it will be found.

E-book readers will be in short supply this holiday season

E-readers are hot this year, and a lot of compelling new products have been released, but are there enough electrophoretic displays to go around?

Sony looks to finally open a single storefront for downloads

Sony has had many different download portals for movies, music, e-books, and games, and now it's looking to make a single shop for all of it.

Tuning out the tablet: Time to give the endless speculation a rest

Wide Angle Zoom: Wishing and hoping and thinking and praying....won't put an iTablet on the market.

Five improvements for IT managers in 2010

If businesses are to improve their efficiency for next year, they need to stop and reassess the basic tenets of their job.

AOL's spinoff from Time Warner to shed 2,500 jobs

As AOL moves toward become an independent company again, it will cut nearly a third of its workforce.

Gartner: SMS-based money transfer will be bigger than mobile browsing, search

Gartner issues its predictions for the 10 things our phones will be doing in 2012.

Don't forget to upgrade to Firefox 3.6 beta 3 today

Mozilla has released the latest beta its Firefox 3.6 browser software, just over one week after beta 2.