Sony have always been on the leading edge of innovation. From creating the WalkMan back in the 80’s to popularising the CD, DVD and Blu-Ray with their PlayStation products. In this article we’re discussing the more recent innovations by Sony.

Microsoft and Sony Working Together

It’s no secret that Microsoft have an exceptional team for software development and Sony likewise in hardware development. Pooling these talents the two multi-billion dollar companies have developed an innovative product that encapsulates their talents empowering the user with an intuitive and friendly interface made to thrive in the living room of any home.

Dubbed the ‘Sony Vaio L Touch HD‘ the full HD touch screen runs Windows 7 and comes as standard with a wealth of media features, including a Blu-Ray drive with Blu-Ray authoring tools, DVR functionality, a built in HD Digital tuner and webcam with automatic face tracking.

With connectivity for HDMI devices, various memory cards, FireWire and USB, Wireless networking including DLNA media streaming and Bravia Sync the device is able to communicate with the other devices throughout your home seamlessly.

Under the hood the L Touch features a powerful processor and 6TB of RAM as standard. It also features in selected models a 1TB hard disk for instant recording of all your favourite shows.

The L Touch isn’t just a powerhouse however, with a sleek keyboard and mouse supplied along with a wireless remote control the L Touch also isn’t bad to look at.

The innovative approach of combing all these amazing features together in a sleek exterior at an affordable price of £999 means you can have an ultimate media device that will last you for years sitting right in your living room. Using a mutli-touch interface means the device is accessible and intuitive to use and combines the best features of other devices in one place.

We see this device as the stepping stone into a centralised living room experience, over time these types of devices will most likely become more common place, especially since a abundant of media is now delivered online.

Sony First Party Software Developers and In-house Software

One of the things that has always separated Sony from other console makers has been it’s open mind when dealing with new and exciting projects from fresh and untapped developers. Games like Final Fantasy VII, Gran Turismo, Metal Gear Solid, Okami and even Shadow of the Colossus are good examples of this; where it would have been unlikely that other studios would have supported these products.

Sony doesn’t mind if the Intellectual Property (IP) is brand new and untested or if the developer requires years to produce a game, Sony have always embraced these projects they feel will deliver exceptional entertainment value, and this shows.

The Playstation Network to date has many titles to offer, many unique and exclusive to the PlayStation 3;  Sony’s latest console to market.

PixelJunk Monsters and PixelJunk Shooter are good examples illustrating this point, demonstrating a unique vector based art style and game play mechanics coupled with exclusive musical scores by top Japanese artists. The PixelJunk games would have most likely existed only on the indy scene had it not been for Sony.

FlOwer is again a good example of Sony’s open mind, as the game can only be described as a game very loosely thanks to the unique play style which see’s players guide the wind by simply moving there gaming pad in 3D.

Full retail games such as the ever popular LittleBigPlanet and upcoming ModNation Racers also conform to the ethos of innovation by providing players with the tools to design their own levels and play millions made by others.

SingStar the original music game is still breaking ground, utilising today’s technology players can now download new songs in seconds, challenge other families from the other side of the World as well as record and view other performances, similar things are also achieved with Buzz the original console quiz game, adding re-playability thanks to players being able to create their own quizzes.

Innovation isn’t just about new ideas, it can also arrive in the form the realisation and adaptation of existing technology and game play mechanics. Killzone 2 is a game that features blistering graphics, AI and attention to detail never seen before in a console shooter which demonstrats this point clearly. The developers even went to the lengths of recording the sounds of all the materials in the game when bullets struck them all in the name of realism.

Uncharted 2 takes this further by encompassing all the great things about all other games — game play, graphics, story, multiplayer, sound and features, all in one gorgeous package. The game plays like a Hollywood blockbuster and contains no loading screens once your in-game, with plot twists, thrilling game play and corny catch phrases this game blurs the line between movie and game.

But as well as games Sony also offer such mediums as digital art in the form of demo-scenes most popular back in the 80’s (Linger in Shadows is our favourite), digital comics and small casual games dubbed ‘minis’ . Most impressive of all is the huge social meeting place known as PlayStation Home — This software provided free, allows PlayStation 3 users to enter a virtual world in which they can create their very own avatar and meet friends in the virtual world to chat, play and generally hang out. With areas dedicated to events, film promotions, game specific areas and virtual arcades as well as a myriad of other virtual spaces, the software truly is a jump in the right direction for virtual social networking.

With games aside things like ‘Life With PlayStation” (AKA Folding@Home) provides PlayStation users with a screen saver that can help solve diseases such as Cancer by using the 7 core processors idle time to help perform complex mathematically equations, although similar things have been seen with ‘Seti@Home’ including this within a gaming console truly shows an innovative approach to best utilising the hardware.

VidZone is another great example of how software can be provided free but still be hugely profitable; VidZone allows users to choose from thousands of music videos to effectively create their very own music channel with the ability to buy tracks instantly and share their content to mobile devices such as the PSP, greeted openly by music labels the application already features thousands upon thousands of music videos despite being in its infancy.

With unique games, meaningful applications and immersive innovations, Sony truly is leading the way with new and bold ideas with software. It will be exciting to see how boundaries are pushed over the coming months and years.