Step aside, Google TV. Sony is working on creating its own proprietary ‘smart TV’ platform.
At a recent Sony event, the Wall Street Journal quoted CEO Howard Stringer as saying, “We can’t continue selling TV sets [the way we have been]. Every TV set we all make loses money.”
While so many other consumer electronic product categories have changed wildly over the last few years, when it comes to TV there haven’t been that many advancements.
Of course, there are Internet connectivity options more thoroughly now than before, but when it comes to offering literally an entire operating system built into the TV itself, lots of consumers should be interested.
And yet the most ambitious project in this market so far, Google TV, has been a flop. Sony, the only company to offer a full Google TV-powered TV set, has said sales were below expectations.
Stringer’s comments come as rival Apple is also reportedly working on a new kind of TV. Speculation is that Apple’s TV will incorporate Siri technology and allow users to control their TV exclusively with voice commands.
Sony has never been a huge name in the TV industry; its sets are usually priced too high and it rarely offers big sales or price cuts.
It looks like the company may want that to change, though.
