CES 2018: Sony's Keynote Address

At CES 2018, consumer electronics giant Sony showcased a full suite of its new and current tech in front of a packed house in the Tech East Convention Center. When President and CEO Kazuo Hirai walked out, all eyes were glued to the stage as he talked about Sony's notable innovations over the years and CES's important role in showcasing that technology. He also took the time to reaffirm Sony's commitment to consumer technology, which is music to the ears of techies worldwide.

Mr. Hirai proudly displayed images from the 20-fps-capable Sony A9 Mirrorless Digital Camera and the big 360-video capabilities of the company's ultra-compact RX0 camera, when used with the optional CCB-WD1. After the keynote, I finally had the opportunity to experience the RX0 camera in person, because Sony offered demonstrations showing an impressive and immersive VR basketball experience filmed using 22 of these compact wonders—I can only imagine what a 100-camera rig could produce.

Building on the success of last year's A1E-Series OLED TVs, Sony also introduced its new A8F series OLED TV. This OLED TV uses Sony's proprietary X1 Extreme processing to produce incredibly detailed and saturated 4K images. This impressive processing power can also be found in Sony's new X900F series LED TV. Even better, this year's models support HDR10 and Dolby Vision formats. Dolby Vision support can also be found on Sony's new UBP-X700 Blu-ray player. Sony utilized one of its demo rooms to show its new Blu-ray connected to its new 3.1-channel Dolby Atmos-capable soundbar, dubbed the HT-Z9F. The soundbar produces engaging virtual surround sound and customers will have the option of purchasing wireless surround speakers for true channel separation.

For portable audio lovers, Sony also showed one new pair of headphones, the WF-SP700N. This model offers multiple color options, noise-canceling technology, and up to nine hours of battery life. Considering the WF-SP700N is splash-resistant, feel free to break a sweat with these headphones. The company also announced that it plans to add Google Assistant compatibility to the WF-SP700N, as well as last year's WF-1000X-series of wireless noise-canceling headphones.

Sony didn't stop there though; also on display was the company's downright adorable artificial-intelligence aibo robot puppy. The aibo is autonomous and behaves like a real dog, minus the real mess. It's cloud-connected and is smart enough to engage with humans. Other notable mentions include new 5.2" XPERIA XA2 and 6.0" XA2 Ultra Snapdragon 630-equipped smartphones and the impressively designed LSPX-A1 ultra-short-throw projector. Sony wanted to show something for everyone at CES and the company may have just succeeded.

With many of these products hitting the market in the spring, which products are you most excited to get your hands on? Let us know in the Comments section, below.