( BW)(CA-SONY-PNSC) Sony CEO Outlines Vision for Networked World; Nobuyuki Idei Announces Key Alliances in Support of Company's Strategy to Provide Digital Content on Broadband Networks Business Editors/High-Tech Writers COMDEX Fall 99 LAS VEGAS--Nov. 15, 1999--Sony Corporation President and CEO Nobuyuki Idei outlined his vision for a networked world during today's Comdex keynote address. He described a world driven by an emerging broadband environment that will be experienced through digital electronic devices that create, capture and manipulate content. "Sony will be a driving force in this new broadband era," Idei said. "We have the dynamic digital content the network demands and the key hardware platforms or gateways to manage it." In his comments, he pinpointed three such platforms -- digital TVs, set-top boxes and other devices linked within home networks; mobile computing and imaging devices; and the PlayStation 2 videogame entertainment system. Joining Idei on stage were luminaries from the entertainment and business worlds, including Sun Microsystems' Co-Founder and Chief Scientist Bill Joy, Academy award-winning filmmaker George Lucas, Emmy award-winning guitar virtuoso Steve Vai, Sony Corporation of America CEO Howard Stringer, and Sony Computer Entertainment of America President Kaz Hirai. Also sharing the stage were the AIBO four-legged entertainment robot and the animated star of Sony Pictures' upcoming movie, Stuart Little. In the first scene, a park, Idei, Stringer and Vai demonstrated how the Internet and tiny mobile recording devices can capture and transfer digital music content. A gumstick-sized medium called Memory Stick(R), for example, will store music for play on Sony's SDMI-compliant Memory Stick Walkman(R). They also pointed to the new Sony VAIO Music Clip(R), another copy-protected, SDMI-compliant device that uses embedded memory and is about the size of a magic market. Both the Music Clip and Memory Stick hold up to two hours of music. Idei then showed a Audio on Silicon, a prototype of another embedded memory device that is about the size of a postage stamp. Idei left the park setting and entered an Internet cafe scene, where he and Fortune Magazine Editor-at-Large Brent Schlender discussed the challenges Sony faces in playing a dominant role in a network era. Synergy Between Content and Devices "Today, the world is moving toward a broadband and networked environment," Idei said. "Digital content is what will drive people to the network, and new digital hardware will enable consumers to manipulate it for their personal enjoyment." Idei then discussed the concept of "personal broadcasting" and demonstrated the power of a computer in a personal AV device with the new Sony MD Discam(R). Similarly, moving to the final stage setting, a home environment, he illustrated the power of an AV device in a PC with the new Vaio PictureBook(R). Sun's Joy entered into a discussion with him on the growing variety of devices that go beyond the personal computer to help consumers meet their communications and lifestyle needs. Joy described his family's frustrations in using a PC. He echoed Idei's vision of a home environment in which digital content -- audio and video files -- are accessed through a variety of devices throughout the home. The 1-1-1 Project, PlayStation 2 and George Lucas Sony's concept for such an environment, said Idei, may be realized through its 1-1-1 project, in which the company plans by 2001 to develop a system with one remote control for all home devices, connected through one cable -- the i.LINK(R) digital interface. It may also be realized through the much anticipated PlayStation 2, which will serve not only as an entertainment platform, but potentially as an in-home portal for broadband networks and a platform for digital content creation. Following the introduction of Hirai and a demonstration of PlayStation 2, Idei welcomed Lucas, who spoke about the creative possibilities made possible through digital techniques. "There was no Jabba the Hutt in the first Star Wars, because the technology was not available for me to produce what was in my imagination," Lucas said. "Digital technology frees the imagination, so that artists can turn what they imagine into reality -- or at least the reality of movies." Lucas announced that he would use a new 24-frame progressive (24p), high-definition camera developed by Sony for Panavision(R) to shoot a completely digital Star Wars, Episode Two. He said that, in addition to supporting creativity, digital technology would dramatically reduce the cost of movie making as well as distribution, eliminating the need for film duplication and shipping.