 Hey guys, it's Brian Bishop with The Verge here at CES and I'm sitting down with the president and COO of Sony Electronics, Mike Fasulo. Mike, thanks for joining us this morning. My pleasure Brian, great to be here. Thanks so much. So, you had your press conference yesterday. I introduced a lot of cool products, including the new Walkman, which our readers are going insane for. It is gorgeous, it plays high-resolution audio. It also costs $1,200. How are you going to get people to buy into that? It's like a beautiful device, but it's expensive. It's obviously our pinnacle device. I mean, it's stainless steel, all the components are crafted particularly to optimize audio. So it is the pinnacle piece of the listening experience on the go. But we've got the most broadest lineup of high-res audio in the industry. And I introduced quite a few products last night in high-res audio. So the key is we're delivering better sound for all applications of consumer use. Right. Do you think consumers are ready for that? Because we've been in an era where it's like MP3s and people don't care. I think they're ready for it. I think they're confused by what does it mean. The industry, good news is I announced last night that the Consumer Electronics Association will adopt with its members the high-res audio logo, which was part of Sony's founding. So they'll adopt that across the industry. At least then consumers can see an indicator on products and know this is high-res audio or not. What we really need to do is educate folks on why high-res, why do I even care? And music is such a lifelong passion that folks now, they have large libraries, but they're interested in better quality sound and now we can deliver it to them at affordable prices, at different applications on the go, in the home, wireless, multi-room, etc. Yeah, well it's some beautiful devices. And also on the visual front you had some insanely thin TVs yesterday that were beautiful. And also some interesting content deals. You mentioned that Netflix is going to be streaming HDR, high dynamic range, 4K content to Sony TVs in 2015. Can you talk a little bit about that partnership? Yeah, so I mean last year, and I think on the verge I actually discussed this, last year we announced with Netflix the launch of streaming 4K. We were the world's largest delivery of 4K content and Netflix partnered with us very closely. So we're expanding that. We're still going to build upon the library and content delivery. But the two other areas that we're now moving towards is taking the pain points away from the consumer on how they receive the content being streamed, right? So looking at bit rates of each home is getting different broadband speeds and looking at resolution coming in and making that seamless to the consumer so that when they click on their OneFlick Sony remote and hit Netflix that what appears on the screen is living up to their expectation and high quality. So that partnership is really working out well. Our engineers and their engineers are working hand in hand and we're really excited about it. Sure, yeah. High dynamic range is one of those things I first saw true HDR content last year. So yes, some manufacturers are showing it off and it's probably the biggest, most visceral jump in quality, most arresting change since the jump to HD. Do you think that's going to go and let Sony's TVs with 4K, with HDR, is going to be that push that's going to kind of get 4K into the mainstream? I would tell you 4K is in the mainstream now. Much pleasant surprise. We haven't seen an acceleration of an adoption of a new technology or even a TV platform like we're seeing in 4K. I can't remember since when. Clearly faster adoption than HD was. And this year, you know, usually I get asked the question on estimation of how many units. No one can estimate because consumers are buying in such high demand. And I think it's because I always say seeing is believing. I think when customers go and get a demonstration and they actually see the difference in the picture quality, in the skin tones, I mean light like skin tones, reds are true reds, blues are true blues. And you know, this leads to high dynamic range. With our new products that I announced last evening, the X900C, which frankly is thinner than our smartphone, Xperia smartphone. It's 0.2, I guess it's inch, right? Because it's less than an inch, so 0.2 inch. But it's got a processor in it that we call the X1. And what the X1 does is it improves the picture quality of any source coming in. But it also looks at the colors. Actually also at the technology and consumers, I don't want them to care about technology. I want them to care about what does it do for me? So when you're looking at a color palette, you know, it's very difficult in a TV to attract red, green and blue equally, right? You highlight one and another one diminishes. But with our X1 processor and our turbulence technology, we can actually look at trueness of color regardless of which is coming in, red, green, blue or any variation of. It's really remarkable. And you can see it. You and I can see the difference. And I always encourage consumers to go out and get a demonstration. The demos have always been wonderful. But I think for people, they get to their home, obviously, about what they can actually watch at home. I think there were four streaming partners you mentioned yesterday on stage. One was YouTube, one was Sony's own, the other two were Amazon and Netflix. Is that enough content? Like how much it's taking a while. Obviously Netflix rolled out Breaking Bad, which is like, you know, Sony Pictures, you know, television programs. So Sony's, you know, working behind, I assume, to help, like, you know, put more 4K master content out there. Is that enough? Do we need any more providers out there that are offering 4K content to TVs? I don't know if it's ever enough, you know, but there's choice. So, you know, today, anything you put on a Sony 4K Ultra HD is going to look better. Anything. Any broadcast, stream, playback, the best is download, right? So if you buy our server and download it content, that's going to be the best picture quality in native 4K. But anything is going to upscale to a better picture than without 4K. So there's no reason to wait. The product automatically today makes your signal, makes your screen better. The industry is rallying. This is going back to the adoption. You know, with HD, we didn't have adoption across all industries at the same time. You know, it was kind of chicken and the egg. Right. You know, content side, well, there's not enough hardware installed. Hardware side, no, there's not enough content. All verticals now are moving in 4K in ultra high definition, from the studios, from the producers, from the content companies, from new distribution platforms, whether it's streaming or otherwise, and clearly the manufacturers. So you're going to just see that perpetuate. You can see more and more content coming, more and more capability. But like I said, any content, high definition, Blu-ray, terrestrial, looks better on a Sony 4K television. Yeah. Now, how does HDR fit into that? Because that's, I mean, there's certain standards to that that are still being worked on, obviously, but you know, companies are basically, you know, things are getting mastered in that, content is being created, and Netflix is obviously going to be showing it off. You know, are you worried people are going to see a difference between, you know, true HDR content and this regular 4K content where they're seen on their TVs? Well, I don't know if I'd make the comparison to regular 4K and true HDR, because what we try to do is present it to the consumer in the intention of the filmmaker, in the creator, whether it's a filmmaker or a creator, right? And different producers, directors, creators have different, you know, filmmakers like film. Like film has a grain to it, you know, naturally has a grain to it. So you know, we want to be able to display that like the filmmaker intended. You know, some consumers may say, well, there's a grain in it. Well, that was because the filmmaker intended there to be one. So what we try to do is deliver the most natural picture quality that was intended by whatever the customer is watching, internet content, you know, like I said, filmmaker content. So skin tones are one of the most difficult things to portray naturally on a screen. And if you look at our skin tones, if you look at our light, light color palette, I don't think you'll find, I know you won't find anything better. Gotcha. And are you expecting other of your streaming partners to adopt HDR in the year ahead or is this going to be Netflix for 2015? I would, I would anticipate more. I mean, specifically, I can't tell you who, but I would anticipate we'd see more. Right. What other titles do you expect to see from Netflix this year? We're not disclosing that as of yet, but we'll have some titles. It'll be fun. Will Breaking Bad be involved? I just asked because it's a favorite show. It was obviously, like I said, it's a Sony Pictures television show. It was one of the first shows on Netflix in 4K. Is that, is that going to be around the corner? We both enjoy Breaking Bad, Netflix and Sony. Fair enough, fair enough. One other question I want to ask you on the TV front. Android TV is a big part, obviously. TV is already Android TV. Sony's had a history with Google TV that maybe didn't work out so great. Head of its time. Certainly. But was there any trepidation beforehand? You're like, oh, maybe we'll be down this road. It's not so great. Or you just, you know, what was the, what was the dynamic? No, no trepidation at all. The good news with Google TV was, was Sony and Google were able to learn from a consumer application of what really matters. And I think the new venture that we're entering into together is working like Netflix, hand in hand, engineers with engineers, on the consumer experience. You know, what matters to the consumer. And what I loved about last evening's, I loved a lot of things about last evening's announcements, but we were able to show across multiple categories, across multiple screens, across multiple consumer products, mobiley as well as in the home, simplicity and better quality with the Android platform. Whether it's in your smartphone, your smartwatch, on your television. Now it's seamless, which no one else has done. So with Google and Android platform and Sony, we're delivering more convenience and obviously better quality. Right. Yeah. I gotta say, I love the Google Cast integration and I love the remote. The remote is just straight up bad. One click is awesome. The remote is slick. Content bar. Yeah. I like it a lot. So this is a lot of exciting products. Thanks so much for taking the time. My pleasure. I really appreciate it. I'm gonna go look at some really awesome and super thin TVs right now, but thanks for joining us guys.
 Hey guys, it's Brian Bishop with The Verge here at CES and I'm sitting down with the
 president and COO of Sony Electronics, Mike Fasulo.
 Mike, thanks for joining us this morning.
 My pleasure Brian, great to be here.
 Thanks so much.
 So, you had your press conference yesterday.
 I introduced a lot of cool products, including the new Walkman, which our readers are going
 insane for.
 It is gorgeous, it plays high-resolution audio.
 It also costs $1,200.
 How are you going to get people to buy into that?
 It's like a beautiful device, but it's expensive.
 It's obviously our pinnacle device.
 I mean, it's stainless steel, all the components are crafted particularly to optimize audio.
 So it is the pinnacle piece of the listening experience on the go.
 But we've got the most broadest lineup of high-res audio in the industry.
 And I introduced quite a few products last night in high-res audio.
 So the key is we're delivering better sound for all applications of consumer use.
 Right.
 Do you think consumers are ready for that?
 Because we've been in an era where it's like MP3s and people don't care.
 I think they're ready for it.
 I think they're confused by what does it mean.
 The industry, good news is I announced last night that the Consumer Electronics Association
 will adopt with its members the high-res audio logo, which was part of Sony's founding.
 So they'll adopt that across the industry.
 At least then consumers can see an indicator on products and know this is high-res audio
 or not.
 What we really need to do is educate folks on why high-res, why do I even care?
 And music is such a lifelong passion that folks now, they have large libraries, but
 they're interested in better quality sound and now we can deliver it to them at affordable
 prices, at different applications on the go, in the home, wireless, multi-room, etc.
 Yeah, well it's some beautiful devices.
 And also on the visual front you had some insanely thin TVs yesterday that were beautiful.
 And also some interesting content deals.
 You mentioned that Netflix is going to be streaming HDR, high dynamic range, 4K content
 to Sony TVs in 2015.
 Can you talk a little bit about that partnership?
 Yeah, so I mean last year, and I think on the verge I actually discussed this, last
 year we announced with Netflix the launch of streaming 4K.
 We were the world's largest delivery of 4K content and Netflix partnered with us very
 closely.
 So we're expanding that.
 We're still going to build upon the library and content delivery.
 But the two other areas that we're now moving towards is taking the pain points away from
 the consumer on how they receive the content being streamed, right?
 So looking at bit rates of each home is getting different broadband speeds and looking at
 resolution coming in and making that seamless to the consumer so that when they click on
 their OneFlick Sony remote and hit Netflix that what appears on the screen is living
 up to their expectation and high quality.
 So that partnership is really working out well.
 Our engineers and their engineers are working hand in hand and we're really excited about
 it.
 Sure, yeah.
 High dynamic range is one of those things I first saw true HDR content last year.
 So yes, some manufacturers are showing it off and it's probably the biggest, most visceral
 jump in quality, most arresting change since the jump to HD.
 Do you think that's going to go and let Sony's TVs with 4K, with HDR, is going to be that
 push that's going to kind of get 4K into the mainstream?
 I would tell you 4K is in the mainstream now.
 Much pleasant surprise.
 We haven't seen an acceleration of an adoption of a new technology or even a TV platform
 like we're seeing in 4K.
 I can't remember since when.
 Clearly faster adoption than HD was.
 And this year, you know, usually I get asked the question on estimation of how many units.
 No one can estimate because consumers are buying in such high demand.
 And I think it's because I always say seeing is believing.
 I think when customers go and get a demonstration and they actually see the difference in the
 picture quality, in the skin tones, I mean light like skin tones, reds are true reds,
 blues are true blues.
 And you know, this leads to high dynamic range.
 With our new products that I announced last evening, the X900C, which frankly is thinner
 than our smartphone, Xperia smartphone.
 It's 0.2, I guess it's inch, right?
 Because it's less than an inch, so 0.2 inch.
 But it's got a processor in it that we call the X1.
 And what the X1 does is it improves the picture quality of any source coming in.
 But it also looks at the colors.
 Actually also at the technology and consumers, I don't want them to care about technology.
 I want them to care about what does it do for me?
 So when you're looking at a color palette, you know, it's very difficult in a TV to attract
 red, green and blue equally, right?
 You highlight one and another one diminishes.
 But with our X1 processor and our turbulence technology, we can actually look at trueness
 of color regardless of which is coming in, red, green, blue or any variation of.
 It's really remarkable.
 And you can see it.
 You and I can see the difference.
 And I always encourage consumers to go out and get a demonstration.
 The demos have always been wonderful.
 But I think for people, they get to their home, obviously, about what they can actually
 watch at home.
 I think there were four streaming partners you mentioned yesterday on stage.
 One was YouTube, one was Sony's own, the other two were Amazon and Netflix.
 Is that enough content?
 Like how much it's taking a while.
 Obviously Netflix rolled out Breaking Bad, which is like, you know, Sony Pictures, you
 know, television programs.
 So Sony's, you know, working behind, I assume, to help, like, you know, put more 4K master
 content out there.
 Is that enough?
 Do we need any more providers out there that are offering 4K content to TVs?
 I don't know if it's ever enough, you know, but there's choice.
 So, you know, today, anything you put on a Sony 4K Ultra HD is going to look better.
 Anything.
 Any broadcast, stream, playback, the best is download, right?
 So if you buy our server and download it content, that's going to be the best picture quality
 in native 4K.
 But anything is going to upscale to a better picture than without 4K.
 So there's no reason to wait.
 The product automatically today makes your signal, makes your screen better.
 The industry is rallying.
 This is going back to the adoption.
 You know, with HD, we didn't have adoption across all industries at the same time.
 You know, it was kind of chicken and the egg.
 Right.
 You know, content side, well, there's not enough hardware installed.
 Hardware side, no, there's not enough content.
 All verticals now are moving in 4K in ultra high definition, from the studios, from the
 producers, from the content companies, from new distribution platforms, whether it's streaming
 or otherwise, and clearly the manufacturers.
 So you're going to just see that perpetuate.
 You can see more and more content coming, more and more capability.
 But like I said, any content, high definition, Blu-ray, terrestrial, looks better on a Sony
 4K television.
 Yeah.
 Now, how does HDR fit into that?
 Because that's, I mean, there's certain standards to that that are still being worked on, obviously,
 but you know, companies are basically, you know, things are getting mastered in that,
 content is being created, and Netflix is obviously going to be showing it off.
 You know, are you worried people are going to see a difference between, you know, true
 HDR content and this regular 4K content where they're seen on their TVs?
 Well, I don't know if I'd make the comparison to regular 4K and true HDR, because what we
 try to do is present it to the consumer in the intention of the filmmaker, in the creator,
 whether it's a filmmaker or a creator, right?
 And different producers, directors, creators have different, you know, filmmakers like
 film.
 Like film has a grain to it, you know, naturally has a grain to it.
 So you know, we want to be able to display that like the filmmaker intended.
 You know, some consumers may say, well, there's a grain in it.
 Well, that was because the filmmaker intended there to be one.
 So what we try to do is deliver the most natural picture quality that was intended by whatever
 the customer is watching, internet content, you know, like I said, filmmaker content.
 So skin tones are one of the most difficult things to portray naturally on a screen.
 And if you look at our skin tones, if you look at our light, light color palette, I
 don't think you'll find, I know you won't find anything better.
 Gotcha.
 And are you expecting other of your streaming partners to adopt HDR in the year ahead or
 is this going to be Netflix for 2015?
 I would, I would anticipate more.
 I mean, specifically, I can't tell you who, but I would anticipate we'd see more.
 Right.
 What other titles do you expect to see from Netflix this year?
 We're not disclosing that as of yet, but we'll have some titles.
 It'll be fun.
 Will Breaking Bad be involved?
 I just asked because it's a favorite show.
 It was obviously, like I said, it's a Sony Pictures television show.
 It was one of the first shows on Netflix in 4K.
 Is that, is that going to be around the corner?
 We both enjoy Breaking Bad, Netflix and Sony.
 Fair enough, fair enough.
 One other question I want to ask you on the TV front.
 Android TV is a big part, obviously.
 TV is already Android TV.
 Sony's had a history with Google TV that maybe didn't work out so great.
 Head of its time.
 Certainly.
 But was there any trepidation beforehand?
 You're like, oh, maybe we'll be down this road.
 It's not so great.
 Or you just, you know, what was the, what was the dynamic?
 No, no trepidation at all.
 The good news with Google TV was, was Sony and Google were able to learn from a consumer
 application of what really matters.
 And I think the new venture that we're entering into together is working like Netflix, hand
 in hand, engineers with engineers, on the consumer experience.
 You know, what matters to the consumer.
 And what I loved about last evening's, I loved a lot of things about last evening's announcements,
 but we were able to show across multiple categories, across multiple screens, across multiple consumer
 products, mobiley as well as in the home, simplicity and better quality with the Android
 platform.
 Whether it's in your smartphone, your smartwatch, on your television.
 Now it's seamless, which no one else has done.
 So with Google and Android platform and Sony, we're delivering more convenience and obviously
 better quality.
 Right.
 Yeah.
 I gotta say, I love the Google Cast integration and I love the remote.
 The remote is just straight up bad.
 One click is awesome.
 The remote is slick.
 Content bar.
 Yeah.
 I like it a lot.
 So this is a lot of exciting products.
 Thanks so much for taking the time.
 My pleasure.
 I really appreciate it.
 I'm gonna go look at some really awesome and super thin TVs right now, but thanks for joining
 us guys.