From the Walkman to the PlayStation, the Watchman to the Aibo, Sony has released quite a few legendary products over the years. Here’s our look back at some of the best. By Samuel Gibbs and Helienne Lindvall
Sony Micro Television – Before the dawn of the pocket TV, Sony made the world’s smallest and lightest TV, first introduced in 1959. Some models could be run on batteries making them truly portable. Photograph: Keystone/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Keystone/Getty ImagesSony Walkman – Arguably the most iconic music player ever made, the Sony Walkman was originally called the “Soundabout” in the US and the “Stowaway” in the UK. Launched in 1979, the original portable audio cassette player prototype was created by an audio engineer because the Sony co-chairman at the time wanted to listen to operas during his frequent pan-Pacific plane trips. By 2009, more than 385m had been sold. (Apple’s iPod narrowly passed that total last Christmas, to hit 388m.) Photograph: REXPhotograph: REXSony Watchman - Introduced in 1982, the Sony Watchman was one of the first pocket TVs with a 5cm greyscale display. It made its way to Europe by 1984 and was only discontinued in 2000. Photograph: Joe Haupt/flickrPhotograph: Joe Haupt/flickrSony Discman – The Discman first took CDs portable in 1984, only five years after the release of cassette Walkman and only two years after the release of the first audio CD. Photograph: JJ Zúñiga/flickrPhotograph: JJ Zúñiga/flickrSony Handycam – First introduced in 1985, the Handycam used the new small 8mm video cassette tape format, Video8. It was much smaller and more portable than the previous bulky and shoulder-mounted cameras using Betamax. Photograph: mr.g2003/flickrPhotograph: mr.g2003/flickrSony MiniDisc – Sony’s MiniDisc, first released in 1992, attempted to create a digital version of the analogue audio cassette by shrinking an optical disc and sticking it in a hardy plastic shell. The format died in 2013 with the discontinuation of the MD player. Photograph: Rae Allen/flickrPhotograph: Rae Allen/flickrSony PlayStation – Introduced in 1994, the original Sony PlayStation started life as a joint project between Nintendo and Sony to create a CD-ROM for the Super Nintendo. Nintendo pulled out over a revenue split argument, which infuriated Sony's president Norio Ohga who then committed to making a console specifically to rival Nintendo. Photograph: Nicholas Wang/flickrPhotograph: Nicholas Wang/flickrSony Aibo – Sony’s robotic dog, the Aibo, was one of the first consumer robots and launched in 1999. These “entertainment robots” were described as “the most sophisticated product ever offered in the consumer robot marketplace” by Carnegie Mellon University. They were way ahead of their time and were discontinued in 2006 in an effort to cut costs. Photograph: Nicolas Asfouri/EPAPhotograph: NICOLAS ASFOURI/EPASony Clié – In 2000, Sony’s Clié took the Palm OS pocket computer platform and turned it into a powerhouse smartphone predecessor, with cameras, folding keyboards and high-resolution displays. Photograph: Julien Houbrechts/flickrPhotograph: Julien Houbrechts/flickrSony Vaio X505 – An “ultrabook” before ultrabooks existed, the $3,000 Sony Vaio X505 was one of the thinnest computers in 2004 at only 9.7mm thick. It weighed just 822g with a nickel-carbon body and was the first laptop to sport the isolated key "chiclet" keyboard, way before Apple launched the MacBook Air. Photograph: Dylan T. Moore/flickrPhotograph: Dylan T. Moore/flickrSony Rolly – A 2007 evolution of Sony’s robotics efforts, the Rolly was a digital music player that could roll around on a table and “dance” to music. Its closable speaker ports gave the impression of arms, which combined with lights and the ability to spin, allowed users to choreograph complex movements to specific tracks. Photograph: Yuriko Nakao/ReutersPhotograph: YURIKO NAKAO/REUTERSSony Xperia Z and Tablet Z – Sony's first waterproof Android smartphone and tablet, the Xperia Z series showed Sony could produce really great mobile products again.Photograph: SonySony PlayStation 4 – The latest iteration of the PlayStation, the PS4 was launched in November 2013 and had sold 4.2m units by the end of the year. It is currently locked in a battle with Microsoft's Xbox One, which launched about the same time. Photograph: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty ImagesPhotograph: Toshifumi Kitamura/AFP/Getty Images
