Sony Corporation of America

“The Total Sony Experience”
2009 International Consumer Electronics Show Keynote
Las Vegas, Nevada – January 8, 2009

TOM HANKS: Thank you. I couldn’t have been more moved by Gary’s presentation. What a cup of coffee wake-up Gary Shapiro is. In case you didn’t miss his many important points, I will now repeat his entire speech off the teleprompter.

I have to confess I am not here to promote that movie ("Angels and Demons") or to curry favor with executives at Sony. Oh no. I’m here simply because of Betamax regret. I went VHS. What a fool I was! What a different world this would have been had I only been one of the 600 people who bought Betamaxes back in the day. What was I doing thinking that Intellivision was better than Atari?! I have no voice or vision when it comes to consumer electronics. I’m a dope; I bought a TV from RCA in 1974. This is how bad I was. I went to laser disks. And not the ones that are read by lasers; no, the ones that actually played by a stylus. I have a garage full of them and they’re all for sale on ebay – 50 cents a piece.

Now before I begin the impromptu words that have been written for me by a lowly Sony marketing executive, let me say that the first Sony product I ever saw was a massive – actually “portable” – reel-to-reel tape recorder the size of a singer sewing machine. Oh, gosh did I want one of those. But I couldn’t afford the 120 bucks. No. So what I did was, instead, saved up and eventually bought my girlfriend’s old Sony Trinitron. And there began my adventures with Sony. It was nothing but Sony there. I began a shelving system. Old Sony products began to hold new Sony products….up and up and up it went! So now, I have such a stack of old televisions, recording devices, games, clock radios that my blu-ray video player sits eight feet above my kitchen sofa. I have to point up like this and wait for the 40 seconds for the damn thing to boot up.

Now, on with the scripted portion of our program and I guarantee you I have not memorized these words.

I was seven years old the first time I saw a motion picture on the big screen. It was called “Scream of Fear.” It was exactly the kind of movie that led to a ratings system that said that seven-year-olds should not see movies called “Scream of Fear.”

To this day, “Scream of Fear” still haunts me. And gosh, I sure love every minute of the night terrors it brings to me and my family.

Isn’t that the bargain we all make with entertainment? Sometimes it scares us, sometimes it inspires us, and sometimes it makes us think. And almost always, it makes us dream. Scary, spooky, “Scream of Fear” dreams.

When it wasn’t the movies, it was my sister’s clock radio with its tiny speaker – made by GE – waiting to hear the Beatles or the Dave Clark Five shake, rattle, and roll my world.

Now whether you were seven, or 17, or 37 – in your imagination, you could be an artist, a rock star, an actor, a director, a writer, or a superhero.

And when times got especially dark, say 1963 or 1968, or 1973 or 1978, or 1983 or 1988, it was the movies and music and TV that helped move us beyond our sadness and fear and brought joy. That was what it was like to be seven back then.

Today, if you dream of being a rock star, an actor, a director, a writer – all you need to do is turn around a one-inch camera on yourself and broadcast it out to the world. And what a gem of a program that must be!

That’s because of all of you – the evil geniuses of the Consumer Electronics Association – you people who are the masterminds behind Wollensak and Wang – all of you who have helped make a world we only dreamed about just, oh, 10 years ago – a reality.

Everywhere I turn in this world, I see the name: Sony. Sony, Sony, Sony.

I show up on a set and there it is on the camera: Sony. (Really? I have yet to see that!)

(They write the lies, but I tell the truth.)

I go into post-production and there it is on the editing decks: Sony. (I think I saw that.)

I turn on a play screen and there it is: Sony, in high definition – on which I watch a show, produced by Sony. Damn, they’re taking over my world!

I download a few books onto my digital reader: the ki-…uh, Sony…digital reader, which is a fine product in its own right.

And I go to the movies and gosh, what do I see? Sony.

I play games. I download music. I record videos. I shoot photos. Sony, Sony, Sony, Sony, Sony. Even when I fire up my computer. (I should have read this before I came out today.)

What it means is that Sony is in a unique position to create great user experiences for everybody who wants to be entertained. Like me…and you.

At the center of it all is Sir Howard Stringer, who is, in fact, an old buddy.

When I first met Howard, he was a documentary filmmaker – wickedly successful, raking in the bucks like no documentary filmmaker ever has. In fact, the question was once asked, “Sir Howard, is that your Bentley parked outside? Is that the documentary filmmaker’s Bentley?” Oops, no it wasn’t. It belonged to the circus clown who was working a birthday party next door. Thankfully…wait, wait. Oh, okay, we’ll skip that; that’s fine. Look, I look at the teleprompter and it’s Sony teleprompters.

Please welcome my friend, a person who – if blu-ray works out – will be known as Lord Howard Stringer, Howard Stringer. Here he is.

HOWARD: The truth will set you free.

TOM: Thank you, yes. Let’s just walk back and forth as much as possible. Because look, well let’s count them. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 teleprompters. Thank you, LG.

HOWARD: I took a risk! It failed! But we’ll still be friends…at least until after the movie.

That footage you just watched is obviously from “Angels and Demons,” Sony Pictures Entertainment’s follow-up to the global smash, “The Da Vinci Code.” It opens in May, and obviously, we are excited. It is also my excuse for inviting Tom back to CES because you liked him so much the last time.

TOM: That’s right. And also because you keep writing it into my contract. Hey, I gotta tell you…

HOWARD: Tell me what?

TOM: Oh nothing. No, go ahead. That’s my witty joke.

HOWARD: Oh, I see. I missed that one. Yes, yes. Well anyway, next time.

TOM: Hey, it’s 8:00 in the morning.

HOWARD: When I first met Tom in the early 1980s, he was in a movie dating a mermaid.

TOM: Indeed.

HOWARD: He’s always known how to create a big splash.

TOM: A groan is as good as a laugh.

HOWARD: I can’t complain, because I wrote that.

The last time I saw him, and this is true…he was underwater again in an Italian fountain filming “Angels and Demons.” Are you a Pisces, Tom?

TOM: No, but move right. Glasses demo. I’m whatever Sony wants me to be today, Howard.

HOWARD: Well, I’m glad someone is. So these are special glasses, very special glasses – a prototype of what we’re developing in our labs. When wearing them (and I’m going to have to take off my glasses; I probably can’t read the prompter after this), you can actually watch a movie and watch Tom Hanks at the same time. That’s beginning to be a dubious privilege.

TOM: Not since Gary Shapiro as Groucho have I been so entertained.

HOWARD: So you weren’t out of character today so far, Tom. Anyway, we’ve never had anything like this prototype before.

TOM: Howard puts on glasses to watch the screen.

HOWARD: Which I’m doing! And everyone can see on the big screen –

I can see you while also watching one of your movies.

Tom, why don’t – to hell with it; why don’t you try them on?

TOM: I think I have to! By the way, these glasses made you look 15 years younger. Oh, look! They’re so cool and hip. This means I can watch myself in a movie I made 17 years ago on the small screen and realize how old I am now.

I’m moving slowly in order for the background to match up. Look how realistic and lifelike it is. Howard, I’m matching you up with my own eyes. There’s Gary Marshall. And Penny Marshall. In other words, I’ve only worked with people from “Happy Days.”

HOWARD: These are still being perfected in Sony labs. And they will have even more features than today.

TOM: You mean they’re going to get even better than they are now?

HOWARD: They’re going to get wonderful.

TOM: I think these are the best glasses Sony’s ever made!

HOWARD: Tom, we’ll send you a pair when they’re ready.

TOM: Oh, I’ll be checking the FedEx. Thank you, Howard. In the meantime, would you mind taking that hold off my paycheck for “Angels and Demons” now?

HOWARD: Maybe not! Sony Pictures Entertainment’s “Angels and Demons” comes to a theater near you in May. And you can see more exclusive footage from it at the Sony booth at CES.

Ladies and gentlemen, the incomparable Tom Hanks.

TOM: Oh, I’m being banished now. Thank you. I’m exiting stage left. I’m being sucked into a vortex. Howard, save me! I feel the evil forces of Samsung pulling me deeper and deeper. Oh no! Don’t banish me to the Casio hell hole! Oh! Look, I apologize! I don’t want to live by Sanyo’s rules anymore! Howard, save me! You’re a knight, for god sakes!

HOWARD: Generally speaking a plus, I think.

This is the third time I’ve done this; it may be the last.

I wish I could tell you that I’m recession-proof. But nevertheless, after the last few months, I guess Gary thought I could offer something to cheer everyone up and that’s sort of my mission.

But while I can’t bring you immediate news of a turnaround...I can promise you that the consumer electronics industry will ultimately prevail because despite the difficult economics, everyone is still innovating, still striving to come up with the next “killer product” or at least refine the last one.

It’s been the mantra of this industry from the start, and if you can imagine it, we can make it real.

A decade ago, the industry envisioned a future, networked world. And we made it happen.

We said HD would be the future, when some doubted it. And we made it happen.

We said that full wireless mobility would become widespread. And we’re making it happen.

We have said that blu-ray would expand and dominate our visual horizons, and it has.

At the same time, in recent months, consumer spending has obviously slowed. Everyone is re-ordering their priorities. And we need to provide consumers with a user experience that is so compelling and so clearly life-enhancing that our products and services become “must-haves” at affordable prices.

It will not be easy – these are certainly challenging times. And there are important issues we must all address.

Here in Las Vegas, we know the magic of lucky number seven. Today, I’d like to offer to you the “CES Seven.” No, I’m not talking about the Seven Samurai, but rather seven imperatives for creating the ultimate user experience at this critical inflexion point in our networked age.

Imperative number one: embrace the fusion of industries.

The lines between CE, IT and entertainment have been blurring for some time. We must now accept that this fusion is reality – and that today’s devices must be created to interact seamlessly across our industries.

Number two: adopt a service-enhanced philosophy.

Consumers now assess the value of our products based on the quality of the experience with network-based services and content. Until we fully transform ourselves into a service-enhanced industry, we risk obsolescence. Embracing this philosophy is crucial from the initial design of products to the marketing of the user experience at the retail level.

Three: our products must be multi-functional...so that consumers can access,

manage and organize many different types and sources of content.

How do we make all of this easy for the consumer? This question will be at the heart of product development for at least the next decade.

Four: support open technologies.

Open technologies are winning the game. Closed systems are being disintermediated. We’ve seen it before in other industries such as the commoditization of long-distance telephone service and the rise of LINUX. Now it is seriously impacting CE.

Consumers expect choice – they expect services to work with any device.

Five: advance the new shared experience.

Social networks, game networks, virtual worlds have exploded in a way that drives what people watch, buy, and recommend and share with others. It is fundamentally changing our society. Devices must enable these shared experiences.

Six: we have to create new value chains.

A new technology that offers an overwhelmingly better user experience can create a new value chain. A great example is HD. The purchase of an HD television leads to the purchase of a blu-ray player, a new sound system, an HD camcorder, digital cameras and more HD movies and video games. This is good business.

Seven: go green.

Consumers want their products to be green. A CEA study released just last month said it well: consumers are now beginning to associate terms like recycling and energy efficiency with consumer electronics products. Consumers want big screens and big sounds, but a small carbon footprint.

Embracing the “CES Seven” means bringing together – all of us – the best of hardware, software, network services and entertainment to improve the user experience. We intend to make this the total Sony experience.

PlayStation 3 is a crossroad where the physical and networked entertainment forms intersect. Whether by blu-ray disc or the PlayStation Network, we can offer content and services at home or on-the-go or on the road.

On the one hand, Sony is improving the experience for consumers today, from ultra-slim notebooks to high-definition camcorders to music-enabled mobile phones and beyond.

And on the other hand, as leaders in HD television, blu-ray, digital cinema, network services, 3D projection and new mobile, wireless devices...we are also imagining tomorrow’s new experiences. In fact, we set a goal that by 2011, 90-percent of our product categories will connect wirelessly to the Internet – and to each other.

The Sony of tomorrow will continue to be a company that differentiates our products by our design and our technology. We will offer content and services that aren’t readily available from other manufacturers.

Last year, we were proud to achieve a host of world firsts with our BRAVIA line of high-definition televisions – LCD televisions – like the world’s first BRAVIA with 240 Hz Motionflow technology, which improves the experience of watching fast-action movies and live sporting events.

And then there’s the world’s slimmest LCD television, at just 9.9 mm, as thin as a CD jewel box.

Last year, we launched the BRAVIA Internet Video Link, a device that delivers content directly to BRAVIA over the IP network outside conventional distribution channels.

Two months ago, we cheered these BRAVIA television executives, and we showed them the exclusive opportunity to stream the Will Smith film, “Hancock,” before it was available on DVD. This was an industry first.

For the U.S., we’ve just announced that this functionality will be integrated into several high-end BRAVIA television models beginning in the spring.

Let me show you another example where the total Sony experience makes a difference: this is the newest star in the Cyber-shot lineup – the Wi-fi Cyber-shot camera.

With a built-in browser, you can connect to any public hotspot and send photos of Tom Hanks to your favorite photo-sharing site. I won’t actually be doing that, but you all can send a photo to a network BRAVIA TV.

We’re pleased to announce that, through a collaboration with AT&T, Wi-fi Cyber-shot users – through 2012 – will have complimentary access to Sony’s easy upload Web site at nearly 10,000 hotspot locations.

While I was chatting onstage with Tom, Mark Weir of Sony Electronics was in the front row taking pictures. With one touch of a button, Mark has already sent those photos of Tom to the Picasa Web site and the Sony Electronics blog. And, with another touch of a button, you can watch Tom delete me. And with yet another touch of a button, the photo was sent directly to this networked television, BRAVIA.

So there you have it – a world with even more Tom Hanks than you ever believed possible.

I am pleased to announce that this Wi-fi Cyber-shot model is available now at select Sony Style stores, including the one here in Las Vegas for an extraordinarily reasonable price.

This is just one illustration of how innovation and networked, service-enabled technologies are enhancing the user experience. With network connectivity, all of our CE devices will be able to add more value.

Another example is the clock radio on almost everyone’s bedside table. Little has changed over the past 30 years, but we’ve been thinking about how much more useful this familiar product can be.

Using wi-fi and enabled services, this bedside companion will collect customized content for its owner and provide everything needed to start the day – news, sports, weather, music, videos, Internet radio, alarms and so much more. And, if there is something worth acting on...buy a song or a movie ticket, perhaps…then just touch the screen.

This is an implementation of a next-generation alarm clock in the form factor of a digital picture frame. It is a design study we created in cooperation with Chumby Industries.

See? Wouldn’t you like to wake up to Big Ben? The clock, I mean. I know this crowd.

As part of its alarm functionality, this cool, little gadget is going to treat me to a surprise that automatically matches my own taste in music – a new music video, “My Lucky Day” by Bruce Springsteen.

The device uses a service such as Pandora, which already knows my music preferences…which is strange. And Sony Music could even provide music and music videos before their release to the general public. I’ve also pre-selected the information I want to see as soon as I wake up. It automatically scrolls across the screen:

* The news and headlines from my alma mater, CBS news;

* The Manchester United football scores with selected clips. If you wait a moment, you’ll see soccer players kicking the ball, and occasionally kicking each other;

* Local Las Vegas weather. The weather, if you look closely, says it’s really cold in Las Vegas, but not as cold as in New York. In fact, David Letterman said it’s so cold in New York that Bernie Madoff is actually looking forward to burning in hell. Would the Bernie Madoff investors please leave the room?

* Photos from the Sony United Orchestra’s concert recently at Carnegie Hall that have been e-mailed to my device overnight.

So you’ve just seen a glimpse of what this device could offer to enhance the user experience. Because the device uses an open platform, professional developers and everyday users alike can create applications, resulting in an ever-growing set of available services.

Always on and connected to the net, this device becomes the perfect bedside companion. Well, maybe not the perfect beside companion. For those of you really lonely, it could be the next bedside companion. At least for you, it could be the next-generation Sony Dream Machine.

Last year at CES, we introduced the world’s first organic light-emitting diode television, OLED, with a contrast ratio of more than one million to one – and only 3 millimeters thick. Last summer, we presented an even thinner version at 0.9 millimeters.

While others have prototypes, we’re the only company that has commercialized an OLED television to date. Our next step is to launch a model in the 20- to 30-inch class. But now, I want to give you a glimpse further into the future. With OLED technology, we not only thought about television, but also asked ourselves: could we make it so thin that we can bend it?

Imagine a screen that you can fold as easily as a magazine that displays all your favorite periodicals in color and dynamically updates your content daily.

There it is. The flexible OLED. This could be the e-reader of the future – there when you need it and eco-friendly. So please, say hello to flex...and watch flex video.

How many people have the opportunity to squeeze Beyonce? I certainly hope Jay-Z isn’t in the room.

While we are on the subject of beautiful images, let’s talk a little bit about high definition. I am proud to say that no other company sells more high definition products around the world today than Sony. And no one is better positioned to benefit from next month’s shift from analog to digital television.

From the lens to the living room, Sony is at the forefront of HD. Sony products capture and deliver HD content to consumers, while our entertainment companies create and supply brilliant HD content. I’ll say it again – this is what we mean by the total Sony experience.

The clearest sign of Sony’s leadership in high definition is in the success of blu-ray, which creates a viewing experience we think is second to none. More than 10 million blu-ray players, drives, PCs, recorders and PS3s have been sold in the U.S. Sony blu-ray players have held the #1 position in the market since July of 2007, accounting for half of all blu-ray players sold.

Blu-ray software has also had great success. More than 28 million blu-ray movie titles were sold in 2008 in the U.S. – almost four times the sales of the previous year. Blockbuster titles like “Hancock,” “Wall-e” and “The Dark Knight” have driven the format to new heights.

Innovative marketing continues to grow. Disney, for example, with customer convenience in mind, has had great success by bundling with its “Sleeping Beauty” blu-ray disc a second disc in standard DVD format so customers can use it in secondary rooms or on-the-go.

Some have asked: in a networked world of movie and music downloads, why is blu-ray important? I’m asked it all the time. Here to share some thoughts about how blu-ray is empowering movie creators is Disney’s dazzling “dreamer-in-chief,” John Lasseter.

JOHN: Hi everybody. They asked me to do a sound check. Folks in the back row, is this shirt loud enough for you? It’s good? Alright, thanks. Blu-ray. You know, at Pixar Animation Studios, we’ve been pioneering the application of new technology with storytelling for a long time. We were the first to do character animation with a computer. We were the first to do 3D, stereo 3D, with a computer in 1989 with a film I made called “Knick-knack.” We were the first to do a computer animated feature film. But to me, it’s the technology in service of the story, but also how can we get our audience to see what we see on our screens at Pixar? I want them to always have the best experience possible, and that’s why we were the first to do digitally mastered DVDs with our DVD release of “A Bug’s Life” years ago. But never before have I been so excited about a technology for our audience as blu-ray discs. Honestly. I am such a believer of this. We have blu-ray at home and this is one of those things. You can’t go back when you have this. I mean, I love this technology.

I was just at the Walt Disney Animation Studios yesterday. I was in a review for our upcoming film, “Rapunzel” that we were working on. We were in editorial and we were talking about stuff and I mentioned seeing something on blu-ray. And there was one of my colleagues, a woman sitting over in the corner just taking notes, and her eyes lit up. And I looked at her and go, “You have a blu-ray machine, don’t you?” And she did, and she goes, “You can’t go back.” It’s unbelievable. You know, the quality of what you see on the screen. There’s so many high definition projection and sets out there but finally to get a blu-ray disc and see the quality of what we do. We sweat over every tiny detail at Pixar and finally, the consumers are going to be able to see this. I want to show you a clip straight off of blu-ray from our latest film at Pixar Animation Studios, “Wall-e.”

Not only does the quality finally make it so that you can see all the little details that our filmmakers at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios put in to our films, but blu-ray also has features that I love. I love entertainment. I love entertaining people in theaters and at home and we love the special features. The amount of data that you can put on a blu-ray disc is unlike anything we’ve ever seen. We’re kind of geeks at Pixar. We save everything; we start creating special stuff. But what’s interesting about blu-ray is what’s unique is the BD live, where it’s actually connected to the Internet. Our latest release, a blu-ray release from the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Home Video, is “Sleeping Beauty,” which is remastered, is phenomenal looking on blu-ray. But one of the things we’ve done is we’ve taken the menu, right? OK. Menu. You know, something you just go right past. It reads from the Internet the weather of where you are and Sleeping Beauty’s castle has exactly that weather. Right now this is the weather of Las Vegas, Nevada, represented in the castle. Now okay, what’s the weather like in Tokyo right now? Let’s go to Tokyo. This is live and it’s going to come up. It’s dark! It’s nighttime. It’s nighttime in Tokyo. See? It’s very clever.

The other thing about BD live is that there’s a connection that families can be watching. Grandparents across the country and the kids can watch a movie at the same time and chat and interact so it’s almost like they’re there watching it. When I first started hearing about blu-ray, I started really getting excited about the possibilities of doing new things that we’ve never done before.

The movie I directed, “Cars,” had a rich background of cars that people didn’t know about. And when I started learning about blu-ray, I said, I wonder if there’s a way that we can create a game - we’d call it Car Finder. And we created this game that you can play with your family while you’re watching our movie and find all the cars in the backgrounds and learn about them. Now I created the movie and I helped create this game and I play this with my kids and my boys wax my ass every single time on this game…and I created the movie. It’s unfair, but it’s true. That’s one of the great things about blu-ray…bringing the families together. Because I find when we start watching blu-rays, my kids come in because the quality is so great and they really get sucked into the film and I love that about blu-ray.

Blu-ray doesn’t stop here; the future of this technology is pretty amazing. We’re always pushing new boundaries at Disney and Pixar. Walt Disney created the most technological advancements in the film industry during his time. At Pixar, we’re a studio of pioneers and we love looking at blu-ray to see what we can do in the future.

Like I said before, we pioneered in 3D with computer animation in 1989 and finally, theaters are now having 3D and it’s so exciting. “Bolt,” which was a Disney film, was made and created from scratch as a 3D film. But finally, in the future, we will be able to have 3D at home with blu-ray and that’s something I’m really looking forward to. One of the last things I directed just recently was a little short starring the Cars characters called “Tokyo Mater,” and we created it from scratch in 3D, as a 3D film, and you’re going to see a clip from that later. But our next film from Pixar, which will be created in 3D and will be on blu-ray eventually and we’re so excited, is a movie called “Up” directed by Pete Docter, who created “Monsters Inc.” And I want to leave you with an exclusive clip from our next movie from Pixar called “Up.”

Thank you, Sir Howard, for having me.

HOWARD: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, I just have to say something in front of this large audience. Without John and Pixar and Bob Iger and Disney, blu-ray might have had a tough time, because these executives never wavered…never put a hand out… just believed in blu-ray and gave me the foundation to fight the battle and for that, I’m enormously grateful. And I have to say one other thing…“Toy Story 3”?

JOHN: Yes.

HOWARD: That’s exciting.

JOHN: Yes. Tom Hanks right now is working with us. We’re in production on “Toy Story 3.” It comes out the summer of ‘10. We’re very excited about it. I know from when Howard and I first met, he is such a fan of “Toy Story.”

HOWARD: I love it.

JOHN: And you had to come visit us and it started a long friendship so we’re really excited that Woody and Buzz Lightyear are returning to the big screens. And we’re also doing a 3D version of “Toy Story” and “Toy Story 2” that will be coming out this year; were very excited.

HOWARD: Cinematic artist, ladies and gentlemen, John Lasseter.

JOHN: Thank you, Sir Howard.

HOWARD: The creative possibilities of blu-ray guarantee that this format will evolve well into the next decade. The same is true, of course, of PlayStation 3.

One of the big reasons blu-ray won the format war last year is that every PS3 we sold included a blu-ray player. It’s an interactive system that not only plays great games... but can do it all. It is, by far, the most advanced, network-enabled entertainment platform on the market.

This past year, we set our vision more broadly, to expand the world of PS3/PSP entertainment beyond games, into the living room. Just look at the content available on PS3 today.

Customers have noticed, and our installed base is growing rapidly. And the power of PS3 grows, of course, when married to PSP. Not only can you physically transfer content, you can synch your PSP with your PS3 wirelessly. This is the portable device of the future available now.

Creating a service platform with a wide range of services to multiple Sony devices is our strategic priority. With this in mind, we’ve asked group executive Kaz Hirai to lead this initiative company-wide and to join us today to tell you more about our plans. Please join me in welcoming the president of Sony Computer Entertainment, Kaz Hirai.

KAZ: Good morning, everybody.

Play . . . Listen . . . Watch . . . Learn . . . Discover . . . Communicate . . . Create . . . and to Share. These are the elements that next-generation consumers want from their devices to create the ultimate experience. And they are all enabled on the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStationPortable.

We’ve introduced many, many games in recent years that really tap into the power and functionality of both of these platforms. And play is obviously the keyword here. But we are working to bring that interactive element of PlayStation 3 beyond just games to have networked content and entertainment and services.

When we launched PS3 in 2006, we also launched the PlayStation Network, the PSN. PSN comes to CES with momentum on our side. It now has over 17 million registered accounts all over the world...and having more than 330 million pieces of content that’s been downloaded to consumers equates to 33 million units of single layer DVDs. What’s more, we’ve added 2.1 million accounts in the most recent month, with sales on PSN totaling over 150 million dollars as of December 2008.

Here’s why PSN is becoming the destination for digital content for all of our consumers. It really brings the full range of the user experience into your home or right into your hands. And as this network continues to grow...it is enabling new experiences and creating new communities.

One great example of this is LittleBigPlanet, a game that The New York Times called “an infectiously endearing gem of high-definition entertainment, and one of the best indications of where mass media is headed.”

LittleBigPlanet actually allows you to channel your inner video game designer. What does that mean? It gives you the ability to imagine and create level after level—and then it allows you to share your masterpiece by easily uploading it, right onto the network. Today, more than 1.3 million unique users are playing this title.

When we first launched LittleBigPlanet, we launched with about 50 levels on the disc, itself. That’s about 10 hours of game play. But now, with all the user generated content, this has grown to more than 300,000 levels. That equates to 17,400 hours of game play. And if you do the math, you can be playing 24/7…and you can be playing this game for two straight years.

So, this is really the first time that user-generated content, as well as social networking and gaming have come together under one title. This is something you can sit down and play with your 10-year-old daughter, or with your hardcore gaming friends. It’s another gaming experience that’s not just unique to the PlayStation 3 – it’s possible only on the PlayStation 3.

In April of 2007, we welcomed Sony Online Entertainment to the PlayStation family of companies, in a strategic move to closely align ourselves with the strong growth of the worldwide online gaming market.

This year, Sony Online Entertainment is introducing a new title called Free Realms. This is a brand new massive multiplayer online game that is free to play. And Free Realms is a graphically stunning virtual 3D world for ‘tweens, teens and families that’s really aimed at both girls and boys. It’s really easy to get into, and beta sign-ups are now open. Free Realms will launch on the PC first, and a little bit later on the PlayStation 3.

Also, last summer, we added a new element to PSN to improve both the mobile and home experiences for consumers – the Sony video delivery service, which takes “play, listen, and watch” to an entirely whole new level.

One of the distinguishing features of this new service is that the content is portable. It can be placed on your PSP or enjoyed at home on your BRAVIA TVs in full high definition.

The number of titles downloadable from the video delivery service has now grown to nearly 1,200 movies and more than 3,000 TV episodes since we started the service back in July of last year. This is a clear indication that our business partners are really interested in participating in the PlayStation video delivery service. And today, I am really pleased to announce that MTV networks is now partnering with us to deliver an initial line-up of more than 2,000 hours of programming for our video delivery service.

Now, let’s also look at what we’ve been up to in the area of “learn” and also “discover” – we call this “Life with PlayStation.” Since we launched the service last September, more than two million users have downloaded this application, with the number of monthly unique users counting approximately 900,000. Now you may ask, “What is ‘Life with PlayStation?’”

This is how “Life with PlayStation” works:

Here, we see ourselves in Las Vegas. And a click will instantly give you the current weather as well as the local news here in Las Vegas. And then a click to another city will give you the same information there, as well.

So, if you’re channel-surfing the service from your couch and you come across something you’d like to learn more about, you can switch instantly to the active/ interactive mode – just press the x button – and really get more information on the things that you’re really interested in learning about.

This service is available worldwide. And we are working really hard to add more channels to this service. We hope to launch an updated version of “Life with PlayStation” this spring.

Now of course, we’ve been working also to improve the consumer experience by redefining what it means to “share” and to “create.” So let me show you a glimpse of the future of online interaction and social gaming.

SCE recently released PlayStation Home. As you know, this is a ground-breaking 3D online social gaming community available on PlayStation 3 that allows users to interact, communicate and share a gaming experience with other online users.

In the first month of the open beta service of Home, more than 3.4 million users have downloaded Home, with total sales of $1 million for items that are priced from a few cents to a few dollars each. We’ve worked with some of the biggest names in the industry to create it, and I’m happy to tell you today that Electronic Arts has now come on board PlayStation Home. They are helping us create a place online that will be a one-of-a-kind experience for our gamers while also, at the same time, providing a highly targeted audience for marketers looking to provide contextual advertising to a really savvy group of PlayStation 3 consumers.

Play . . . Listen . . . Watch . . . Learn . . .Discover . . . Communicate . . . Create . . . and Share.

As you can see, we have been hard at work to expand the user experience on the PlayStation formats beyond the normal gaming experience…to something much, much more. And as we are rapidly expanding our network service offerings, we are expanding a lineup of devices that can really take advantage of these services, as well as ensuring that the suite of services can be offered to our consumers in a very simple, clear and easy to understand way.

To this end, we have already started to shift the way we conceptualize and execute our hardware designs. We first focus on the content or service experience consumers are looking for and then, we start to design our hardware products to match and optimize that experience.

I think we can all agree that no matter how technologically advanced a hardware device is, its success in this digital age cannot be ensured without a compelling software and content experience. And quite honestly, I can’t think of a company that is better positioned to take advantage of this shift in the digital age than Sony.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is where the rubber meets the road on Sir Howard’s seven imperatives. Thank you very much.

HOWARD: Thank you, Kaz.

As Kaz mentioned, as we increase the networking of our products, more and more information becomes ubiquitous and more important. Today, questions of health totally dominate the Internet.

We expect Dr. Mehmet Oz to be hotly pursued in the future in cloud computing or HD video. He will be everywhere because the network increasingly demands integrity and trust on the subject of health care. And that’s a big reason Sony pictures television has partnered with Harpo productions to create a new show hosted by Dr. Oz that begins in the fall 2009. Watch the video, please. Ladies and gentleman, Dr. Oz.

DR. OZ: Thank you, Howard. Thanks for calling me out here. Tom Hanks, I should tell you, was telling colonoscopy jokes in the green room.

HOWARD: He was?

DR. OZ: Yes.

HOWARD: There’s no stopping Hanks.

DR. OZ: One of the things I actually love about Vegas is the uniquely American spin the city puts on everything…the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, even the Pyramids.

But what if we did the exact same thing to Michelangelo’s David? Here’s what it would look like: normal…and our view.

It’s also becoming uniquely American. And our bodies are designed not to shed pounds because there was historically no survivor value to our ancestors of losing weight. In fact, to go hunting these days, we just slide the milk carton out of the way, right?

But the good news is, we can sort of nudge our biology, Howard. We can take us to where we want to go to get to our playing weight. That’s the ideal weight for us. So how do you figure your body shape? What’s it supposed to be? Like you don’t get it from a scale, right? You don’t get it from body mass index. And who can calculate that?

You look at your waistline, and your waistline ought to be less than half your height. Now here’s how you measure it.

And Howard, before you run away, I’m going to tell you. Everyone out there can admit this. If you’re a male over the age of 40, you can’t use your belt size, because guess what? You won’t be buying any new belt sizes, right? Here’s what American men do. They wear their belts like this, right? They parade around like that. And, in fact, in America, a hundred times a year, men come to an emergency room complaining of excruciating belly pain, nausea and vomiting and all we do is undo their belts. Yep, it’s called tight belt syndrome. But, you can measure your waist size without using a belt. All you need is one of these, a tape measure. Howard, you can be our Vanna White.

HOWARD: You’re going to ruin my dieting program now.

DR. OZ: The Stringer diet. Let’s see, I hope you’re eight feet tall, Howard, because I’m running out of tape here.

HOWARD: Oh, low blow.

DR. OZ: Alright, suck it in, suck it in. 40 inches!

HOWARD: No it’s not!

DR. OZ: Alright, suck in more! It’s the Vanna…the Scarlett O’Hara suck! Alright, 39 inches! Enough. Let’s do the math. 39 inches times two is 78 inches. Like that, 6 foot 6.

HOWARD: I feel 6 foot 6!

DR. OZ: Well, like most folks in the room, we’re not getting any taller. So there’s only really one way to lose the weight to get to where we want to be. And the fact of the matter is, you ought to be caring about your belly fat. And, the reason for that is because your belly fat is the most important predictor of how long and how well you are going to live. And here’s why. And here’s why it’s so important today.

Our ancestors. When they felt stressed, it wasn’t a deadline, or a computer products meeting; it was about famine. So what our ancestors would do is they would secrete hormones that would make them want to eat everything. They turned on these receptors – they’re called the cannibus receptors. Like from cannaboid pot, you get the munchies. When you’re stressed out, you eat more of everything. And our ancestors wanted that because they needed to store fat for times of famine. But today, it’s a problem because that big belly fat is called the omentum; sounds like momentum without the m. That belly fat squeezes your kidneys, which are back here, Howard, and those kidneys regulate your blood pressure. So, your blood pressure goes up; it poisons your liver, so you get high of that lousy LDL cholesterol...and it also drives up your blood sugar so you get diabetes. That’s the metabolic syndrome. That’s why belly fat is important.

So, how are you going to get rid of it? How do you learn the biology of blubber, so you can make it work for you to lose that belly fat? Three simple action steps.

Number one, you’ve got to build muscle. Muscle, when it’s being used, will burn about 50 times more calories (Let me see your muscles, Howard; very good, very impressive. Let me see the gluteus muscle, please. Just kidding.) Alright, and your body can be your gym for this.

Second, you’ve got to avoid simple sugars. These are all the white foods...white pasta, white rice, white sugar. When you have a piece of white bread before dinner tonight, it’s like having a candy bar. Biochemically, it’s the same thing, especially high fructose corn syrup, which is snuck into the soft drinks that so many of us eat. And if you eat these foods, by the way, you tell your brain a schizophrenic message, right? You get calories, but no nutrition. And so your brain’s thinking, “Wait a minute, I need more,” so you eat more, which is why these white sugars are so problematic.

And thirdly, we need to be able to manage stress more effectively. And the best technique for this is a very old eastern technique, but it works beautifully; it’s belly breathing – yoga belly breathing. As you inhale, you suck and you push your belly way out, and as you exhale, you suck your belly button towards your spine. That deep breath sucks nitrous oxide into your lungs and it fills them up with the nutrient oxygen that we need to be able to cope with stress. So next time your in a board meeting and you want to strangle Howard, instead you go (takes deep breath) and you cope with stress.

You can learn about all of this stuff at the Sony booth, and you can download your own copy of a 20 minute video we made for you, right into your hotel room. Or you can tune in this September, when we’re going to be talking about all kinds of things just like this when we have a national conversation about living a longer, happier, and healthier life.

Howard, thank you.

HOWARD: Well done doctor. You’re going to stay in surgery though, right?

DR. OZ: I’m staying. I’m operating every Friday. For those of you that want open heart surgery, Friday afternoons, Columbia Presbyterian. I’ll be there.

HOWARD: Very good. Thank you very much.

We are delighted to work with Dr. Oz, even if he ruined your lunch. He’ll be all over the Internet and all over Sony devices, we hope. His show launches in fall of 2009.

We’re calling this show “Dr. Oz” because “The Wizard” was taken.

One place where working out will be practiced on a daily basis is also a place where Sony will be highly visible beginning this spring – the new Yankee Stadium.

As the New York Yankees’ exclusive CE partner, Sony is helping the team build the most modern and technologically advanced sports venue in the world.

Fans will see 550 flat-panel BRAVIA LCD HDTV television sets and Sony branding throughout the park – BRAVIA TVs in the concourses, restaurants and luxury suites.

And on the professional side, the new Sony control room, a state-of-the-art HD broadcast facility featuring Sony HD studio equipment.

All of this will ensure that Yankee fans will love watching their favorite team on television.

There’ll be Sony VAIO PCs with Delta Airlines access available here. And, for video game fans, PlayStation will be featured in every Yankee Stadium suite.

But a few weeks before the historic 44th president of the United States takes office, I thought an opportunity would be to invite the last man to make the number 44 famous – Yankee Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson. Reggie, it’s a pleasure to see you. Tell me a little bit about the new stadium.

REGGIE: Well, about the only thing I can tell you about the new stadium is that I’m looking forward to seeing what Sony has done over there because they tell me there’s a whole room there that features technology and things that are going to be on the cutting edge and all the things that you can do so I’m looking forward to that.

I had a little problem with it, Howard. I’m kind of stuck in the old stadium. My history is in the old stadium and during the last ball game there that they had, I went out and sat in the center field bleachers in the back. I tried to find the spot where I hit the third home run and I honestly got a tear in my eye. With that, I knew that when 2009 came around, they’d kick me across the street and I’d leave an old friend behind.

But I am looking forward to what they tell me, you know with what’s going on with the stadium, with the restaurants and all the new things that you can do there. You can order things from your seat and things of that nature. I understand, as I said, that the new technology is going to be there with all the Sony. They have a special room that is just technology only...featuring Sony. I’m kind of a technoid myself and I’m looking forward to getting there and seeing that.

HOWARD: I was a surprised when I first approached you about this how much you knew about technology because you’ve had a lot to do with technology companies. You don’t have to mention their names.

REGGIE: Well, the nicest thing that you can do is that you can have in your black book - you can convert that over. I’ve got some PDAs that’ll hold three or four thousand names.

HOWARD: Fair enough. I should in the point of fact, tell you that back in 1977, I did a documentary, a serious documentary with Bill Moyer on the baseball business and we picked Yankees that year by shear coincidence. I went down to Yankee Stadium. I was just a producer but Yankee Stadium, to spring trained at Vero Beach and there you were, and we got to know you and Thurman Munson and all the other Yankees. And then, of course, because you went all the way to the World Series that year, I got tickets, and I watched those home runs. I watched those home runs.

REGGIE: I had a decent day.

HOWARD: We’re trying to remember how many it was. It was one…three and one, or five, in total.

REGGIE: Well in Anaheim, or I should say Los Angeles against the Dodgers in Sunday’s game, I hit a home run off Don Sutton and the next time up in Yankee Stadium, I got a walk. The next time up, Burt Hooton threw one pitch, a home run; next time up, Sosa threw one pitch, home run. Next time up Charlie Hough came in and as he’s walking out of the bullpen…I’ve always had tremendous success with knuckle ball pitchers, and I kind of looked around, there’s 58,000 people in the stands, there were people all over the country. I looked around and said to myself, I sure hope they don’t realize before he gets in here that I hit knuckleball pitchers. I mean, that’s what went through my mind. The first pitch he threw, boom. I had three.

HOWARD: And then another the next day.

REGGIE: The next year, the first day of the season, we’re playing the Chicago White Sox. Wilbur Wood is pitching. There are two men on base. Before the game, they give everybody that walks into the game a Reggie bar. So I hit the first pitch that I swing at out of the stadium for a ballpark and everybody starts throwing candy on the field and I’m wondering whether it doesn’t taste well. That it’s a lousy candy bar.

HOWARD: I’ll tell you, I’ll always remember those home runs. All of us in the stadium had no doubt that you would hit those home runs. There was something about you that created an iconic moment that all of us who love baseball, and obviously Yankee fans, will always treasure.

REGGIE: Well I have to be careful with that because you get to home plate and Reggie’s going to hit a home run. But if I didn’t hit a homerun…I had five years when I went to home plate, you have an average of 500 trips to the plate during a season, I stuck out 2,597 times. So for five years in my career, I never touched the baseball and still made the Hall of Fame.

HOWARD: Well, who’s counting? As a special treasure, I thought I would produce for your memory bank...this, ladies and gentlemen, is a slight soggy Reggie bar.

REGGIE: I think I’ve got a guy in the back who might want one. Tom Hanks was telling me it was the best candy bar he ever ate because he said when you ate it with the nuts and the goo and the caramel inside, you could keep tasting it for the next two hours.

HOWARD: By the way, Tom Hanks entertains backstage as well as on the stage.

Reggie, it’s a privilege to have you on the stage. For all of us Yankee fans and for many people in the audience, you will always be Mr. October, a legend in our time. I’m giving you this.

REGGIE: I’ll take it. I’m looking forward to seeing the new technology in the stadium.

HOWARD: Thanks very much. Reggie Jackson.

Yankee stadium isn’t the only place where our innovative technology is creating a better consumer experience. As we’ve said, consumers want their products to be green, and we are actively developing new means of achieving that goal.

Sony has just announced a new eco line of TV products that are 40% more power-efficient than our current models. One of our energy-efficient BRAVIAs has already been awarded 2009’s CES innovation’s design and engineering award in the eco-design category. That didn’t take long, did it?

Globally the Sony Group continues to increase its recycling efforts. Closer to home, Sony Electronics in the U.S. has launched the Take Back recycling program with the goal of recycling one pound of old consumer electronics equipment for every pound of new Sony products sold.

We are also hard at work developing new eco-friendly technologies. This is not stained glass art, but a solar cell capable of generating electricity from light in your office or home. It is the dye sensitized solar cell, and we are exploring ways to incorporate it into future products. For a better look at this beautiful product, stop by the Sony booth.

And tripling the power output compared to a year ago, we continue our work on our sugar-based bio battery, which was named one of the “best inventions of the year” by Time magazine.

Also on display in the Sony booth is a concept phone from Sony Ericsson called greenheart that features bio-plastic housing, recycled plastic keypads, and a highly efficient charger.

But now I’d like to change the subject and talk about something that particularly excites Sony Pictures Entertainment – our work in digital cinema, including 4K projectors and HD cameras. It’s paving the way toward the national availability of 3D. This is a lot closer than you think. It is critical to the future of the theatrical experience because it will accelerate consumer sales soon.

You should have found, under your seat, a pair of 3D glasses on your seat when you came in today – so take them out of the plastic wrapper. This is not those flimsy cardboard glasses of old because this ain’t your father’s 3D experience.

Now take a look at “Tokyo Mater,” inspired by the hit 2006 film, “Cars,” and directed by Academy Award winner John Lasseter. It is the first short film in digital 3D for Disney and Pixar. Take a look.

Since 3D puts you in the driver’s seat, let’s literally put you in the driver’s seat. Many of you have enjoyed Gran Turismo on your PS2, PS3, and PSP. But you’ve probably never enjoyed it like this. This is the closest that gaming has come to virtual reality.

As sports fans, we had to ask the question: What about American football? Being able to sit in a chair while 320-pound linemen fall all around you, or standing with a receiver in the corner of the end zone right in front of you is an experience all of us can share. This footage was captured last week when Virginia Tech played Cincinnati in the FedEx Orange Bowl.

If you enjoyed that, you’ll be even more pleased to know that later tonight here in Las Vegas at the Paris Hotel, you can witness a bit of history when Sony sponsors the first live 3D simulcast of the FedEx BCS national championship game. The Florida-Oklahoma contest will be presented by FOX Sports with our partners, 3ality, Real d and cinedign. I hear some seats are still available.

Of course, while we innovate on the gridiron, all of the Hollywood studios have been working to perfect the theatrical experience. No one has done that more than the visual and vocal proponent of 3D in the animated arena – the famous, the extraordinary Jeffrey Katzenberg of DreamWorks Animation.

Ever since I first met Jeffrey, he’s been larger than life. We always knew 2D could never hold him, so, naturally, he’s made 3D has become his passion and his inspiration. So please welcome the John the Baptist of 3D, Jeffrey Katzenberg.

JEFFREY: Thank you, Howard. Good to be with you.

HOWARD: Yours is the winner; it looks great

JEFFREY: Thank you, Howard. You know for me, my first love has always been the movie theater and you know, for the last decade, there has been such extraordinary innovation in the home experience and again a great bright future for it, but for me, it all begins in the movie theater. And to date, in the history of film, I believe there have been so far two revolutionary events: the transition from silent movies to synchronized sound in the 1920s, and then the arrival of color in the 1930s. And now, here we are 70 years later and the movie industry is entering what I believe will be the third period of great revolutionary change with the arrival of 3D.

The first two, sound and color, were actually about bringing a better film experience to the audience, itself. And this one is about bringing the audience into the movie experience.

And I do want to be clear…as Howard said, this is not my father’s 3D…a very wonderful experience where we wore these goofy glasses.

Now, we have glasses which you have with you there…state-of-the-art, polarized lenses…dual projectors delivering pristine, bright, digital images that are in perfect sync and flicker-free. No headaches, no nausea. You think about it in business; to do something in your business that actually causes your audience to throw up is probably not a good strategy and so all of those things that came with these old things are part of the past.

I think that 3D represents the opportunity to actually re-energize our audiences worldwide about the film medium by offering them a new, exciting, premium experience that can actually only be seen in the movie theaters.

At DreamWorks Animation, we have completely re-tooled our studio to produce for this medium using a new set of authoring tools that we call In Tru 3D. And beginning this year, every one of our films from the very first storyboard will be authored in 3D. The technology, itself, has actually become an integral element of the filmmaking and the storytelling process. Again, this is always about telling a great story.

I think that 3D is all about dimensionality...but not just visual dimensionality, about emotional dimensionality. So if you’ll put on those very cool Ray-Ban glasses, I’ve brought with me a clip from our first 3D production called “Monster’s vs. Aliens.” The sequence that you are going to see begins in the middle of San Francisco, following one of our lead characters, Susan. She’s the 50-foot woman, one of our monsters, who is battling this giant robotic probe that’s been sent by an alien force. So, put on your glasses and let’s take a look.

HOWARD: Thank you.

JEFFREY: Thank you. And I just have to say I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity for the movie industry and, most importantly, for moviegoers around the world. And I do want to say, Sir Howard, that the work that Sony has done, is doing, and is continuing in terms of innovating the ways in which we can deliver our stories to audiences, be it in the theater or in their homes, is fantastic. All of us in Hollywood appreciate it, and keep up the great work.

HOWARD: Well I have one thing to say to you Jeffery: Is there some way we can bottle your energy and enthusiasm? Because I could get really rich.

JEFFREY: Thank you very much, everybody.

HOWARD: Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Anyway, that’s what’s coming to you at a big screen near you in the near future.

And, in the meantime, you can catch expanded 3D content in the Sony theater and booth this week. Particularly look at the PlayStation game 3D.

One of the most important ways to improve the user experience is by helping consumers manage their content. Last summer we welcomed Gracenote, an industry leader in this area, to the Sony family. And if you’ve every loaded a favorite CD onto your PC and it had all the album information appear miraculously, you can thank Gracenote.

Last year alone, more than 237 million people in 200 countries and territories used Gracenote’s products and its database received more than 8 billion searches per month.

This Sony Ericsson phone has a Gracenote-enabled feature called track-id. As the song plays on the television, you can press a button. Instantly, you have the name of the artist and the song and you can buy it. Gracenote’s database can give you recommendations on other music you might like and the potential for video applications with Gracenote technology is as broad as the music business.

Sony Ericsson phones continue to evolve with service-enhanced products. Sony Ericsson Walkman phones come with all major label artists’ songs preloaded – including Sony, of course. And just last month, Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow plus launched its first out-of-the-box, unlimited music download service available for use on both phones and PCs.

Phones come with preloaded music and PlayNow plus gives you free, unlimited access to music from a catalogue of millions of songs that can be downloaded wirelessly. This service is available now in Europe.

Now here is a real cool product. It’s already been seen on the pre-show buzz on the Internet, and you can put it in your pocket ‘cause I just did. Say hello to the Sony VAIO P Series lifestyle PC. Unlike so-called “netbooks,” it is a full-featured lifestyle PC. It fits in my jacket pocket, as you saw, and yet it has built-in GPS. So you can use it anywhere in the U.S. – no Internet connection required. And boy, is it stylish and elegant. Cool colors, a wide screen, wireless connectivity through the Verizon network. You can see many of its features on the screen behind me.

Starting today, it can be pre-ordered at all Sony Style stores and at Sonystyle.com, and will be available nationwide soon.

Now three months ago, Sony completed the acquisition of Bertelsmann’s 50 percent stake in our Sony BMG joint venture. The company will be called Sony Music Entertainment and music is one element that runs through every form of entertainment, across all our devices. Music is something that unites people in a shared experience across cultures and continents. Despite the changes in the industry, music continues to be an important driver of economic value.

Many of the top-rated television shows worldwide are music-related, like the “Idol” and “Got Talent” franchises.

From SingStar to Rock Band, some of the most popular games you can play with family and friends have music at the very core of the experience. So no matter how much the industry changes, music will always create an emotional connection that intensifies and improves the entertainment experience, and here’s why.

Well, who better to close the show than Usher? Everybody on this show – all the artists, as you know – are techno freaks and Usher, I’m happy to say, is. We’re authentic. So Usher is no different. Your shows have been sponsored by Sony Ericsson and you know a lot about technology.

USHER: Yeah, actually I do know a lot about technology. Yes. Sony technology. Right?

HOWARD: See? Everyone’s doing it now.

USHER: Yeah. Well, hey, why not join the party, right? It worked.

HOWARD: How about your family?

USHER: Oh man, family. You know some of my greatest moments are captured by Sony products. Actually, I just had two sons. Actually, we were in the Sony hospital in Atlanta. Yeah. No, no, no, honestly, I mean it’s really great to be able to capture moments and you really want to have technology that you can rely on. And some of my greatest photos and greatest moments have been captured on this one camera. Actually, it’s going to be a lifetime product. It’ll be given to my kids and even though they’ll be new models, this one will be special.

I have to thank Sony Ericsson for being very supportive of me as an artist. You know, we were talking in rehearsals about cross marketing opportunities and Sony Ericsson being able to come together with me and, through their devices, allow me to become closer, or get closer to my fans. It was great.

And after a successful tour, I’m only hoping for a great future of doing other things with Sony products.

HOWARD: We should point out that keeping it in the family, Usher appeared with Tom Hanks’s wife, Rita, in the musical Chicago, on stage in Chicago, I understand. Right?

USHER: Yes. Well, actually, we didn’t perform together.

HOWARD: You didn’t? Oh, I thought you did.

USHER: No, but she did the show; then, I did it, as well.

HOWARD: So we have something in common again, then.

USHER: We do. You guys, Sony sponsored that too, didn’t they?

HOWARD: Yeah. Yeah.

USHER: Yeah? Okay. Alright.

HOWARD: I have to ask you one slightly controversial question. This is the year all the digital downloads passed a very high number. But it’s now a singles market. Do you miss the album?

USHER: Well, I mean…albums embody an entire journey and, for the icons that we are to become and the icons that we’ve studied, that’s what made them who they are – the overall experience. Not just the single. And although we are in the single day, it’s still about building a profile. Being able to, as I said, utilize outlets like Sony Ericsson gave me an opportunity to promote another record on an album. So when my fans buy into, you know, whether it’s a Sony phone or whatever it may be, they’re buying into the catalog. You know, you have 12 songs on an album, so you only hope that you’ll make at least three videos, three singles, have three singles to release. But other than that, it’s kind of like a wash if you don’t have that opportunity to build. So, building an album, having the ability to be able to go out and tour, actually allows you to become closer.

Thank you, Sony Ericsson, for allowing me to stream, you know, what I did on tour, online to my fans. I’m hoping that the industry will make a turn for the better for the artist who spends the time to build an overall story. They, hopefully, will sustain and make it through these times. I’m hoping, you know?

HOWARD: Thank you. Thank you so much. I thought I…We want you to cut a ribbon later for another reason.

USHER: You do?

HOWARD: Yep.

USHER: And then we’re going to do our duet, right?

HOWARD: We’re going to do our duet, yes. We’re going to do ness’un dorma together.

That’s the sound Usher has used to sell 35 million albums, and win five Grammy Awards.

Three months ago, he was ranked by Billboard magazine as one of the all-time Hot 100 artists – one of just a few artists from his generation to be mentioned. So, thank you very much for closing the show.

USHER: Thank you.

HOWARD: We couldn’t have a better artist.

USHER: Thank you guys.

HOWARD: Thank you all.

So despite the gloom of recession, this is still a truly remarkable time in our industry – and I believe it will be remembered as a pivotal moment in our history.

There is a word in the vocabulary of every child that takes on a different meaning when it’s uttered by adults – either because we no longer have use for it, or it feels frivolous, or it’s not up to the standards of the serious people we think we have become. That word is “imagine.”

When we were young, we spent our days imagining we were pirates, or soldiers, or in my case, Knights of the Round Table. It leaves quickly.

The late Gordon MacKenzie, a longtime creative force at Hallmark cards, used to tell a story that entered folklore among artists. MacKenzie would visit schools to talk about his profession. He’d open each talk by telling students he was an artist.

In kindergarten and first-grade classes he would then ask, “How many artists are in the room?” Every hand went up.

He repeated it in second grade: three-quarters of the kids raised their hands.

In third grade, only half did.

And in fourth grade, only a few.

By the sixth grade, not a single hand went up.

Where does it go? This sense of wonder, this sense of adventure, this sense of possibility – that whatever we can imagine, we can make real. Is it because for every idea in the world, for every possibility, there are some who will say it’s ridiculous, too ambitious, too unlikely, or too impossible – words we all begin to hear as we grow older.

At Sony, we’re trying not to believe in the word “impossible” – but we’ve always believed in the ability to imagine. That has been the promise of the consumer electronics industry. In a digital and networked age being driven by seven key imperatives, the ability of this industry to help turn imagination into reality is greater than it has ever been.

No drop in the economy can change the fact that this is still one of the most innovative industries on the face of the planet. If we keep our sails spread high, history tells us the wind will pick up again and it will carry us to places we could barely imagine three years ago.

At Sony, we need to be ready when it does. We are working to improve and elevate the experience for customers today and imagine a networked, connected and personalized experience for tomorrow.

If you can imagine it, we can help you make it real. That is the total Sony experience. Thank you all very much.

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