Just in time for the holidays, Sony has resurrected the robot pet it removed from shelves in 2006. This new model is called aibo, which stands for Artificial Intelligence robot. Aibo is also the Japanese word for “companion” or “friend.” The new model (no. ERS-1000) develops from a newborn puppy to an adult with personality shaped by the interaction with its owners and surroundings, thanks to the latest AI technology. This ability to form an emotional bond with members of the family makes each aibo unique, so no two will be the same. The new puppy’s rounded appearance makes it pretty irresistible. Sony has spent quite a bit on animation. That being said, I am personally a bit skeptical about how it feels to pet a piece of plastic, even though it’s premium plastic. The pup has the capacity of expressing its love for its owners through lifelike expressions and a dynamic array of movements, but it does make one wonder—is this the future of pets? The robot pet has a behavioral repertoire more limited than that of the least bright dog, but an aibo doesn’t need you to feed it (technically, it does when you charge it), doesn’t wake you up at 5am to take it out in the pouring rain and will never make a mess inside your home. Aibo’s ‘fur’ is ivory-white, and it has cute flapping black ears and a wagging tail. It’s about 30-centimeters long and comes with a package of sensors on the head, chin and back for pet detection, two cameras, four microphones for voice commands and internet connectivity, as well as the earlier mentioned upgraded AI backed by cloud computing to develop the dog’s personality. The advantages of deep learning and AI tricks help it to...

Socrates famously declared, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Sony appears to have taken the old philosopher’s adage to heart. With the company’s trio of Xperia products – the Eye, the Projector and the Agent – consumers may soon be able to track, record, store all the minutia of their daily lives. All three products debuted as concept devices at the 2016 Mobile World Congress (MCW) in Barcelona earlier this year. The MWC, which typically takes place in February, is a prime time for major manufacturers to reveal new products and projects. Probably the simplest and least intrusive of Sony’s Xperia trio, the Eye takes the form of a wearable camera. The Eye resembles a small mp3 player, and wearers need only don the device before blissfully going about their day. Though it’s currently just a “conceptual vision” with no release date, Sony’s prototype updates the typical lifelogging camera with its voice and facial recognition capabilities and it’s “intelligent shutter technology” which allows the camera to pick and choose which moments to photograph. In a video for the products, a father passively watches his family open a gift box; his hands are unencumbered as the Eye quietly captures the scene for prosperity. The Xperia Projector is less surveillance minded than the Eye, but its intuitive interface also depends on what it can glean from its environment. Loaded up with data on appointments, locations, contacts and other facts and figures, the Projector transforms all that information into an interactive UI projected onto any surface, including walls and tabletops. Altering the projections is as simple as moving your fingertip across the images. In the future, this modest digital hub will be able to provide a personalized and customized experience for the whole family. Rounding out...

QuadHD displays are yesterday’s hot thing. The new point of attraction is 4K. At IFA 2015, Sony introduced its Z5 family—Z5, Z5 Compact, and Z5 Premium phones—with Z5 Premium sporting the world’s first 5.5-inch 4K (3,840×2,160) with 806ppi display, “next-generation” cameras, and some teensy-weensy fingerprint scanners. This is the first time ever that Sony has launched a trio of phones at the same time. They all share many features, but there is one thing that differentiates the Premium from the rest. The 4K display is a truly ridiculous world-beating panel, with vibrant colors and deep blacks. Unfortunately, the new screen tech was saved only for the Premium, while Z5 stays with the 5.2-inch 1080p unit and the Z5 Compact gets only a 4.6-inch 720p display. Aside from the 4K monster, the Z5 Premium flaunts a mirrored glass back in black, gold, and chrome. Z5 comes in white, black, gold, and subdued green with a frosted glass back, and Z5 Compact seems to be designed for the younger customer base, dressed in white, black, but also yellow and coral; these too with frosted glass at the back. If you’re picky about the size of the device you’re choosing for yourself, you’re in luck: Z5 Premium has 5.5-inch display and is 7.8mm thick, the Z5 has a 5.2-inch display and is 7.3mm thick, and the Compact has a 4.6-inch display and is 8.3mm thick. What’s your size? Specs-wise, the trio shares pretty much the same features. All three have inside Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 processor, up to 32GB of internal storage (expandable to 128GB by microSD), high-res audio chips, “up to two-day battery life,” and a fingerprint sensor built into the power button on the right edge of the phone, a position that feels more natural than...