What is Hi-res audio? A Sony Music engineer explains

Hi-Res Audio, it’s something we’re more than familiar with here at Sony Mobile. First seen on our Z3 handset way back in 2014 and a regular feature of flagship handsets since. In early January the tech received a boost as Sony Music, Universal, Warner, the Recording Publishing Association of America, and Pandora all announced their support for Hi-Res Audio streaming.

You may have also seen Sony recently worked with Google to make sure Android O will sound way better. Well we care about sound here at Sony HQ and you’ll find Hi-res audio capability in many of our devices including the XZ and XZ Premium. To discover what makes hi-res audio hi-res we stopped by London’s award-winning Metropolis Studios (studio of choice for Adele, U2, Bjork and Madonna, to name a few) to catch-up with Peter Hewitt-Dutton, one of their leading Mastering Engineers to discuss Hi-Res, Low-Res and everything in-between.

Peter, lovely to meet you. What do you do here and how long have you been with Metropolis?

I joined Metropolis by sitting on the night reception and almost 10 years later I’m now a Mastering Engineer, which means I take previously mixed audio files and prepare them for final distribution.

To be as brief as possible, what exactly is Hi-Res Audio?

Without getting too technical, Hi-Res is a general term for digital audio being reproduced at sample rates and bit depths higher than that of a normal CD or for those numbers guys out there, 44kHz, 16 bit.

How does the recording process differ between Hi-Res and its standard counterpart?

Virtually all music is recorded in a high-resolution form, but the standard CD, and download versions such as MP3s are heavily reduced, and are therefore compromised versions of the initial high-resolution master. It’s really the mastering and output where the improved clarity comes.

Ok, this time with that technical head-on – what is the difference between standard and Hi-Res audio?

The range of frequencies able to be reproduced, and the level of detail in the sound dynamics.

To give you an example – as the sample rate increases, the highest frequency the system is able to record also increases. And although the human ear is not capable of hearing much above 20kHz, we are able to detect the harmonies and transients in frequencies far higher. These are particularly important in music to maintain the feel of the piece.

Then moving on to “bit depth”, this will determine the dynamic range of the system, that is the difference between the loudest and quietest sounds it can accurately store. CD sits at about 16bit, but all Hi-Res content is 24bit. This means more of the nuance of the performance is captured, as well as the full range of the analogue equipment used to record material. It’s a sharper sound that truly reflects the musician’s work.

So what does that mean in reality for the average music fan?

It means they are able to have the music a lot closer to what the artist actually heard in the studio and mastering room when they signed the record off. In many cases it will be the exact audio they approved. Sample rate converters are then used for the lower resolution formats, to get it to CD and standard digital formats, which means they lose quality on the way.. With Hi-Res, everything the artist wanted to be heard is preserved, and delivered to the listener.

So what about “low-res” files, will Hi-Res audio products improve the listening of these?

Yes. The digital-to-analogue converters needed to convert high resolution files need to be of a higher quality than their low-res counterparts. So those low-res files will be produced closer to their full potential than on lesser equipment.

Do any particular genres benefit from this greater fidelity?

If you simply remove the process of “down sampling” any audio will sound better. It’s one particularly destructive process. That said the more dynamic the material, the more noticeable the difference will be. It also comes down to how well recorded the material is; by which I mean music that takes advantage of the full frequency range available, is well mixed to give all the instruments the space they need, but also maintaining the subtle acoustic information. It is very easy for a lot of this to be lost in a poor mix or master.

TV has graduated from HD to 4K…is Hi-Res as good as it gets for audio?

Not at all – The record industry is making incredible leaps in tech and analogue is having something of a revival. As better products and converters are made available, analogue tape can be recaptured as new digital formats resulting in a better sound. We’re not done yet.

Do you need any special equipment to make the most of Hi-Res audio e.g. Top of the range headphones?

To take full advantage, yes. But the differences will be noticeable to a lot of people down to mid-range equipment. It is only really the cheapest converters, amps and speakers, which will not benefit. The sound you hear is only as good as the weakest point in the chain. A Hi-Res file will simply make the best use of the equipment you have, sounding as good as it can.

Before you get back to it, do you have any recommended tracks that are good to show off the power of Hi-Res audio?

I was lucky enough to work alongside John Davis on the recent Led Zeppelin remastering process. That was all captured at “96/24”, meaning there was virtually no limiting at all. It sounds just fantastic.

To discover more about Hi-Res audio follow this link.

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by violahazlerigg via Sony Xperia Blog

What are the best smartphone beauty apps?

Tested: A seven-year-old girl gives her verdict on Xperia Touch

Meet the Makers: An in-depth look at the Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 835

When we announced Xperia XZ Premium at MWC there was plenty on the spec-sheet to catch our eye, not least, Qualcomm’s latest and most powerful offering, the Snapdragon 835. When it comes to mobile platforms Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 is as good as it gets right now and we were thrilled that Sony’s Xperia XZ Premium was the first handset revealed as using the tech.

From powering the 4K HDR screen and Super slow motion video capture, to the latest 4G-network speed, we know what the 835 is capable of, but how does it all actually work?

To find out we spoke to Qualcomm HQ in sunny San Diego to chat to two members of the Technical Marketing team, Francisco ‘Cisco’ Cheng and Sherif Hanna. With over 10 years of service between them, the guys took us through the inner workings of the chip and revealed how this powerful mobile platform delivers when you need it most…

 

Nice to speak to you guys – so we obviously love the 835, how long has the process taken from first concept to final product?

FC: For any given platform, it can take over a year from conception to final product.

Snapdragon 835 is your smallest chip to date, are you always looking to reduce the overall size?

FC: Not necessarily. Transitioning to a new process node encompasses more than just size. There are architectural changes, power management improvements, and feature improvements that aren’t necessarily a result of decrease in size.

So how small do you think chips can go – have we now reached the limit?

FC: The processor itself will continue to shrink, along with the chips surrounding it. This is how Qualcomm Technologies can reduce the footprint of what’s inside your mobile device, resulting in thinner and sleeker form factors that accommodate bigger batteries and more features.

How do those extra features enable the Xperia XZ Premium to capture video at an impressive 960fps?

FC: We have an Image Signal processor called Spectra and a cutting-edge video engine that is capable of powering various video-capturing techniques.

People are pretty excited about Gigabit-class LTE connectivity – what does it mean for users?

SH: Gigabit LTE is the latest generation of 4G wireless technology. It can support download speeds up to 10 times those of the first 4G devices and networks. Those kinds of speeds can fundamentally change what people can do with their phones, and open up exciting new possibilities once app developers fully harness it.

Sounds simple. Do we really need it?

SH: No question – Gigabit LTE actually improves the capacity of the mobile network so that it can provide faster speeds for all users. This means that it can help relieve congestion that typically slows down 4G speeds in crowded areas – in a busy city centre, at the airport, or on a university campus. That translates to fantastically fast speeds for users with Gigabit LTE devices, and improved speeds even for users with old devices. Everyone wins.

Can you tell us more about how Xperia XZ Premium supports this new feature?

SH: Certainly. The Xperia XZ Premium is truly a marvel of wireless engineering. One of the key enablers of Gigabit LTE is a technology called 4×4 Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO). This means that Sony’s engineers were able to squeeze four LTE antennas into the smartphone instead of the regular two.

Squeezing four antennas into a smartphone was thought to be impossible just a few years ago, and yet Sony’s engineers were able to do it. That’s where the relationship between Sony and Qualcomm Technologies really pays off in a big way for users of the Xperia XZ Premium.

How long do you think it will be before Gigabit LTE has ubiquitous mobile network support then?

SH: We’re off to a great start already. Over 15 operators in more than 11 countries have already announced their intention to roll out Gigabit LTE in 2017, including EE in the UK. We expect many more to follow suit over the coming 12-18 months.

But what about 5G? Is Gigabit LTE significant in the path towards it?

SH: Absolutely. And it’s significant in two concrete ways. First, Gigabit LTE gives us the first glimpse of our 5G future, with Internet speeds that were unfathomable in a mobile device up to this point. That means that app developers can begin adapting their apps to take advantage of new speeds that weren’t possible before.

Second, when 5G networks begins to roll-out, they will have limited coverage. It will actually be Gigabit LTE that will provide high-speed coverage over a wider geographic area, whenever the user moves out of range of 5G coverage.

What else do you predict for the future of wireless network and connectivity technology?

SH: With the advent of 5G, we can expect mobile broadband to become much faster, much lower latency, and more ubiquitous, enabling new virtual reality and augmented reality scenarios that we can only dream of today. We’re also going to bring 5G connectivity to new types of devices beyond smartphones – our aim, in essence, is to connect every object and every device, empowering them with even better capabilities than we get in our smartphones today. The future really will be more amazing than we can imagine today.

FC: Qualcomm Technologies is a leader in wireless technology, so we see a future where everything is connected to each other with seamless access. It can be the next great cellular technology or a completely untethered headset that is always connected to the cloud.  Wireless is our strength and we intend to make it better.

Incredible. So what’s next for you both, what are you currently working on?

SH: Even as 4G continues to evolve with Gigabit LTE, we’re now working in earnest on bringing 5G to the world. And who knows – before you know it, I may be back chatting with Sony about new 5G-enabled devices!

FC: The Snapdragon team is in the process of helping companies like Sony roll out the Snapdragon 835 in the most premium and advanced mobile devices, and we are happy to see that Sony will be one of the first to ship with the Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform.

Thank you for your time, before you go could you reveal any exciting details on some new products from Qualcomm Technologies?

FC: We are constantly unveiling new technology. We recently announced a new modem technology that is engineered to push speeds well beyond 1Gbps and enable more and more operators to support fast speeds in the very near future.

 

Discover more about the Xperia XZ Premium here.

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by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog

Mass Effect: Andromeda theme lands on Xperia devices

Meet The Makers: The team behind Xperia Touch

One of the most exciting announcements we made at MWC was Xperia Touch, the Android projector with the ability to turn any flat surface into a 23” HD touchscreen. Since its reveal, we’ve been itching to find out how something so radical could go from initial concept to reality and if we really are heading into a “Minority Report” world.

Not ones to miss out, we wasted no time in getting backstage at the booth to meet Arinobu Ueda (left) and Yuichiro Saito (right), the lead designer and engineer on Xperia Touch respectively.

Over our hands-on session, we fired questions, got the low down on the device and pushed for the inside track on what Xperia Touch is really all about – here’s how our chat played out.

 

Lovely to meet you both. Could you tell us a little more about the idea and any thoughts on its initial reception?

AU: “We’re incredibly excited to finally unveil Xperia Touch as a commercial product, it’s certainly been a challenging journey but to see such a positive reaction for the product we’ve worked so hard on, is something I’m very proud of.”

SY: “Our early concept for the Touch was an “advanced information window” for the whole family, a point of information that everyone would enjoy to engage with but also a focal point for group gathering.”

From first idea to having this product in front of us, how long has it taken?

SY: “We started to think about the possibilities of in-home interactive projection back at the end of 2015, from there we studied the concept and set to work on how we’d make our innovation a possibility.”

Multi-touch means it works well in group situations, was this the plan from the starting point?

SY: “Of course, we wanted to open this up to as many users as possible and allow multiple people to sit around and enjoy what it has to offer. Some smart products have a tendency to be quite individual but the Touch is all about enjoying it with friends and family.”

So any flat surface can now be turned into a touchscreen, are there any particular surfaces that work better than others?

AU: “Lighting is important to consider and projecting onto clear glass is difficult but any in-home surface would happily support the picture.”

How big can Xperia Touch project to, are we limited to twenty-three inches?

SY: “We can project to a much bigger eighty inches allowing users to watch films or videos, but at this scale the touch functionality isn’t possible. We’d love to expand but currently twenty-three inches is the largest our interactive feature will reach.”

And what about thinking smaller – would projection tech ever find itself in a smartphone?

SY: “We’re already very small. Our teams worked very closely to make the unit as small as we possibly could. Obviously the tech behind the projection has to be the priority, but we also had to ensure the overall unit would fit inside the home.”

AU: “Yes, the look and feel of the Touch sitting on a worktop, shelf or table was a huge development process for us. You won’t be using this all the time so the size, shape and feel of the Touch is in itself a piece of interior design. We picked the colour to blend in amongst other parts of the home, we didn’t want this to be a clunky unit and become an eyesore. The smooth edges work to make the Touch feel smaller and flow with other design features inside your home.”

We think it looks great. Do you have any particularly favorite apps or things to do using Xperia Touch?

SY: “Well I do have a guilty pleasure for an app called Fitflap Motion. It works with the camera on top of the Touch unit and requires you to flap your wings to keep your bird character flying across the game. It’s highly addictive, huge fun but also quite the work out!”

This is great, we’re off to have a play but any inside details on what’s next for you both? Do you have any juicy details you might be able to reveal?

AU: “I can’t say too much at the moment but AI is very important for us to consider. It will be very interesting to see how projection and artificial intelligence could find its way into the home.”

 

More information on the Xperia Touch can be found at the official Xperia Touch page.

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by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog

Pre-order MESH in Europe on Hatsuhiko – the new marketing platform for Sony’s startups

Let us introduce you to Hatsuhiko, a brand new test-marketing platform that brings the very latest innovations from within our Seed Acceleration Program (SAP) to the world. Not only can you have a peek at our very latest ventures, you can also share ideas and contribute feedback to the developers. It’s co-vision and co-creation on a global scale; innovation at it’s very best.

The first product launched on Hatsuhiko is MESH, now available for pre-order in Europe – it’s new tech allowing anyone to transform ordinary everyday objects into smart gadgets.

Instead of buying lots of smart devices, MESH allows you to build your own or integrate with other household objects via Bluetooth or WiFi. You can also use IFTTT to link to hundreds of connected home gadgets such as Amazon Echo, WeMo, Nest and apps like Gmail or Twitter. There’s no need for electronics or programming – simply drag-and-drop directly within the MESH app and get creative!

Already available in Japan and the United States, MESH will start shipping to Europe from May 2017 – so act quick, as the pre-order ends this week!

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by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog

Turn off the bright lights: Earth Hour Xperia Theme now available

Since 2008 people, landmarks, businesses, and whole cities worldwide have turned their lights off for sixty minutes to celebrate Earth Hour. Organised by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Earth Hour shows a global commitment to fight climate change.

This year Earth Hour is tomorrow, Saturday March 25^th at 8:30pm your local time. As with previous years, Sony Mobile offices around the world will be turning the lights off in support of the initiative. Head to the WWF Earth Hour home page here to discover what you can do to get involved.

“Earth Hour acts as both a commitment and reminder that we need to change our behaviour to ensure we’re using Earth’s resources in a sustainable fashion for the sake of the future generations.” said Johan K Holmqvist, Head of Corporate Sustainability Office at Sony Mobile Communications.

“It isn’t just a ‘one-off’ – it’s part of how we embrace this thinking as part of our daily operations and raise awareness with employees, customers and other stakeholders.”

We’ve also released a new Xperia Theme to mark Earth Hour – you can download it here.

Sony has set a goal of having zero environmental footprint by 2050. Take a look at our Road to Zero page to find out how.

 

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by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog

Inside Innovators: We meet FNATIC, a leading eSports organisation

From selling out arenas normally reserved for the Rolling Stones, to amassing nearly 226 million users worldwide, it’s safe to say we’re in the midst of a gaming revolution; eSports is slowly taking over the world one smartphone at a time.

But what are eSports, and why is a market that generated over $325m last year still lacking the mainstream attention it deserves? In an effort to lift the lid on this world we met Benoit Pagotto, director of leading eSports organisation FNATIC, to find out how it all started and why mobile gaming is the next big thing for electronic sports.

 

Great to meet you – let’s start simple, what is FNATIC? 

FNATIC is a leading global eSports organisation with teams across all major eSports gaming titles such as League of Legends, Dota 2 and Overwatch. We also create our own apparel and eSports gaming hardware with FNATICGEAR, a venture we launched at the end of 2015.  We’re one of eSports biggest native brands, and have been around since 2004. You might have never heard of us, but eSports wise, we’re pretty legit. 

eSports is getting a bigger profile every year, what’s driving that? 

We’re all playing a role in that growth, we’re continuing to build on features and infrastructure for both the pro players and the audience experience. We constantly aim to create compelling content for our growing fan base and recently opened a pop-up store in the middle of Shoreditch, London for everyone to enjoy. Every initiative and every player counts, its driving the industry forward, and fast.

But all of this is powered by one simple factor: the people. Once you get into eSports, you don’t stop. You continue to watch and engage, and as the industry innovates, it just gets bigger and better. It’s the future of competitive entertainment for the digital generation.

When will we see eSports in the Olympics? 

Within the next 10 years I’d say. eSports is already global, a League of legends Olympic final would receive great viewership even if aired tomorrow, but eSports and the world still need a bit more time to get ready for the Olympics’ mass appeal.

How do you go from living room gamer to becoming a pro, can anyone get involved?

Anyone with the right dedication and talent can get involved. Picking a competitive game and excelling at it can get you spotted to enter in a pro team. But just like in sports, it’s a lot of work, a lot of training and a LOT of hours.

How does mobile gaming feature in the world of eSports or FNATIC? 

We’ve just announced our Vainglory team, a great MOBA (Multiplayer online battle arena) game so we’re pretty new but pretty confident on mobile eSports.

From a platform perspective, we think mobile will definitely grow in eSports in the years to come, simply because mobile is becoming the most popular route into gaming. It will take some time for mobile to become the main platform, but when the right components for eSports, mobile, GPU, mixed reality and VR come together we’ll get there.

What makes FNATIC stand out, are there others out there like you?

FNATIC is a part of eSports, with more than a decade of accomplishments and an already strong legacy, but more than that, we always think bigger, we always strive to push the industry and our expectations further. Whether it’s by hiring a mental coach for our team, deck out a gaming house, launch FNATICGEAR, or a concept store in London’s coolest street, we are never afraid to try new ideas to grow our brand.

Yes, your concept store – BUNKR – what’s the thinking behind that?

We wanted to put eSports in the streets and create a physical venue for new and existing gamers to come and discover what eSports is about. We wanted to see if it would work, so we did it, it’s as simple as that.

Do “virtual” sports and “brick and mortar” spaces work together? 

It always has, gaming cafes still exist but we wanted to bring this to the next level and use the location as a way to discover our brand and eSports as a whole.

All our events to date have been very successful and we’re inundated with demands from fans to open BUNKR in their cities. The response from non-eSports audiences has also been great, many curious bodies pop in but we’re seeing plenty of regulars return with their friends. Being able to physically experience the eSports enthusiasm is a key factor to make you realise how cool and how real this is.

What’s next for FNATIC? 

Plenty. We just partnered with the legendary AS Roma football club to launch our FIFA 17 adventure. We are now on all gaming platforms, consoles, mobile and PC. We’re going to continue to compete at the highest levels and lead our brand and fans into new territories. There’s plans for new BUNKR pop ups, new products and new experiences all around the world. Stay tuned.

Do you have any tips for budding gamers out there hoping to break the industry? 

Work hard, play hard. Literally.

Finally, what Android games would you recommend to our readers? 

eSports wise, Vainglory is great on Android, and it’s the best MOBA eSports experience you can get on the go. But for a totally non-eSports related recommendation, Swords & Sorcery, which is still today one of the best games ever made.

 

Find out more about FNATIC here and check out their online store here.

 

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by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog

Sony and The Beautiful Game: Guest Post

It’s 1992, Boyz II Men are dominating charts, Sony had just launched the pioneering Handycam® series with the CCD-VX1 and the state of football changed forever; The Premier League was founded.

Argued by many as the “Greatest League in The World”, in 25 years the Premier League has served up some incredible sporting moments to a global audience.

To celebrate this milestone, we thought it right to delve into the archives and look at Sony’s relationship with football. From small sponsorship deals to full teams, Sony’s affiliation with the game is vibrant.

To tell the story, we got in touch with Mundial Magazine to pick out what, in their opinion, are Sony’s greatest football moments; over to Editor Sam Diss to explain more.

 

Sony & The Beautiful Game

Football is the most popular sport in the world: the most played, the most watched, and by far its most influential.

Sony’s ties to the game run deeper than many, with its relationship to football typified by advancement and legitimacy. How many other electronics brands do you know that run a football team? And not just a little Sunday League outfit: a proper team, with a stadium, and fans, and silverware. Growing from a club founded by Sony workers in 1968, Sony Sendai FC started slowly until they won four consecutive Japan Football League titles in the mid-nineties, coming good on a promise to their fans for quick success, and now plays its football in the gleaming 20,000-seat Yurtec Stadium and won the league title again in 2015.

It was with the advent of the PlayStation in 1994 that the sport and brand became intrinsically linked. There had been other consoles and other games, but it wasn’t until EA Sports brought the FIFA series to PlayStation that things started to snowball. The third FIFA game, FIFA96 was the first to feature proper 3D graphics using something called “Virtual Stadium” and people were hooked: twenty-three FIFA titles later and it’s the biggest selling video game series of all time.

Video games’ ability to proliferate the sport’s popularity was surprising to some, but it quickly gave fans a shorthand to the changing face of football: soon people would have the inside track on Schalke super-subs, a young kid coming through at Real Sociedad, a blistering winger at Sassuolo. It let them live out their dreams from their living rooms. Quickly every fan became an expert, with the actual experts – players – getting hooked on the games too, fighting over whose avatar had the most accurate rendering.

Around the same time football games started to dominate on PlayStation, Sony’s sponsorship deal with Juventus hit full-throttle. In the mid-nineties, Sony boasted prime real estate on some of the most iconic strips of all time, pride of place on the front of the best supported team in Italy’s Serie A, then the greatest league in the world. Legends like Alessandro Del Piero, Fabrizio Ravanelli, and Zinedine Zidane all wore shirts emblazoned with the brand’s name.

Sony still boast strong links with the game, working with cult sides like Liga Deportiva Alajuelense in Costa Rica and, especially, Wellington Phoenix in New Zealand, but has largely stuck to sponsoring competitions such as the Champion’s League and World Cup, some of the most watched sporting events in the history of the entire world – you might have heard of them…

For a time, Sony’s BRAVIA televisions came closest to encapsulating what made the game the world’s most popular: with a special Football Mode fans could swap out the clichés of commentators and enhance the stadium’s atmosphere through their speakers. And then came the Xperia series, backed by Barcelona’s legendary playmaker Andres Iniesta, which allows fans to crowd around a phone to watch the football – its previews, highlights, and inevitable fallouts – no matter where they are. That kind of immersiveness is what attracted us all to the sport in the first place.

Follow Mundial on Twitter @MundialMag 

Illustrations by Dan Evans

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by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog

#SonyatSXSW – We’re coming for you Texas

South By Southwest, Austin’s premier creative festival is underway, and for the very first time Sony Mobile is on-the-ground at the show.

Best known for celebrating the worlds of film, interactive and music, SXSW this year plays host to an array of Sony events and to be sure you don’t miss a thing, we’ve compiled a handy list of everything that’s happening right about now…

 

XPERIA EAR “OPEN-STYLE CONCEPT” & XPERIA TOUCH HANDS-ON

Firstly, as part of Sony’s WOW Factory, we’re showcasing Xperia Ear “Open-Style CONCEPT” and the recently announced Xperia Touch, with our conceptual ‘Any Surface’ user interface. We will be showcasing this state-of-the-art interactive projection technology and giving attendees an exclusive chance to get hands-on before it launches later this year.

In addition to Xperia Touch, The WOW Factory also features some of Sony’s most exciting conceptual developments and prototypes including The Motion Sonic Project, The Future Lab Program and “Superception”, a research framework that uses computer tech to connect multiple senses – awesome huh?

A full rundown of all our WOW Factory events can be found here.

When: March 12^th – 14^th – 10AM-8PM (CST)

Where: 99 Trinity Street, Austin, TX 78701, USA

LIVE FROM THE MASHABLE HOUSE

We’re also part of the furniture at the popular Mashable House throughout the week, but festival goers may need to keep a steady eye on Mashable’s Instagram story to gain access to its secret hideaway. Earn your way into the exclusive Mashable House Easter Egg Speakeasy, and we’ll be nearby once again with a chance to try Xperia Touch.

Where: Mashable House: 610 East 6^th Street, Austin, TX, USA

 

As always we’ll be on the ground keeping you fully updated on all the week’s biggest talking points and events. So if you’re in town, pop by and say hi, but if not, keep your eyes on the blog (as always).

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by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog

Inside Innovators: Hyper Island, ‘The Digital Harvard’

Nestled into a former military prison deep in southeast Sweden sits innovative digital institute, Hyper Island. Founded by three friends in a Stockholm bar, Hyper Island is a digital school designed to help likeminded individuals stay ahead of the technological curve, evolving constantly and driven to teach students how to keep one tech-focused foot ahead of other.

We spoke to Managing Director David McCall to discuss what Hyper Island actually is, how people can get involved and what their current students think about this really interesting concept.

David, could you tell us what Hyper Island is?

We’re a creative business and tech school that designs learning experiences that challenge companies, or individuals, to stay competitive in an increasingly digitized world.

What inspired you to take Hyper Island global?

My inspiration comes from the founders and their vision to create a school with no teachers, no books, and no fixed curriculum. A place where you would learn by doing, where business, technology and the creative process are all wrapped in to one. I completely agreed with this aim and since joining Hyper Island, I’ve made it my mission to take the concept outside of its Swedish roots. We’re now active across Europe, as well as Singapore, US and Brazil.

Technology is advancing so quickly, how do you predict what’s next and weave that into your programme? 


You’re right, technology is evolving faster than ever but it’s never been so exciting. We shouldn’t be scared of where it’s going.

Some schools are beginning to adopt coding as part of their curriculum. What’s your view on this, should governments be doing more?

Yes we think coding should be taught at a very early age but that is only half the story as coding languages will likely change so frequently, that what you learn at five years old will probably have changed by the time you are ten and so on. So the key is to teach yourself how to quickly unlearn the old, and recharge it with the new. It’s a mindset change.

We teach you how to do this through experience-based learning, but please remember that overall innovation comes from independent thinking, not following formula. I tell my students “invent your own” but instead of me telling you, why not talk to one of my students.

We followed David’s advice, and contacted Sarah Ing, former software engineer and web developer with a love for innovation.

Sarah, thanks for giving us some time. Could you tell us what you do here and why Hyper Island appealed to you?

I wanted to build things that could connect people to better communities so I took the Digital Experience Design course here with the guys at Hyper Island.

Simply put, I wanted to change my life. I was a programmer and this, although stable, was not enough. Hyper Island, as described by my friend who attended, is life changing. I wanted an education that would turn my perspective on its head and encourage me to question everything and push the limits of my creativity.

Hyper Island is sometimes called ‘The Digital Harvard’, what sets it apart from other tech schools?

I believe there’s a strong empowerment factor, both as an individual and as part of a group. Hyper Island gives you the space to innovate and reflect. I think that other schools encourage a more formulaic way of thinking and this can limit the ways in which students learn and explore.

What does your average day at Hyper Island look like?

An average day? Does that exist?! My day begins at 9:30am with a check-in with my group of four other students. We start with sharing our expectations for the day and then a couple hours will be devoted to smaller group work and finalising the content of our awareness campaign. We will then check in as a full group entity and after a break for lunch, we’ll work until 6pm to design and test prototypes. It’s truly exciting stuff.

What’s been your highlight since being with Hyper Island?

I really treasure the times when we give and receive feedback. After completing a group project, we deliberately set aside time to share what we appreciate and what we’d like to see more, or less, of from each other. It’s a great time to tell another person what you value about them or give them a gift by sharing something that he or she could improve upon. I’ve received a lot of insight into things I’m not aware of and I found it helpful and connecting.

Well thank you for the time, could you tell us what’s next? Is there a five-year plan for both of you?

Hyper Island has taught me to be more comfortable with the unknown so I’ve tried to plan for the future less. With that being said, I see myself doing equal parts design research and creative technologist. To expand on the latter, I’d like to continue with programming at a firm that focuses on creative projects that connect people or destroys the mundane. If I could continue on this vaguely outlined track for the next five years, I’d be ecstatic!

Curious? Enrol yourself here http://bit.ly/2mOJrL7

The post Inside Innovators: Hyper Island, ‘The Digital Harvard’ appeared first on Sony Xperia Blog.

by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog

4K HDR – We ask BRAVIA about XZ Premium screen tech

If you followed our MWC coverage last week you’ll know that the newly-unveiled Xperia XZ Premium is packed with cutting-edge technologies including a 4K HDR screen for unprecedented image quality.

Sony’s TV division – BRAVIA – has been producing 4K HDR screens since 2015 so we thought we’d sit down with one of the team to find out a bit more about the tech which has gone from silver screen to smartphone in just two years.

Before we get to that though, we’re really pleased to say that we’ve buddied up with the team at Amazon to bring 4K HDR content to XZ Premium. For the first time ever on a smartphone, XZ Premium users will be able to enjoy 4K HDR content from Amazon Prime Video including shows like The Man In The High Castle and The Grand Tour. Available via the Prime Video app, this is going to deliver films and TV shows to your smartphone in better quality than ever before.

OK, back to getting under the skin of 4K HDR, here’s our chat with Gavin McCarron from the Sony Europe BRAVIA Product Planning team:

 

Let’s start simple, what is 4K HDR?

4K HDR or ‘High Dynamic Range’ has a much wider range of brightness or contrast, and a much wider range of colours and tones than what we’re used to with standard dynamic range content.

For the last few years improving picture quality was focused around higher resolutions, basically squeezing more pixels in to the screen. We moved from Standard Definition (640×480) to Full HD (1920×1080) and then to 4K (3840×2160).

While 4K gives us more pixels, adding HDR goes further by improving each of those pixels in the two key areas of colour and contrast. The expanded range of light and colour also means you will also get a better sense of depth in the picture, making it more immersive, involving and closer to what we see in real life.

Got it – same number of pixels, but better. Does 4K HDR content need to be shot differently to standard 4K to take advantage?

Yes, the right equipment needs to be used. Interestingly though, the cameras used to shoot films and TV shows have been able to capture that wide range of brightness and colour for a number of years. It was the industry standards applied in post-production that removed a lot of that brightness and colour information, those standards were originally designed with old CRT TVs in mind that couldn’t display the wide range of brightness and colour that today’s screen technologies can. In fact older films, even those recorded on 35mm film, have enough information to allow them to be remastered in to 4K HDR. HDR allows directors and producers to change how they’ve been creating the look and feel of their shows and films.

With XZ Premium we’re now getting in on the action at Xperia, what can we expect?

It’s such an exciting development for mobile, it means you’ll get that jump in quality we’ve seen at home when you’re out and about. We’ve seen mobile video usage increase massively over the last few years as both the quality and ease of access to content has improved, this is another step in getting the same quality of content on the go as we see at home.

With the combination of 4K and HDR you’ll see a major improvement in all the main areas of picture quality; clarity, colour and contrast. A 4K HDR video will look much more realistic, things like brighter highlights and more vibrant and accurate colours will really jump out.

And we have to ask, what’s next after 4K HDR?

In the TV world 4K HDR is becoming more mainstream and it will continue to be the latest in screen technology for the next few years at least.

The next step is 8K which is even more resolution but that is definitely looking pretty far in to the future currently. For mobile, I don’t know, it’s not so long ago that we were happy with two colour LCD screens with a resolution of 84 x 48 pixels so we’ve come a long way in a short time already!

 

Discover more about the XZ Premium here.

 

 

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by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog

Xperia XZ Premium officially named “Best New Smartphone at MWC 2017”

Xperia XZ Premium Hands-On: Getting to grips with 4K HDR, Super slow motion and more

The Sony Mobile Hackathon is happening and you need to know about it

App developers. Put down those handsets, we need you.

As a part of the upcoming 2017 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, Sony Mobile is hosting our very own Hackathon and calling upon established and aspiring Android App developers to wow us with their talents.

Those taking part will be challenged to create a variety of imaginative Android apps, unlike anything seen or used before. A unique opportunity to perfect your craft and also be in with a chance of seeing your vision come to life when the next innovative product from Sony, The Xperia Touch, comes out later this year.

The Xperia Hackathon kicks off at 12pm on Friday March 3^rd inside San Francisco’s Museum of African Disapora. Teams will then have 24 hours to create, develop and build their app concepts before leading members of the Xperia team review entries.

Registration is free but spaces are very limited so interested participants will need to register here before 23:59 PST today, Monday February 27^th.  Successful participants will be notified in advance.

Get involved now.

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by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog

Sony Mobile MWC 2017 Press Conference Round Up: All the announcements in one place

An early start in sunny Barcelona that’s delivered an astonishing collection of new tech to sink our teeth into.

With details on Xperia Smart Products and FOUR additions to the X-Series, we’re going big on Innovation in 2017.

So first up, the brand new Xperia XZ Premium, not only Sony’s most powerful and advanced smartphone to date, the very first handset to feature both a 4K HDR display as well as super slow motion video capture*. Super fast download speeds and various intelligent features, with the incredible “Motion Eye” technology also present on our second new handset; the Xperia XZs.

Two more new handsets came in the shape of the Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra, both of which deliver superior photography capability for these super mid-range heavyweights.

Xperia Projector evolved into…Xperia Touch! Originally announced within the same walls twelve months ago, this unique box of tricks has gone from concept to reality and turns any flat surface into a 23” HD touchscreen enabling families and friends to gather, enjoy and interact with a host of incredible features.

Xperia Ear Open-style CONCEPT delivers yet more innovation. While still a concept it’s based on “open ear” technology allowing users to listen to music and receive notifications whilst simultaneously hearing sounds from the world around you. It’s built to reimagine everyday communication and it’s really something we can see huge potential in.

So there we have it, talking to you from a frantic backstage pressroom, its over to you to get involved read up and as always shout with any questions over on our @SonyMobileNews Twitter page.

Until next year MWC, you’re still awesome.

 

• *Xperia™ XZ Premium & Xperia™ XZs feature a memory stacked image sensor capable of directly capturing slow motion video at 960 frames per second in High Definition (720p) using device hardware. Verified by Strategy Analytics’ SpecTRAX Service against the published camera sensor specifications for over 9800 smartphones. Correct as of the 16th December 2016

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by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog

#SonyMWC 2017 press conference livestream

#SonyMWC kicks off this morning at 8.30am CET with our press conference. You can find out everything that’s coming up in the world of Sony Mobile by following the live feed right here. Tune in to be the first to know:

If you have questions – feel free to drop a comment below or tweet us at @SonyMobileNews using #SonyMWC.

 

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by Sony Mobile PR Team via Sony Xperia Blog

MWC 2017 – What you can expect

The highlight of the mobile industry calendar, Mobile World Congress (MWC) is just days away and, as ever, you’re all coming with us (via the medium of the Internet).

We’ll be live from the show floor bringing you all the latest news from the Sony Mobile camp, including insights into the announcements, exclusive chats and behind the scenes access across the action-packed week.

We don’t want you to miss a second, so to keep you one step ahead of the game, the key dates and times you’ll want to keep free are:

 

Monday 27^th February – 8:30AM (CET) – SONY MOBILE PRESS CONFERENCE

The main event, we’ll be live directly from the Sony Mobile Press Conference keeping you updated with all the news as it happens.

In the minutes following, a full round up will be made available on the blog. We’ll also be taking questions on the @SonyMobileNews Twitter feed.

Tuesday 28^th February – HANDS-ON

Once the dust settles, we’ll get down to the booth bringing you the inside track on key announcements as well as some early opinions from the people in the know.

 

And that’s it. We’ll be bringing you the best of Barcelona across the week, so set the alarms, bookmark the blog (why isn’t it already?) and tune in next week for the latest Sony Mobile and Xperia news.

 

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by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog

Xperia Ear software update rolls out from today

Xperia Ear – the in-ear assistant from our Smart Products team – will get even smarter as of today thanks to a host of improvements delivered as part of a fresh software update.

Voice notifications – Previously Xperia Ear could handle alerts for SMS, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Line, Email, Gmail, Twitter, Calendar and News Suite. With the new software Xperia Ear will now be able to read alerts and provide notifications for *any* app of your choosing

Email Filter – A new filter function means that users can set rules to dictate which emails will be read out via voice notification, based on sender or subject

Updated head gestures – Users can now accept and decline calls with a nod or shake of the head, cancel notification read out with another head shake, and even shake their head left/right to skip music tracks forward/back

This is all in addition to the capability Xperia Ear can already deliver including a heads-up on your schedule, offering directions, informing you of the weather and plenty more.

Xperia Ear is available at the Xperia Store Online here.

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by tomwinterton via Sony Xperia Blog