We've
reported the rumors before, but now it's official: Two of 2007's coolest, only-in-Japan gadgets from Sony are getting the green light for U.S. release. Sony's crazy-thin (.3 millimeters, about .1 inches) OLED-TV will hit store shelves this month for $2,500, a whopping sum for an 11-inch TV, but surprisingly inexpensive if you're they type of early adopter who wants the latest in TV-screen technology -- namely,
Organic LED (OLED), which delivers brilliant, vivid color, high contrast with paper thin screen dimensions. (Sony actually had this OLED on SonyStyle store shelves here in Las Vegas to coincide with the press conference -- a nice touch.)
Also guaranteed to make you the coolest person on the block: the
Sony Rolly (pictured, above), a whimsical robotic-orb-cum-dancing-MP3-player from the same team that brought us Aibo (Sony's robotic dog). About the size and shape of a Nerf football, the Rolly will play tunes on its internal memory, or stream music from your PC via Bluetooth. Its various moving parts and lights move more gracefully than any other dancing speaker we've ever seen, which isn't that tough since we haven't seen that many, but trust us -- this thing is cool, in the completely useless way that only bonafide gadget heads will truly dig.
The U.S. release of the Rolly some time in 2008 will be a relief to anyone who's been struggling with getting the doodad's current Japanese-language OS to work with U.S. PCs since Sony will be offering up an official English-language OS to go with the U.S.-ready Rolly.
The introduction of the OLED-TV to the U.S. market is a milestone, because it's quite possible that OLED will be the next big technology in televisions (not to mention displays for smaller gadgets like digicams and cell phones). The Rolly, not so much, unless you'd consider yourself one of the aforementioned gadget heads.
Either way, color us delighted.
Related Links:
Sony's Almost-Paper-Thin OLED-TV Coming to the U.S.Samsung One-Ups Sony With 31-Inch OLED-TVSony Unveils First Super-Thin OLED TVPioneer Unveils Super-Thin, High-Contrast Plasma TVs 
