Sony might be a purveyor of tried-and-true consumer electronics devices like televisions, computers, portable music players, and—of course—video game systems, but that doesn’t mean the company is afraid to take chances and (ahem) roll out a product that defies consumer expectations and maybe—just maybe—redefines a consumer electronics category.
So, Sony has brought its Rolly "music entertainment player" to the United States. And even though the product has been available in overseas for a while, it’s safe to say almost no one knows what to make of it.
"Rolly has the ability to attract your attention as soon as you turn it on," said Sony Electronics marketing VP Brennan Mullin, in a statement. "It’s a tremendous example of what can happen when entertainment and technology merge."
The Rolly is an egg-shaped portable media player that features horizontally opposed stereo speakers—but there’s no headphone jack, because the Rolly isn’t really meant to be a portable media player. Instead, users set it on a surface, start it up…and the Rolly begins to bust a move. The Rolly integrates robotics techology and "innovations in artificial intelligence" to move its tiny arms, shoulders, and (yes) wheels to the beat of the music. And the Rolly is a light show, capable of putting out about 7,000 colors from two LED lamps embedded in bands next to its wheels. The Rolly comes with complete choreography for three musical pieces—Strauss’s "Also Sprach Zarathustra," Avril Lavigne’s "Girlfriend," and Earth Wind and Fire’s "Boogie Wonderland"—and includes two more tracks to demonstrate how motion can be integrated into the "music experience." Why? Because Rolly comes with the Rolly Choreographer software (Windows only) that can automatically create Rolly motions for a particular song, or let users make their own customized Rolly choreography. Users can load dances and music via USB, and, even better(?), share Rolly dances with each other on Sony’s Rolly Go forum.
The Rolly has 2 GB of flash memory for storing music and dance routines, and supports plain-old MP3 along with AAC and Sony’s own ATRAC formats. The Rolly should be available this week in white or black for $399.99.
