We’ve played with Sony’s full range of home and wearable mobile accessories at MWC 2014, including the Sony Smartband and the new Xperia Tablet Z2 docks.
Sony likes to chuck out tons of accessories for its mobile devices, giving fans plenty of ways to throw more cash at it. At MWC 2014 in Barcelona we saw all kinds of new gizmos emerge. Here they are, in no kind of real order at all.
Wearable camera Core
Sony launched its smart ‘Core’ chip at CES 2014, a little doohickey that fits inside wearable straps to track your activities. At MWC Sony showed off a new version of its Core which features a built-in camera lens, allowing you to capture your daily life. It’s aimed at younger Sony fans who will presumably use it to film themselves downing pints of vodka, or pouring milk over their heads.
The camera Core wasn’t available to play with, as it was encased behind plastic. However, we’ll bring you a full review as soon as we get our mitts on one.
Sony Smartband
The Sony Smartband wrist-strap will be available in 9 different colours from March-April time, and cost 99 Euros for the band plus the Core which slips inside to monitor your everyday activity. Additional bands can be purchased in packs of 3 for 25 Euros, so you can get a range of colours to suit every mood/outfit.
The Smartband is comfortable to wear with its soft-touch finish, and easy enough to clip on and off again. However, we did find it was a little loose on our girly slender wrists, even on the tightest setting. The colours look fresh, and we’d happily rock most of them when out and about. The Core itself slips in a pocket inside the Smartband, where it’s held firmly in place against your arm.
Sony has also got on-board the fitness bandwagon with the Lifelog app, a handy way of tracking your day’s activity. This works alongside the Smartband, which helps to monitor your efforts and ensures you don’t add a cheeky extra 15 mins at the gym when you actually headed next door for a chicken bargain bucket.
Xperia Tablet Z2 remote
You’ll need to stump up €79 (£65) for this tiny remote control and we’d be surprised if it isn’t bundled or massively discounted very soon. Fair enough it’s a nice remote, and you can use it to take calls, but it’s €79. And we’d lose it in seconds down the back of the sofa or inside the cat or something. Did we mention it’s €79?
Smartphone audio boom
This is a dual-mic miniature boom which plugs into your smartphone’s jack and can be rotated to pick up audio from any direction, a great way to record an interview or just a cheap way to get some podcasting on the go.
Xperia Tablet Z2 keyboard dock
This Bluetooth keyboard dock (€119/£98.25) is your typical Bluetooth fare, connecting wirelessly to your tablet and giving you a physical board to type on. It’s spacious enough to give your fingers room to move, but also pleasingly light. Whether it’ll hold up to lengthy typing sessions is another matter. It’s combined with a case which props up the Xperia Z2 Tablet, giving a laptop-type setup.
Xperia Tablet Z2 speaker dock
€129 (£106.50) will bag you this nifty little speaker dock for the Xperia Tablet Z2 tablet. It’s nice, neat and compact, with volume controls plus a call pickup button on the front with a rhombus-shaped speaker at the back which both amplifies sound and props the tablet upright. The dock will also charge your tablet while they’re paired.
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