Sony has used MWC to remind people of the virtues of its forthcoming Personal Content Station (LLS-201). The 1-terabyte home storage device is designed to help make it easier for Android and iOS users to quickly transfer the photos on their mobile devices to a back up unit, although it is a snap if your device is NFC-equipped. According to Sony, 80 percent of smartphone users say that they don’t take the time to transfer their photos to a PC.
The Sony Personal Content Station (PCS) is another of the over 50 NFC-equipped devices that Sony plans to market under its ‘One Touch’ branding. In this instance, users with an NFC-equipped smartphone can simply touch the two devices together to initiate an automatic wireless back up of all new photos. Transfers can also be made over Wi-Fi, meaning that Sony’s Wi-Fi-enabled cameras can also be used with the PCS. Backups can also be made over USB, SD card and Memory Sticks.
Playback is similarly user-friendly. Even if a video file has been transferred in the AVCHD format, the device incorporates a transcoder to encode and stream the video in MP4, so it can be handled by mobile devices. Playback can also be initiated remotely when the PCS is connected to a DLNA-compatible Wi-Fi router or over its built-in HDMI port. The PCS works independently of a PC and does not require a PC for set up.
The Sony Personal Content Station will be available in Japan from April with launches in selected international markets expected to follow, with pricing to be announced. The device is compatible with Android 2.3 or later and iOS devices running iOS 6 or later.
