11-year-old Shane Chambers tries out the Sony Glasstron
headset monitor, soon headed for U.S. stores.
Photo by Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin

In a 1984 speech, for example, he reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out the first audio compact disc. He predicted, correctly, that it would revolutionize the music business.

Even without Morita at the helm, Sony's attitude toward Hawaii is no different today. The free Sony Expo '97, which runs through 9 p.m. today at the Ala Moana Hotel, shows that the company is still bringing revolutionary ideas to market.

Although some of the real eye-openers in the show aren't yet for sale here, plenty of them are.

For those interested on surfing the Internet, the hottest item may be Web TV, a $349 box that hooks to a television set and a telephone line to let you browse the 'Net on your TV. For another $79 you can get a wireless keyboard.

In Japan, advanced models now coming out will permit downloads of text or video, but for now it's really for the casual browser, said Karl T. Okemura, director of sales and marketing in Hawaii for Sony's consumer products group.

Sony Hawaii representative Leonard Sensui shows off WebTV,
which lets TV viewers surf the Internet.
Photo by Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin

Sony officials say the joy of that one is that it is portable and comes with a four-hour battery. Walk around unwired and watch your favorite movie, they say.

For up to about $3,000, Sony has available its own brand of personal computer, using the logo VAIO, for "video audio integrated operation." It comes with up to 200 MHz processor speed, bringing it near the top of the line among U.S. computers.

The next generation of computers that Sony is working on will be a completely integrated household system, Okemura said. The computers already can activate all of a household's electrical devices.

Also up next is an entirely new way to use the computer. Current Sony Chairman Norio Ohga has said the keyboard and mouse aren't for the future, and has told Sony technicians to get cracking. Okemura said Sony isn't sure what the answer is, but it is likely to be touch-screen controls and maybe voice activation.

At the show, which began yesterday, Sony also showed off:

DVD, the digital video disc. It's the size of an audio CD but can handle more than an hour and a half of movie on one side, along with up to 32 languages for subtitles and eight languages in the sound tracks. It's not yet available here.

A tapeless hand-held recorder. Sony says the recorder can hold up to 16 minutes of sound on a computer chip.

The digital Handycam video camera. The camera, 5.5 inches by 2.5 inches and 4.25 inches thick, is the smallest anywhere, Sony says.