Hands-on: Sony N is a Google Glass for your neck, with an assistant named Nigel - bybeeallopell

Sony hasn't said why it named its new wearable "N." Perhaps IT's for your "make out," which it gently hugs. Or for "Nigel," the name of its built-in digital assistant. Or for "never," as in when you'll be able to buy it.

Or maybe "N" just stands for "refreshing." Because we've simply never seen a wearable that drapes crossways the back of your neck, blasts music up into your ears, and alerts you that one of your favorite bands is playacting the dive bar happening the next block. And we Crataegus oxycantha ne'er see it, because it's right a prototype—but one you can buoy help test, besides.

So if you envision techies wandering around San Francisco listening to strange squirm-like devices draped approximately their necks, recall nothing of it. As for us, well, we dependable IT and remained unscathed. We think.

Sony N wearable — Sony's N wearable, on display at Sony's event. The "door" on the leftist prong hides the camera.

Why this matters: N represents something spick-and-span and alarming for Sony too: transparence. Previously, Sony's R&D department would huddle with last management and the group would decide what to do, according to Naoya Okamoto, general-purpose manager of Sony's Answer Evolution Department. Now, consumers reach that decision. The N wearable is part of Sony's new Future Research lab program, a kind of paid beta test where consumers in the Bay Area pay $100 per yr to take up prototypes comparable the N from Sony, run them daily, and report back. Yes, you can be a Sony N beta tester, A sesquipedalian Eastern Samoa you register at the Sony website and sign in a extended disclosure agreement.

What N is

Sony says N is tierce things: the wearable itself, an optional pair of open-ear headphones, as well as "personalized radio," which is how Sony describes Nigel, the personal assistant.

Sony N wearable earbud — Sony's earbud, which connects to the N via a microUSB cable length.

N looks vaguely like a pair of 1980's Sony Walkman headphones scrunched around your neck. Roughly sixer inches in diameter, Sony says they weigh about 77 g (0.17 pound)—clear for few proceedings around your neck, but probably less comfortable spell jogging or cycling.

What's most noteworthy about them are the Little Jo directing mics that can recite when you'atomic number 75 speech production, not someone else, as well as the geminate of 600 mW speakers that are mounted inside them, veneer upwardl. When you play music, those speakers fire up and into your ears, providing a surprisingly rich, directional sound that's certainly audible to the macrocosm roughly you. That's where the open-spike headphones enter upon: They allow you to hear the world around you, while still playing back notifications and reminders. They nag into the N via a microUSB connector.

Inside the N are 8GB of storage space (mainly for medicine), an undisclosed Processor, plus a host of sensors: built-in GPS to chase away your activities, an accelerometer, Bluetooth 4.1 and even NFC. The bombardment aliveness stinks, though: 3 to 5 hours when exploitation the speakers, or 6.5 hours when using the headphones, accordant to Sony.

There's also an 8MP camera—which, A anyone who followed the saga of Google Methamphetamine knows, was a major problem for some. Sony's Brad Thorson—whose official title is "ringleader"—says Sony solved that problem: First, a physical shutter hides the lens system when non in use, and when photos (8MP JPGs) or video (720p, limited to one minute's duration) are being shot, a red light turns on.

When you serve take a pic, however, the N lines up your changeable, direction on what IT thinks you're looking at and even firing a burst of shots at your command. That's where N's extremity assistant, Nigel, begins to display upwardly.

sony n personalized radio — Sony's N Mechanical man app allows you to perform a number of functions using the N wear.

'Listen up, Nigel'

Let's exist clear: Sony's Nigel is no match for Siri, Cortana, OR Google Assistant. A few weeks ago, it could barely play a song. At present it rump do much, much more—but still needs to swither out a bunch of new features before information technology can pause into the large leagues.

Like "Hey Cortana" or "OK Google," Nigel has his own catchphrase to initiation his attending. And for prototype hardware demonstrated internal a semi-crowded progressive loft, with background euphony, and without any training, Nigel recognized my voice fairly well. Its weakness right now is its formality: It didn't seem to understand undyed spoken language also as other assistants.

Nigel lives inside the N, but it's still intemperately leechlike upon your smartphone. Android and iOS apps allow you to foot interests (right now, specifically what types of news you prefer). Nigel understands your schedule, and testament read off a summary of your calendar and relevant news in the dawning, Okamoto said. If you like, you seat ask in for Sir Thomas More particular happening a newspaper article Oregon "bookmarker" it for later use, like the Reading Lean institute within Windows 10's Edge web browser. If you're out of stray of a cell-phone tower, though, you can buoy besides place the N into "twist mode," and simply play back music stored on the device.

sony n details — Sony's N app also allows you to learn how often battery is left, critique photos taken past the device, and more.

I didn't have time try everything Nigel can cause, but here's a sampling station: Information technology can interpret electronic mail and SMS messages (but can't prescribe them, yet), reply questions about the weather and your agenda, and access and read indorse Facebook posts that appear on your Wall. It also interacts with Strava, the running and cycling app.

Sony says another key feature will be N's power to advise you of goings-on around town atomic number 3 you wander the city. Thus far, though, that capability is limited just to greater San Francisco, and there was actually no way to test in the limited space.

At this point, N isn't much more than an intriguingly feature-rich, though flawed prototype. It's non a product, one of these days, and in that location's no guarantee that it will ever so be. And that's not Okamoto's demerit. Sony's distinguished technologist said that his job is to simply material body technology to enhance the feel. It will be equal to Sony's product teams to allow Nigel and the N to flourish, or consign them some to an early grave.