Sony president and CEO Kazuo Hirai opened the company’s CES press conference by commenting on the recent Sony hack, which he said made Sony’s past and present employees the “unfortunate victims of one of the most vicious cyber attacks we’ve known.”
“I’m very proud of all who stood up against the criminals’ efforts and worked 24 hours a day to bring The Interview to audiences in the United States and Canada, online and in motion picture theaters,” he said, thanking the partners “who worked to make the release possible,” the media that supported Sony and all who saw The Interview.
See more Highly Paid Film Stars
Related Stories
Hirai emphasized that “freedom of speech and freedom of expression are important to the lifeblood of Sony.”
After addressing that December release, he got a chuckle from the audience when he added, “Annie is also a great movie, two Golden Globe nominations.”
Hirai then turned to Sony’s CES news, with plenty of technology including TVs and camcorders that support CES’ uber trend of 4K. It made a move into GoPro’s market with a tiny 4K “Action Cam.”
Pro skateboarder Tony Hawk was on hand to help Sony introduce the camera.
“It used to be so clunky…and more of a compromise,” he said. “Now it’s seamless.”
Hawk said he would have a new console game out later in the year. Sony also introduced “4K for 1K” with its new 4K Handycam, described as 30 percent smaller, 20 percent lighter and priced at $1,000.
Netflix’s Greg Peters made an appearance to announce that Netflix and Sony are working together to bring high dynamic range to consumers (Peters also announced an HDR collaboration this morning with LG).
E-mail: Carolyn.Giardina@THR.com
Twitter: @CGinLA
