Sony Mobile has given the first indications of pricing for its upcoming Xperia Ear ‘personal assistant’, by announcing Japanese launch details. The Xperia Ear (XEA10) is due to launch in Japan on 18 November at a recommended price point of 19,880 Yen (£150, €170, $190) excluding tax.
Sony is billing the Xperia Ear as your very own personal assistant, allowing you to send/receive messages, check your schedule, search and more – all without the need to pick up your smartphone. You simply need to just talk to the Xperia Ear and it will deliver the information straight to your ear. In this respect, Sony appears to be competing against other AI systems such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
Sony has also included a number of sensors (integrated proximity sensor, gyroscope and accelerometer) to employ an element of motion control – simply nod to confirm a command. Our only worry is that it may flag you as some crazed person talking and nodding to seemingly no-one on the train home from work.
These sensors will also be able to figure out if you are in the ear or sat inside the charging case. Once the Xperia Ear is placed in the ear, it will automatically turn on to deliver the latest updates.
The Xperia Ear (XEA10) has a 65mAh battery, which Sony says is good for around 4 hours of talk time. It also comes with a charging case (300mAh battery) that will add around 12 hours to your talk time. The Xperia Ear comes with Bluetooth 4.1 and can be charged via micro USB.
