Sony targets iPhone users with new Xperia Transfer software
Troubled Japanese electronics giant Sony is looking to attract iPhone converts to its Xperia handsets by making it easy to move data and media off Apple's smartphone using a newly released version of its Transfer software.
Sony recently updated the Xperia Transfer software that makes it easy to switch from an iPhone to one of Sony's Android-powered Xperia handsets. Users first back up their iPhones in iTunes before hooking up a compatible Sony device to the Transfer Wizard, which moves contacts, messages, calendar entries, notes, bookmarks, music, and other media to the non-Apple handset.
As noted by TechnoBuffalo, Xperia Transfer works with Sony's Xperia V, Xperia VC, Xperia TC, Xperia T, and Xperia TL, as well as the company's most recently announced Xperia Z line.
Once a premier name in consumer electronics, Sony has struggled to make a dent in the smartphone segment. The Japanese conglomerate has been outmaneuvered by upstarts such as Apple ? which also leapfrogged Sony in the digital media player industry ?and Samsung. The latter is the overwhelming leader among manufacturers of devices running Android, the same OS used by Sony's Xperia lineup.
Sony isn't alone in hoping to draw converts from Apple's platform. HTC, another Android manufacturer overshadowed by Samsung, released its own Sync Manager, which performs largely the same tasks as Sony's software, aiming to attract iPhone users to its new premium HTC One device.
How either company will fare has yet to be seen. While there have been some unspecified claims of success in attracting iPhone users to other platforms, brand loyalty is especially strong among iOS product owners. This is due in no small part to the iOS ecosystem, which is believed by some to have superior quality apps. Some apps are also iOS exclusive, making switching difficult unless the developer has made a version of the software available on a competing app strore.
Sony recently updated the Xperia Transfer software that makes it easy to switch from an iPhone to one of Sony's Android-powered Xperia handsets. Users first back up their iPhones in iTunes before hooking up a compatible Sony device to the Transfer Wizard, which moves contacts, messages, calendar entries, notes, bookmarks, music, and other media to the non-Apple handset.
As noted by TechnoBuffalo, Xperia Transfer works with Sony's Xperia V, Xperia VC, Xperia TC, Xperia T, and Xperia TL, as well as the company's most recently announced Xperia Z line.
Once a premier name in consumer electronics, Sony has struggled to make a dent in the smartphone segment. The Japanese conglomerate has been outmaneuvered by upstarts such as Apple ? which also leapfrogged Sony in the digital media player industry ?and Samsung. The latter is the overwhelming leader among manufacturers of devices running Android, the same OS used by Sony's Xperia lineup.
Sony isn't alone in hoping to draw converts from Apple's platform. HTC, another Android manufacturer overshadowed by Samsung, released its own Sync Manager, which performs largely the same tasks as Sony's software, aiming to attract iPhone users to its new premium HTC One device.
How either company will fare has yet to be seen. While there have been some unspecified claims of success in attracting iPhone users to other platforms, brand loyalty is especially strong among iOS product owners. This is due in no small part to the iOS ecosystem, which is believed by some to have superior quality apps. Some apps are also iOS exclusive, making switching difficult unless the developer has made a version of the software available on a competing app strore.
Comments
Just wait till you see those Trinitron screens though
I didn't even know Sony made phones. They must be as popular as WIndows phones.
Welcome Sony. Seriously.
...and Good Luck with that.
It looks like the company's stock is down around 30% compared to a year ago (But to be fair, apple's is down comparably). Apple had $13 billion in profits last quarter, the second highest ever for a US corporation. Sony has lost money for the past four quarters. Even without the comparison to apple, losing money constitutes "troubled". That's how I'd interpret the word.
So Amazon is troubled then?
Quote:
Originally Posted by rtdunham
Quote:
Originally Posted by frxntier
... I hardly think Sony is a 'troubled' company, whichever way you want to interpret that word.
It looks like the company's stock is down around 30% compared to a year ago (But to be fair, apple's is down comparably). Apple had $13 billion in profits last quarter, the second highest ever for a US corporation. Sony has lost money for the past four quarters. Even without the comparison to apple, losing money constitutes "troubled". That's how I'd interpret the word.
Jeeze, are you kidding? I'm not saying Sony is top of the consumer list these days, but they were virtually wiped of the face of the earth by a little tsunami a while back.Might have something to do with "troubled".
So when is Sony, HTC, etc. targeting Galaxy S3 owners?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
So when is Sony, HTC, etc. targeting Galaxy S3 owners?
Indeed.
Sony is irrelevant in the smartphone space. I don't know a single person with an Xperia phone, and iTunes transfer software is not going to change that. Not like iPhone users are clamoring to switch to a Sony phone, if only it was easier to transfer their media. These companies should focus more on bringing Samsung down a peg, instead of Apple.
And yes, Sony is troubled. They're not the top brand in a single industry any more. Their smartphones/tablets/computers have pitiful sales, and in TVs their name means very little anymore.
How is a one time initial process 'targeting' iPhone users?!? Is anyone buying a phone for two years based on how easy they can port contacts? No.
How about "Sony tries to provide decent customer support for users coming from other popular devices" Nah, that doesn't generate clicks. Remember that LG story with their 'spoof' commercial on panorama pictures? Now THAT'S targeting iPhone users.
Quote:
Originally Posted by thataveragejoe
How is a one time initial process 'targeting' iPhone users?!? Is anyone buying a phone for two years based on how easy they can port contacts? No.
People asking how easy it is to port their iPhone / iTunes stuff over to a different OS, is actually a pretty common question and concern.
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Once a premier name in consumer electronics, Sony has struggled to make a dent in the smartphone segment.
Sony made several massive and fatal mistakes. They underestimated the popularity of MP3 in the early '90s and came up with their own proprietary ATRAC encoding. It was a pain to convert from MP3 to ATRAC. And they also tried to ship proprietary storage devices: Memory Stick and MiniDisc. If either one had really sold in huge numbers, they would have become de-facto storage standards, and ATRAC would have become the "new MP3" since it was the encoding used on MiniDisc. None of this happened, of course. The Sony brand name, as powerful as it was, didn't provide a "halo" effect strong enough to counteract the awkwardness of their audio format and storage hardware. Sony's once-dominant Walkman brand lost market share, and Sony management did little to stop the slide.
But I think Sony's decline really started to accelerate in January 1996. Motorola released the first true clamshell / flip phone, the StarTAC. That phone completely killed off Sony's cellphone sales in the US, and Sony's US cellphone business never recovered from that. I'm pretty sure that was the first time Sony had been completely crushed in any product category in the US. (If you don't remember, Sony had a very small cell phone at the time that was featured in ads and movies because smaller was cooler in cell phones.)
Then, of course, Apple released the Walkman-crushing iPod in 2001. Beaten in cell phones, beaten in portable audio, and suddenly threatened by low-cost upstarts like Samsung in the TV and home entertainment space. The Sony empire couldn't or wouldn't move fast enough to save itself.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SockRolid
Sony made several massive and fatal mistakes. <...>
They had all cards in hand to succeed, including presence in music business industry. They should have been the ones to invent the iPod ....
But understanding the ecosystem notion and turn it as a weapon into competition is something which very few companies master ... possibly only one ...
Anyway the lesson is clear : a company selling only hardware (or just pretending ...) has no future, even with brilliant products.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GTR
Congratulations to Sony in getting competitive with smartphones...just as we all swap to glasses and watches.
Wristwatch phones have been around for a few years now. There are quite a few to be found on eBay:
Maybe there just isn't the demand for such a device made by a big name manufacturer.
hmm