So far, Sony has been best known for smartphones, televisions and the PlayStation. However, at CES 2023, the Japanese manufacturer announced its first own car brand called “Afeela”. Sony is cooperating with two big names.
TECHBOOK has often reported on Sony in the past. However, the company’s current announcement is of a very different nature than we are used to. Because Sony is becoming a car manufacturer, but not entirely alone.
Sony and Honda show car brand “Afeela”
Together with its partner Honda, Sony will soon be launching a completely new e-car of its own. At CES, both announced the launch of the “Afeela” brand and showed the prototype of the car. In many ways, the car is also interesting for fans of new technologies.
A whopping 45 cameras and many other sensors register the environment around the car. This should not only increase safety, the car can also drive without a driver, i.e. autonomously. The “Afeela” prototype is not lacking in displays either. For example, the entire dashboard consists of a large screen. Not only important details about the car and the journey can be shown here, the display also serves as an entertainment center for showing films, music and games – all strengths of Sony.
There is also a display on the outside of the car. Between the two headlights, for example, it makes it possible to animate the “Afeela” logo.
New Qualcomm chip lowers costs
But Sony’s new car will also be intelligent. The technologies mentioned and the AI are based on chips from Qualcomm, whose processors work in many smartphones and tablets. By working closely with the chip manufacturer, Sony wants to guarantee continuous software updates and operation at the highest level of performance.
Qualcomm has been developing special chips for cars for a while. The company recently presented the Snapdragon Ride Flex as the basis for driver assistance and various entertainment functions in the car. The new SoC thus replaces the individual chips that were often used in the past and were necessary for the various tasks. The merger to just one SoC should not only save costs, but also make it easier to maintain the systems through updates.
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“Afeela” on the roads from 2026
Sony has already shown various prototypes of cars in recent years. What is new this year, however, is the announcement of a specific brand name and the launch of the first “Afeela” car. Customers in the US should be able to pre-order the car as early as 2025, with the first vehicles being delivered in 2026, according to Sony boss Kenichiro Yoshida at the press conference. According to the current plan, sales in Japan will start in mid-2026.