Chris Barraclough from recombu was lucky enough to be invited to Sony HQ to get a closer look at the Sony Xperia Agent, the company’s answer to Amazon Echo. Xperia Agent can actually do a whole lot more than Echo, thanks to its built-in projector and small display.

 Even cooler is the built-in projector, which pops out to beam images onto the tabletop in front of the Agent. So for instance, you can get the Agent to show you a photo feed from your social networks, or play a video. The projected image isn’t massive, but at least it’s clear and colourful 

As for the device itself, Xperia Agent is designed to be seen – whereas Echo is meant to disappear into the background.

 The Agent looks like a cross between a mini robot and a coffee machine, complete with a ‘face’ that animates when the Agent is on duty. That front panel is actually a secondary display that offers up useful information, which is also spoken out loud in case you’re out of sight. 

Unfortunately, unlike the Echo which is already on the market and even just saw the release of a smaller companion unit, even Sony isn’t sure when Agent might come to market.

 Right now the Xperia Agent is still a ‘working concept’, so the Agent’s functionality is likely to change before it hits market. And Sony doesn’t even have a vague idea of a possible Agent release date, so it may be many months – or perhaps even another year – before we finally see it in stores 

After the jump, a video preview that gives you a pretty good idea of how Xperia Agent differs from other units out there.

Discuss:

After seeing the Xperia Agent in action, are you more intrigued by it?

[Via recombu]