Hey guys,

I think I’ve had enough time exploring Sony Rolly at this point and I realize that I need to update those of you who were interested in this type of sonic entertainment.

Since the Rolly I purchased was a Japanese creation or so to say for a Japanese market, I also acquired Sony Rolly SEP-30BT meant for the US. It was finally released in the US on May 20th in two colors: white and black.

There are a few minor differences between the two. First of all, packaging of JP Rolly is simpler and has a nice plush nest for the eGg (aka Rolly), the US Rolly had a more complicated box and was left without any soft blanky. The internal memory of the US Rolly is bumped to 2 GB (I thought Sony could have done better with the internal storage since a number of MP3 players come with 8 and 16 GB of flash memory nowadays). As far as music management, I mentioned before in comments the JP Rolly inherited the tried and true ATRAC format as well as MP3, therefore supplied with SonicStage 4.4 software and for creating Motion files Sony supplied Motion Editor software that will only install on Japanese OS (however there are ways to install it on English OS as well). Getting the US version of Rolly was sort of a relief, because I was not ready to deal with Japanese Motion Editor anyways and since the Sony Audio division in the US has annihilated the SonicStage and its ATRAC child, you will notice that the US Rolly music management is as simple as drag and drop your MP3s and AAC files in the the MUSIC folder of the player’s internal storage like on any of the newer Sony Walkman NWZ series. The motion creation is done by Rolly Choreographer software which I found to be pretty intuitive and for version 1.0 not buggy! So those were the differences between the two eGgs (sorry I had to make the word “egg” look a bit cooler, as it does not sit well with me for it to be an MP3 player with tons of cool technology infused in it). Mind you though, the JP Rolly is not compatible with the US version of Rolly Choreographer and visa versa (the software simply does not recognize that Rolly is connected via USB).

OK, now the fun part is Rolly does a great job in the sound department, even though its little caps (or ears) during motion close and open the sound still remains to be pretty consistent and pure. I guess if Rolly was a mere bluetooth speaker as you can sit it in its cradle and have music streamed to it via bluetooth enabled phone or your Sony Walkman, it would not be not as exciting if it did not groove! I was pretty amazed by the demo tracks that Sony preloaded with motion files already in tact and by simply hitting the top button twice (you will find only one button on this device), Rolly made the music enjoyment even more fun. The lights, ever changing its colors make it attractive even more especially in a dim environment. Like I mentioned before this device can roll around and flap its ears either via streamed music or from its internal storage. I must say that one has to check its abilities in person, as when I heard about it at first I did not really think it would be that exciting to see something spin around to music; however I was pleasantly surprised when I actually witnessed it do its intuitive moves - it’s quite a joy!

For those of you who are still not sure about its motion functions, read on. What happens is, you load an MP3 file to your Rolly (via the supplied white USB cable) and you have two options: create your own motions and assign your own lighting to that particular song or find an already created motion file from Sony recently added Motion Park library where users are free to upload their own creations and browse and see what others have done. Both the US and Japanese communities are available online of course and are compatible. The motion file is usually around 400-500 kb that is just assigned to your MP3 like your art and song information. If you are thinking about creating your own motion files, I’d say you should prepare to spend some significant time as it involves some creative imagination on your part and using the Rolly Choreographer extensive options to make your Rolly really dance, and when I say extensive, I really mean it as the software provides you with multiple ways of assigning various kinds of motions and lights and you may always preview it and tweak on the spot.

The Rolly also has a Timer function so you may use it to wake you up in the morning if you wish so. A number of accessories are also available now like different color caps, charging cradle in white and black and a carrying case.

All in all it is an appealing device for a certain group of people. The big minus of this toy is its price tag. I think that it cannot get truly justified though being a robotic toy, many will not be able to afford $399 MP3 player with 2 GB of storage and bluetooth functions (supported profiles are A2DP, AVRCP, SPP ver 2.0). I have warned Sony that this kind of pricing may harm this new product line and it may not live too long. I believe similar pricing back then for MD players that were going for $399 and up were also not accepted here in the US and only because of that, a small community of true enthusiasts were able to adopt that format. But I will not digress on Sony pricing as it is in itself a totally different subject…

Feel free to go and check the Rolly out at a nearby SonyStyle store if you are in the US and watch for it on eBay if you want to get a better deal.

Check out one of the unofficial Forums devoted to Rolly here: http://myrolly.net/

Also check out this video featuring Omarion and Rolly

Download available Motion files here and at the official Japanese Motion Park

Yours truly,

Stan M.