Archive for Sony

Sony’s Home not ready this fall

Posted in News, PS3, Sony by Chetz on September 21st, 2007

Sony Home online social gaming network is behind schedule and is now planned for Spring 2008The PlayStation 3 needs a killer game. Fighting with low sales (Nintendo’s Wii currently sells more units than the PS3) and increased competition from Microsoft (”Halo 3″ is easily the biggest game for the fall/holiday season) Sony had been hoping that its “Home” social gaming network would be ready for the fall and generate some needed excitement amongst gamers. Unfortunately for Sony “Home” isn’t ready for a Q3 launch and has been moved back now for a spring 2008 debut so that it can “improve product quality.” Citing the need to make environments that fulfill the needs of America, European and Asian gamers, Sony chief executive Kazuo Hirai said “We aim to launch this as something that can meet expectations of people all over the world.”

Playstation Eye release and price

Posted in Digital Cameras, Digital Video, PS3, Sony by Reuben Drake on September 21st, 2007

Sony Playstation Eye camera for the Playstation 3That Playstation Eye camera from Sony designed for use with the PS3 has finally gotten some release information and pricing. According to the Playstation Blog, the PS3 Eye camera will be available for purchase on October 23rd.

In what seems almost like an accidental side note in an announcement regarding the release of The Eye of Judgment game from Hasbro, the the Playstation Eye looks like it is going come bundled with the trading card game and together will retail for just $69.99 in the US.

PS3 Dualshock is coming

Posted in Controllers, PS3, Sony by Chetz on September 20th, 2007

Sony Sixaxis Dualshock 3 wireless controller that rumblesAfter living with gamers clamoring for a year wanting it, Sony has given in and announced that it will start selling a PlayStation 3 controller with rumble feature shortly. Dubbed the Dualshock 3 Wireless Controller by the company, the controller will go on sale in Japan in November and then in America and Europe in the spring of 2008.

Sony had faced competition and a lawsuit from a rival game company, Immersion, over claims of copyright violation in the technology of its PS3 controllers. That lawsuit has been settled in the favor of Immersion and the introduction of the Dualshock 3 is the inevitable result: a PS3 controller with rumble features.

Sony VAIOs are a work of art

Posted in Notebooks, Sony by Chetz on September 19th, 2007

Sony VAIO Splash Editions are works of art with Maya HayukSony has teamed up with New York graphic artist Maya Hayuk to create two visually spectacular limited edition VAIO notebooks. The VAIO Graphic Splash Editions come in two models, “Grow” (pictured above, which suggests plants and other green living things) and “Never Stop” (the space trippy one of the pair). Regardless of which laptop you wind up purchasing the VAIO will come with a certificate of authenticity signed by the artist and desktop wallpaper that matches the laptop’s cover artwork. As well $25 from the sale of each laptop will be donated to a charity called “Creativity Explored”, a nonprofit visual arts center where artists with developmental disabilities create, exhibit, and sell art.

Both models come with a Blu-ray player, 4 GB of RAM, a 200GB HDD, 2GHz Core 2 Duo T7300 chip set, Nvidia GeForce 8400m GT graphics card, and a 15.4″ widescreen LCD. The price for either unit is $2,499.99 and they are available beginning next week from Sony.

Sony offering 300x CompactFlash cards

Posted in Memory, Sony by Nino Marchetti on September 14th, 2007

sony-cf300x.jpgSony has unveiled some new very high-speed memory cards designed to work with digital single-lens reflex cameras such as the recently announced Sony DSLR- A700. The 4GB NCFD4G model will price at around $120 while the 8GB NCF8DG sells at around $200.

These new Sony high-speed memory cards join the company’s current line of 66x and 133x-speed models at a rocking 300x. They are CompactFlash in nature and will obviously offer increased processing and response times for those who need it.

PlayPhoneStation

Posted in Mobile Phones, Sony, Sony Ericsson by Chetz on September 13th, 2007

Sony Playstation mobile phoneApple’s done it and the rumor is that so will Google early next year. How about it: would you like to see a Sony PlayStation branded mobile phone or is your head now swimming with thoughts of the diabolically disastrous N-Gage?

According to the prestigious Financial Post newspaper Sony Ericsson is considering making a PlayStation phone to appeal to the gamer savvy market. The statement was said by the company’s outgoing president, Miles Flint, who added “We need to make sure that it is a credible phone, and be sure we are justified in putting that identity on it.”

PSP 3.7 Firmware Update Available

Posted in PSP, Sony by Reuben Drake on September 11th, 2007

Sony PSP 3.7 version Firmware update is available with new featuresSony has released a new firmware update available now for the PSP, bringing the version up to 3.7. The new update can be picked up automatically through the Network Update Wi-Fi connection on the PSP.

Some of the updates with the new 3.7 version include revisions to increase security and an increased number of Playstation network titles that can be played under “Game”. The system will now also let users set custom theme settings in the Themes menu and a number of features for viewing media have been added.

Sony’s Rolly officially announced

Posted in MP3, News, Sony, music by Chetz on September 10th, 2007

Sony Rolly will dance with the musicSony has lifted the veil of secrecy surrounding its musical robotic egg, the Rolly, that we first reported to you a week ago. The 300 gram gizmo is a moving MP3 player that is motion sensitive; give it a spin in one direction and the Rolly’s volume will go up, the other way and the tunes will lower down. Pushing the Rolly forwards, backwards or giving it a shake will allow you to change songs. While it’s moving about the side corners of it will “flap” and a cascade of pretty blue and green lights will undulate from the bottom of the Rolly.

Sony new home media server looks hot

Posted in Home Theater, Media Servers, Sony by Nino Marchetti on September 6th, 2007

Sony HES-V1000Another big Sony announcement today came in the form of a stylish, standalone home media server. The new HES-V1000 is priced at around $3,500 and should be available next month.

The HES-V1000 comes ready to party, containing both a 1080p 200-disc Blu-ray Disc/DVD/CD changer and a 500GB hard drive. This server will let you also burn content onto Blu-ray Discs as well as standard DVDs. It can connect to the Internet to collect metadata, wirelessly stream music throughout the home with a router to other devices and offers what Sony says is a easy navigation system.

Sony introduces new Alpha DSLR camera

Posted in Digital Cameras, Sony by Nino Marchetti on September 6th, 2007

Sony DSLR-A700Sony unveiled its latest prosumer Alpha digital camera today. The new DSLR-A700 is priced at a base $1,400 for the body only and should be available starting in October. Several kits with lenses will be available as well.

The Sony DSLR-A700 sports a 12.2-megapixel CMOS sensor and offers special image stabilization technology for more steady shots. It incorporates a new auto-focus system with 11 wide-area sensors including a center dual cross sensor for better AF, a maximum shutter speed of 1/8,000th of a second and shooting at up to five frames per second in JPEG fine or standard mode.

New Sony PSP packs due shortly

Posted in PSP, Sony by Nino Marchetti on September 5th, 2007

Sony PlayStation PortableAmong all the noise of Apple iPod releases today Sony made some news of its own by announcing the availability of a PSP pack featuring the next generation PlayStation Portable device. The Daxter PSP Entertainment Pack is priced at around $200.

The Daxter PSP Entertainment Pack, which comes with a Daxter game, Family Guy UMD video and 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo, is part of several packs promoting the new PSP Sony is putting out. This particular pack finds the PSP in an “ice silver” color, sporting features like a more streamlined form factor and a video-out port.

Caught in the Mobius Duct

Posted in Sony, Speakers by Chetz on September 4th, 2007

mobiusduct_speakersAs Morpheus said in “The Matrix”, “No one can tell you what the Matrix is. You have to experience it for yourself.” That sounds like what we will have to do when Sony brings out its SRS-ZX1 speakers on October 20 in the Japanese market.

Looking a little bit like a spy cam, these speakers utilize a new proprietary technology that Sony calls “Mobius Duct” that supposedly makes for a more forceful low frequency wave. The speakers measure 3.1 x 6.6 x 7.4-inches, have two channels of 20W output, a built-in amp, a remote control and two analog inputs.

Sony Rolly Video Has Strange, Music Loving Gadget

Posted in Rumors, Sony, music by Darrin Olson on September 1st, 2007

Sony Rolly video shows off strange looking rolling, dancing device that responds to musicThe Sony Rolly is something that’s got a lot of people talking about Sony, which may be the whole point of the device, whether its real or not. This Miuro look-a-like (which interestingly we reported on exactly one year ago), appears to respond to music by rolling and “dancing” around on the floor. From the video it looks football shaped and can move forward or back, turn, spin, has some “wings” that open on the sides like little arms when it dances along with some glowing lights that change color as it moves.

There really isn’t any information about the Rolly available aside from this strange video, which again might be intentional by Sony. Engadget was able to contact at least one Sony representative about the product who neither confirmed nor denied any information about it. They did however say that it had nothing to do with any recent product releases from Sony. Take a look at the video after the jump and see what you think:

Sony Drops a Lighter Fare Walkman

Posted in MP3, Media Players, Sony, Walkman by Chetz on August 31st, 2007

Sony Walkman NWZ-B100 series media playerAlong with yesterday’s release of the new video Walkman’s from Sony, they also released a smaller, non-video line of Walkmans which were somewhat overshadowed in the announcement. Although the new NWZ-B100 series do not have video, they do have a 3-line color LCD display to show functions and tracks playing.

The small Walkman supports playing MP3 and WMA audio files and is compatible with Microsoft’s PlayForSure music service. It also has a FM tuner with the ability to set as many as 30 preset stations, and it can record the radio broadcast directly to the player as MP3’s. It also has a microphone built-in should you want to record your own, personally sung songs to the player for future easy-listening.

Sony Strolls Video Walkmans to the U.S.

Posted in Digital Audio, Digital Video, Media Players, Sony, Walkman by Darrin Olson on August 30th, 2007

Sony NWZ-S610 and NWZ-S610 Series Walkmans brings video Walkmans to the US for the first timeToday’s the day Sony decided to unveil video Walkmans to the US for the first time with the NWZ-A810 and NWZ-S610 series Walkman media players. Both players support an open platform for downloading and saving music and video content to coincide with Sony phasing out its CONNECT music service.

The players come in capacities of 2GB, 4GB and 8GB and in colors of black, pink, red and silver. The higher end NWZ-A810 model has a 2-inch QVGA (320 by 240) LCD, comes packaged with some high-end noise isolation earbuds and has a battery life that supports video playback of up to 8 continuous hours. The NWZ-A810 is targeting a little bit younger crowd with a 1.8-inch LCD and features an FM tuner and a little more battery life for continuous video of 9.5 hours. Both models promise to provide an impressive 33 hours of continuous music playback.





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