Love or hate gaming, this Sony advert properly captures the very essence of video games. It’s about the experiences. It’s about the memories. Video games allow a person to, even briefly, become someone else, and enter their life and see a different world. Link, Ghost, and Gordon Freeman all become part of a gamer’s narrative with just as much consequence as Tom Sawyer or The Hardy Boys.
Sure, this particular video spot is for Sony and the Playstation 3, but it portrays the vast draw to gaming in general. Good job, Sony. You won the Internet today. → Read More
I was able to attend Metaio’s InsideAR 2011 conference last week in Munich and check out many new and updated Augmented Reality concepts at the event. Several concepts I saw at the trade show portion resonated with where consumer AR is headed and some were merely for entertainment. But pretty much everything I saw tried, in some way, to push the envelope of technical possibility. I saw some cool new AR Head Mounted Displays (HMDs) from Vuzix and Sony (although Sony would not let me photograph their prototype), lots of furniture configurators, augmented textbooks, a DIY content authoring system and more. → Read More
Sony, which provides many theaters with the projectors and hardware needed to display 3D cinema, has informed those theaters that starting this spring, it will no longer provide 3D glasses for free. From now on they’ll have to foot the cost themselves — and by “they” I mean “we,” because obviously the theaters aren’t going to voluntarily pick up this extra expense. → Read More
Apart from fixing the Japan release date for the Playstation Vita (December 17) today, Sony also announced [press release in English] the handheld’s full launch line-up for its home market: a total of 28 different titles (games and applications) will be made available for early buyers of the device.
Sony also said there are a total of 100 different games being developed by companies worldwide for the Vita currently (details), but here’s the full list of which titles will be ready by the time the device launches in Japan. → Read More
iPhone docks are everywhere. iPad docks? Not so much. Sony just outed two new models that work with both and in true Sony fashion, are loaded with colorfully named proprietary technologies. → Read More
Sony is currently holding a press conference in Tokyo where the company said that the Playstation Vita, its new handheld console, will hit stores in Japan on December 17, just in time for the holidays (this decision was kind of announced last month actually). For the 3G connection, Sony partnered up with Japan’s biggest mobile carrier NTT Docomo and laid out 3G pricing plans for the first time, too.
Japanese Vita owners going for the 3G model will be charged 980 yen (US$13) for 20 hours of pre-paid or 4,980 yen (US$65). In the US, AT&T will be handling the 3G service for the Vita. → Read More
Competition for the iPod? Sony Japan announced [JP] the NW-Z1000 series today, their three newest Walkmans, which come with an array of flashy features. The new series was showcased for the first time during IFA in Berlin a few weeks ago, and now Sony priced and dated the devices for their home market.
The main difference between the three models is the internal memory: the NW-Z1050 (price: $364) comes with 16GB on board, while the NW-Z1060 offers 32GB for $429. The NW-Z1070 boasts 64GB and will be available for $563. → Read More
Sony finally unveiled its upcoming tablets earlier this month and at least two retailers just put the more traditional Tablet S up for pre-order. Both Amazon and Best Buy are allowing awaiting buyers to reserve their spot in line to be one of the first buyers of the latest so-called iPad killer. → Read More
Do you remember the 3D HD display specifically designed for gaming that Sony Computer Entertainment unveiled back in June at E3? It took them a while, but now big S in Japan announced [JP] the final release date for the device in its home market: November 2. For the equivalent of US$582, buyers will get the 24-inch monitor itself, an HDMI cable, and a set of 3D glasses.
A game isn’t included in the Japanese package – a separate set of (active shutter) 3D glasses will cost $78,. PSP games are displayed in full screen, while a system called SimulView allows 2 users to play 3D games on one display but to see full-screen images each. → Read More
Japan is getting yet another special edition PS3: Sony announced [press release in English] the so-called “PlayStation3 NINOKUNI magical edition” bundle pack for the local market today. In the package, buyers will find a PS3 in “magical gold” color with a pearly touch, in addition to Ni No Kuni, a fantasy RPG currently in development at Level-5.
The PS3 comes with a 160GB HDD and comes with a Dual Shock controller that’s painted like the limited edition console. → Read More
Today won’t be remembered tomorrow. Nothing of consequence happened today. Steve Ballmer didn’t resign, Dell didn’t get out of the PC business and I didn’t stop procrastinating and actually go to the gym. Nope, like any other boring summer day, several products were announced, start-ups announced funding and another wireless carrier jacked up fees. Today is just another day.
But while we’re still here, the last day of August, several tablets from major brands were announced that deserve a bit more conversation. Sony finally revealed the full specs and launch details for the P and S tablets. HTC, likewise, did the same with Puccini tablet, which now sports the rather predictable name of Jetstream. You see, these tablets are just like all the other Honeycomb tabs that were hyped for months and eventually hit with a thud instead of a bang. → Read More
The Walkman brand has taken a beating over the last decade or so. The culprit, of course, is the iPod, and while other players do sell perfectly well all over the world (Apple’s reach isn’t always good enough), Sony, Creative, and iRiver just aren’t the powerhouses they used to be in the portable audio sector.
Sony’s looking to get back into the game, and is demoing a prototype Android-based media player at IFA. While I’d love nothing more than real competition in the player space, I don’t quite see this thing taking off. → Read More
These days, it’s getting tough for companies that make eBook readers to differentiate. Brief forays into jumbo models aside, Amazon’s Kindle has kept things simple and elegant since day one, while Barnes and Noble went the full-featured Android route with the Nook Color.
Sony, to their credit, was among the first to make readers with appeal that extended beyond hardcore techno-literature buffs, and today’s announcement of the ultra-light PRS-T1 shows that they haven’t quite given up the ghost yet. → Read More
“It’s not about who makes them first, but who makes them better.” That’s how Sony’s Sir Howard Stringer announced his upcoming tablets. Zing.
Meet the S and P, everyone. Sony just took the wraps off its first generation Android tablets a few moments ago at its 2011 IFA press event. But, as with most non-Apple product launches these days, there isn’t much to report since Sony used teasers and planted leaks over the last few months to generate buzz, which in turn, makes today’s announcement a tad anticlimactic. → Read More
Yesterday, we reported about Sony, Hitachi and Toshiba planning to establish a joint venture for small and mid-size LCD panels in Japan. And today, the three companies, plus major shareholder Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, made the plan official.
As reported, the semi-public organization will control 70% of the venture (to be set up by the end of the year), with the other partners holding a 10% stake each. Tentatively named “Japan Display”, the venture will launch with a cool US$2.6 billion investment and instantly control 21.5% of the world market for small and medium-sized LCDs. → Read More
Earlier this year, during CES 2011, Sony showcased a prototype of a wearable 3D display that looked much like those virtual reality helmets we’ve been seeing since the 1990s. And today, the company announced that it’s actually ready to start selling the OLED device, dubbed “Personal 3D Viewer”/ HMZ-T1, on November 11 – in Japan. → Read More
One of the marquee features of Sony’s new Alpha and NEX cameras, which by the way look excellent, is the new electronic viewfinder. I’ve never been particularly attracted to these things, preferring the mirror-based optical viewfinder on DSLRs or simply the large, bright LCDs on the back of most cameras. But Fujifilm’s X100 (despite its flaws) changed my mind about the usefulness of the EVF, and I’m ready to accept a camera that’s all EVF, all the time. And it helps that Sony’s new screen is a miracle of miniaturization. → Read More
Quite big news from Sony, Hitachi, and Toshiba today: according to Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun [JP], the three companies today decided to merge their LCD businesses, at least for smaller and mid-sized screens used in smartphones, handheld gaming devices and tablets.
If the report is to be believed, a joint venture will be set up by the end of the year. What’s interesting is that the so-called Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, a semi-public organization, will control a whopping 70% of the newly formed company. The organization is ready to invest a total of US$2.6 billion (and fend off competition from South Korea, Taiwan and other places). → Read More
It’s been difficult to avoid news about Sony’s new line of digital cameras these past few months. Leak after leak has exposed body designs, lenses, sensor sizes, and other specs. They’re all official now, though, and while I won’t subject you to a case-by-case analysis of which rumors were on and off, I will say they were mostly on the money. The new gear looks very promising, as well.
Let’s take a look at the new camera line. → Read More
Instead of giving us any more concrete details on when the Playstation Vita will see the light of day, Sony announced the availability of a new PSP model called the E-1000 at their Gamescom press conference. → Read More
