During a press conference at the Gamescom gaming conference in Cologne, Sony announced a few new features for their new handheld console, the Vita (watch our hands-on at E3 here). Among them were support for Foursquare and Skype. The references were made while talking about the 3G capabilities of the $300 model, but it wasn’t implied that a 3G connection would be required.
More powerful than most phones and sporting a large, bright touchscreen and dual cameras, the Vita should be able to handle these services perfectly well. There was no demonstration and no screenshots, though, so the UI is still a mystery. It’s also unclear whether it will integrate with the Vita’s other, more system-wide social tools. → Read More
Google TV hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, and while we could argue all day about what exactly prevented it from achieving greatness, the expensive hardware has to at least be part of the discussion. Logitech bit the bullet two weeks ago and lowered the price of their Revue from $250 to $99 — and it seems Sony has decided they might take a bit of that medicine too. → Read More
We spent quite a few posts in the last months covering a patent dispute between LG and Sony over four Blu-ray-related functions used in the PS3. The lawsuits affected sales of the console in the US and Europe in spring this year, and they came right after Sony brought a patent infringement claim (regarding cell phones) against LG to the U.S. International Trade Commission in late 2010. → Read More
Sony announced WhiteMagic today, a “next-generation”, 3-inch TFT LCD screen that boasts 1.23M-dot full VGA resolution. What’s special about the display is that it has two distinct modes: if switched to “low power mode”, power consumption of the backlight is pushed down by over 50% to 125mW, with Sony saying brightness in this mode is still comparable to that of conventional LCDs. → Read More
Sony Japan announced [JP] the ESSP-2000, a storage battery for professional use that serves as a backup power supply unit in the case of emergencies and blackouts. The lithium ion battery stores 2.4kwh, can be charged to 95% in about 2 hours (using conventional power plugs), and it boasts an impressive life span of over 10 years, according to Sony. → Read More
I hope you didn’t have the PS Vita on your Christmas list this year. Sony’s next-gen portable is going to reach the States or Europe until next year per an AP interview with Sony Corp. Executive Deputy President Kazuo Hirai. The executive acknowledged that missing the holiday season is going to be costly, “That’s when you do half your year’s sales,” he said. “This is going to prove painful for Sony.”
Sony finally took all the wraps of the PS Vita at E3 back in June after months of teasing. It’s truly an amazing portable and packed with tons of features. Mr. Hirai agrees and jabbed at the recent Nintendo 3DS price cut by stated “There is no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to lower their price.” Zing! → Read More
I mean, come on. These videos show the upcoming Sony S1 and S2 tablets for about 4 seconds total. It’s just more of the Rube Goldberg foolishness shown in previous teaser videos. I want to see the tablets. But if you don’t; if you want to see a silly, but still fun, Rube Goldberg machine, click through for the embedded video. → Read More
Sony Alpha Rumors has received a boatload of information, though none of it complete, about Sony’s newest Alpha cameras and accessories. This comes hot on the heels of another Alpha leak, showing off the upcoming NEX-7. I won’t repeat all the details here, but it’s a nice little info tease to hold you off until the rumored August 24 launch date. → Read More
I’ll just say it: Google TV is sinking and taking its crew down with her. The service promised to bring new life to HDTVs when it launched last October. But it didn’t. Big media made sure of it by blocking access to their online streaming, seemingly taking away Google TV’s most novel feature. Without online streaming, Google TV’s awesome search tool is crippled and the system is just an overpriced DLNA client and Netflix streamer.
Logitech somewhat signaled the end of the platform’s life today but slashing the price of the Revue unit down to $100. This comes just months after the CEO stated with its 2010 Q4 earnings that they are enthusiastic about Google TV even with just 5 million in sales during last the last holiday season. Today’s price cut states loud and clear that Google TV is on its last leg and one of its launch partners are trying everything to get rid of back inventory. → Read More
Meet the upcoming Sony Walkman A series. This little guy appeared on a major UK retailer’s website sporting digs noticeable different from the current generation. It’s actually, dare I say, sexy. → Read More
We heard about the Playstation Vita’s online capabilities long before we even knew its name, but the official details are just now solidifying. We knew it would have a net-connected staging area for each game, and a proximity-based social tool (LiveArea and Near respectively), and although some of the functions there are intact, they’ve been tweaked a bit and the features have changed. → Read More
Although I’ve never been a huge fan of the Cybershot line, it’s interesting to see how much tech Sony has been dumping into these things of late. For example, this $350 camera shoots full 1080i video and 12-megapixel stills at exactly the same time with no interruption.
It has 5X optical zoom and some sort of 16-megapixel 10X digital zoom and can also shoot in 3D. Panoramas are easy and massive at 42 megapixels. It will be available in September.
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Sony is discontinuing yet another format: after killing the cassette Walkman last year and deciding to stop producing MiniDisc Walkmans just 2 weeks ago, the company today announced [JP] in Japan they won’t be supporting the 8mm video format anymore. Sony was one of the several Japanese and American (i.e. Polaroid) tech powerhouses that established the format format back in the 1980s.
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Sony Japan announced [JP] the VBD-MA1 today, the company’s first Blu-ray/DVD burner that doesn’t necessarily require a computer to work. Users can plug in their video camera, for example, directly into the device to store their material on discs (via USB) or use its Memory Stick Duo or SD/SDHC/SDXC card slot. → Read More
We’re definitely looking forward to Sony’s S1 and S2 tablets, and while the proof is of course in the pudding, you’d have to be made of stone to not appreciate these great little videos (previously). There must be some kind of fundamental human need for Rube Goldberg machines. This one is about the media experience, I think? Your guess is as good as mine. → Read More
It’s official folks! That foldable dual-screen S2 tablet from Sony that we’ve been absolutely desperate to get our hands on is headed to AT&T.
Of course, pricing and availability were missing from the press release, although Sony did promise that we would see the Android 3.0 Honeycomb-powered S2 “later this year.” We also got to go hands-on with both the S1 and S2, which was basically the most exciting part of my week. → Read More
Component video’s glory days are behind it. Sony might even be getting rid of it on future PS3 models. But, if this is true, it’s likely more to do with the Blu-ray’s restrictions than Sony’s hatred of the average consumer.
Kotaku posted a screenshot of what is supposed to be info on a new PS3 release. The important thing to note is the statement that indicates the PS3 will no longer support HD video over component. Instead, consumers are going to have to use HDMI, thus this retailer memo states that the salesmen should sell an HDMI cable every time. (that sounds about right) → Read More
There is probably no one left doubting that electric vehicles will be a huge market in the future, and now it seems that Sony is agreeing, too. The company yesterday announced it will start making lithium-ion batteries specifically for electric cars and hybrids “from the middle of this decade”. → Read More
“It’s not like Android’s free. Android has a patent fee. You do have to license patents.”
That was Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in an interview last year with The Wall Street Journal. At the time, Microsoft was on the verge of releasing their first Windows Phone 7 devices, and knew their best hope in the market would be to go after Android — the same OS which quickly ran Windows Mobile into extinction. In the months that have followed, right or wrong, it looks like Microsoft is slowly but surely forcing Google’s OEM partners for Android to agree with this stance.
The reality is that for an increasing number of these partners now, Android is not free. It doesn’t require the licensing fees that Windows Phone does, but it does require a patent fee. A fee paid to Microsoft, not Google, mind you.
If Microsoft is able to convince (or force) Samsung to pay this fee as well, it’s likely lights out for Android as a free OS, as Tom Krazit rightly points out on paidContent today. And with Microsoft and now HP offering their own rival mobile OSes backed by a vast array of patent protection, some of these OEM partners may begin to think twice about their firm Android commitments. At least, that’s undoubtedly Microsoft’s hope. Android as a free mobile OS that rivals iOS in terms of functionality is an unbelievable value proposition. But Android as an OS that requires you to pay Microsoft for each unit shipped is less so. → Read More
