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Posts Tagged ‘ Sony ’

Sony’s Google TV set-top box: First impressions

By Fei on January 16, 2012

By Brad Reed
January 16, 2012

FRAMINGHAM – LAS VEGAS — While Google TV hasn’t been a big hit so far, Sony this week gave the platform a boost when it announced that Google’s technology would power its upcoming Network Media Player set-top box.

So what has Sony done to make the Google TV platform more attractive to the masses? The big thing is making navigation through the Google TV interface a lot more like navigating on a PC with a touchpad remote control that features basic television controls on one side (i.e., channel control, volume, DVR, etc.) and a full qwerty keyboard on the other side. What makes the keyboard particularly useful is that it only operates if the remote control is facing upward, so you won’t run the risk of typing something in while you’re trying to record on DVR. At the very least, the new remote is a big improvement from a previous Sony model that both lacked a touchpad and tried to cram all of its buttons onto one side.

BACKGROUND: Google TV gets updated with simpler interface, app dev tools

HIGHLIGHTS: The best of CES 2012

The keyboard side of the controller also benefits from having a quick search key that essentially acts as a universal search button that brings up results from sources such as Google, Wikipedia and YouTube. So if you do a quick search for your favorite actor on the remote, you’ll be given a wide array of different resources to learn more about him, as well as an option to search all of the television shows, movies and music videos that he may have appeared in. Google TV’s search capabilities also let you grab both paid and free content off the Web wherever you can find it, such as Hulu, Amazon, Netflix or YouTube.

The latest Google TV interface, which was first released last year, is also a definite improvement over the original edition that the company released in 2010. Instead of cluttering the entire television screen, the Google TV interface has basically been reduced to a bar at the bottom of the screen. From here you can access your standard applications such as Netflix, YouTube and Google Chrome, as well as the newly added version of the Android Market that contains Android apps designed specifically for your television.

As you might expect, the app selection for Google TV is still somewhat limited and apps for stations such as CNN, Fox News, etc. can seem a little redundant since you likely have access to those stations already. The games are also somewhat limited, although the new Sony remote control helps things out a bit as it can function as a steering wheel for driving games and its touchpad provides much more control over games than other remotes.

The bottom line: Although I wouldn’t describe Sony’s Network Media Player as a must-have, it does show some real improvements that can be built upon for future releases. Google, Microsoft, Apple and assorted television vendors are all trying to piece together how to make the television a fully connected and interactive device along the lines of PCs, smartphones and tablets. Sony’s contribution to this puzzle is definitely a step in the right direction.

Sony shows 3D images with glasses — without the TV

By Fei on September 5, 2011

By Nick Barber
September 05, 2011

BERLIN – Sony’s Personal 3D Viewer, introduced at the IFA consumer electronics show, will offer consumers an alternative to 3D televisions and will be available by the end of this year, according to the company.

Watch a video on YouTube for more about the gadget.

The product is shaped like a visor and rests on top of a users head. Once it’s positioned and focused, a wide, clear and bright 3D image can be seen.

“We can provide with this gadget that home theater experience,” said Yoshinori Matsumoto, Sony’s General Manager of home entertainment. “That means a 750-inch screen at a 20 meter distance.”

Inside the viewer the images are displayed on two 0.7-inch OLED panels, each with a resolution of 1280 pixels by 720 pixels.

The unit can be connected to a 3D camcorder for a live view of what’s being shot, or used for movies and gaming.

“Imagine watching Spiderman swinging before your eyes or playing a game like Uncharted 3 in breathtaking 3D right in front of you,” Sony CEO Howard Stringer said during the company’s IFA press conference.

The gadget also includes headphones.

Sony wouldn’t say how much the device will cost.

Sony Sees ‘No Need to Transition’ to PlayStation 4

By Fei on August 25, 2011

By McKinley Noble
August 25, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO – Although the PlayStation 3 is starting to get up there in years, Sony seems to be sticking to their “it’ll last for 10 years” stance when asked about their next system.

Eurogamer found out as much first-hand in an interview with Sony VP Shuhei Yoshida. According to Yoshida, Sony is only going to introduce new hardware when developers reach the limit of what they can do with the PS3. Off-hand, we can attest at GamePro that most video game developers consider the PlayStation 3 a hassle to program with because of the system’s difficult-to-use hardware.

From the interview:

“Looking at the platform cycle, when the platform becomes something game developers are not able to improve their creations with, that’s the time we have to really seriously consider shifting to the next generation,” Yoshida said.

Game publishers, generally, agree that the introduction of the next generation is not needed. In January THQ core games boss Danny Bilson told Eurogamer the introduction of new hardware now “would be horrible”.

A number of developers, however, have told Eurogamer they are reaching the limit of what the current generation can do in terms of technical performance, and would love the opportunity to work with more RAM.

“As far as we are concerned, we have no desire now to do that [release a new home console],” Yoshida said.

“So as long as we and our developers can create new experiences that are more exciting to consumers, I see no need to transition into newer generation.”

But are current generation PS3 games hitting a brick wall? Looking at titles like Uncharted 3, Batman: Arkham City, and Battlefield 3, it seems like developers keep finding ways to wring a little more power out of current consoles. ‘Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Sony launches Qriocity for Android smartphones, not tablets

By Fei on June 17, 2011

By Ross Catanzariti
June 17, 2011

SYDNEY – If you own an Android phone and you are a subscriber to Sony’s cloud-based Qriocity music service on the PlayStation and PC, you’re in luck: Sony has just announced the launch of a dedicated Qriocity app for Android smartphones.

Officially titled “Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity”, the app allows subscribers to Sony’s cloud-based streaming music service full access to the Qriocity catalogue, which currently boasts over seven million licensed songs from major record labels including Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Music. In addition to Australia, the app is also available in the U.S, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and New Zealand.

The Qriocity app enables subscribers to access their full music library, synchronise songs from their PC, and play them on a compatible Android phone. Curiously, Sony says the app will only work on smartphones running Android 2.1 or higher, but will not work on Android 3.0 “Honeycomb” tablet devices. Sony also says the app will only display properly on Android phones with a screen resolution of 480×854, 480×800 or 320×480 pixels.

The app has been specifically tested on Sony Ericsson’s latest Android-based mobile phones, with the company listing the XPERIA Arc, XPERIA Play, XPERIA X10, XPERIA X8 and the XPERIA Neo as officially supported devices, but it will also work with other Android phones provided they fit the criteria above.

Subscription is available in two forms, premium ($12.99 per month) or basic ($4.99 per month). Premium subscribers can use the app to add songs to their library, create and edit playlists, access Qriocity’s premium music channels and search and play the entire Australian music catalogue without restrictions. Basic members can play music on multiple devices, synchronise the songs on their PC, and access basic music channels.

If you’re not a Qriocity subscriber, you can sign up through the app for a free 30-day trial. The Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity app is free and available now in the Android Market.

After hack, Sony offers freebies to unhappy gamers

By Fei on May 18, 2011

By Robert McMillan
May 18, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO – After hackers knocked its PlayStation Network offline for nearly a month, Sony is now trying to make amends by giving customers free video games.

Sony made the announcement Monday, saying it was a way of thanking the millions of gamers on its network for their “patience, support and continued loyalty during the service outage.”

In the U.S. and Canada, PlayStation Network and Qriocity subscribers will soon be able to register for two new games each — either in PS3 or PSP format — at the PlayStation Store. The PlayStation Store isn’t online yet, but when it comes back, gamers will have 30 days to get their goods.

PS3 users can choose from the following titles: Dead Nation, inFAMOUS, LittleBigPlanet, Super Stardust HD and Wipeout HD + Fury. The PSP options are: LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers, Pursuit Force and Killzone: Liberation.

Depending on the package they’ve signed up for, subscribers will also get free movies, enhanced services packages and free virtual items.

Sony is offering similar plans to European and Latin American users, but the company has not said what it will do in Asia, where the network is still offline.

Last month, Sony disclosed that it had been hacked and warned its 77 million PlayStation Network users that personal information — e-mail addresses, for example — may have been compromised. Then in early May the company said that another network, the Sony Online Entertainment network, had also been broken into.This second incident affected close to 25 million users.

Sony spent the past weekend slowly bringing its gaming networks online.

Sony will give the Online Entertainment users 45 days’ free access to the service and a year’s worth of identity protection from Debix. The company has said that it will also offer PlayStation Network customers ID theft protection, but it hasn’t yet spelled out the details of that package.

Sony’s Latest PlayStation Network Update More Candid

By Fei on April 29, 2011

By PCWorld Staff
April 29, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO – You’re embroiled in what may be the largest data breach in history, your customers are livid, your network’s been down for over a week, and the media’s piling on like a mob of defensive tackles. What do you do?
Answer more questions, that’s what. Sony spokesperson Patrick Seybold did last night in a new Q&A series on the official PlayStation blog, and while much of it’s still basically “no comment” paraphrased, he managed to slip in a few newsworthy bits.
Like: The different ways PSN and Qriocity stored your sensitive payment and biographical personal data–Sony encrypted the former, but not the latter.

“The entire credit card table was encrypted and we have no evidence that credit card data was taken,” writes Seybold in the update. “The personal data table, which is a separate data set, was not encrypted, but was, of course, behind a very sophisticated security system that was breached in a malicious attack.”

What’s more, Sony says your credit card’s security code (the extra three or four digit validation number) couldn’t be compromised because the company never asked for it (though computer law expert Mike Godwin calls that “the weakest defense ever”).
Still waiting for email notification from Sony? Seybold says “all registered accounts” should receive something by today, and that the process of cycling through all 77 million accounts “has been underway since yesterday.”

And if you’re wondering why the service rebuild’s taking so long, Seybold says “we are initiating several measures that will significantly enhance all aspects of PlayStation Network’s security and your personal data, including moving our network infrastructure and data center to a new, more secure location, which is already underway.” He adds that Sony plans to say more about those measures shortly.

In the meantime, both PSN and Qriocity services remain down, though Seybold says they’re expected back, at least in part, “within a week from yesterday.”

Sony CEO Slips, Reveals iPhone 5 Camera Spec

By Fei on April 5, 2011

By Megan Geuss
April 5, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO – Late Friday night, Howard Stringer of Sony may have accidentally revealed a budding relationship between Sony and Apple. At a Wall Street Journal speaking event the CEO mentioned that one of Sony’s best camera sensor factories in Sendai, Japan was damaged by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami. The damage, he noted, would delay shipments of sensors to Apple for its iPhones or iPads.

The fact that he specifically mentioned iPhones is leading Apple-watchers to believe that Apple is ditching OmniVision, the company currently producing the 5-megapixel sensor on the iPhone 4, in favor of Sony, which has made 8-megapixel camera sensors for the Sony Ericsson smartphones, including the Xperia Arc.

Rumors last September suggested that Samsung would make an offer for OmniVision but nothing ever came of it; perhaps this slip-up gives credence to a merger of Sony and OmniVision. Or perhaps Apple just wanted the best camera to compete with what’s new on competing smartphones, and Sony prudently picked up another business opportunity despite its phones being in direct competition with Apple’s.

At any rate, if Stringer’s comment means what the blogosphere thinks it means, we certainly won’t see an iPhone 5 this summer, but when it does arrive it’ll have a nice 8-megapixel sensor. Needless to say, some Apple, Sony, and OmniVision PR people are going to be working very hard on Monday, dealing with questions in the wake of this hint.

PC makers rolling out new Sandy Bridge laptops

By Fei on February 24, 2011

By Agam Shah
February 24, 2011

NEW YORK – Lenovo and Sony on Tuesday announced faster laptops based on Intel’s new Sandy Bridge processors, which the PC makers said could offer longer battery life than models based on Intel’s older chips.

Lenovo announced ThinkPad T, L and W business laptops, while Sony announced a lineup of Vaio C laptops with Intel’s new Core i3, i5 and i7 chips. Dell in early February announced business laptops based on the Sandy Bridge chips.

The laptops will ship starting mid-March and come with dual-core and quad-core processors and fixed Sandy Bridge chipsets. Late last month Intel halted shipments of Sandy Bridge chipsets after it found a design flaw, which prompted some PC makers such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell to halt or delay product shipments.

Intel’s Sandy Bridge processors are faster and more power efficient than its predecessors, which could help programs run faster while consuming less power, said Roger Kay, principal analyst at Endpoint Technologies Associates.

“That ends up translating to longer battery life,” Kay said.

Sandy Bridge also marks the first time that Intel has put the CPU and graphics processor in a single chip, which is a big step forward, Kay said.

“You have decent graphics… in a very power-conserving environment,” Kay said.

Another power saving on Sandy Bridge is Turbo Boost 2.0, in which idle processing cores can be shut down to save power. The technology is also able to crank up the speed of cores depending on the level of processing power needed.

Lenovo said its ThinkPad T420 delivers up to 15 hours of battery with a nine-cell battery, better than the 11 hours of its predecessor. Lenovo has taken advantage of certain hooks provided by Intel to shut down idle components when not in use, which has helped improve the battery life, Kay said.

Intel has also included new graphics capabilities into the Core chips that speed up the creation and rendering of video. A feature called Quick Sync allows the conversion of high-definition video into a format suitable for smartphones in just a few seconds. Another feature called Wireless Display 2.0, available with Sony’s new Vaio C multimedia laptops, allows users to wirelessly stream high-definition content from the laptop to high-definition TVs.

The ThinkPads are bundled with Intel’s Core VPro platform, which combines software and hardware technology for IT administrators to remotely manage and secure laptops. The platform includes many new remote management features such as Anti-Theft 3.0, which allows IT managers to remotely disable stolen or lost laptops over wired, Wi-Fi or 3G networks. The laptops can be reactivated through a code provided by the IT department.

Sony to launch PSP successor this year

By Fei on January 28, 2011

By Martyn Williams
January 28, 2011

TOKYO – Sony will launch the much anticipated successor to its PlayStation Portable later this year, the company said Thursday.

The new device, provisionally dubbed the “next generation portable” or NGP, will have a 5-inch OLED display, WiFi and 3G networking, front and rear cameras and a GPS (global positioning system) sensor. (See Sony’s teaser video for the NGP)

It will have a touchpad on the rear of the device and, answering the calls of many gamers, the device will also sport dual analog sticks. (See Sony’s Kaz Hirai unveil the device in video.)

A price and launch date were not immediately announced.

Sony has been struggling to keep up in the portable gaming space in the last few years.

The original PSP, launched in 2004, was updated twice with the last refresh coming in 2007. A year later Sony launched the redesigned PSPgo, that did away with a drive for physical discs and put much more reliance on the network, but the device sold poorly.

In the meantime, Nintendo launched new iterations of its DSi handheld and cell phone performance has increased to the point where they are competing for the attention of casual gamers.

In announcing the new PSP so far ahead of its launch, Sony will be hoping to build hype for the product during the year. Additional details on the new handheld and software will likely be trickled out as the year progresses with pushes around the big gaming expos of the year in the U.S. and Europe.

Coming in late January, the announcement also lets would-be Nintendo 3DS owners know that a competitor will be coming from Sony.

Nintendo’s new handheld console launches in Japan in a month from now and in Europe and the U.S. in March. Modeled on the current DS, the new model features a screen that provides the illusion of 3D but doesn’t require glasses.

Update a camera’s firmware

By Fei on January 25, 2011

By Everett Manns
January 25, 2011

SAN FRANCISCO – Much of your digital camera, including its sensor, LCD screen, lens, buffer, and autofocus, is controlled by microprocessors running firmware. Firmware is essentially the operating system of a digital camera, whether it’s a point-and-shoot or a DSLR. And just as a trip to Software Update can give you downloads that fix OS or software glitches and add functionality, some camera manufacturers polish the user experience after a camera has been released with firmware updates.

Firmware updates are not always necessary. If you find an update for your camera, but it doesn’t have any bug fixes and the added features don’t apply to you (such as a new language you don’t speak), you may want to skip the upgrade altogether. But more often these updates fix bugs or add cool new features and improvements. For example, the latest Sony NEX 5 firmware update makes major updates to the user interface, allows the softkey function to be customized for quick settings access in creative exposure modes, gives the camera 3D Sweep Panorama abilities, and adds autofocus support for fourteen Sony SSM and SAM lenses.
Step 1: Set an update schedule
It is a good practice to check for updates right after buying a new camera, and then check again three or four times a year. Unfortunately, camera manufacturers don’t usually put resources into developing firmware for older models, so once your camera is two generations old you can check less frequently. But don’t give up completely–the Canon Rebel XS, a 2008 beginner’s DSLR model that has seen 7 Canon DLSR brothers released since, received a firmware update as recently as October 2010.
Though many point-and-shoot and DSLR cameras allow firmware updates, not all cameras display the current version in the same place. Generally, the information is buried in the settings menu, the last option among the date setting and LCD brightness. Instructions for finding the firmware version number for individual camera models can be found in the manufacturer’s update instructions.

Step 3: Find the firmware page for your camera
Once you have this information, the next step is to check the camera manufacturer’s support and downloads site. Browse or do a keyword search for the camera model, and the download links and install instructions should be simple to find. To help you find the latest firmware versions for your model, we’ve compiled a list of the download pages for 12 major camera brands. Firmware updates are sometimes located in Drivers, Downloads, or Software sections.

Canon
Nikon

Olympus(Download the Olympus Digital Camera Updater application)

Sony

Panasonic (Or go to this one-page index of Panasonic firmware updates)
Kodak

Pentax

Casio

FujiFilm

Samsung

Leica
Sigma

Step 4: Read directions and take precautions
It is extremely important to read the exact update directions for your camera carefully, as the process varies from camera to camera, is usually permanent, and if something goes wrong it cannot be easily fixed. This shouldn’t discourage camera owners from updating their cameras, as the process is safe when directions are followed to the letter.

To ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible there are a couple common safety measures you can take: Always make sure to have fresh batteries in the camera and do not turn it off during the update–if this power-hungry process is interrupted, the dead batteries could equal a dead camera that will need to be serviced. And make sure you use the recommended equipment such as specific memory cards or particular brands of USB cords.

Step 5: Install the firmware
Some manufacturers make the firmware update process really simple. For example, Olympus owners can download the Olympus Digital Camera Updater application, which will automatically check a connected camera for outdated firmware and walk the user step-by-step through the update.

For most brands, however, you have to do a bit more work. The exact process varies depending on your camera brand and model, and each manufacturer provides detailed instructions on their site explaining exactly what to do when you locate an update for your camera.

The typical update process goes something like this: A compressed file or installation application that contains the firmware update (or updates, if it comes in two parts) specific to your camera is download to your computer. After downloading, the firmware can be dropped onto the top level of a blank, freshly formatted memory card. Next, eject the card from card reader, insert it into the camera, and follow the directions for initiating the update from the camera’s menu.

With some brands the camera can be plugged in with a USB cord and the firmware updated directly from your computer. The camera companies that provide an updater application use this method.

If you are not comfortable updating your own firmware, or if something goes wrong during the update process, take the camera to an authorized dealer or contact customer service for your brand.

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