Sony

New Sony Reader Leaks — How Badly Do They WANT to Fail???

News & Features August 28, 2011

New Sony Reader Leaks — How Badly Do They WANT to Fail???

Big news if you’re a Sony fan! A Dutch site has leaked pictures and specifications of the new Sony Readers. (The same ones Sony has been denying were coming) They look…well, let’s check out the specs and then I’ll give my opinion. Translated from Google: Description The Sony PRS-T1 watching his brother looks on Mobile, the Xperia, with its curves and high quality chrome finish. Thin and light, so easy to take. The Sony PRS-T1 weighs only 168 grams. The screen is of the highest quality and provides optimal reading conditions. And while the battery will not suffer it. The Sony PRS-T1 read it one…

Sony Tries to Get in Shape for Selling Tablets, but Will You Buy its New Bod?

Events July 17, 2011

Sony Tries to Get in Shape for Selling Tablets, but Will You Buy its New Bod?

When Sony provided a sneak peek last week of the two new tablets it plans to launch later this year, it also offered a glimpse into the unspoken imperative it faces: Because it’s late to the game, trailing Apple by, um, years, and others, like Samsung, by months, its biggest hope to gain a toehold in the ever crowded field of similar devices is to do something different — really different. And different it’s done, as least so far as the second of its tablets is concerned — the one code-named Sony Tablet S2, a dual-screen clamshell device that bears…

Adventures in Customer Service: Just Sony Being Sony

Editorials, Game Diary, Music Diary July 5, 2011

Adventures in Customer Service: Just Sony Being Sony

The ups and downs of the whole Sony PSN hacking and outage have been discussed here and elsewhere in grueling detail … but now that it has been a month since the service came online you might wonder how things have changed at Sony – have they changed how they treat their customers, or are they still a company marked by hubris and arrogance? Given the title, do you REALLY need to ask? I have two stories, one personal and the other impacting many PSN users around the globe. The Qriocity Curiosity Just before the PSN outage I signed up…

Gear Games Update: Playstation Network / Qriocity User Data Compromised

News & Features April 26, 2011

Gear Games Update: Playstation Network / Qriocity User Data Compromised

Yesterday I wrote about the ‘ongoing PSN outage saga’. Today things get worse. Sony has confirmed what all users feared – personal user and account information has been compromised and ‘may’ have been stolen. Here is the full text of a message I got and that every PSN and Qriocity member will get: Valued PlayStation Network/Qriocity Customer: We have discovered that between April 17 and April 19, 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network. In response to this intrusion, we have: Temporarily turned off…

In the Sea of Sameness- Sony Seeks to Swim to the Top

Editorials March 3, 2011

In the Sea of Sameness- Sony Seeks to Swim to the Top

The consumer electronics world is a “sea of sameness”, and that’s not a good thing if you are an electronics company. “Sea of sameness” is the term that was used numerous times during a private briefing with the number of Sony’s executives. The issue is this: You walk into a box store such as Best Buy, and you go to the back of the store. There on the wall you find high-definition television, after high-definition television, after high-definition television. They all look pretty much the same, and they all pretty much have the same price points. Some are a little…

MWC: One Last Look at Mobile World Congress 2011

Events February 21, 2011

MWC: One Last Look at Mobile World Congress 2011

Beyond hamming it up with wandering oompah bands at Mobile World Congress, Helena and I managed to  get hands-on time with some of the new devices and technologies that will be causing a stir in 2011 and beyond! HTC’s New Android Devices HTC won me over with their lovely new ChaCha. After using the BlackBerry Bold for a week, with its tiny little keys that I never got used to, the generously sized keys on the ChaCha, along with its softly curved body … I so wish that my Tru SIM had been installed in one of these babies. Helena…

MWC: Hands-On Photos with Sony's Three New Experias

Events February 13, 2011

MWC: Hands-On Photos with Sony’s Three New Experias

CES saw the release of the new Sony Ericsson Experia Arc, but tonight we got to see three new Experias: the neo, the pro and the long-awaited PLAY — the Playstation phone. Oh my. I had a chance to attend the press conference where these were introduced, and a moment to fondle all three. The Experia neo: The phone I am most excited about personally is the neo; it has a beautiful screen and an amazing camera that works well in even the worst lighting situations. This phone is very media focused, and it comes equipped with HDMI support, an…

Tough Call: Is Apple Being Draconian & Greedy ... or Is Sony Trying to Pull a Fast One?

eBooks, Editorials February 1, 2011

Tough Call: Is Apple Being Draconian & Greedy … or Is Sony Trying to Pull a Fast One?

If you track technology, you have likely seen the NYTimes article or one of the echo-articles declaring a shift in how Apple operates the app store, citing the rejection of the Sony Reader app and a vague quote from a Sony Rep as evidence. There is a lot of speculation there, but it ultimately comes down to the interpretation of two sections of a single sentence: The company has told some applications developers, including Sony, that they can no longer sell content, like e-books, within their apps, or let customers have access to purchases they have made outside the App…

Otterbox Jumps into the eBook Case Market

eBooks, News & Features January 29, 2011

Otterbox Jumps into the eBook Case Market

So you’re rocking a new Kindle, Sony Reader, or B&N NOOK. It rides shotgun in your bag, hangs out by your bedside, etc. But what about when you take it to the beach? Or need to bring it in a bag full of gear? Protect it with new Otterbox eBook Reader Cases! For the Kindle 3: For the Kindle DX: For the Sony Reader Touch: For the B&N NOOK (Original, not NOOKcolor): All these cases can be purchased directly from Otterbox. The Kindle 3, NOOK and Sony Reader cases are all $49.95, while the Kindle DX runs slightly more expensive…

Sony Unveils New Handheld Called 'NGP', Brings PSOne Classics to Android, and Makes Promises I Bet They'll Break

Editorials, Game Diary January 27, 2011

Sony Unveils New Handheld Called ‘NGP’, Brings PSOne Classics to Android, and Makes Promises I Bet They’ll Break

As expected, during a 1AM EST press event, Sony unveiled the next generation of its portable gaming systems, called the NGP, or PSP 2 for short. I have attached full press release, but let’s walk through some of the details: 5″ OLED 960 x 554 Screen – also multitouch capable Multi-touch rear panel Quad-core A9 Cortex processor Dual analog sticks Accelerometer, gyroscope, compass Normal array of speakers, microphone, WiFi, Bluetooth, etc Yet another new proprietary storage format Of course, having the love/hate relationship I do with Sony … I have some opinions. Largely this seems like the PSP 2 they…

State of the eBook: 2010's Legacy and 2011's Future

eBooks, Editorials December 31, 2010

State of the eBook: 2010’s Legacy and 2011’s Future

It has been far too long since the last “State of the eBook” column, but life has been busy lately. However, my New Year’s resolution is to get back on track, and it seemed like a good way to start would be with a retrospective on 2010 and a look to what we might see in 2011! State of the eBook world at the end of 2010 Winners Kindle: It’s impossible not to include the Kindle on this list. Amazon has hung onto their marketshare and expanded onto Mac OS X, Blackberries and Android devices. Not to mention their existing…

PSP Game Review: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

Game Diary, Reviews December 22, 2010

PSP Game Review: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

The Kingdom Hearts franchise occupies a unique place in the gaming world: born out of the combined universes of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy multiverse and the multiple characters of Disney, Square Enix has forged a beloved new franchise that brings both together in a way the emphasizes the strength of each without compromise. The original games for the Playstation 2 remain favorites for games of any age, and the series has been augmented by solid releases on the GameBoy Advance and the Nintendo DS. Now we get an original release for the Sony PSP. Let’s diver right in and see…

Sony Giving the Japanese eReader Market Another Crack

eBooks, News & Features November 29, 2010

Sony Giving the Japanese eReader Market Another Crack

Looks like Sony is turning close to home for a chance to revive their eBook devices. After basically dropping the Japanese market for Readers, Sony thinks they will not only blow the doors off their sales but they also think they’re going to dominate the Japanese ebook market! Granted, the ubiquitous Kindle has not yet made it to Japan, which gives Sony an additional advantage, but will they really succeed? This is ambitious for a company that could have owned the American ebook market given their head start, but has essentially stood frozen while Amazon and B&N swooped in and…

End of a Long-Lost Era: Sony Finally Kills the Cassette Walkman (In Japan)

Editorials October 26, 2010

End of a Long-Lost Era: Sony Finally Kills the Cassette Walkman (In Japan)

Ah, the Sony Walkman … that wonderful device that has let parents add ‘hearing loss’ to their list of worries and kids add ‘was listening to my Walkman’ to their reasons to justify ignoring their parents. It was the first mainstream product to really let you take your music anywhere without forcing others to let you know your favorite mix tape included Debby Boone, Christopher Cross and the Bee Gees … well, until you started singing along, anyway. This past week Sony announced they were ending production of the cassette Walkman after 31 years. It might be hard for some…

Disc No More! Wii and PS3 Now Have Netflix Streaming Channels!

News & Features October 19, 2010

Disc No More! Wii and PS3 Now Have Netflix Streaming Channels!

See that image … that is the disc you would need to load and run in order to stream ‘Watch Instant’ movies on Netflix if you had a PS3 or Wii.. Yes, you needed a disc to watch disc-free movies. Strange, I know. A few weeks ago when Netflix introduced streaming content to Canada we got a hint that a change was coming, since the PS3 didn’t need a disc to stream content there. Now we have the official announcements – neither the Wii nor the PS3 need a disc to stream Netflix anymore. For the PS3, the change comes…

Sony Blames Price for PSP Go Failure - Here are MY Thoughts!

Editorials, Game Diary September 15, 2010

Sony Blames Price for PSP Go Failure – Here are MY Thoughts!

Image courtesy of Geeky Gadgets OK, we are approaching the one-year anniversary of the release of the PSP Go. Can we all PLEASE just admit now that the PSP Go is a unmitigated failure? I mean, personally it is my all-time favorite handheld gaming system due to the small size, solid build, short load-times, and so on. Yet I consider it one of the great failures in all of gaming history. Why? It has nothing to do with the hardware – and everything to do with Sony. Here are a couple of quotes from the MCV interview that every other…

Sony's Murky eBook Future

eBooks, Editorials August 8, 2010

Sony’s Murky eBook Future

With Amazon’s Kindle 3 and Kindle WiFi selling out, and B&N seeing the nook as their major bright spot, it’s pretty clear that Amazon and B&N are dominating the ebook market. So where’s Sony in the mix? Apparently, not competing at all. Sony was out at the end of July with this comment to the blog ReadWriteWeb: “Pricing is one consideration in the dedicated reading device marketplace, but Sony won’t sacrifice the quality and design we’re bringing book lovers to lay claim to the cheapest eReader,” said Phil Lubell, VP of digital reading at Sony Electronics. “Our global customers expect…