Archive for: Sony
Today Sony introduced the latest device in their handheld arsenal. The Xperia Ion is Sony’s LTE smartphone exclusively on AT&T and it boasts a whopping two (count em 2!) HD cameras and a huge 4.6″ HD (1280×720) display. The Xperia packs a 1.5GHz dual core processor and 16gb onboard storage.
Sony’s new device has a 12MP rear camera sporting Sony Exmor R™ for mobile which allows the camera to go from standby mode to the first shot in less than two seconds. Along with the back the front facing camera will also sport HD recording capabilities.
The Ion will launch with Android 3.2 (Gingerbread) and is also Playstation Certified. It will also allow for HD sharing through DLNA, HDMI and BRAVIA Sync to quickly and easily stream content on other screens.
Xperia Ion users will also be granted access to the richest entertainment from Sony Entertainment Network. Music Unlimited offers a global catalogue of over 12 million unique songs while Video Unlimited has the latest Hollywood blockbusters and TV shows from all of the major studios.
Photo enthusiasts, gamers and all around tech junkies will have their hands full with this latest release from Sony.
We’ll try to get our greasy little fingers all over Sony’s new baby this week. Stay tuned for that!
- November 30, 2011 11:31 am
Just like they did back in the summer for TouchPad owners and again earlier this fall for iOS owners, Box.net will (soon be) offering up 50 GB accounts for FREE for owners of Sony Ericsson phones. Much like the previous instances, all that’s needed by the end user is to simply sign in to Box.net via their Sony Ericsson device to unlock the 50 GB of storage before the end of next year.
The promotion isn’t ready for prime time just yet as is evident by this response sent by Sony Ericsson to The Next Web:
“On Monday afternoon, we mistakenly posted a promo offering Xperia(tm) owners 50GB of free storage via the Box for Android mobile app. While we’re really excited about working with Box down the road, this offer is not active today. We are in the midst of finalising the details of this promotion and are working to provide this offer very soon to all Xperia(tm) customers so stay tuned!”
If Box.net keeps it up, everyone is going to have 50 GBs of free storage — not that we’re complaining or anything.
All that said, take the above claims regarding the Sony Ericsson/Box.net partnership with a few grains of salt seeing as how a few t’s and i’s still need attending to.
- November 21, 2011 12:43 pm
U.S. PS Vita owners have but one choice — AT&T. It appears European owners will have fate/option as well (at least for now) as Sony has officially spilled the beans on their European carrier partners for the European bound PS Vita. Vodafone will be the “preferred partner” for the near-term which seems to point to a potential second, third, or more additions in carrier support later on down the road.
The list of European launch countries under Vodafone’s reach include: UK, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Australia, New Zealand and The Netherlands (SFR in France).
Pricing for the PS Vita 3G will be €299.99 (£261), with the WiFi-only version going for €50 less at €249.99 (£217). Any potential monthly/one-time fee for 3G service hasn’t been divulged. Also unknown — whether or not the initial batch of 3G PS Vitas are tied to Vodafone permanently or will have the option to be unlocked and roam to another carrier at some point in the future.
For fans of Sony’s mobile gaming platform who want the ultimate mobility by way of 3G service, how is the PS Vita shaping up for you?
- November 11, 2011 7:25 am
Sony isn’t exactly one of our favorite companies for a number of reasons spanning multiple decades. But every time we try to give Sony the benefit of the doubt they go and do something like this — Sony has announced that PS Vita owners looking to make the move from the PSP/UMD environment to the Vita’s all-digital one can download already purchased UMD games and media at a discounted rate by way of the “UMD Passport” app. The app will scan all of your games for legitimacy and then credit your account accordingly. Pricing for the newly discounted media will be between 100 and 2,400 yen (~$6.50-$13). U.S. pricing hasn’t been announced yet.
We’ll quickly admit that something is better than nothing. But charging to re-download something you’re already paid for? It just doesn’t seem very pro-consumer. On that note, Sony isn’t the only company who’s taken this route in the past and certainly won’t be the last. Then again we thought we were moving away from these ridiculous policies towards a more common sense driven model. Perhaps we were wrong.
Say what you will about critics of Sony’s new plan being “whiners” or suffering from too much “entitlement”. All this is is Sony doing it wrong, plain and simple.
The days of Sony and Sony Ericsson will now just by “Sony”. The consumer electronics giant has announced that they have succeeded in acquired the necessary regulatory approval to go ahead with a $1.45 billion buyout of Ericsson’s 50% share in the Sony Ericsson venture. Sony CEO Howard Stringer said the acquisition would allow (Sony) to “more rapidly and more widely offer consumers smartphones, laptops, tablets and televisions that seamlessly connect with one another and open up new worlds of online entertainment”.
We certainly hope the “speed” at which Sony can bring new phones to market while also providing a healthy amount of support for older devices by way of software update is handled better than when the two were separate. At least in regards to Android devices, Sony’s handsets were never all that great if the latest Android OS versions was of any importance.
The acquisition should also give Sony a loaded suite of patents with which to protect itself from the sue first/innovate later mantra that’s taken the consumer electronics world by storm over the last couple of years. On that note, it’ll be interesting to see how Sony competes with not only other Android manufacturers — or whether or not they explore Windows Phone 7 — but also competitors such as Apple, RIM, and if their ducks every get aligned, HP.
Put away your stockings and wish lists full of PS Vita paraphernalia, Sony’s next-gen mobile gaming device won’t be hitting the U.S. in time for holidays. Instead, we’ll have to wait until next year — February 22nd to be exact — for the PS Vita to hit American stores. Japanese gamers luck out this time and will get an early lead with their own December launch.
In a world where smartphones rule the mobile gaming scene, Sony’s $249 (WiFi-only) and $299 (WiFi + 3G) Vitas almost seem destined for failure. They’re not too terribly different from the various forms of PSP, which have fallen out of style in recent years, especially since the iPhone’s debut into the mobile gaming scene bringing with it a lower cost of entry by way of much more affordable games and a far more social experience.
Speculation on the future of mobile gaming aside, our first hurdle will be time. February is still quite a ways away. What will you do until then?
Sony, Sony, Sony. New reports are circulating around the web this morning that many a PSN user will surely not want to hear: Sony has been hacked attacked. Again. But before you get all bent out of shape and launch your PS3 through a window we must stress that it’s far less severe than back in April. Much less in fact.
According Sony’s Chief Information Security Officer, Philip Reitinger, the Sony Entertainment Network, PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment Network are affected. Moreover, a total of roughly 93,000 (at least 35,000 in the U.S. and 20,000 in Europe) PSN accounts have been “halted”, with owners of said accounts being sent emails to verify account information and reset passwords. At this time Sony has stressed that absolutely no credit card/personal information has been compromised. The list of accounts/passwords allegedly comes from several 3rd party sites and sources (credit: HackerNews).
For now, this appears to be nothing more than a small, unsuccessful (for the hackers) hiccup that hopefully doesn’t turn into another Spring-to-Summer PSN downtime. If you recall, Japanese PS3/PSN users felt the worst of the hacking effects with governments stepping in and preventing any PSN re-launch until security measures were up to their standards — a move that didn’t come until late July.
Tired of having your phone’s display get washed out in the sunlight? Or, conversely, would you rather your phone’s display be 2x as efficient in order to offset the hungry hungry data beast that you are? You’re in luck as Sony has a slick new screen technology dubbed “WhiteMagic” set to hit the markets later this year.
The *magic* happens thanks to a fourth white pixel that according to Sony can work in one of two ways:
- The white pixel can be activated at 100% effectively making the display 2x as bright as your typical display available today.
- The other and far more mobile-friendly option is to turn the white pixel on, but at ~half power to make the display as bright as current displays on the market but require half the electricity.
Look for “WhiteMagic” Sony displays to start hitting the market this October.
If you happen to love yourself a fine Sony product you might just want to tune into the Tokyo Game Show this September. It is at that point that Sony will announce the official (Japan) launch date of the PS Vita, the PSP’s successor. The announcement (not translated) comes by way of SCEJ President, Hiroshi Kawano.
For U.S./European users, the news is bittersweet. It’s already been confirmed via Sony that the PS Vita won’t be launching anywhere outside of Japan in 2011, so September’s announcement won’t benefit us in the least. But if you’re the type who wows their friends with Japanese-only gadgets, September might turn out quite well for you after all.
