Sony Mobile

Sony Not Recalling 535,000 Vaios

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 30, 2010 | 4 comments

What started off as a wrong report from the Wallstreet Journal has a ton of tech sites reporting that Sony is recalling over 500,000 Vaio units from the F and C series. The problem reported is a temperature-control defect that at worst would cause the units to overheat and/or cause some distortion to the laptop itself. Of course, as usual with major news groups these days, they like to just report stuff without doing this weird thing called fact checking. As Sony has said on the record, they are not recalling these laptops. Instead, they have issued a recommended BIOS update that will address this issue.

Sony Ericsson Brings First Full Touch Screen Walkman Phone

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 30, 2010 | 2 comments

Sony Ericsson is introducing its first full touch screen Walkman phone, the Yendo. Now remember, their Walkman phone lineup is different than the other Sony Ericsson lineups, so don’t mistake this for Sony Ericsson’s first touch screen phone. Those familiar with the Xperia 10 mini will note that the Yendo works with a similar design, but is being aimed for a Q3 release date with no pricing yet. The touch screen is 2.6 inch with 262k colors and 320×240 resolution. Other specs include:

200MHz of processor
3.5 mm audio jack
Bluetooth
Micro USB support
Pre-loaded apps: Facebook, Orkut, and Twitter, FM radio and Java support
Bluetooth stereo (A2DP)
MP3/AAC music tones
Walkman Player and TrackID
2.0 Mpixel only with 4x digital zoom.

Look for this phone to come in black, blue, green, orange, pink, purple, red, silver, white and yellow. I believe this is for Asia and Europe only but I can’t be sure of it. Sony Ericsson barely has a presence in the United States anyway.

Hit the jump for an amazingly lengthy (and official) press release.

Sony Vaio Z And Y Series Gain MiFis

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 28, 2010 | 4 comments

More Vaio news for everybody. First, we talked about the AMD comeback and how Sony quietly updated the Vaio Z series with a more powerful processor. Well the updates continue to come with the Vaio Z and Y series gaining the MiFi functionality at no added hardware cost. What Sony calls Share My Connection (SMC) turns your notebook into a MiFi for up to five devices. This is really perfect for those who travel for business or family as your laptop is now a portable router. As we also noted, there is no cost to you, the user, as it will be built into the series. The service itself is offered from Verizon which will have a fee.

Hit the jump as always for the full press release.

Sony Gives Core i7 processor And 1920 x 1080 display To Vaio Z

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 23, 2010 | 5 comments

Sorry worldwide Vaio fans, the following is just for the United States. Sony has updated its extremely thin and powerful Vaio Z series with the option of a Core i7 processor and a 1920 x 1080 display screen. For those who have been waiting for a refresh this is the time and Sony will give you the option to get the new screen as a free upgrade until July 3rd.

[Via Sony]

Sony Brings Back AMD Processors In Vaio, More Affordable Than Ever

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 22, 2010 | 4 comments

If you have been a AMD fan, it’s been a rough ride the last few years. During the Pentium 3 and Pentium 4 era, AMD units ran cooler, faster and were first to the 64bit race. What slowly began as a transformation of hard core gamers building their new rigs with AMD units slowly began to seep into the consumer area as well. Once Intel exclusive, Dell, HP and Sony began to slowly offer AMD as well, not because it ran better but because they were also cheaper; a win win for a company. Fast forward to today and its been 5 years since Sony has used any AMD in its Vaio units and the same can go for the other big manufactures, especially when it came to the laptop arena. Once Intel had introduced its Core Duo and Core 2 Duo, AMD had nothing to offer to counter it and soon Apple came on board with Intel and AMD seemed dead in the water.

In the last year, AMD has been working on a comeback in the laptop sector as many consider desktops a dying beast. With the likes of HP, Dell, Toshiba and Lenovo bringing back AMD processors, AMD was able to woo back in Sony as well with two new models:

The Sony Vaio EE for $650:

15.4-inch
AMD AthlonII X2 Processor 2.1GHz
4GB RAM
320GB Hard Drive
Blu-ray Player (You see that, Apple?)
Built-in wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n)
4 high-speed USB 2.0 ports

The Sony Vaio EF for $750:

17.3-inch
AMD Athlon II X2 P320, 2.10GHz
4GB RAM
500GB Hard Drive
Blu-ray player
Built-in wireless LAN (802.11b/g/n)
4 high-speed USB 2.0 ports

So there you have it, folks. If you’re looking for a nicely sized laptop with plenty of storage and a Blu-ray drive, these units seem to fit the bill just right.

Sony Vaio J All-In-One Gets A Touchscreen, And It's Cheaper

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 18, 2010 | 37 comments

Let’s say that you have $900 to spend and you want a brand spanking new computer with lots of guts. Well, Sony wants to offer you something in return for your cash: the all new Vaio J. Sporting a 21.5-inch 1920×1080 touchscreen display, a Blu-ray player and your typical wireless N and webcam and microphone, this makes for a beautiful everyday computer. For those who want more power as well, you can configure the J series up to 8GB of RAM and a Intel Core i7 processor. Look for these units to come out next month so the current Vaio J you will see in stores and on the Sony website is not what I have just mentioned.

Hit the jump for an official press release.

Sony Ericsson Makes Shakira Phone

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 17, 2010 | 2 comments

I originally wanted to write Sony Ericsson and Shakira team up but whatever, that title works. Now don’t worry, your Sony phone’s hips wont shake like Shakira’s, but instead, it’s rumored that Sony is looking to followup its dominating Xperia 10 with another, smaller version that will be a higher model then the Xperia 10 mini, codename Shakira. So business-wise, it makes perfect sense. Lets just see if it’s actually a real phone. At this point, it’s of course a none brainer to presume that this will also boast Android on it and more than likely 2.1 by the time it gets released.

Sony Ericsson Phones To Gain Pressure-Sensitive Tactile Touchscreen?

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 16, 2010 | 6 comments

Sony has a new and unique idea for its touch screen phones: a pressure sensitive screen, meaning the harder you push on the screen, the faster or slower (depending on the application) the unit will react. For iPhone users: think of when you flick the screen, the faster your flick, the faster the screen moves. Sony has gone on record and stated that “commercialization might not be too far off” and that they want to bring it to the Sony Ericsson line “as soon as possible.”

As cool as a technology this is though, I fear it won’t matter much if Sony Ericsson doesn’t get their act together. Put it this way, Sony does make some amazing phones like the Xperia 10 but when was the last time you saw anybody in the states with a Sony phone? The problem is that Sony never works with a partner to give customers incentive deals to buy their phones. So instead of a price of $200-$300, they always have the normal $600 price and nobody in this day and age will pay that much for a phone. So until they partner up with AT&T and T-Mobile, things are not going to take off for them on the phone side, no matter how amazing of a new feature they put into them.

[Techon]

Sony Ultra Slim Vaio P Now Available For Pre-order

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 8, 2010 | 15 comments

So remember that sexy new little Vaio that Sony announced last month? Well the new Vaio P is now available for pre-order with a late June shipping date. One odd tid bit is that we had stated that they would start at $799 and indeed that was to be the price though currently, on the Sony site, they are listed for $899. Not sure if this is an error on their site or if they have sense changed their pricing structure. We hope its an error because for $899 for an Intel Atom Processor is not something id be signing up for.

[Via SonyStyle]

Sony Ericsson To Make An Android Phone With QWERTY Keyboard

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 4, 2010 | 4 comments

From the looks of this photo and the tipster who is said to have been very reliable in the past, Sony is putting together a QWERTY keyboard-based Android phone that will sport Android 2.1 (the latest software) on this 5.5-inch screen unit. The rumor further states that they are looking to launch this unit in the fall. Now it still seems like this unit is in prototype condition, so expect cosmetic changes to be had, but there you have it folks. QWERTY and Android from Sony Ericsson

Note: Some people think this will actually be the long-rumored PSP phone. Although I believe that such a device is in the works, I don’t believe this is that, but that screen size makes me wonder.

[Via IT168]

Sony Tune Tray Sticks iPod Into Your Car

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 3, 2010 | 11 comments

I’m really surprised that it took this long for a device like this to come out but it’s finally here. The new Sony DSX-S200X and DSX-S300BT are built in CD players so to speak for your car, except that it sucks up your iPod (and allows other USB devices to be attached to it as well) and will play your music for you. This device will also give you access to your playlists as well. It’s hard to tell from this picture, but your unit will go inside of this player and then the front will flip back up to reveal your traditional dash screen and give you access to radio etc etc. The key difference between the S200x and the S300BT is that the BT stands for bluetooth, meaning that it can provide you with handsfree calling, as well as music streaming. Both units will be compatible with all iPods and iPhones, as well as other USB devices. Look for a September release with a $200 and $280 price tag.

Hit the jump for a picture of the Tune Tray with its LCD screen as well as for the official press release.

Sony Introduces New 9" Portable DVD Player

by Sohrab Osati | May 31, 2010 | 4 comments

On June 18th, Sony will be bringing a much improved 9″ DVD player to Japan that we hope will make its way over here as well. The DVP-FX950 will be boasting a new 800 by 480 LED backlit LCD and a 7.5 hour battery lifetime which makes it very nice for both flights and road trips. Other than that, expect the usual JPEG and MP3 support on this unit.

Sony Ranks 3rd In Over All Laptop Score

by Sohrab Osati | May 28, 2010 | 23 comments

I am a big believer in “you get what you paid for“ and it seems that this holds up for the Sony Vaio brand. The guys over at Laptopmag said that “strong support and top-notch designs make Sony’s products well worth the premium“. They went on to do a comparison test of Acer, Apple, ASUS, Dell, Fukitsu, Gateway, HP, Lenovo, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba. They then had 8 categories that they rated each of the brands in: Performance & Reviews, Design, Keyboard & Touchpad, Tech Support, Value & Selection, Software, Customer Satisfaction and finally Innovation. After they added up the points for each brand, the top 3 were the following:

Apple @ 80
Lenovo @ 75
Sony @ 72

[Via Laptopmag]

Sony Teams Up With A Bong, Makes Wicked Vaio

by Sohrab Osati | May 27, 2010 | 2 comments

If you’re living in the land of down under (Australia), Sony and Billabong have teamed up to give you a sexy new Vaio W series. The purpose of the W series is to give those who are on the go portability, so be surprised by the specs of this unit. But for the price, design and specs, it seems like Sony has a winner here. I guess those cheaper Vaios are really on the way huh?

Some Specs:

10.1-inch
1,366 x 768 resolution LCD
1.83GHz Intel Atom N470 CPU,
2GB of RAM
250GB hard drive
Windows 7 Starter
Ethernet jack, Two
USB 2.0 sockets
Built-in webcam

Look for a price tag of AU$749 ($619) but unless something were to change, this is to be an Australia only unit.

[Via Akihabara]

Sony Xperia X10 Mini Unboxed

by Sohrab Osati | May 20, 2010 | 2 comments

Remember the upcoming the X10 Mini we told you about? Well guess who has one? Yup, not us. So we’re not unboxing it for you. Instead, Sony itself will do it! Watch away!

[Via SonyBlog]