App

PlayStation Messages & Communities apps on iOS/Android receive minor new features

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 9, 2017 | 0 comments

PS4 and PS4 Pro weren’t the only things Sony brought big updates to this morning. After PS4 system software update 4.5 went live, the PS Messages and Communities apps on iOS and Android also received an update with some noteworthy tweaks though nothing as big as the PS4 update.

When you receive a Party invitation from your friends on PS Messages, now you can respond with a quick reply, “I’ll join later” or “Sorry, I can’t join,” when you want to get back to them ASAP.
On the Communities app, you can now easily check the PSN service status under Settings > View Status of PSN Services.
Also on the Communities app, iOS users can tell at a glance if there are any new posts in their community by checking the badge app icon (the number in a red circle at the top-right corner of the app’s icon).

Specifically, the update brings the following to each app:

Sony Discontinues ‘Live on YouTube’ App for Android

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 27, 2016 | 0 comments

Sad news for those who like to use Sony’s ‘Live on YouTube’ app on Android to stream live video to YouTube. Come October 28th, Sony is officially discontinuing the app and those who update to Nougat will find the app incompatible. Sony didn’t give a reason why, but the likely answer is that the YouTube app can finally live stream on its own. Google was caught sleeping when it came to live streaming from mobile devices with Periscope and now Facebook owning a majority of that space – all which led to a rise of 3rd party apps to handle the task. With Google’s YouTube app now doing basically what Sony’s app and others have been doing, there’s little reason for Sony to invest further money in an app that’s redundant.

Poll: Are you willing to pay to upgrade your HD UltraViolet content to 4K on Sony Ultra?

by Allegra Osati | Apr 8, 2016 | 4 comments

Ultra, Sony’s new 4K streaming service, went live on the company’s 2016 Android 4K TVs this week. Announced approximately 2 months ago at CES 2016, this service is stepping out into a world that already has Netflix and Amazon Prime. What sets it apart? Offering both 4K and 4K HDR content, Sony Ultra allows you to purchase each movie for $30 and upgrade the content you already own (on UltraViolet) for $12. Would you be willing to pay to upgrade the HD content you already own to 4K? Let us know in our poll after the jump.

PlayStation App Version 3.50 Now Live for iOS & Android

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 7, 2016 | 0 comments

PlayStation_App

Amidst all the hoopla for PlayStation 4 system update 3.5 is another update: PlayStation App version 3.50. There aren’t nearly as many new things as there are with the PS4 update but for those wondering, the new update which is available now on iOS and Android includes:

User Scheduled Event
- Users can schedule gameplay sessions with friends
Dailymotion has been added to Live from PlayStation
Other players’ shared activities appear in your activities

Sony Ultra Will Allow You to Upgrade Content from HD to 4K for a Price

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 7, 2016 | 0 comments

I’ve been talking a lot about Ultra, the 4K streaming service from Sony. While I like the idea of it, the service is unfortunately going to face some tough times with a lot of questions about its long term viability in the midst of competition from Netflix and Amazon Prime who will also be providing 4K HDR content. One positive thing that Sony with doing with Ultra is allowing users to connect their UltraViolet accounts and bring over their Sony Pictures titles. Jake Winett, VP of consumer services and advanced platforms for Sony Pictures:

We believe that consumers like choice, and don’t like to be locked into a particular silo, within a particular service. It was important that we made Ultra compatible with UltraViolet, and as a new service for consumers, to give them additional value. They can turn on Ultra, and already have titles in their library they can watch, or even upgrade to in 4K.

While I despise everything there is about UltraViolet, this is a good move by Sony and automatically brings people into their new app with some content. If you’re staring at a blank service that only revolves around purchases, you’re less likely to use it. But if it’s already populated with your previously purchased content, then there is a far greater chance that you’ll actually put the service to use. Perhaps best, Sony will also allow you to upgrade your HD films to 4K.

For Sony Pictures titles they already have in their library, SD or HD, depending on what they purchased previously, when a 4K HDR version of that movie is available within Ultra, when they go into that particular title … there will be an upgrade option. For $12, upgrading from HD to 4K, they’ll get the highest quality possible, and be able to stream [4K] with a single transaction.

That’s honestly not too expensive, considering the alternative when many of us bought the same titles we owned on DVD on Blu-ray. This is frankly the same transition and with digital, it’s even easier. Ironically despite Winett touting:

We believe that consumers like choice, and don’t like to be locked into a particular silo, within a particular service,

once upgraded to 4K, it’s not as if they’ll be able to take their 4K purchased content to any other TV, seeing how Ultra is only compatible with Sony’s 2016 Android 4K TVs. Hopefully Sony can dramatically expand Ultra’s availability because like Netflix, they should target it to be on every 4K TV sold and not instead use it as a leveraging tool for consumers to purchase a Sony TV vs. the competition because frankly, most people likely won’t even know it exists.

Sony Ultra 4K Streaming Service Includes Interactive Bonuses

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 5, 2016 | 2 comments

Ultra, the 4K streaming service from Sony Pictures, went live yesterday for Sony’s 2016 fleet of Android 4K TVs which includes the X850D, X930D, and X940D. Now Jake Winett, VP of consumer services and advanced platforms for SPHE, is revealing a few additional details about the service like interactive bonuses.

Consumers can expect more or less a parity experience. I would say the one differentiator with digital is that we can be a little more dynamic with the content, with [the ability to add] additional content that becomes available to an extras package down the line, whereas with a disc it’s fixed. We also have a feature that will come with some movies, coming a little bit later after launch, [one] which adds a fun layer of interactivity. While someone is watching the movie they can get an indication that there’s a [bonus] specific [to a] piece of content. That can be a bit of trivia, it can be a digital effects deconstruction scene, things like that. We think that will be interesting for consumers.

The biggest challenge Sony is going to face is consumer trust. For three years now, Sony has been shipping 4K TVs and none of those sets can take advantage of Ultra which is a shame. Adding to that, as it stands, Sony Pictures is the only company onboard with Ultra, seeing how it’s a Sony app and the service isn’t available on any other TV. If you own two different branded 4K TVs, even if they are 2016 models, you’ll only be able to watch your purchased movie on one of them. And those expensive 4K media server boxes from Sony? Forget about them as they’re not compatible with the service either.

According to Sony, these:

UltraViolet-enabled films [will be] available for purchase for $30 each.

Let’s talk more after the jump.

3% Adoption Rate Helped Kill ‘SensMe’ from Sony’s Music App

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 23, 2016 | 2 comments

Android 6.0 Marshmallow, though a much wanted upgrade, is turning into a bit of a frustrating topic for Sony fans. That’s because quite a few features that the community used, like the ability to reboot your phone or Sony’s better STAMINA Mode, have been cut due to new policies informed by Google. Now SensMe is the latest victim though it looks like Sony should have killed off the feature long ago.

For those wondering, SensMe is Sony’s proprietary music mood and tempo detection system that has appeared in various Sony products.

The first nail in the coffin came from Google pulling old API’s, causing Sony to rewrite the app:

Due to technical reasons we had to remove the old “Edit Music Info”, since it wouldn’t work on Android M (as it used legacy API’s that no longer worked and had lost all support).

Since we are quite fond of SensMe, and it is – as some of you have pointed out – a “Sony uniqueness” we wanted to recreate a similar logic. The first (new) version was released in 9.1.5.A.1.0beta, but we quickly saw that the new version didn’t really work as well as we liked.

But despite the rewrite, it seems like Sony was never able to get the app to behave the way they wanted to. More after the jump.

Sony Mobile Renames Socialife App to News Suite, Brings New Functionality

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 20, 2016 | 0 comments

Sony Mobile is renaming their Socialife app on Android to News Suite.

This week we’re rolling out an exciting update to one of our most popular apps. From now on our news aggregation service, Socialife, will be known as News Suite. But it’s not just a name change

According to Business Planning Manager, Taiki Hori, Sony is doing more than just rebranding their social app. With the new name you’ll also see added functionality like being able to read all the latest news by “category.” Just last year, Apple launched their own dedicated app along side iOS 9 dubbed News which helps pull in content from numerous high profile publications alongside any site you’d like to add to it. It now appears that Sony might be looking to pursue a similar vision.

As the name change suggests, Sony is making the app less about your social life and in doing so, removing its Twitter and YouTube feed functionalities. More after the jump, including a video overview of the app with random dancing girls in feathers as the intro – because why not?

Sony Adds ‘Sky HDR’ to PlayMemories Camera Apps

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 21, 2015 | 0 comments

Sony is beefing up their PlayMemories Camera app with a new addition, Sky HDR. According to Sony

This application lets you optimize the exposure when you shoot scenes containing vastly different brightness levels, such as dark landscapes with the sun in a clear blue sky. By capturing the scene twice at different exposure and shutter speed settings, then combining the best of both images in a single image, this feature expresses a wide dynamic range without using a graduated ND filter. Moreover, when you want to highlight hues such as those in a sunset, you can depict them with even greater expressive power by individually adjusting the White Balance setting of the sky and ground.

More details, including a trailer of the app after the jump.

With Walkman Update (9.0.0.A.0.1) Sony Officially Renames App to ‘Music’

by Sohrab Osati | May 14, 2015 | 1 comment

We’ve already talked fairly extensively about why Sony is renaming the Walkman app to Music, a far simpler naming scheme. For anyone purchasing a new Sony device like the Xperia Z4 Tablet, Xperia Z4, Xperia A4, or Xperia M4 Aqua, the new naming scheme will be in place from day one. All Sony devices shipping with Android 5.0 or upgraded to Android 5.0 will have the app renamed as part of the process. For those with older devices that won’t be receiving Android 5.0 Lollipop, or have yet to receive the new OS, you’ll soon see the Walkman app renamed after a new update is released.

‘Video Unlimited’ Renamed to ‘PlayStation Video’ on Android

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 28, 2015 | 0 comments

Since the start of the year, Sony has been busy renaming and killing services that didn’t match up with its plans moving forward. Under this house cleaning, Sony ended its attempts at competing in the music streaming space and in doing so, killed Music Unlimited. Luckily for those on PlayStation, the service was replaced by PlayStation Music, which is actually a skin for Spotify as the service is entirely powered by them. In order to simplify its naming structure, Sony has also renamed their Walkman app on Android to simply Music. As Sony themselves put it:

Not all people make the connection that Walkman is about music. So, to simplify for all our users, we are changing the name to make it easy to understand what this app gives you: Music

Now Sony is renaming another one of their services.

PlayStation App 2.50.8 Goes Live for iOS (iPhone/iPad), Brings With It Major Tweaks

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 25, 2015 | 0 comments

Ahead of the PlayStation 4 system update 2.50 release which promises to be a big one, Sony has updated the PlayStation app on iOS devices. With PlayStation App 2.50.8 on iPhone and iPad, you can expect a redesigned homepage and enhanced abilities, like the ability to delete trophies with 0% achievement progress. The PlayStation App 2.50.8 Changelog awaits you after the jump.

Yes, Sony is Ditching the ‘Walkman’ Name on Mobile

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 2, 2015 | 14 comments

Eagle-eyed readers will have likely spotted that, on all promotional materials for the just-announced Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet and Xperia M4 Aqua, a certain branding is missing. Specifically, the music app is no longer called Walkman and is instead referred to simply as ‘Music.’ Alongside Music, you’ll find other media related apps like Albums, Video, PlayStation, and Lifelog. This has caused quite a bit of debate among Sony fans and what it could mean. Some have wondered if it had to do with the end of Music Unlimited or if it’s more related to Sony closing down or spinning off parts of the company that are no longer working.

The answer is, however, much less exciting, though it’s reflective of where Sony is today and a change that will be coming to other Xperia devices.

PS4 PlayMemories App Gains 4K Support

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 17, 2015 | 0 comments

If in your arsenal of entertainment devices you have a PS4 and a 4K television then the following news is specifically for you. Sony has updated the PlayMemories App on PS4 with 4K support. For those unfamiliar, PlayMemories syncs your photos between your different devices (think iCloud & Photo Stream) for easy access and consumption. While 4K video is something new for consumers, digital cameras have been able to capture at that resolution for many years. Now those with a 4K TV will have an easy way to consume their photos. Details after the jump.

Irony: Sony Updates ‘Music Unlimited’ App On the Same Day It Announces Its Death

by Sohrab Osati | Jan 28, 2015 | 12 comments

In what may be its final update before the service is put to pasture, Sony has given the Music Unlimited app on iOS an update….on the day it announced that it would ending the service. So what can we expect from Music Unlimited Version 2.3.0, which weighs in at 7.7 MB? From the official changelog:

New: Skip & skip back by swiping the album cover art
Fixes minor bugs on player features

The update will likely go by unnoticed as the reason Sony is shutting down the service is due to lack of consumer interest, i.e. enough subscribers to warrant the cost of the service. While I’m sure that it’s purely coincidental that an update was pushed the same date that Sony would announce the service’s death, (and I’m 100% certain that those working on the app have had no idea that Sony would be killing Music Unlimited) the situation is comedically and sadly very representative of the internal disarray that Sony faces. No division is safe and no plan/initiative/service has a long term vision where software and hardware are working together to achieve it.