Sony Corp.

Sony to Sell Merchandising Rights For Spider-Man to Raise Capital

by Sohrab Osati | Nov 7, 2011 | 9 comments

Over the last year, we’ve extensively reported Sony’s financial position and their lack of competitive marketing, mainly due to their financial woes. This became even more evident during the company’s recent earnings report which has the electronic giant posting a $1.1 billion annual loss. While Sony is making some strategic moves, like purchasing out the remaining shares of Ericsson and bringing all mobile operation in-house while also revamping their LCD business, these measures won’t be enough for the short term. The truth is, such moves can take years to be properly implemented, and so, Sony, in the meantime, will not see any financial gains. In fact, the opposite will take place with the Ericsson buyout where Sony will be shelling out nearly $1.5 billion for the remaining 50% and patents held.

So what can Sony do to raise some short term capital? Selling the merchandising rights for Spider-Man seems to be the current answer. During the company’s Q2 earning results, Sony announced that it has sold the merchandising rights to Spider-Man for ¥21.4 billion ($278 million). To be clear, this has nothing to do with the movie rights that Sony holds so don’t think that Disney/Marvel will be taking over the rights. However, it really does put things into perspective, seeing how Spider-Man is one of the best-selling characters of all time. Sony Pictures, the film studio of Sony Corporations, is currently filming The Amazing Spider-Man, a reboot helmed by Marc Webb.

Sony CEO, Sir Howard Stringer to Step Down by March 2012?

by Sohrab Osati | Nov 3, 2011 | 3 comments

It’s easy to sit back and look at Sony’s recent Q2 loss of $350 million and $1 billion annual loss and blame the recent flooding in Thailand and devastating earthquakes that took place in Japan more than 6 months ago as a reason for Sony’s financial losses. However, when you were once the leader in mobile phones, gaming, LCD TVs and much more, and now, your company trails behind in every single one of those segments, it’s hard to not realize that Sony’s woes have long been in the making. In fact, this year will make the 8th year that Sony’s Bravia division will post a loss.

So, is the current CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, to blame for all this? It’s hard to tell and we hate to pin so much blame on one person. The truth, however, is that he is the one leading Sony and when a company is under so much financial pressure, the man on top tends to be the one to take the fall. That’s how Bloomberg sees it, stating that they believe that Sir Howard Stringer will step down as Sony CEO by March 2012, when he will continue to serve as chairman. Many believe that former PlayStation head and current Sony executive deputy president, Kaz Hirai, is the likely successor. Kaz currently oversees all of Sony’s different electronic buisnesses, including the PlayStation family, and the troubled Bravia division. It should be noted that the topic of Sir Howard Stringer replacement has come up before, almost exactly a year ago.

Phone calls to Shiro Kambe, a Sony spokesman, and Sue Tanaka, a company spokeswoman, after normal business hours weren’t answered. Tokyo offices were closed today for a local holiday.

Sony Posts Q2 Loss of $350 Million and $1.1 Billion Annual Loss

by Sohrab Osati | Nov 2, 2011 | 16 comments

Sony has just posted their 2011 Q2 (July-September) results and the numbers were not rosy for the electronic giant. Sony posted a quarterly loss of ¥27 billion ($346 million) today, compared with a net income of ¥31.1 billion ($40 million) during the same quarter last year. For the year, Sony has slashed its forecast to a net loss of 90 billion yen ($1.1 billion) from a net profit of 60 billion yen. Two contributing factors to Sony’s quartery loss have been the flooding in Thailand which has disrupted Sony’s DSLR efforts, resulting in a loss of 25 billion yen in expected earnings while TV sales were missed by 9 percent, down to 20 million sets.

Sony has been facing fierce competition in the television market from the likes of cheaper TV manufactures, Samsung, and Vizio. Sony thus far has been unable to properly adapt which has seen the Bravia maker post 8 consecutive years of losses in that department.

“For Sony to come back it needs to focus more on its next generation image technology to convince people that it still has innovation in its DNA,” said Yoshihisa Toyosaki, head of Japanese research firm and consultancy Architect Grand Design and a former Sony employee.

Sony is hoping to address the change in their TV business by drastically changing their TV operations and breaking the operations into three separate segments. Sony will also cut its full-year operating profit outlook by 90 percent to its lowest level in three years. The one last culprit for Sony’s loss has been the strong yen which has also caused losses for Honda Motor Co and Panasonic Corp. Sony is currently in talks to buy the remaining shares of Ericsson and bring all mobile phone operations in house to better compete with Samsung and Apple.

New PS3 Jailbreak Created In Indonesia

by Jan Hutchings | Oct 30, 2011 | 4 comments

Damn, it looks like the PlayStation 3 has been jailbroken yet again. Earlier this week a hacking team from Indonesia claimed that they had created a new jailbreak for the the PS3 called “JB2.”

Reportedly based on GEOHOT’s original jailbreak, this new dongle allows people to play pirated games and Blu-Ray on their systems. And what’s worse, the dongle allows these games to be played up to firmware version 3.75.

The JB2 jailbreak dongle is reportedly circulating in East Asia right now with a price tag of $45.

And now PlayStation 3 owners around the world sigh in frustration and await Sony’s response to this, most likely another firmware update that again will take up precious game time away from the players.

Should You Buy ‘Warriors Orochi’ on PSP?

by Jan Hutchings | Oct 30, 2011 | 45 comments

MSRP: $19.99

1-Player

The Koei’s Dynasty/Samurai Warriors series have been around since the birth of the Playstation 2 some 11 years ago. Since then, dozens upon dozens of sequels and spin offs have been created to varying levels of quality and success. While some have been lackluster (Strikeforce, DW: vol.1 & 2, the Wii games), others have been excellent.

Warriors Orochi is one of the more entertaining games to come out for the PSP. People who’ve played the D/S Warriors series have always wondered what would happen if these worlds would collide; and Koei delivers by mahshing the two brands together into one meaty package.

Sony Appoints Guy Longworth as Senior VP of PlayStation Marketing

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 27, 2011 | 7 comments

One problem we’ve long had with Sony and their many divisions has been their lack of marketing. Sony has been known for releasing many solid devices with potential of high consumer adoption and sales. However, the company has always lacked proper marketing and cohesive commercials which, though beautiful and artistic, tend to be horrible at actually showing off the device and telling you to go buy it, something which is the pinnacle of marketing.

To hopefully change this, Sony is now appointing Guy Longworth as senior vice president of marketing and the PlayStation Network. Longworth will be reporting directly to Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer starting this Monday, October 31st. Longworth has had an extensive career in marketing, extending over 20 years with such companies as Procter & Gamble, Kraft Foods, and Kellogg’s.

Hopefully, Longworth can bring some much needed marketing to Sony and do a better job at showing off the many wonderful devices that they have. Because, let’s be honest, when was the last time you saw an Apple, Microsoft, or Samsung commercial versus a Sony one? Chances are, 20 to 1, and even when you saw that Sony ad, it probably wasn’t that good.

Sony Buys Out Ericsson Shares. All Mobile Operations Come In-House

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 27, 2011 | 0 comments

After weeks of rumors running rampant about Sony buying the remaining 50% share of Ericsson, their mobile partner in Europe, the two companies have announced the full purchase and takeover of operations by Sony Corp. Just earlier this week, Sony’s executive deputy president, Kaz Hirai, danced around the subject of a takeover of Ericsson.

I’m not going to comment on the speculation. After April, when Sony made its latest reorganization, one of the things I’ve done with Sony’s CEO and Sony Ericsson’s CEO is recognize that Sony Ericsson is an important part of Sony’s overall strategy, and that the two are in lockstep, whether it is a joint venture or not. That’s one of the things we are embarking on.

Under this new deal which will have Sony bring all mobile smartphone operations in house, Ericsson, their partner since 2001 will receive 1.05 billion euros($1.45 billion) in cash for its 50 percent share of the venture.

“We can 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,” Sony Chairman and Chief Executive Sir Howard Stringer said in a statement.

In regards to the large amount of IP held by Sony Ericsson, both companies will enter a cross-licensing agreement which covers products and services while Sony will be given “ownership of five essential patent families relating to wireless handset technology.” A large part of this move was put into place because Sony Ericsson fell to 6th place in the mobile handset industry while rivals like Samsung, who also use Google Android platform, have thrived, and Apple and the iPhone have continued to dominate.

“This acquisition makes sense for Sony and Ericsson, and it will make the difference for consumers, who want to connect with content wherever they are, whenever they want,” Stringer added.

Sony hopes that by bringing all operations in-house, they can better promote the brand and integrate it with other Sony products and services. No timetable was given for the complete transition, nor a name, but many expect that all future handsets will simply be under the Sony title.

Should You Buy ‘Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble?’

by Jan Hutchings | Oct 26, 2011 | 23 comments

There’s nothing manlier than beating up various kenka bancho (translation: fighting delinquents) and becoming known as the strongest fighter in the country. And that’s what Kenka Bancho for the PSP offers its players: a chance to become the strongest street fighter in all of Japan.

Kenka Bancho is a PSP brawler series that’s pretty popular in its native Japan. It’s so popular that there’s even a movie (Kenka Bancho ~ Zenkoku Seiha) released theatrically in Japan and Asia.

Hit the jump to read the full review!

Sony’s SGNL Shows You the New 3D DEV-5 & DEV-3 Digital Recording Binoculars

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 25, 2011 | 2 comments

If you’ve been interesting in doing some bird watching or high espionage spying, the new Sony DEV-5 and DEV-3 digital recording binoculars might be right up your alley. Both units are capable of recording 1080p HD video while capturing stills with a 7.1 megapixel camera. It also wouldn’t be Sony without them incorporating their Exmor R CMOS sensors, which are designed to provide noise-free images, even in low light situations. But once again, this digital recording binocular has a trick up its sleeve—or maybe two. Sony opted to include not one, but two, Exmor R CMOS sensors in both the DEV-3 and DEV-5, allowing for native 3D 1080p video recording with dual f/1.8-3.4, 0.5-10x optical zoom lenses, and a pair of 1,227-dot viewfinders. Other features include manual focus, SteadyShot, and Image Stabilization. All this puts you at a $1,399 price point for the DEV-3 while those who are looking for some more features can look towards the DEV-5 for $1,999. The extra $600 in this case will get you 10x digital zoom, GPS, a carrying case, and neck strap. Both models will come equipped with Memory Stick Pro Duo and SDXC support for capturing your content, a stereo microphone with an audio input jack, and HDMI-out for playback on other devices.

So if all of that sounds good to you and you have a credit card ready to take the hit, may we further entice you after the jump with one more video from Sony’s SGNL show where they highlight some of the binoculars features and give you a tour of the layout.

First Image of Flooded Sony Camera Plant in Thailand. Could Take Four Months to Recover

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 25, 2011 | 4 comments

As we reported yesterday, due to the ongoing flooding in Thailand, Sony and other manufacturers like Toshiba (a total of 47 companies actually) who have their factories located in Bangkadi Industrial Park in Pathum Thani’s Muang district have been forced to close down operations until the water begins to recede. The timing couldn’t have been worse for Sony, who was set for a global launch of their highly anticipated NEX-7 and Alpha A65 and A77. It could be months before the factories are able to be operational again.

“The initial damage is estimated at 30 billion baht. It will take about a month for the floodwaters to recede and then at least three months to rehabilitate the park,” said Thawatchai Ung-ampornpilai, the mayor of Bangkadi municipality.

According to teams on the ground there, floodwaters are almost 4 metres deep in certain parts of the site, making it impassible to all vehicles. With the Prapa Canal now fully breached, all authorities can do is wait till the water begins to withdraw from the area before any further action can be taken. This leaves Sony’s operations crippled, as they cannot even begin to assess the damage, let alone begin any form of repair. Flooded streets, however, will not be Sony’s only obstacle as they will need permission to re-enter the area after all flood water has been receded and authorities deem it safe to return.

Sony Launches Two New Full HD and Two SD Webcams

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 24, 2011 | 29 comments

If you’ve been wanting to upgrade your office webcams for some time to conduct some meetings over the web with different branches and companies, but have been wanting something a little beefier than what Microsoft or Logitech offer, Sony’s latest announcement should put a smile on your face. Sony is set to launch two new full HD (1080p/30fps) and two SD webcams for those with bandwidth limits.

HD models comprise of the EVI-H100s and EVIH100V, which give you:

1/2.8-type ExmorTM CMOS sensor
Minimum illumination of 0.5 lx in high sensitivity mode
1.7 lx in normal mode
20x Optical zoom
12x Digital zoom
Desktop- or ceiling-mounted

The EVI-H100s outputs HD through HD-SDI and SD via VBS while the EVI-H100V utilizes a DVI interface and offers analog component (YPbPr) output for HD-only.

After the jump, details on the SD variations.

Sony Officially Confirms Production of iPhone 4S Camera Sensor

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 24, 2011 | 14 comments

During the latest All Things D Asia event, Sony’s executive deputy president, Kaz Kirai, sat down with Walt Mossberg to discuss all things Sony. During the interview, the two touched on all of the different business categories that Sony competes in, including the mobile space with smartphones. The conversation naturally lead to reports of Sony producing the camera sensor, found in the latest from Apple, the iPhone 4S.

Walt: Why did you sell your camera sensors to Apple?

Hirai: Can you really define who your competitors are, these days?

We sell to Apple. We buy from Samsung. We sell to Samsung.

Though a simple logic, this simple thought process tends to allude many, including Sony’s own CEO who when asked about this very question, responded with:

It “always puzzles me,” he said. “Why would I make Apple the best camera?”

What Kaz is getting at is the same thought process that we’ve been championing out for months. For a company like Sony who is behind in so many markets and is low on cash flow, they need to strike every component deal that they can. Especially, if it’s with a company like Apple who famously does high volumes (the iPhone 4S sold over 4 million units in 3 days). This ensures a proper cash flow to Sony who can in turn, take the money and reinvest it into their own product lines. Samsung, who is now competing with Sony in the camera and television industry while also battling Apple in the smartphone and tablet industry, is able to perform this because you find Samsung components in almost every device. Even Apple, who is currently in vigorous lawsuit battles with Samsung, still buys their flash memory from Samsung and has the company produce their A4 and A5 chipsets that power the iPhone 4, 4S and iPad 2.

So why give Apple the best camera? So you can make a ton of money and in return, properly fight them back. If Sony’s next smartphone and the iPhone were the only game in town, then yes, maybe giving Apple a key component might not be the wisest choice. However, a phone’s camera is hardly the reason why someones chooses an iPhone over a Sony Ericsson Xperia and it seems like Kaz Hirai gets this.

Should You Buy ‘Tekken 6’ on PSP?

by Jan Hutchings | Oct 23, 2011 | 19 comments

MSRP $19.99

1-2 Players

I can honestly say that Tekken 6 is one of the best fighting games for Sony’s portable platform. There’s nothing like bringing your favorite fighting game and playing it on the go. And while it does lack some of the features unlike it’s console counterparts, it still retains the core gameplay that makes Tekken such an enjoyable fighting game experience.

Hit the jump to read the full review.

Sony Ericsson Files Lawsuit Against XperiaBlog (.net) Forcing Them to Close Shop

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 21, 2011 | 3 comments

It’s with a sad heart that I have to report that the folks at Xperiablog.net are shutting down their website, due to a recent suit filed against them by Sony Ericsson. For those who didn’t regularly visit their website, Xperiablog.net was much like our website, dedicated to giving Sony users the news and information they care about. Their site however, had a specific focus: on Sony Ericsson’s line of Xperia smartphones which run exclusively on Google’s Android OS. We have often used their commentary and breaking news as sources of our own and had always found them to be precise, fair and in good faith. Less can be said about larger tech websites which tend to use Sony as a punching bag. Instead, Xperiablog.net was designed to cater to the Sony community and give them a place to belong.

Sony Ericsson, however, did not see it this way and thought that they were instead somehow using the site to harm the Sony brand.

Sony Ericsson is alleging that we have used the domain names in “bad faith”. We are stunned and disappointed that Sony Ericsson, a company that we have spent much of our free personal time in promoting, especially the Xperia brand, has decided to take this formal action against us. After all we are just like you, passionate Sony Ericsson users, who have strived to bring the community breaking news and an independent viewpoint.

As often is the case, larger companies can pick on the smaller sites where it’s just a few dedicated fans who don’t have a real income or corporate backing from the site versus the larger tech sites who have plenty of lawyers at hand. It’s hard to see Sony having a real case, seeing how anything reported on a site like Xperiablog.net is public information and freedom of speech. If anything, the site empowers Sony Ericsson owners, while also giving Sony Ericsson a great place to dig in and research to see what their users want.

We’ve always personally had a good relationship with Sony, though this bit of news does concern us as our site is geared in the same way. Does that mean we could be next? However, I can promise you that we won’t go down without a fight if it comes to that. In the end, we wish the team at Xperiablog.net the best and hope that they move on to something even bigger and better. To readers who once saw Xperiablog.net as their home, we hope that we can serve you similarly.

Should You Buy ‘Kung-Fu Live?’

by Jan Hutchings | Oct 21, 2011 | 20 comments

MSRP: $14.99

1-Player

With all the industry hulabaloo regarding motion control, specifically the Playstation Move and Microsoft Kinect, gamers have all but forgotten about a little gadget called the Playstation Eye. A camera that tracks player movements like the Kinect, the PS Eye was an underutilized peripheral that went by the wayside a few months after its release.

Enter Kung-Fu Live, the Kinect-like fighting game experience on your PS3.

Kung-Fu Live utilizes the PS Eye to track the player’s movements and translates it onto the screen. It’s also one of the most fun, engaging, and physically demanding motion controlled games on the market today.

Hit the jump to read the full review.