Sony Corp.

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]

PS3 Coming With HDMI Cable

by Jenni Petot | Jun 3, 2010 | 34 comments

I’m sure your reaction to this news is same as mine was….FINALLY. I personally can’t believe it’s taken 3 and a half years for Sony to ship new PS3s with an HDMI cable. My $600 PS3 system came with a lousy composite cable, the same connection I used for my Nintendo 64 over a decade ago. On the down side, it’s rumored that an HDMI cable won’t be bundled with the $300 120GB models, only the $350 250GB PS3. As seen in the photo below [Via PC World], the system will also come with LittleBigPlanet game of the year edition. I hope Sony will eventually include this cable for all models so new buyers of this system can open the box and easily enjoy HD gaming and Blu-rays.

SonyStyle Stores Renamed

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 3, 2010 | 1 comment

The many SonyStyle stores you have spotted throughout the US are being renamed to just Sony stores. Simple as that. I think this would be a way to unify the Sony brand as a whole and the style aspect is to be seen inside the stores. I was fine with the store names before but I guess it’s easier to remember and say, “Hey let’s go to the Sony store” (and check out all glorious things Sony!). Below is a picture from a store in Japan and a possible look of what we can expect in the US.

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 Patent Points Towards Eventual Dual-Screen Tablet

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 2, 2010 | 4 comments

I’ll be the first to admit that looking at patents is exciting but once you’re done fantasizing, it’s probably best to forget them. Most of the time, patents are created for an eventual project that can be years away and the possibility of it getting scrapped can be high. Or it’s just something that eventually dosent make sense and is not released. If we consider all of that, this new patent from Sony is described specifically as an “electronic book with enhanced features”. Think of this as a book you hold, a screen on both sides, instead of the pages of a book. Furthermore, the idea is that each screen can function independently and differently, pending the orientation of the screen. So for example, when in portrait mode, the unit can function as an e-reader while giving you a keyboard when placed down.

[Via PatentOffice]

Slightly New Twitter Page

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 1, 2010 | 1 comment

Hey, just a quick little thing. I’ve slightly tweaked our Twitter page so it dosent look so generic. Other than that, there’s nothing else so, enjoy!

Should You Buy the Sony Cyber-shot W330?

by Sohrab Osati | May 31, 2010 | 7 comments

As we continue to gear up our site and do more reviews, I’ve sat back and analyzed how other sites do reviews, when they are able to gain access to them and what they offer in them. It first becomes clear to me that the major tech blogs all get their products for free to review before they are released, while we are purchasing our products for review (yikes). More so, the reviews I’ve found are in depth, but many times are not useful. Here is what I mean; many reviews get extremely technical and in depth, and that might be great for the tech crowd, but chances are that crowd already knows about the products and their likes and dislikes. This leaves those who really need the reviews to decide if this is the right product for them. This crowd has nowhere to turn to. They don’t need to know about the processor versus last year, versus 8 other products. They want to know about this product, what it does, and how it does it. With that information they can make up their mind about the product.

For this reason, I’m introducing a new series if reviews called “The Everyday Review”. The goal of this review is to take a product and start looking at it from an everyday consumer’s eyes. I’ll ask questions like: How easy is it to set up when you take it out of the box? How is the layout of the device? Can I easily integrate it into my other products, and how might it handle during day-to-day use? For example, although there will be some talks about features, the idea of my Sony W330 review was simple. The person who is buying this is looking for a good budget-friendly camera. They are not looking for 100 different settings and options. They want to know: When I take this camera out of the box, what can I do with it? How does it handle when I take it outside for a trip and shoot some normal pictures (not sit there and compare ISO settings in one light vs another vs 5 other cameras). And that’s exactly what I did. After the basic setup, I took the camera out for two days and just took pictures like most people would. Here is my experience with the camera after a 2 day shooting spree and another week of intermediate use.

Hit the jump for the full review and sample pictures.

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 Bets Big With "Battle: Los Angeles"

by Sohrab Osati | May 29, 2010 | 21 comments

If anybody follows how movie releases work, then you will know that February is a dumping ground of sorts for movies, especially action movies. But with its move from the February release to March 11th 2011, it seems like Sony now has a lot of faith in Jonathan Liebesman’s Battle: Los Angeles. As /Film reports: “Battle: Los Angeles” will go head to head with Disney’s 3D animated film Mars Needs Moms, and will play a week before The Dark Fields and Paramounts animated film Rango, and two weeks before Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch.

The idea of this film, which stars Aaron Eckhart, is “Blackhawk Down” meets “Independence Day” (sign me up). The film itself will follow a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron) who battles the aliens who have attacked Los Angeles.

Here is the official plot synopsis:

“When unknown forces put the City of Angels under attack, it’s up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon to come to the rescue. As the invasion hits the streets of L.A., the Marines become our first and last line of defense against a highly powerful enemy. Bridget Moynahan (I, Robot), Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar) and Michael Peña (World Trade Center) co-star alongside an ensemble cast including Ramon Rodriguez and Ne-Yo.”

Sony's 30 Best Playstation Network Games

by Jenni Petot | May 29, 2010 | 58 comments

I found a great article from GamePro listing the top 30 games for the Playstation Network. I’ve purchased some on the list but this reminded me of the great titles that I want to purchase and play. Two games that didn’t make the list that I think are worthy are: PAIN and PixelJunk Racer. PAIN is a very comedic game where you literally launch a character in the air and as he falls try to create the most destruction and damage to him; check it out and get a good laugh. PixelJunk has four fantastic games exclusively on the PSN and all but PixelJunk Racer were included on the list so don’t forget about racer!

I’ve spotlighted three PSN exclusive games on the list I’ve really really enjoyed

Echochrome: M.C. Escher is my favorite artist and I can’t help but to think of him during this puzzle game. Echochrome consists of over 56 levels with simple looking puzzles that get increasingly difficult as you guide your player through them. It’s all about point of view, angles and connecting walk paths for your player. You can also challenge friends by creating your own levels.

The Last Guy: This game has a simple concept of guiding survivors of a monster-apocalypse through large cities to safety. Bigger and bigger groups come your way in need of saving keep up the challenge and I love the birds eye view the game is played in. This game is fun, addicting with fun music. Check out the demo that’s available on the PSN.

Pixel Junk Monsters: This was one of the first PSN games I bought and I remember numerous late night session playing it. I love this game. The concept is your basic tower defense protecting home base from waves of monsters. As you move throughout the map levels get harder with more waves and stronger monsters. What’s great is the variety of defense towers you have, some to be unlocked, and the ability to power them up by ‘dancing’ in them. It’s such a great game that I recommend you buy, I don’t think you’ll be dissapointed. Also, there’s an “encore” expansion pack that adds another 15 levels if you feel you’ve outplayed the game and the levels are very hard.

Want to see the full list? Hit the jump for the list of the 30 games (and their prices!) that made the cut. [Via GamePro]

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Sony Is Worlds 2nd Most Reputable Company

by Sohrab Osati | May 28, 2010 | 73 comments

Well how about that. In a new world study of 32 countries and 600 companies, Sony has ranked as the worlds 2nd most reputable company, only behind Google (and I really dont get this…really? Google?). The ranking goes:

Google
Sony
Disney
BMW
Mercedes-Benz

The figures were calculated in two parts:

“Reputation Institute measured the reputations of the world’s 600 largest companies in their home countries.”

“The highest rated companies in each of 32 countries were then selected as candidates for a second study that also rated the world’s most visible and valuable corporate brands provided they had above average home country reputations.”

“The outcome of the second study was a final roster of 28 global companies that are well regarded at home but that have also successfully exported their reputations around the world.”

Sony’s big rivals like Apple ranked at 6th while Microsoft hung back at 11th.

[Via PRNewswire]

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 Sponsoring National Rock n' Roll Marathon

by Jenni Petot | May 27, 2010 | 36 comments

Sony has beat out the iPod in this race. The W Series Walkman MP3 Player has become official digital music player for the Rock n’ Roll Marathon Series. This event starts on National Running Day, June 2nd and combines music and sports by having local bands play music while runners race and raise money for charity. The series includes fourteen running events around the U.S. and is said to be the largest and most attended marathon in the world giving Sony huge coverage for this product.

With its electrifying combination of music and fitness, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series is an ideal match for the new Walkman W-Series,” said Mike Kahn, director of the Mobile Music business for Sony. “Featuring a unique wire-free design, our new MP3 player frees both your workout and your music from the bounds of cumbersome wires, making it an ideal companion for runners and athletes of all ages.

This is the first wire free wearable MP3 player I’ve seen and this event is so perfect to promote it. I believe Forrest Gump and other notable runners will really enjoy this product. Run (with) Sony, Run!

Sony's Flexible OLED Screen – Thinner Than A Strand Of Hair

by Sohrab Osati | May 27, 2010 | 21 comments

I really hate using the title that another site uses for an article but there really is no other way of putting this and it’s mind-blowingly amazing. This new flexible OLED from Sony is not only as thin as a strand of hair, but it can also continue to stream video as well. With a 432 x 240 resolution and a 1,000:1 contrast ratio, this flexible OLED screen measures 4.1-inches in size. In this world first, Sony has outdone only themselves from their last amazing OLED screen. The guys over at Gizmodo go to say:

That’s about ten times the size of a red blood cell, or just a tiny bit thinner than a single hair.

The future of this technology can be pretty fantastic. Imagine if you could just unfold your 60″ Bravia set wherever that you wished or interactive blueprints that can be rolled out and the content can be changed and folded right back up.

Hit the jump for a video of the OLED screen in action, it’s fantastic.

[Via Gizmodo]

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]