Home Theater

Sony Helps You Watch World Cup In 3D For Free

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 14, 2010 | 1 comment

If you’re a soccer fan, this next month is a magical and emotional time for you. If you live in the States, then this month might even mean more for you since we don’t have too much soccer here and when we do, its very hard to find on TV. Well currently, you can catch the different games on ESPN and ABC at times but Sony wants to help you out a little more. If you have yet to experience 3D, you’re in for a treat. If you have and are a soccer fan, you will be blown away.

Sony has basically turned their Sony Style stores into a mecca for soccer fans, broadcasting the 2010 World Cup games live and in 3D. So if you’re a fan and want to experience the World Cup in 3D, hit the jump for the times and then visit your nearest Sony Style store. Also, check out our 3D coverage for more 3D news.

New Sony 3D Commercial

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 13, 2010 | 4 comments

What do you guys think? New 3D commercial from Sony. The idea is a 2D set versus the new 3D set.

Playstation 4 Teaser Trailer

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 11, 2010 | 15 comments

I already know what this is so let’s have some fun with it. What do you guys think?

New Sony 3D Blu-ray Home Theater System

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 10, 2010 | 2 comments

Now that Sony has gone and released information on its 3D TVs, they are also vamping up how they plan to deliver the content to them. We all know by now that the Playstation 3 will be gaining 3D, but for those who don’t want to go that route and maybe want to upgrade their home theater system as well, Sony has a solution with its BDV-HZ970W ($800).

The HZ970W features a full HD 1080p 5.1 channel Blu-ray 3D player has wireless capabilities via the included USB wireless LAN adapter (802.11n) allowing for easy access to the BRAVIA Internet Video platform and Qriocity. Another fantastic option from Sony is the capability to control your 3D Blu-ray player (and any other network based Blu-ray player from them) via its iPhone app. Let’s be honest, how many times were you too lazy to lean forward for the remote, but had your iPhone in your pocket? Sony has also stated that they are working on an Android based remote app as well. Look for this unit to come out in July. Also to top all of this off, this unit is damn sexy!

Sony Releases 3D TV Information (Prices & Size)

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 9, 2010 | 2 comments

Sony has finally released information for it’s up coming 3D TVs, the LX900, HX900 and HX800. As expected, the higher end LX900 come in sizes of 52($4,000) and 60-inches ($5,000). The mid end HX900 comes in sizes of 52($3,500) and 60-inches ($4,000). Finally, the lower end of the 3D TVs, the HX800 includes 40($2,100), 46($2,700), 52 ($3,400), 55-inches($3,400).

I have to stress that all of these TV’s are 3D capable, but only the LX900 series comes 3D ready outside of the box. Meaning if you know you want 3D now, get the LX900. If your not sure about but might want to upgrade to 3D, instead of getting a new TV, the HX900 and HX800 can do 3D, you will just need additional equipment. I highly recommend reading our Bravia Guide, because it goes over all the different lineups from Sony and can really help you get the most out of your purchase.

Also, hit the jump for the press release from Sony that actually has a lot of good information for those who are considering a 3D TV purchase soon.

Sony Alpha Cameras To Gain 3D?

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 9, 2010 | 0 comments

Last week, during its annual Computex press conference, NVIDIA unveiled technology that would give DSLR cameras the capability to turn images into 3D with a post process conversion. This basically eliminates the idea of needing different lenses for your pictures although there isn’t a lot of detail whether this is done in camera or later on via a software. Of course the surprise (or now lack thereof) was that NVIDIA is teaming up with Sony to deliver this technology. Sony is of course going to be offering this feature in its high end Alpha series (sorry Cybershot fans). Beyond that, there is not a lot of information, but I think that this is a fantastic move on Sony’s end. Sony really needs to stick behind 3D and leverage its different brands. So far, its giving the PS3 3D capabilities, individual Blu-ray players, as well as its 3D televisions, camcorders and of course, its releasing 3D movies as well. This just expands the idea of 3D one more level and into the hands of the consumer.

[Via Engadget]

Domino's Blu Tuesday!

by Jenni Petot | Jun 8, 2010 | 14 comments

Back again for another look at this week’s blu-ray releases. This week I’m very, very excited for Shutter Island. I’ll be the first to admit Leonardo DiCaprio is my favorite actor. This is not in any way an “Oh he’s so cute” reason, (although he’s not bad on the eyes) I believe he is a brilliant actor and continues to blow me away in all of his performances. Shutter Island is one of the best movies I’ve seen so far this year, and I can’t even get into how excited I am for Inception, it’s a slight obsession. Ok enough of Leo and back to blu-ray releases.

Two other movie releases that appeal to my taste are From Paris with Love and The Illusionist. I haven’t seen From Paris yet, but this is definitely a renter for me and I wanted to catch it in theaters. The Illusionist came out around the same time as The Prestige, both films about magic and illusion with a romance sub-plot and both were great. I will admit I loved The Prestige more, but the Illusionist was a very enjoyable film that will be on my blu-ray ‘to buy’ list.

Lastly, I must mention a blu-ray set that I forgot to include last week that will be added to my collection, Life. For fans of the incredibly beautiful, Planet Earth, Discovery channel did a similar 10 episode series on wild life around the world. The few episodes I’ve seen, I watch with my jaw open. It’s really amazing seeing what these animals do to survive and the beautiful shots that were captured. I should note that there are two versions of Life, one has narration by David Attenborough, and the other is narration by Oprah Winfrey. Numerous reviews say go with David’s version, it’s slightly more expensive but worth it from the more interesting commentary.

Guide To Your Next 2010 Sony Bravia

by Sohrab Osati | Jun 4, 2010 | 11 comments

One of the hardest things to do is purchasing a TV, simply because there are so many options. I myself am in that internal debate currently: which Sony Bravia to purchase next? I currently have a 60″ Sony SXRD and there are a ton of options from Sony now but of course the one I want, the LX900 (their 3D TV), won’t be out until late June to mid July. The other issue that I personally have is that once you own a 60″ TV, its hard to go down to something smaller but again, that is a personal debate. The following will hopefully not get too techie detailed while giving you a good overview of each of the series. After that, hit the jump for a chart that breaks down the entire Sony Bravia series, feature by feature. Also, please note that I’m not listing any prices because they are constantly shifting and I believe you are savvy enough to find the best price for yourself.

Series: LX900

Sizes: 60/52/46/40
Motion Flow: 240hz (pro)
3D: Yes. Ready out of the box with two pairs of glasses
Overview: This is really the TV of TVs from Sony. You can stream video to it via built in Wi-Fi, it has web widgets, will adjust the sound and light based on your distance to the TV and is of course 3D ready out of the box so all you will need is to hook up a PS3 or jump on a 3D channel (yes, they are actually coming, including the World Cup 2010). This unit will be have Backlight LED and the Bravia Engine 3. If you’re looking for the top of the line experience and want more than just a good picture quality, this is the TV for you.

Japan Gets Sony STR-DH710

by Sohrab Osati | May 24, 2010 | 1 comment

On June 10th, Sony is releasing the STR-DH710 7.1 Home Theater Receiver. This unit will indeed be 3D capable with 3 HDMI inputs. Besides that, due to my lack of Japanese language skills, I don’t have a whole lot more information. As of right now, it looks like this is a Japan-only unit. What, Japan?! Why?! Oh…Sony is a Japanese company that has its main electronics HQ in Tokyo? Ohh….

Sony TV’s To Gain Google Android Codename “Dragonpoint”

by Sohrab Osati | May 12, 2010 | 5 comments

“dragonpoint”/” target=”_self”>

The race to bring computing to the television has been an on going battle for sometime. It really started started in the early 2000’s with Windows XP Media Center. The idea being that you could connect your laptop/desktop to your television and view your photos, videos and music on it. Of course, besides a lackluster interface, the problem was that computers were much larger at that time. Sense then, Microsoft has continued to expand it’s Media Center offerings and computers like the HP Slim Line are much smaller now. Apple itself has given this a go. You can use Front Row on your Mac to again display similar content but that again didn’t gain much traction. Their response to the idea was the AppleTV that I own myself. Although I would say they are the closest to a winner, there is still a lot lacking. It’s not a DVR, we live in an App world thanks to Apple now and most of all, you need to change inputs ie. Stop what your doing, jump to another input and then select your photos etc etc. Of course Tivo has given it’s own shot at this as well. Again, I own a Tivo 3 series and love my unit, but the apps it gives you in my opinion or worthless. So a combination of a Tivo and an AppleTV? Might just be the winner.

According to the NYT, Google is getting ready to give this a go as well. Powering this idea will be none other then the Android platform. Although I’m not an Android user, what I like about this platform is that it can be installed on any device, from a picture frame to a fridge and this gives developers and manufactures a lot of space to innovate where software might have been clumsy and proprietary before. Of course the reason we post this is that Google is indeed of a partner and that parter looks to be Sony. Details are still scarce on this project so we have no way of knowing if this is a top box like the AppleTV or will this be incorporated as widgets in the upcoming Sony lineup of TV’s. But it is expected to be released or at least unveiled next month.

Knowing what I know from the Sony release schedule, I’m not leaning on their TV’s because the majority of their brand new TV’s were shown off at CES and already in stores with their now and beautiful Monolith Design. This only leaves their higher end LX900 series (here to replace the XBR8) that will have full 3D built into it. Now that is set to be released late June, early July. So although it fits the timeframe, I still don’t see it happening. Also, I must say, I don’t really care for my TV to have widgets in it. As cool as it is to get the weather and twitter feed on my TV, I don’t need it. My iPhone or iPad or even Sony Dash can already do it better and faster, so why force it onto my TV and make it more expensive? I know this has been the direction that many TV manufactures have been going with, but I think it’s just a useless avenue that outside of a demo, most users will never use.

Of course, when the guys over at Gizmodo contacted Google about this, the following came as no surprise:

You won’t be surprised to hear we don’t comment on rumor or speculation. Sorry.

Leaked: Sony EX3 prototype 3D camcorder

by Sohrab Osati | May 7, 2010 | 21 comments

The guys over at Engadget have a very juicy story about the prototype Sony EX3 3D camcorder. What makes this camera so beautiful is that the size is something very manageable, so this camera can give smaller studios, news rooms, productions, and films all-access to 3D. This is something that Sony is very much on the forefront with their 3D televisions and the PS3 gaining 3D. Of course, all of this comes hot on the heels of Sony announcing their own Red Camera competitor.

What’s more fascinating about this camera that is also gives you the option to interchange its lenses to gain the shot that you want. This also means that you don’t need to own multiple 3D cameras. This one camera can adapt to your shooting style with just a change of the lens.

Some of the details are:
three half-inch CMOS eyeballs that stream 4:2:0 MPEG-2 video at 1080p to SxS memory cards at 35Mbps per eye,
or send uncompressed 4:4:4 footage over a new pair of HD-SDI outputs.

[Via Engadget]

Domino's Blu Tuesday!

by Jenni Petot | May 4, 2010 | 47 comments

Blu Tuesday is when I write about what new Blu-ray releases I’m excited for every week. This week marks a big and exciting Blu-ray release: “Saving Private Ryan.” This is the 4th film to be released in Paramount’s Sapphire Series, which are their award-winning films. Included in this collection so far: “Gladiator,” “Braveheart” and “Forrest Gump.” “Saving Private Ryan” is one of the most realistic war movies I’ve seen. Although my closest experience with war is playing “Modern Warfare” and going to the shooting range, the movie is very moving and as close to war as I’ll get. Either way, how can these films in the series not be in everyones Blu-ray collection? I love what Paramount has done to set apart their award winning films being released on Blu-ray. I hope to see “Titanic” and “Almost Famous” included in this series soon and also more studios doing something similar.

Other releases this week on Domino’s radar are: “Nine” and “The Notebook.” There is quite a shift from the intense war films by Spielberg to girly romantic/musical films like these. I plan to purchase “The Notebook” (they were out at Best Buy) but will rent “Nine,” just to see it again.

When I went to purchase “Saving Private Ryan” during my lunch break today, I also picked up another recently released Spielberg film on Blu: “Minority Report.” The technology in that film is already coming to life with Sony’s atracTable. That thing is sexy. I would love for my entire house to be touch screen. One day…one day. That’s all the Blu releases I’m syked about for this week. What Paramount films would you like to see in their Sapphire Series?

Sony Pictures Reunites With Kevin James

by Jenni Petot | Apr 30, 2010 | 28 comments

Kevin James is hilarious. I remember watching his Comedy Central special “Sweat the Small Stuff” back in 2002 and loving every minute of it. With starring in King of Queens (Sony Television Pictures), 50 First Dates (Sony Pictures) Hitch (Sony Pictures), I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry, and Sony’s Paul Blart: Mall Cop (earning $146 million last year), I think Kevin James is becoming the next big comedy actor.

Kevin James now has two more upcoming films being released by Sony. With their fine history together, I believe it’s a great match. The first is The Zookeeper, which was recently pushed from October of this year to a prime summer spot, July 8, 2011. This move was due to strong screening results and a great release date strategy. In The Zookeeper, Kevin plays well a zookeeper that doesn’t really ‘fit in’ to society. Once he decides to leave his job to pursue a normal life and get the girl of his dreams, the zoo animals that adore him reveal they can talk and teach him nature’s mating ways.

The second film announced from Sony starring Kevin will be called Here Comes the Boom. Details are under wraps for the film but it’s said to be an action-comedy. James will produce Boom along with Adam Sandler through Happy Madison Productions. No release date is set for Here Comes the Boom but production could start as early as January. I have yet to dislike a film that Kevin James has done; I’m definitely a fan of the Sony/Kevin James movie match-ups.

New Marketing Strategy For Sony

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 26, 2010 | 73 comments

Starting Monday (today), Sony is going to kick off a new year long ad campaign that includes many of its portfolio stars, starting off with Taylor Swift, showing off the Cyber-shot DSC-TX7. This will be a series of star-studded spots that Sony ( SNE – news – people ) plans to roll out this year, as a part of a $100-million-plus TV, print and digital ad campaign. Each ad will feature a Sony-affiliated celebrity to pitch its electronic products, such as its 3-D television and its e-reader. The idea of this new campaign is that instead of focusing in on the many products that Sony makes, it will aim for a particular market and let them know of the product. For example, in 2008 Sony spent nearly $5 billion on their global ad campaigns that ranged from laptops to DVD players.

First, I have to say that I’m floored by this. I’m wondering if of that $5 billion, $4.9 billion was spent outside of the states. Ask any Playstation owner and they will tell you that Sony has had no air presence whatsoever; Microsoft has dominated the airwaves with its Xbox ads. No matter what show or channel you watch, when they produced a big game (i.e. Halo or Gears of War), they had endless commercials running. Most of all, the sheer number of commercials and TV shows that the 360 is in as product placement is insane. This of course has been something that has hurt the PS3 and the PSP and thus, their software sales. I will give it to Sony though for their efforts with Kevin Butler in the past year. Those ads are fantastic and hilarious. My issue in this case is: where were they the other 3 years? I also mention this because the PlayStation brand is one important aspect of their business but Sony is fighting off too many players in too many markets. In the TV market you see Samsung commercials left and right. Computers and cell phones and it’s either iPhone/Droid or MacBook/HP. And for cameras, Canon and Nikon. Yet, we never see any form of Sony add showing us off their products.

Hidden PS3 3.30 Firmware Features

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 26, 2010 | 17 comments

Sony released their PS3 firmware 3.30 mid last week that added new trophy features and began to get the console ready for its 3D premiere. However, as I had mentioned, it seemed too large of an update (size-wise) and that there had to be more to it. Well, it seems like we weren’t too far off with our analysis. First come unconfirmed reports that there is a Flash enhancement for the web browser, and if true, this should be welcomed by those who are big into flash games or media content. Now your PS3 can better accommodate you. Also unconfirmed is enhanced region-free Blu-ray playback.

Now for the confirmed features. For you audiophiles out there, there is a toggle for Bitstream Direct (output audio with the original digital signal prioritized) or Mix (mixed with sound effects such as button sounds and then converted to bitstream format) on Blu-ray movies. For those who like to play PS3 games remotely, currently, only the PSP and PSPgo exist as your option. However, with this update, future Vaio owners can also get in on the remote play action as well. We’re not clearly sure what this means. Will this be something future Vaio’s can do? Or will current Vaio’s get access to the PS3 and its content via software update? Nobody is currently sure about this since Sony hasn’t announced any particular detail about it.

This presents an interesting concept and something that I’ve been a staunch supporter for. Sony as a company has a lot of leverage. They produce movies, music and games. They have cameras, camcorders, computers and TVs. The PS3 really needs to be the hub of all of these units with PSN at its core to deliver the content. From there, they need to leverage their other units to feed off of this base. If you have a PS3 with your movies, games and music, and a PSN account that gives you access to all forms of content, and you’re ready for your next computer purchase, are you more likely to purchase a Vaio or an HP if you know that your Vaio or Sony Ericsson has access to the PS3 and PSN? This of course can be one further step to justify a premium price that Sony rightly charges for its products. For a lot of people sometimes hardware quality is not enough to see the difference. Media and software are king and the PS3 and PSN can help to deliver this.

[Via PlayStation UK]