Home Theater

Sony Signs Will Smith For Men In Black 3D

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 26, 2010 | 47 comments

There’s good news for Sony on the film front. Director Barry Sonnenfeld has said in a recent interview that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are set to return for a third Men in Black film that will be (of course!) in 3D. The news indicated that although only Will Smith has so far signed on, both actors will reprise their earlier roles. Other casting rumors suggest that Sasha Baron Cohen and Jemaine Clement will also be joining the cast.

I really hope that Sony pushes Barry Sonnefeld to, or that Barry will by choice film Men in Black 3 in 3D and stay away from post conversion and avert from the mess that was Clash of the Titans in 3D. Also, its nice for Sony to lock in Will Smith again. Will Smith and Sony have a long history of movies together (MIB, Bad Boys, Pursuit of Happyness, Hitch, Hancock). Now Will Smith is one of the last true big stars who has a sure audience. With Spider-man 4 soon to be released as a reboot of the series, Sony hasn’t recently had any big movies in the box office and Will Smith can help them to get back in the game.

PS3 Gets Firmware 3.30 Upgrade

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 21, 2010 | 38 comments

Get ready to boot up your PS3 for a firmware update! It’s been one that many people have been wanting for a while. Cross Voice Chat, Better trophy options! This is a fantastic option for those who live more on the competitive side of the gaming world and want to compare:

Trophy enhancements –- Now you can more easily sort trophies in the [Trophy Collection] and [Comparing Trophy] sections. Sorting can be done with [Trophy Collection] in the [Game Category] and also when comparing trophies with your friends in the [Friend Category]
Trophy Folder (Title List) can be sorted by game name/ by title according to the date in which you earned your last trophy (ascending/descending)
Add-on list (Group list) can be sorted by original/the date in which you earned your last trophy (ascending/descending)
Trophy list can be sorted by original/trophy name/grade/date of obtaining the trophy (ascending/descending)

This update is also designed to slowly get the PS3 ready for its July 3D firmware update, so go ahead and update away! For those who want to download to a flash drive or hard drive, hit up the PS3 Official site.

Update:
Either a lot of people are downloading this and it’s clogging up the pipes at Sony, or this is a fairly large update that does more then we have been told. I have a feeling that it’s both, especially since it’s getting the PS3 ready for 3D. It could be that Sony has to add a lot of changes to the OS and instead of one huge/slow update, they are slowly piecing it together.

Sony Announces 3D Sound Bars for Home Theater

by Jenni Petot | Apr 21, 2010 | 10 comments

Sony’s HT-CT 100 is a great sound bar home theater system and is one of the only affordable ones that offers extensive HDMI connectivity. I’m a fan of sound bars sine I can’t hang any speakers in my place. They are easy to set up, have great sound, and they’re small with a clean look. What else could you ask for?

But wait, don’t buy just yet! Now Sony has just announced two new successors to the HT-CT 100 that will be available in May. The HT-CT 150 and HT-CT 350 will now have an upgrade to the HDMI 1.4 that will allow for 3D pass-through. Via CNET News, here are the key features of the new sound bars mentioned in Sony’s press release.

Key features of the Sony HT-CT150:

3.1-channel sound bar home theater system
340 watts of total system power
32 inches long
Three HDMI inputs, all 3D-compatible
HDMI pass-through in standby mode
Two digital audio inputs (one optical, one coaxial)
Price: $300

Key step-up features of the Sony HT-CT350:

400 watts of total system power
40 inches long
Includes wall-mount bracket
Price: $400

Photo credit: Sony (HT-CT 150)

Two 3D Firmwares Needed For PS3?

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 20, 2010 | 7 comments

Take this one with a grain of salt; there is still no legitimate proof one way or another and things could change at any time. Regardless, Techradar is reporting that the upcoming June firmware update to the PS3 will be indeed be giving the PS3 3D capabilities, but only on the gaming side. A separate firmware upgrade will be needed to enable its Blu-ray 3D capabilities. This seems like an odd move as June is also when Sony is planning on launching its 3D televisions and we would assume the more units out there that can deliver 3D to their televisions (and we assume nearly 35 Million PS3’s is a good count) but we’re no engineers or executives at Sony. This also seems odd because Sony will give the S570 and the S470 Blu-ray player a 3D firmware update this July. Remember that this early news may not be entirely accurate, or else we would have had Cross Game Voice Chat by now and that’s been rumored or accidently leaked near every firmware update. Keep your eyes and ears open for more!

Sony at the National Association of Broadcasters Trade Show

by Jenni Petot | Apr 12, 2010 | 3 comments

The National Association of Broadcasters Trade Show started yesterday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. More than 85,000 audio, video and motion picture professionals from around the world have gathered to see the latest tech innovations. This year, Sony’s theme is “Solutions to Believe In.” Their main exhibit highlights include:

3D Production
HD Live Production
Professional Services
Media Backbone
Broadcast & Professional Displays
HDCAM SR Productions
Recording Media & Pro Audio

From Sony’s Electronic Blog:

Alec Shapiro, senior vice president, Broadcast and Production Systems Division: Sony’s theme this year is “Solutions to Believe In.” Half of our exhibit here at NAB is dedicated to presenting Sony as a total solutions provider, for a variety of production workflows. In other words, we don’t just sell cameras. We offer products and services for every step of the production process, from capturing video, to editing, to archiving and distributing. Another main focus for NAB this year is 3D. We have a 3D production truck from All Mobile Video on the exhibit floor – the first 3D production truck built from scratch. (See below)

Find all the latest Sony news an information from NAB at www.sony.com/nab.

You can view Sony’s press conferences shortly after they end on Sony’s Video site.

Batman: Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition adds another dimension

by Jenni Petot | Apr 11, 2010 | 1 comment

Batman: Arkham Asylum was one of my favorite games released in 2009. It took many by surprise with how amazing this caped crusader game was. To expand on the success of the game, Warner Bros. Interactive is releasing a game of the year edition May 11th for PS3 and Xbox 360.

What’s different about this game? For the most part it will be the same game as when it was first released in August 2009. The story revolves around Batman escorting the Joker back to Arkham Asylum. The Joker, of course, has a plan in motion and takes control over Arkham where the Dark Knight encounters thugs, Bane, Scarecrow and others.The graphics are incredible and gameplay is so fun using Batman’s abilities and gadgets like grappling between gargoyles and exploding gel. Having watched behind the scenes, I learned that the developers really did their homework on Batman and pleased fans like myself with characters, gameplay and story. It’s easy to say that I absolutely love this game.

Here’s a big change: you can now play the game entirely in 3D. The game will come with two pairs of Trioviz 3D glasses. Now, these are the old school red and blue lens glasses which may throw some color off but it’s still cool none the less. Early reviews say the game works on normal and HDTVs and the 3D looks impressive, especially when throwing batarangs.

In addition to 3D, the Game of the Year Edition includes challenge maps standard that were previously downloadable content. Four more challenge maps were also added with online leader boards, while the Joker challenge maps are still a PS3 exclusive.

I am very curious to try the 3D feature in this edition even if it doesn’t look as amazing as 3D games do on the new Sony Bravia 3D TVs. If you haven’t yet played this game, I highly recommend it! Then you can get excited as I am for Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 to come out. Release date is pending, but is expected in Q4 2010 or early 2011.

Sony BDP-S360 Blu-ray Player Hits Best Buy

by Sohrab Osati | May 26, 2009 | 10 comments

A tipster to Engadget has a photo of a local Best Buy that has the new Sony BDP-S360 for $299. Hit our previous coverage of the BDP-S360 to see all the new features this machine has to offer. Also, for those who don’t need to get their unit today, Amazon has the same player listed for $249, plus free shipping and no tax. Not bad huh?

[Via Engadget]

Sony Introduces New W-Series With a Slew Of New Features

by Sohrab Osati | Apr 1, 2009 | 7 comments

Just in time for Spring, Sony has announced the new 1080p W-Series (52-inch KDL-52W5100, 46-inch KDL-46W5100 or 40-inch KDL-40W5100), which like their bigger sisters, the XBR9 and Bravia Z5100, sport not only an ethernet jack which will allow for updates, but also have access to Yahoo! Widgets like news and weather. From there on, these units will also have access to Sony Pictures content, Amazon Video on Demand and YouTube. Of course, one could presumibly see Netflix and Blockbuster Streaming come via an update, but that seems doubtful. Other new features to the W Series is Sony’s Motionflow 120Hz technology, DLNA compatibility, a USB port for loading up external media, BRAVIA Sync (HDMI-CEC), four HDMI inputs and the Xross Media Bar (XMB) interface.

Sony has set a goal of having most of their equipment connect to the web by 2011 and we see this in their new Bravia series, as well as their Cybershot G3. With that in mind, Sony can help push their content and I cant help but think, that Sony needs to have PSN (PlayStation Network) part of this strategy somehow. They are already offering PS3 and PSP users with loads of content. Why not offer the Bravia users access to the same Movies and Rentals, if they already plan on giving them Sony Pictures content.

Hit the MagicGate for a full press release.

MagicGate!

Two New Sony Profile 2.0 Blu-rays Players (BDP-S360 and BDP-S560)

by Sohrab Osati | Mar 31, 2009 | 11 comments

Sony is going full steam ahead with it’s two new profile 2.0 Blu-rays players. Starting at $300, the BDP-S360 comes with an Ethernet connection (fore BD Live and firmware updates). Also, this unit is fully DLNA-ready (allows for the streaming of photos from your PC), upscales your DVD to 1080p (although that dosent make it look like Blu-ray), bitstreams your audio via HDMI. Speaking of audio, the unit supports both Dolby TrueHD / DTS-HD Master and even even allows you to hookup USB drives to it to play music from. The higher model (BDP-S560, pictured) supports all the same features and adds WiFi to the mix for one less cord in your life.

Hit the MagicGate for a full shot of the BDP-S360 and BDP-S560.

MagicGate!

Worlds Largest Zeotrope For New Bravia Ad

by Sohrab Osati | Feb 24, 2009 | 9 comments

Sony has finally released their long awaited ad, featuring the worlds largest Zeotrope to demonstrate the capability of 200HZ on the new Bravia LCD’s. Enjoy it after the jump.

Sony Gives Europe Love, Introduces X4500 and W4500 Bravia

by Sohrab Osati | Aug 20, 2008 | 5 comments

Offering yet another selection option for Europe, the X4500 series comes in a 40,46 and 55 inch. Featuring the new “floating” design, designed to compliment the optional colored speakers very effectively and beautifully. Also as new options are the locally dimming LED backlight, DLNA support and the mind blowing number of speakers offered (8 in the 55 inch version and 6 speakers in the smaller versions). Sony is also introducing a “IB Reduction”, combined with the interlaced backlight dimming that is designed to reduce motion blur without giving off a flicker as some LCD can. The lower end W4500 comes in a respected 40, 46 and 52 inch sizes while also offering DLNA and IR Reduction but no LED Backlight and no word yet on local dimming.

[Via Broadcast Newsroom]

Microsoft Adds Native Blu-ray Support To Windows

by Sohrab Osati | Aug 19, 2008 | 22 comments

Dubbed “Windows Feature Pack for Storage”, Microsoft under closed doors has long been beta testing Blu-ray optical burning support for Windows. Now under the Microsoft Connect Website, this feature is promised for Windows XP, Vista and also Server 2003 and 2008. Currently no date is set for this free upgrade.

Although this isn’t directly a Sony news, Blu-ray is none the less a format created by Sony. Now many might also recall Microsoft being a key supporter of the now dead HD DVD and the bitter battle between the PlayStation 3 and X-Box 360. This has led many fans to think that Sony should not allow MS (as they very well can) to not support Blu-ray and offer it exclusively (Maybe on the Vaio lineup) and short term, this might sound like a good thing but many don’t understand what Blu-ray is meant to be. Sure PS3 boasting a Blu-ray player as an exclusive native feature is a big plus for the console wars but Blu-ray is beyond a console war. Blu-ray is meant to be the next generation format, replacing DVD. If Sony were to get into exclusiveness and slow down the adoption of Blu-ray, it would only hurt itself (as Sony makes licensing fees) and hinder the adoption rate of Blu-ray. If anything, the opposite needs to happen. The sooner Blu-ray appears in all retailers and products, the better this is for both Sony and Blu-ray as a next format.

[Via MS Connect]

Sony To Followup LCD with FED

by Sohrab Osati | Jul 19, 2008 | 17 comments

Its no secret that Sony is forefront of the next generation of TV’s that are here to replace both Plasma and the LCD and who better to lead that then the king of TV’s; Sony. With that being said, Sony isnt putting all their eggs in the OLED basket and as amazing as these TV’s are, they still have a long way to go in becoming more stable (being able to produce sizes higher then 11″ and 27″) and being afforadble (current 11″ costs a nice $2,500). With that, comes a new generation of TV’s called, FED (Field Emission Display).

FED is built on the same concept of the tube television, but its extremely super thin (think LCD) but it has all the qualities to be next gen, like deep blacks and zero motion blur. Another benefit of this new standard is that their extremely easy to build in larger sizes, especially compared to the OLED according to Nikkei.

With that in mind, it seems that Sony is eager to begin production as soon as Holiday 2009 by taking over a plant ran by Pioneer. But like any new technology comes the adaptation rate and mass production capabilities and so Sony is first going to push these displays to broadcasting and medical agencies first, building them up slowly, rather then releasing them in mass sizes and attempting to take them head to head with the current standard of LCD’s.

87% of PlayStation 3 Owners Watching Blu-ray Movies

by Sohrab Osati | Jul 18, 2008 | 7 comments

A new survey done by the Entertainment Merchant’s Association 2008 Annual Report on the Home Entertainment Industry is stating that 87% of PlayStation 3 owners are watching Blu-ray movies. Now of course, this dosent mean that they have all shifted over from DVD and are just purely investing in Blu-ray, but none the less, the number is significant, meaning that the PS3 indeed was the Trojan horse for Blu-rays victory over HD DVD. But also means that more and more people are becoming aware of Blu-ray and hopefully the benefits it has to offer.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]
Image courtesy of Engadget

Warner Brothers To Cut Blu-ray Prices

by Sohrab Osati | Jul 17, 2008 | 1 comment

Although this isnt a direct Sony news, it does impact Sony who is the God Father of Blu-ray. Warner Brothers has recently announced that they are cutting the prices of their Blu-ray movies, starting this September. Some are to be even as low as $11 (although its safe to assume thats not going to be new releases). Although no official list was given, so far The Shining, The Aviator, 300, and I Am Legend were currently mentioned to kick things off with.

The sooner Blu-ray prices fall (although players I believe are a larger barrier then the media itself), the sooner people will begin a mass adaptation of Blu-ray and this not only effects Sony from a manufacture standpoint (and im sure Sony makes spiffs on this stuff) but Sony Pictures profits from this as well the PlayStation 3, being the only console with native Blu-ray support.

[Vis CrunchGear]