Sony Corp.

Sony Officially Buys Toshiba’s Image Sensor Business

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 4, 2015 | 0 comments

Rumored in late October, Sony has officially purchased Toshiba’s image sensor business for a cool 19 billion yen, or around $155 million. This move can only be seen as a healthy sign for Sony who has struggled so much in the past. By making large purchases, it shows that not only are the company’s financial fortunes turning around which would allow them to make such a move, but that they’re now able to move past defensive plays like stabilizing divisions and instead focus on future outlooks and strategic initiatives.

More details after the jump.

4K TV Shows & Live Sports Will Arrive Next Year via DirecTV

by Sohrab Osati | Dec 1, 2015 | 0 comments

4K sets have been shipping for some time but up until now, the best readily accessible content was merely upconverted Blu-ray. To be fair, the upconversion looks pretty fantastic with many arguing that one of the best reasons to purchase a 4K TV is for the upconversion. Still, that’s not where the real depth of 4K lies in. Now it’s beginning to look more and more like 2016 will be the year where we finally get some UHD (A term I despise. Why can’t we just call it 4K?), including directly to our sets from DirecTV.

the company currently has the ability to transmit up to 50 new UHD channels, and live sports transmissions are already being tested as part of next year’s rollout. DirecTV already has the hardware in place, and according to Goswitz, the company wants to get ahead of cable companies and provide viewers with 4K content they can’t get from their cable companies.

“I think the belief that there are technology challenges is a bit of a misinformed myth,” he said. “I think technology throughout the entire ecosystem is ready. But I think content is king; the plane is ready to take off and there is no king on board.”

More after the jump.

Sony Releases new PS4 ‘Black Friday – Best Place To Play 2015’ Ad

by Sohrab Osati | Nov 26, 2015 | 0 comments

To kick off Thanksgiving and show why PlayStation continues to be the best place to game, Sony has released a new PS4 ad. Dubbed ‘Black Friday – Best Place to Play 2015,’ the new ad emphasis on a exclusives like Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and 3rd party titles that offer something more on PlayStation like Star Wars Battlefront, Destiny, and Call of Dusty: Black Ops 3.

Finally Sony points out the new $299 price tag which is valid till the 30th. It was just revealed that Star Wars Battlefield has more players on PS4 than on Xbox One and PC Combined. PS4 also just crossed the 30 million units sold marker, owning more than 50% of the market. You can say things are going well for Sony on the gaming front.

Now mobile, that’s a different story. Ad can be found after the jump.

According to Naughty Dog, ‘Uncharted: Golden Abyss’ Could Come to PS4

by Sohrab Osati | Nov 20, 2015 | 2 comments

In early October, treasure hunters and those who appreciate well-made games were treated to Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection on PS4 which featured remastered and improved versions of Uncharted 1-3. Absent from the collection was Uncharted: Golden Abyss which takes place prior to the three Uncharted titles and appeared on PS3.

When asked previously why the PS Vita title never made found its way to the collection, Naughty Dog Community Strategist Arne Meyer said that though they’d considered the title, it didn’t fit into the story arc of the three titles which sets up Uncharted 4. Luckily, there is hope yet for the portable version to get a PS4 treatment.

Rdio’s Bankruptcy Will Cost Sony Millions

by Sohrab Osati | Nov 18, 2015 | 0 comments

Running a profitable streaming music business is hard. Just ask Sony, a company that, on paper, was perhaps best set up to run such a business. After all, Sony sells millions upon millions of pieces of hardware each year that’s capable of running a music streaming service, commands one of the largest music libraries in the world under the Sony Music/BMG label, and is a technology company. These three ingredients should have made Sony the leader in music streaming but after renaming Qriocty (which I thought was a fine name) to Music Unlimited (which I found atrocious), Sony would eventually secede from the streaming business and hand control over to Spotify.

Now Rdio has joined the latest casualty list and declared bankruptcy and with it, will cost Sony millions of dollars.

Meet the Shock-, Splash-, & Dust-Proof Sony HD-SP1 Hard Drive

by Sohrab Osati | Nov 10, 2015 | 5 comments

Seemingly out of nowhere, Sony has unveiled an all new shock-, splash-, and dust-proof external hard drive. Providing what Sony calls a “generous 1TB [of] storage capacity,” this external USB 3.0 (up to 5Gbps) drive utilizes a 2.5-inch hard drive as do most small portable units. It’s unclear if the HD-SP1 is a 5400 RPM or 7500 RPM hard drive though I’m leaning on the former. Compatible with both Mac and PC, the Sony HD-SP1 comes in blue and lime green alongside some utility software.

A lot more after the jump.

Sony Finally Ends Betamax Production 40 Years Later

by Sohrab Osati | Nov 10, 2015 | 7 comments

There has never been a better example of just because a technology is superior doesn’t mean it will win out than the Betamax. Released in Japan on May 10, 1975, Betamax would eventually find a competitor in VHS a year later which would win the format war, due largely in part to better marketing. Unlike VHS, which phased out over a decade ago, Betamax has still enjoyed a small, but loyal following in Japan and in some production offices.

Now, Sony is finally ready to put the format to rest.

Sony’s Components Business Rises Thanks to Apple

by Sohrab Osati | Nov 2, 2015 | 0 comments

If Samsung has taught us one thing, it’s that providing components to your competitors can be a very lucrative business. The once-dominant smartphone maker has struggled in the last two years to compete with Apple and in turn, sales have declined each quarter. However, Samsung as a whole is doing fairly okay, thanks to rising profits from their components division. For those unfamiliar, Samsung supplies the now A8 and A9 chips that Apple develops in house and in the past had produced the other A series chips that power the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Ironically for Samsung, every smartphone sale they lose to Apple is a gain for their components and semiconductor division.

When former CEO Sir Howard Stringer commanded Sony, he argued that it would be nuts for the company to provide their expertise to competitors. Stringer’s thinking was that why should Apple’s iPhone cameras shine when Sony instead could power their own phones exclusively and use it as a differentiator to sell Xperia phones. Of course what he didn’t account for is that in mobile, a lot more goes into producing a great photo then a lens, an expertise that Sony lacks to this day. Stringer also likely thought that they could match Apple’s dominance – or near dominance – in sales, which also has not come to fruition. I’ve lobbied for years that Sony should make a profit off their competitors and in turn, take that money and invest it into the company. Luckily when Kaz Hirai took helm of the company, he shared that view and it’s now paying off in strides for Sony.

PS4 Continues to Elevate Sony, Nears 30 Million Units Sold

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 29, 2015 | 0 comments

By this point, it’s no surprise that PlayStation continues to be one of the key drivers, if not the key driver for Sony’s path towards recovery. Sony has just revealed their latest quarter earnings report and PS4 is once again shining for the company as the powerful console approaches the 30 million units sold. To put into perspective how stellar these numbers are, Xbox One sales hover around 13-15 million units shipped while PS4 currently sits at 29.3 shipped with 25 million units sold having been announced some time ago.

Some more numbers after the jump.

Sony Continues to Bet Heavily on Digital Imaging, Acquires Toshiba’s CMOS Image Sensor Division

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 28, 2015 | 2 comments

Despite struggling and weighing down heavily on the company, Sony is continuing to support its mobile arm by building a new, wholly-owned smartphone factory. With all the news about mobile and its future within Sony, a story that doesn’t garner enough attention is the company’s amazing rise as a camera powerhouse. With little fanfare, Sony has become the #1 mirrorless camera maker for the last four years, taking away marketshare from rivals Canon and Nikon.

In early 2015, Sony announced an $805 million investment to increase their CMOS image sensor capabilities which has been reaping heavy rewards for their bottom line. In fact, Sony’s CMOS business has been so lucrative for the company that they’ve created a separate drone business in order to show off their camera technology.

With that as the backdrop, Sony has announced that it will acquire Toshiba’s CMOS image sensor business.

Sony Was Once Named Something Else

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 16, 2015 | 0 comments

Ever wonder where the name Sony came from or what it might even mean? When you’re a site runner like myself or a hardcore Sony fan, you ponder such things. While the answer to the question is an interesting one, more intriguing is the fact that Sony wasn’t always named Sony and was changed in order to cater to American consumers.

After the jump, the meaning behind the name and the original name of Sony.

Do You Know What the First Sony Product Was?

by Sohrab Osati | Oct 9, 2015 | 2 comments

Ever wonder what the first Sony product was? Despite what you may have heard, it was not the Walkman (July 1, 1979) or Japan’s first tape recorder (Type-G in mid 1950). Instead, the first product by Sony was for less electronic than we would think of today though far more delicious than anything Sony has produced in decades.

So what was the first product which is pictured above? We reveal what it is after the jump.

Sony Offers More Details on ‘Made for Bond’ Campaign

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 24, 2015 | 0 comments

To promote their soon-to-be-released Xperia Z5 flagship family, Sony is tapping into their film roots with a ‘Made for Bond’ campaign. For those not aware, Spectre, the fourth 007 flick with Daniel Craig at the helm is produced by none other than Sony Pictures which makes for a more lucrative cross promotion.

Last week, I wasn’t too kind on the ‘short film’ styled ad which features actress Naomie Harris, who plays Moneypenny. I called the piece a bit tone deaf and I’m not sure I’m ready to change my thoughts on it (though I’d love to hear yours). Now, Sony is pulling back the curtain on the ad which was shot on Sony’s F65 professional 4K cinema camera.

After the jump, more information about the cinematic ad and its close roots to the Bond franchise with comments from Sony CEO Kaz Hirai.

Sony Electronics Sales Up 25% YTD in North America

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 21, 2015 | 4 comments

For our readers in Europe, it’s sometimes hard to grasp the position Sony is in, seeing how the electronics giant still commands a presence and brand name there. In North America, the story is very different, with Sony holding a very low consumer mindshare and in turn, sales. Despite being battered down, Sony Electronics (different than Sony Mobile) is beginning to make great strides in North America. Late last week, we revealed how Sony has been the number one mirrorless camera maker for four years running (worldwide) and now comes news that sales are up 25% YTD in North America for Sony.

Some more interesting stats and a fancy chart after the jump.

Sony is “the #1 Mirrorless Camera Maker For the Last 4 Years”

by Sohrab Osati | Sep 18, 2015 | 2 comments

If there’s one thing that sucks about what I do here, it’s that too often, I’m reporting downright depressing news about Sony. When it’s not that, it tends to be editorials on how I believe Sony can do better. With that as the back drop, it’s always refreshing to report on what Sony is doing right and in the past year, there is glimmer that perhaps it’s beginning to be more and more. While in the end, PS3 etched out ahead of the Xbox 360, it’s been PS4 that has singlehandedly dominated Xbox One with most analysts believing Sony’s console is ahead 2 to 1.

Now you can add mirrorless cameras to that tally as well with Sony being the number one mirrorless camera maker for the past four years and that’s not even the most impressive part. Let’s talk after the jump.