Posts Tagged ‘Sony’

Sony's agreement to use tru2way technology will eliminate set-top boxes, but not right away

by Daniel Langendorf

May 29th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | CommentsNo Comments

sony logoDon’t count out the set-top boxes just yet.

The news this week that Sony has signed a deal with the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) is essentially good. The agreement will allow people to rid themselves of clunky, mostly ugly, space-consuming set-top boxes and still receive “two-way” cable services such as pay-per-view and video-on-demand movies.

tru2wayTo do this, Sony will incorporate a cable TV technology called tru2way in new televisions. Tru2way is an open java-based platform that allows developers to create all sorts of applications like games, eBay notifications, or interactive guides.

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Could we be edging closer to a Europe-wide 'iPod tax'?

by Steve O'Hear

May 27th, 2008 | Posted in Audio, Mobile, Net TV | Comments2 Comments

Could we be edging closer to a Europe-wide 'iPod tax'?Consumer electronics companies including Apple, Nokia and Sony, maybe softening their stance against a Europe-wide copyright levy on “the sale of products that can be used to copy music, books, films and other protected content”, reports the Financial Times.

Currently 22 out of 27 European countries already enforce the so-called ‘iPod tax’, at greatly varying levels, on products ranging from digital music players, printers, mobile phones and even blank CDs. Notably, the UK doesn’t currently enforce any kind of copyright levy. The charges are designed to compensate for the losses copyright owners may face from “private copying” of works.

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PlayStation 3 games can now offer YouTube uploads

by Steve O'Hear

May 19th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV, Other, Social | Comments1 Comment

PlayStation 3 games can now offer YouTube uploadsIt’s no secret that we’re fans of the PlayStation 3. And with the news that Sony’s next-generation console will now offer game developers an easy way to integrate YouTube uploads, we’re gushing once again.

By taking advantage of YouTube’s recently updated API and tools, Sony has added support for the video sharing site to its Software Development Kit to allow developers “to create games that enable direct upload of in-game video captures to YouTube”. While a few titles on both Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s XBox 360 already offer the ability to save game replays and share them over the Web, it’s the first time that a games console has offered YouTube support as a built-in and officially supported developer feature.

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How-to: Stream media from a Mac to PlayStation 3

by Steve O'Hear

May 12th, 2008 | Posted in Audio, Net TV, Review | Comments61 Comments

How-to: Stream media from a Mac to PlayStation 3Apple and Sony are fierce competitors, but that hasn’t stopped the PlayStation 3 playing nicely with Mac OSX computers. Thanks to some great third-party software, and Sony’s decision to add support for the UPnP AV standard, the PS3 has, in some ways, become a better solution than Apple’s own offering to the problem of streaming content – audio, video and photos – from a Mac to the TV. Here’s our quick guide to creating a Mac-supported PS3 media center.

Step One: Turning the Mac into a PS3-friendly media server

Assuming that your Mac is already on the same local network as your PlayStation 3, the first thing you’ll need to do is install a UPnP AV-compliant media server. In fact, this will need to be done for all of the Macs that you want to share media from.

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What if Apple re-enters the console gaming market through the iPhone?

by Daniel Langendorf

May 9th, 2008 | Posted in Other | Comments4 Comments

apple\'s pippinI’m going out on a limb here because I’m more of a casual gamer than hardcore. But lately I’ve been wondering, with the coming iPhone 2.0, third-party applications, and expected mobile games, might Apple return to the game-console market?

I know: That’s crazy talk. Apple’s last foray into console gaming was 1996’s Pippin, named as the 22nd worst tech product of all time in a 2006 story in PC World magazine. Since then, we’ve seen the advent of Sony’s PlayStation, Microsoft’s Xbox, a slew of Nintendo consoles, and no new attempt by Apple to introduce a game console.

But Terrence Russell of The Industry Standard wonders, like I have, that maybe Apple might be following a different path into gaming — through the mobile market.

“Consumers are already ga-ga over Apple’s mobile devices to begin with,” Russell writes, referring to the success of the iPhone and iPod line of products, “so whether they should be re-imagined as gaming gadgets is more of a marketing issue.

“But with the developer community in a tizzy to create the next great Apple-friendly game, it’s only a matter of time before Cupertino announces that it’s ready to connect the dots.”

Maybe.

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Sony's PS3 DVR PlayTV launch date and price confirmed

by Steve O'Hear

May 7th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV, Other | Comments4 Comments

Piece by piece, Sony’s PS3 has the potential to be one of the best, if not the best, media centers on the market.

Ability to stream content from a Windows PC (or Mac) to a television? Check.

DivX support? Check.

Blu-ray player? Check.

USB device support? Check.

Portable integration? Check (via the PSP).

DVR functionality? Announced.

Movie download store? Coming soon.

It’s just that most consumers don’t know it.

Perhaps that will change this September, in Europe at least, when the PS3’s DVR add-on finally goes on sale.

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Five companies that sold customers down the DRM-filled river

by Steve O'Hear

April 27th, 2008 | Posted in Audio, Net TV, Other | Comments1 Comment

Five companies that sold customers down the DRM-filled riverThe news last week that Microsoft plans to turn off its verification servers for its now-defunct MSN Music store, is a stark reminder of the potential pitfalls customers face whenever they purchase content crippled by Digital Rights Management (DRM) software. Any digital store that sells or loans you content in a copy-protected format makes you a hostage to that store or format’s commercial success. The Microsoft example, however, is just one of many. Here are five cases where companies have sold their customers down the DRM-filled river.

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Sony delays Home a second time; it's now a year behind schedule

by Daniel Langendorf

April 23rd, 2008 | Posted in Other | CommentsNo Comments

sony homeLast100 editor Steve O’Hear asked me today why, in a post about Sony’s movie/TV download service for the PlayStation yesterday, did I use the phrase “may launch” in the headline.

I thought about it, and I guess it was an oversight. I should have been more concrete: Sony is launching a movie/TV download service for the PlayStation.

But I explained that there is something deeper in my psyche that probably chose “may launch”: I don’t trust Sony these days. This movie/TV download service isn’t the first one the company has tried, and it’s not the only one that’s been on the drawing board.

Today comes along the news that Sony is delaying the debut of Home, its Second Life-like 3D virtual online community service for the PlayStation 3. See what I mean? Home has now been delayed twice and is now at least a year behind schedule.

Sony now expects a test version of Home to be available this summer for a limited number of users in Japan, the U.S., and Europe. After getting user feedback and making tweaks, Sony will release a beta of Home for all PS3 owner to try this fall.

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Let's hope Sony gets it right this time: may launch movie/TV download service for PlayStation

by Daniel Langendorf

April 21st, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments2 Comments

sony ps3Word that Sony may be again launching a movie and TV download service was met today with interest and a bit of much-deserved scoffing.

It’s not like Sony hasn’t tried this before. Remember Movielink? Thought so. (It was sold to Blockbuster, by the way.) Remember Sony Connect? It shut down in March.

Heck, since the monumental success of the Walkman ages ago — in an analog world far, far away — Sony has pretty much failed at every digital offering, minus the early PlayStations and some home theater equipment. The whole digital music thing passed Sony by as Apple took over the Walkman mantle with the iPod, iTunes, and the rest of its digital lifestyle ecosystem.

The Los Angeles Times today reported that Sony is again in talks with Hollywood muckety-mucks regarding a download service that would beam movies and television shows from the Internet to the PlayStation 3.

But because said muckety-mucks are hush-hush over the negotiations, not much else is known — no pricing or if the movies and TV shows are for rent or purchase. One tantalizing tidbit, however, is being floated about.

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Video: Sony's Mylo 2 Personal Communicator

by Steve O'Hear

April 9th, 2008 | Posted in Comms, Mobile | CommentsNo Comments

The folks over at Akihabara recently got their hands on Sony’s new Mylo 2 Personal Communicator (see our previous coverage).

The device resembles a small WiFi tablet, not dissimilar to Nokia’s N810, and features a 3.5 inch WVGA display, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 1.3 megapixel camera, Skype support, and 1GB of on-board storage, as well as a Memory Stick Duo/PRO Duo card slot. Applications include Web browsing, media playback, Instant Messaging and VoIP. Akihabara’s major complaint is poor video playback, which is restricted to 320 x 240, despite the device having a generously sized 800 x 480 screen.

Akihabara’s video demo after the jump…

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