Weblogs Inc : Tag sony

How The Young and the Restless got Eric Braeden back

Sometimes it's true that all's well that ends well. And sometimes to reach that happy ending, arms are twisted, feelings are hurt, and bad blood is spilled. In the case of The Young and the Restless and actor Eric Braeden, there was a good deal of acrimony on both sides. The fact that Braeden is back in the fold now and he will continue as Victor Newman for the foreseeable future, doesn't obscure the fact that it was a nasty situation.

소니 PSP go, 일본 출시 당일 28,000대 판매에 그쳐

지난 10월 1일 미국에서 PSP go가 출시된 이후, 소니는 PSP 시리즈의 판매량이 PSP go 출시 이전에 비해 3배 이상 증가했다는 발표를 내놓은 바 있습니다. 문제는 그 중 PSP go가 차지하는 비중이 얼마나 되는지는 정작 발표가 되지 않았다는 점인데요, PSP go의 실적이 예상보다 부진해서 PSP go만의 판매량은 별도로 공개하지 못하고 있는 것이 아니냐는 지적이 있었지요. 일본에서도 상황이 딱히 좋지는 않았나 봅니다. 11월 1일 일본 출시 당일 판매된 PSP go는 총 28,000대로서, 같은 기간 동안 1,000대가 팔린 호주보다는 분명 나은 상황이긴 해도;; 출시 당일 171,963대가 팔린 PSP-1000과 130,000대가 팔린 PSP-2000에 비해서는 확실한 부진이라고 할 수 있을 것 같습니다. 작아진 디스플레이, 호불호가 갈리는 슬라이드형 디자인, 사라진 UMD 슬롯, 비싼 가격... 엔가젯 독자분들께서는 무엇이 원인이라고 생각하시나요?

Vídeo: Sony y Atracsys crean un interfaz 3D con reconocimiento de gestos (y mucho más)

¿Hay de verdad un mercado tan grande como para absorber todas esas mesas multitáctiles que estamos viendo últimamente? Sony Europa cree que sí, dado que su departamento Image Sensing Solutions ha formado equipo con los suizos de Atracsys para crear ICU, un nuevo interfaz manejable con gestos y toques sobre la pantalla.

El equipo, que hace uso de la tecnología de seguimiento óptico desarrollada por Atracsys, integra un sistema de "visión" con doble cámara capaz de analizar los movimientos corporales del usuario en tres dimensiones, de forma que añade un nuevo giro de tuerca al ya conocido concepto de Surface. Estos ojos electrónicos le permiten por ejemplo detectar ligeros movimientos de los brazos, manos, y dedos, de forma que incluso podrías darle órdenes sin necesidad de engrasar la pantalla con tus cheetos. Pero lo que es más: resulta tan avanzado que puede identificar sexo, edad, e incluso expresiones faciales. ¿Sus campos de aplicación? Videojuegos, medicina, industria y establecimientos comerciales. Así de optimista se muestra Sony.

Netflix instant streaming demoed on PlayStation 3 (updated with more video!)

Aw, suki suki now! Those Netflix instant streaming discs that started floating out to anxious PS3 owners yesterday are obviously splashing down, with YouTube user (and avid Engadget reader) otimus posting up a stellar walkthrough showing everything in action. We've got to admit -- the whole thing looks exceptionally sleek, but given the PS3's multimedia prowess, we didn't really expect anything less. He stated that he didn't notice any stuttering as he sifted through films and mashed play, and that any jitters you see in the video (after the break) can be blamed on the janky TV capture device. So, any others receive their disc today? How's the experience?

[Thanks, Otis]

Update: Our best buds over at Joystiq got some quality hands-on time with this (video is now after the break), so be sure and check it out!

SEMA Sweeps: Win one of five Sony PSP/Gran Turismo bundles - Day 5

We've made it to the last day of our SEMA Sweeps! We've given away four limited-edition PSP/Gran Turismo bundles, but we've got one left. Yesterday's winner has been randomly selected and contacted, so here's how you can win today.

We're doing this in honor of the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, and with it, the Seventh Annual GT Awards, so take advantage of our generosity and follow the directions below for your chance to win.

For the last prize, we want to know which car you think should be the cover car of Gran Turismo 5. Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG? Corvette ZR1? Something else? This is your last chance to win, so make sure to follow the directions below and enter for your chance to win!

Entering is easy. All you have to do is:

Leave a comment in this post telling us what vehicle you think should be the cover car of Gran Turismo 5.
You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the U.S. or Canada (excluding Quebec, désolé!)
Limit 1 entry per person per day
This entry period ends at 3:00PM EST on Saturday, November 7
At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive one PSP/GT bundle (ARV $199.99) that includes a Mystic Silver PSP-3000 system, Gran Turismo PSP game on UMD, a PlayStation Network downloadable voucher for a white Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, PlayStation Network downloadable movie voucher (title TBD) and Sony MusicPass voucher good for 10 downloadable songs.
For a list of complete rules, click here

That's it - it's free and easy. Good luck!

SONY ICU: Fast schon ein Project Natal Konkurrent (Video)

SONY hat auf der Vision 2009 in Stuttgart einen Kontroller vorgestellt der es durch und durch mit Microsofts Project Natal aufnehmen kann. Stereokamera die fähig ist komplette Körperbewegungen ebenso zu erfassen wie Gesichtsausdruck, Gender und ungefähres Alter des Spielers. Zusammen mit Atracsys entwickelt ist ICU allerdings noch nicht Spielreif sondern wird erstmal sein Dasein als Intelligentes Werbeplakat fristen, denn die Befürchtung ist, dass die Bewegungserkennung letztendlich für Spiele noch zu frustrierend schlecht ist.

Netflix instant streaming demoed on PlayStation 3 (updated with more video!)

Sony and Atracsys develop 3D interface for ORs, sci-fi franchises (video)

You know what the world needs? Another company peddling their take on the touch interface as being "just like Minority Report!" Sun, Raytheon, Oblong -- it's a pretty obvious press hook (as well as a pretty awesome area of research), but every once in a while some such technology does come around that begs for a closer look. A collaboration between Sony Europe and Atracsys (a Swiss company specializing in optical tracking) ICU is a dual camera-based system that tracks and analyzes body movements in three dimensions, in real-time. Initially designed for use with a computer in a sterile operating theater, the interface not only notices subtle changes in the position of your body, arm, hand, or finger position, but it's also determine rough age, sex, or facial expression of the user. We're guessing that this bad boy has some novel gaming potential as well (count on the folks at Engadget to bring everything down to their level)! PR / videos after the break.

Activision Blizzard's Q3: Am I right to be bearish?

Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI) published third-quarter results on Thursday after the bell. I can't say I was wholly taken with them. I know the best is probably yet to come once the Christmas shopping season really gets under way, but I was a little disappointed that the company saw a decline in adjusted profit.

Excluding items, Activision Blizzard made 4 cents per share this quarter versus the 7 cents per share made in last year's similar period. Well, did I say I was a little disappointed? Make that a lot disappointed. After all, this is supposed to be the publisher with the best pipeline on the block, the one with the Guitar Hero franchise and a great portfolio of licensed intellectual properties.

Sony demandada por los recientes problemas de firmware de PS3

Todos recordamos que, con las recientes actualizaciones de firmware de PS3 a la versión 3.00 y posteriores, algunas unidades comenzaron a fallar estrepitosamente. En reacción a eso, dos afectados por el problema, han decidido demandar directamente a Sony, ni cortos ni perezosos, para reclamar que las actualizaciones estropearon sus PS3, con problemas como dejar de funcionar los mandos, la unidad Blu-ray o directamente la consola.

El servicio técnico de Sony les informó previamente de que no es competencia suya arreglar en garantía las consolas y que dicha reparación tendría un coste de 150 dólares (100 euros). Curiosa respuesta cuando es la propia compañía la que te obliga a actualizar la consola si quieres poder disfrutar de los juegos más recientes. Microsoft ya fue demandada en su día por causas similares y llegaron a un acuerdo extrajudicial. Veremos en qué queda esta.

[Vía ElOtroLado]

Everyone agrees: new IP needed for industry 'to survive'

What do Sony's Michael Denny, Square Enix's Yoichi Wada, and Codemasters' Rod Cousens have in common? Okay, they're all middle-aged men that happen to work in the video games industry -- but they also share a common belief in pursuing original IP. "For me the answer is clear, simply, we must support new IP creation to survive as an industry. Consumers crave new things. If we want to stay relevant in an increasingly competitive marketplace, we have to continue to produce new experiences," Denny told GI.biz. Certainly, SCEE has been pushing a lot of new IPs this generation, with Denny overseeing games like Heavy Rain and EyePet.

Wada agrees with Denny's sentiment, noting that "as an entertainment company the business won't be viable if we don't continue to nurture new IPs." This may be ironic coming from a company that's releasing a game called Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers this holiday, and both Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIV next year, but we can credit them for making The World Ends With You, right?

Cousens goes a step further, saying innovation has always been at the heart of the industry. "From day one since we walked in the door we've always tried to be experimental, to be innovative, to take things into new areas and to make it interesting." Obviously, the reason why publishers need to invest in new IPs is clear -- let's not forget that games like Madden used to be an original IP at one point.

Source - Sony: Industry needs new IP to survive
Source - Wada: Business 'not viable' without new IP
Source - Cousens: Industry must pursue new IP

Gran Turismo 5 cost roughly $60 million to develop

At the annual SEMA car show in Las Vegas this week, Gran Turismo 5 creative lead Kazunori Yamauchi was on-hand demoing his game for showgoers and talking to the press. Amidst a torrent of questions from Autoweek, Yamauchi roughly calculated the cost of creating Gran Turismo 5: a cool $60 million. That's what five years of development on a single game has cost Polyphony Digital thus far, an amount Yamauchi says was totally justified in order to "get it right."

"We threw away the legacy code from GT4 and started from scratch ... It's been five years from [the release of] GT4, and that's the same amount of time it took to develop the first GT4." And rather than dodging the reasoning behind the lack of a solid GT5 release date anywhere outside of Japan, Yamauchi flatly offered, "That's more depending on SCEA marketing decisions." Allow us to venture a guess – first half of 2010, perhaps?
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[Via VGChartz]

SEMA Sweeps: Win one of five Sony PSP/Gran Turismo bundles - Day 4

It's Day 4 of our SEMA Sweeps! After giving away three of five limited-edition PSP/Gran Turismo bundles, we're ready to give away our fourth. Yesterday's winner has been randomly selected and contacted, so here's how you can win today.

We're doing this in honor of the SEMA Show in Las Vegas, and with it, the Seventh Annual GT Awards, so take advantage of our generosity and follow the directions below for your chance to win.

Today we're asking whether you prefer the PSP-3000 or new PSP Go. Your answer won't have any effect on your chances of winning since the sweepstakes winner is drawn at random, so pick your favorite portable Sony system, leave a comment and keep your fingers crossed!

Entering is easy. All you have to do is:

Leave a comment in this post telling us whether you prefer the PSP-3000 or PSP Go.
You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the U.S. or Canada (excluding Quebec, désolé!)
Limit 1 entry per person per day
This entry period ends at 3:00PM EST on Friday, November 6
At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive one PSP/GT bundle (ARV $199.99) that includes a Mystic Silver PSP-3000 system, Gran Turismo PSP game on UMD, a PlayStation Network downloadable voucher for a white Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo, PlayStation Network downloadable movie voucher (title TBD) and Sony MusicPass voucher good for 10 downloadable songs.
For a list of complete rules, click here

That's it - it's free and easy. Good luck!

Elegancka torebka na VAIO X od Sony i BEAMS (galeria)

Tym razem mamy propozycję specjalnie dla pań. Jeśli kupiłyście sobie laptopa VAIO X, ale uważacie, że sam w sobie jest jeszcze zbyt mało elegancki, powinnyście zastanowić się nad zestawem torebek, który przygotowała japońska firma BEAMS przy współpracy z Sony. Większa torebka zmieści komputer, do mniejszej będziecie mogły schować zasilacz, pendrive lub kluczyki do Waszego Porsche...

Ekskluzywny wygląd nie kosztuje jednak fortuny. Wprawdzie zestaw jest droższy niż przeciętny plecak na laptopa, ale 12 tys. jenów (380 zł) nie jest ceną zabójczą. Zestawy nie będą jednak dostępne poza Japonią, więc będziecie musiały się trochę postarać, żeby sprowadzić go sobie z kraju kwitnącego chipa. Zawsze możecie tam wysłać swojego mężczyznę, niech się stara.

Jednak zanim to zrobicie rzućcie okiem na galerię poniżej.

[Za: Akihabara]

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Sony Bravia

Sony is one of the most reputable names in home entertainment, and its Bravia line of goods encompasses high definition televisions and top line audio components to bring the best theater experience into your home. If you are looking to set up a home theater that will blow you away, then the Sony Bravia line of goods has everything you need.

What does Bravia mean? Bravia is an acronym for "Best Resolution Audio Visual Integrated Architecture" and all high definition televisions that Sony has made since 2005 have sported the Bravia logo.

Sony Ericsson Kurara suffers leakage, reveals HD label?

Boy, we sure do love our early glimpses of pre-release hardware, and today we have not one, but two sources of purported pictures of the Sony Ericsson Kurara. Touted as a sibling to the Satio, the Kurara is mooted to have a 3.5-inch AMOLED touch-sensitive screen, 8.1 megapixel camera and, wait for it, 720p video recording. The image above seems to confirm this with a big "HD" inscription next to the camera lens, but that label is missing in the gallery below. We'll just put that inconsistency down to the extremely early samples on show, and start getting all frothed up in excitement over the possible UX inclusion on this Symbian S60 device when it starts selling in the first half of 2010.
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[Via My Sony Ericsson and SlashPhone]

Read - PhonesDB
Read - Sony Ericsson Club

Sony Ericsson Kurara suffers leakage, reveals HD label?

突入！Sony 日本总部

大家都知道小姜今天访问了 Sony 营销系统的最高负责人鹿野清先生，但小姜没有说的是，访问的地点就在东京品川的 Sony 日本总部。这栋落成才约两年的全新大楼命名为「Sony City」，是一栋 20 层楼高的玻璃帷幕大楼。

Analyst: 'Sony was saved by the success of the Wii'

If you haven't heard, the PlayStation Wii is so successful, it pretty much prints money. Wait, Sony didn't make the Wii? Then how did the market analysts of DFC Intelligence come to the conclusion that "Sony was saved by the success of the Wii?"

According to DFC, the Wii's mainstream appeal forced Microsoft into a successful, but not entirely dominant position. "The main danger Sony faced was that the Xbox 360 would become embedded as the system of choice. Instead consumers flocked to the Nintendo Wii. The Xbox 360 had solid sales, but they have not been enough to give Microsoft anywhere near a breakout market position," the report explains.

Should enthusiasm for the Wii wane this holiday season, the recent price drop, coupled with with impending release of God of War III, finally positions the PS3 as a viable choice for mainstream consumers, the report notes. EEDAR's Jesse Divnich agrees, pointing out that Sony can finally utilize its leverage from the previous generation. "People who purchase a PS2 are more likely to purchase a PS3 in the future. Consumers, believe it or not, are pretty loyal."

Three years after the launch of the PS3, Blu-ray is also finally becoming a marketable feature for mainstream consumers, the report argues. "This holiday season Blu-ray movies are finally getting a major focus at retail ... Blu-ray clearly now becomes a strong selling point for the PlayStation 3." Undoubtedly, SCEA will create an ad that focuses on this aspect of the system that "only does everything."

While DFC's report comes off as incredibly bullish, it's understandable to see why there's some doubt over Sony's ability to capitalize on the moment. Let's not forget, this is a company that managed to fall from first to last place in the course of a year. "The cards are in Sony's favor and now is the time to make the most of them ... Now is the time for Sony to shine ... or else."

[Via CVG]

Source - Is it Time for the PlayStation 3 to Shine?
Source - How the venerable PlayStation 2 made it to 9 years old

French magazine shoots handhelds through boards, much to our amusement

As you know, there's one thing we love more than gadgets -- wanton destruction. Combine the two (on someone else's dime, o'course) and we're having a pretty good day. That said, we're glad that there are others out there with our bent, including Amusement, a "gaming lifestyle" mag based en France. Apparently, the theme of the current issue is "computer bugs," with a number of articles illustrated in a clever, artistic, Gallic manner. But that's not what caught our eye -- no, we were into the pictures of handheld game consoles (specifically, a Nintendo DS and a PSP Go) being shot through particle board. Feel free to peep some more action photography after the break -- and we'll just go back to working on our coilgun.

[Via SlashGear]