Nintendo DS outsold Sony PSP in Anticipation of new PSP Release

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The latest console sales numbers from Japan show that the Nintendo DS outsold the Sony PSP last month by a large margin. Nintendo sold 234,477 Nintendo DS consoles and Sony only managed to move 109,274 PSP consoles. In the prior month the PSP did lag far less behind the DS than in September.

Nintendo just last week announced a new Nintendo DS dubbed Nintendo DSi, which will be released on November 1st. The new Sony PSP-3000 will already launch in two weeks in Japan and might propel the PSP ahead of the Nintendo DS for October. Read more

Posted on Sat, 4 Oct 2008 08:40:05 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox 360 outsells Sony PS3 in Japan

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The video game console sales numbers for Japan in September are in. The underdog Xbox 360 actually beat the Sony PS3 in its home country.
This is the first time Microsoft beat Sony in Japan. According to numbers of Enterbrain Microsoft sold 53,547 Xbox 360 consoles and Sony sold only 33,071 PS3 consoles in the September time frame.

Nintendo is still on easy street having sold 109,548 Wii consoles last month in Japan. Read more

Posted on Fri, 3 Oct 2008 07:19:49 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sony PRS-700 eBook Reader unveiled

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Sony has announced its 3rd generation digital book reader called the PRS-700. The Sony PRS-700 weighs about ten ounces and is the size of a thin paperback book. The display used on the new PRS-700 reader is a 6-inch unit that offers touch screen capability.

Touch screen capability allows readers to flip pages by sliding a finger across the screen. Readers can also use touch to create search terms within a book and create bookmarks or notes. The book has five pre-set text sizes for comfortable reading and zooming is supported with a finger tap. Read more

Posted on Fri, 3 Oct 2008 06:10:57 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Sony PS3 GT5 Prologue gets Update with 3 new Cars

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Sony released an update to the PS3 racing game Gran Turismo 5 Prologue peppered with 3 new cars.
Besides the three new cars, Sony added a number of gameplay and performance enhancements to T5 Prologue.
One of the new cars is a mean looking Citroen. The GT by Citroen concept car is the result of a collaboration between French automaker Citroen and Polyphony Digital. Read more

Posted on Fri, 3 Oct 2008 05:35:12 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sony hires Dave Farrow to read 30 days non-stop on Sony Reader

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Sony launches a nation-wide campaign dubbed Reader Revolution to promote their eBook reader.
Spearheading the effort is two-time world record-holder Dave Farrow, who will be reading digital books on the Reader around the clock for 30 days at a Manhattan storefront.
For each page Dave Farrow reads, Sony will provide an eBook library of 100 classic titles to a school or learning institution. The goal is to give 15 million eBook titles by the end of the program. The first 100 schools to start downloading their selected classic titles will also receive and education pack of five Reader Digital Books. Read more

Posted on Wed, 1 Oct 2008 10:32:06 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sony Introduces Lots of iPod/iPhone Docks

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Sony has introduced new alarm clocks that offer support for the iPod and iPhone from Apple. The new clocks include the CD clock radio ICF-CD3iP, a table top HD Radio with iTunes tagging XDR-S10HDiP, and a docking speaker SRS0GU10iP. All of the new devices are Made for iPod and Works with iPhone certified.

The ICF-CD3iP can wake you to CD or tracks from your iPod and includes a remote control. Sony's XDR-S10HDiP has a HD Tuner built-in and offers the ability to tag songs from the radio for purchase on your iPod later. Read more

Posted on Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:56:07 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Sony PS3 Firmware 2.43 released

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Sony offers a new firmware update for the Sony PS3. The new PS3 Firmware 2.43 is only necessary for Japanese PS3 owners.
The 2.43 update only adds in the PLAYSTATION Store in Japan a rental option for content.

The 2.43 firmware will not be notified on PS3 consoles outside of Japan. You could trigger it though under System Update. Installing it on U.S. or European PS3 consoles would not have any side effects. Read more

Posted on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:28:54 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Toshiba, Samsung and Sony to join Netbook Craze

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Better late than never, might be the mantra of Toshiba, Samsung and Sony when it comes to releasing a netbook.
Toshiba will release the Satellite NB105 (photo), which already leaked on the Mexican site.
The Satellite NB105 features an 8.9 inch screen with 1024 x 600px resolution, Intel 1.6Ghz Atom CPU, 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, LAN, WiFi, 3 USB ports and runs Windows XP. Read more

Posted on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:33:19 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sony Ericsson Xperia Phones may not use Windows

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 LONDON (Reuters) - Future Sony Ericsson phones launched under its new Xperia brand may not be based on Microsoft Windows, the handset maker said at the launch of its digital marketing campaign for the Xperia X1 on Monday.
The X1, which will be the premium phone in Sony Ericsson's portfolio when it starts shipping later this month, is Sony Ericsson's first smartphone powered by Windows Mobile and was seen as boosting Microsoft's presence in the smartphone market.
But the loss-making joint venture of Japan's Sony and Sweden's Ericsson was reluctant on Monday to reveal any details of future models that may be launched under the Xperia brand, of which the X1 is the first.
Read more

Posted on Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:18:56 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Nintendo DS outsold Sony PSP in August

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Sony updated the PSP the 2nd time now. Nintendo only updated the DS once until now, but still outsells the Sony portable Playstation.
In August Nintendo sold 518,300 DS consoles. Sony only made half that number with 253,000 PSP consoles sold in the United States. The PSP number is actually not that bad considering a new PSP has been already announced.

The new Sony PSP is the PSP-3000 model, which Sony announced in August, but shipping starts actually in October. Read more

Posted on Sat, 13 Sep 2008 10:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Xbox 360 outsold Sony PS3 in August

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The price-cut of the Xbox 360 Arcade to $199 just started a week ago, but also in August the Xbox 360 outsold already the Sony PS3.
Microsoft managed to sell 195,200 Xbox 360 consoles. Sony sold about 10,000 units less of the PS3 with 185,400 consoles.
Of course the Wii outsold both the Xbox 360 and the Sony PS3 again by a wide margin. Read more

Posted on Sat, 13 Sep 2008 07:00:00 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Sony Adds On-Demand Movies and TV to BRAVIA Internet Video Link

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Sony announced today that it and Amazon.com have teamed up to add on-demand movies and TV to the BRAVIA Internet Video Link device. The new service offers access to thousands of premium movies and TV shows.

The Amazon Video on Demand series offers immediate access to content directly on the BRAVIA TV screen. In addition to access to Amazon VOD, Sony also announced streaming HD programs from Dailymotion are now available at no extra cost. Read more

Posted on Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:00:00 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

NVIDIA Powers New Hybrid Graphics Notebooks form Sony, Fujitsu, Siemens, and Ben

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NVIDIA has announced that notebook makers Sony, Fujitsu, Siemens, and BenQ have new notebooks that utilize NVIDIA's Hybrid graphics. The notebooks are able to switch from discrete graphics cards to integrated graphics as power demands increase to save battery life.

NVIDIA says that all GeForce 9M Series GPUs support the feature. New notebooks with Hybrid graphics include the Sony VAIO Z series with discrete 9300M GS GPUs, Fujitsu Amilo XI 3650 with 9600M GT GPUs, and the BenQ Joybook S42 ultra-light laptop with 9600M GT GPUs. Read more

Posted on Fri, 12 Sep 2008 13:38:10 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Verizon Wireless and Sony Pictures Bring Interesting Games to Mobile Users

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If you have started thinking that all the cool mobile games are coming to the iPhone, Verizon has announced several mobile games that sound very interesting. The games include James Bond: Top Agent allowing players to create their own 00 agent.

Rock & Roll Jeopardy, a musical version of the Jeopardy game with thematic gameplay and users compete against AI characters for cash. Wheel of fortune Deluxe lets players solve puzzles from the writers of the show. The most interesting is called Afterworld, a Verizon exclusive. The game has players trying to survive the aftermath of a global event called "The Fall." Survivors have to rebuild global communications and find their families. Read more

Posted on Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:03:31 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Sony Launches Two New Blu-ray Notebooks

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Sony has announced two new VAIO notebooks today that both have optional Blu-ray drives. The notebooks are called the VAIO NS and the VAIO CS models. The NS optional Blu-ray drive can also write DVDs and CDs. The system has a 15.4-inch LCD and uses Sony XBRITE-ECO LCD technology. The system uses an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU and has 3GB of RAM. The Blu-ray version will sell for about $1000 and it can be had in blue, white, and silver.

The VAIO CS comes in four colors including sangria, cosmopolitan, dove, and black. The Blu-ray version will retail for about $1070. The screen is 14.1-inch and uses the XBRITE-ECO LCD. The computer uses an optional Intel Centrino 2 CPU and up to 3GB of RAM. Read more

Posted on Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:26:44 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Sony VAIO Notebook Dock with DisplayLink USB Graphics Ships

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Sony is now shipping a dock for VAIO laptop computers that features built-in DisplayLink Graphics Technology. The dock is called the VGP-UPR1 and can connect a DVI or analog display to the notebook via a single USB connection.

The USB connection is able to support display resolutions up to 1600 x 1200. The dock is universal and works with all VAIO notebooks and other notebook brands. The dock also offers an Ethernet jack, headphone, mic, and four USB 2.0 ports. It measures 11" L x 1.25" H x 2.92" W and weighs 1.032 pounds. The dock retails for $199.99. Read more

Posted on Tue, 9 Sep 2008 12:37:10 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Sony DSLR-A900 DSLR unveiled

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Sony is introducing its first full-frame Alpha DSLR-A900 camera, aimed at serious photo enthusiasts looking for traditional SLR performance with the added benefits of digital photography.
The Sony DSLR-A900 offers ultra-fine picture quality with the world's highest resolution, 24.6MP, 35 mm full-frame CMOS sensor and fast image processing with a new dual BIONZ processing engines.

The Sony A900 is also the first to have a body-integrated image stabilization system for a full-frame sensor with Sony's SteadyShot Inside anti-shake system. Read more

Posted on Tue, 9 Sep 2008 09:37:31 CDT | by Luigi Lugmayr

Boingo Mobile Wi-Fi Available on Select Sony Ericsson Phones

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Boingo Wireless and Sony Ericsson have announced that owners of Sony Ericsson UIQ 3.0 handsets can download the Boingo mobile Application and use the 80,000 different Boingo hotspots around the world. That number includes 500 airports, hotels, coffee shots and more.

The service isn’t free though like the offering for the iPhone. The Boingo service will cost $7.95 per month with no per-minute or charges per megabyte of data sent or received. The service will be available in Europe as well. Read more

Posted on Thu, 4 Sep 2008 12:05:31 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

New Sony 1080p Projectors Announced

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Sony announced a pair of new 1080p home theater projectors at CEDIA 2008. The new projectors are the VPL-VW70 and the VPL-HW10. Both are full HD 1080p resolution with 1920 x 1080 output. Other features include 24p True cinema technology.

The VW70 has a 60000:1 dynamic contrast ratio and 800 ANSI lumens of brightness. The projector can be used with an optional Sony anamorphic lens giving movies in their native resolution of 2.35:1. The Sony HW10 has a contrast ratio of 30000:1 and 1000 ANSI lumens of brightness. The VW70 will retail for $8000 and the HW10 will sell for $3500 in September. Read more

Posted on Thu, 4 Sep 2008 10:29:12 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Sony Introduces VAIO CP1 Digital Photo Frame

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Sony has announced a new digital photo frame at CEDIA in Denver this week. The frame uses Wi-Fi to get images wirelessly from a PC or the internet. The frame can also stream Internet radio stations in real-time.

Resolution is 800 x 480 and measures 7-inches diagonally. The ability to stream images from Google Picasa is also integrated. Images can be displayed directly from Memory Stick media, SD cards, or digital still cameras. The frame has 128Mb of internal memory and can display RSS feeds as well. The frame will ship in mid-October for about $300. Read more

Posted on Thu, 4 Sep 2008 10:27:32 CDT | by Shane McGlaun

Sony Unveils 240Hz Bravia LCD TV

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Sony has announced its latest Bravia LCD TV called the KDL-52XBR7 with a refresh rate of 240Hz. Sony also announced a Bravia KLV-40ZX1M LCD that is only 9.9mm thick. The 240Hz 52-inch LCD uses Sony's Media Flow technology.

Other features for the 52-inch 240Hz TV include a dynamic contrast ratio of 80000:1 and Bravia Engine 2 that enhances all incoming signals to 1080p resolution. The set is also compatible with Sony Bravia Internet video link for watching Internet videos on the TV directly from the Internet. The super thin 40-inch KLV-40ZX1M is about the thickness of a DVD case and weighs 26 pounds. It uses a 120Hz refresh rate. Both TVs will ship in December at undisclosed prices. Read more

Posted on Thu, 4 Sep 2008 09:44:03 CDT | by Shane McGlaun