News written by Dave Horvath (November, 2006)

In a recent review of Sony's management of their vulnerable Playstation line, President and proclaimed "father of Playstation", Ken Kutaragi has been removed of his President status. In a recent move, he will now no longer be involved in day-to-day decisions of the Playstation line. Head of the US department in Playstation, Kazuo Hirai will now take over his position.

That's not to say that Kutaragi isn't going to have an integral part in Sony, only not directly involved in what they do with their Playstation line in the future. He's been reappointed to Chairman (as opposed to President and COO). In Japan, the title of Chairman does not hold the same respect as Cheif Operations Officer. Part of this could be blamed for delays in their new PS3 console and less than stellar sales of their PSP. With an anemic launch in both Japan and the US, coupled with a delayed European launch until March, Sony was none too happy about Kutaragi's handling of their flagship console.

Source:
Reuters

Sales figures show that Nintendo's newest console, the Wii have been racking up high sales numbers since its US launch just two days after rival Sony's vulnerable PS3.

Launched on November 19th in the North American market, Nintendo reports that some 600,000 units have flown off shelves, trumping the 400,000 units supplied by Sony. The third player in this console line-up is that of Microsoft and their Xbox 360 which launched a full year ago. Sales figures also show that Microsoft received strong numbers due to limited supplies in stores of the PS3 and Wii. Looks like greedy gamers "settled" on an Xbox 360 just to have a next generation system. Although, I'm none too sure just how much of a settling that would be.

Nintendo hopes to ship some four million units to the US and Canada by the end of the year which dominates Sony's figure of only one million units. Additionally, the Wii sells for a mere $250; half the amount of the stripped down PS3 version.

Nintendo will launch the Wii in the UK on December 8th retailing at £179. In contrast, Sony has stated that the European audience will not see its console until March and has yet to confirm a firm price point.

Read more...

For those unfamiliar with the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), they are an association of over 2,000 companies who's general mission is to ensure the interoperability of new and existing electronic devices on the market. They attempt to make standards by which manufacturers develop products to ensure that consumers are not tackled with thousands of radically different products on the market with no roadmap on what to get. Betamax vs. VHS, CD-Rom, DVD, and even the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray battle that is currently being waged, the CEA has their hand in it.

In a recent press release from the CEA, they have decided to cut their projections of next generation media players from 600,000 units to a mere 200,000 units and are urging consumers not to partake in either format until the war has decided a clear cut winner. Even companies that make up the CEA are stating that history has shown that early adopters can be burned if they choose one format and the industry decides on another format. Consumers could find themselves with very expensive devices but little to no media in which to enjoy it.

Although, it seems a bit of common sense to wait on adopting a new format anyway. The more time that goes by, one format is sure to reign supreme over the other and time will also inevitably bring hardware costs down, making it easier on the consumer to purchase next generation equipment. Additionally, with the rise in things such as video-on-demand, IPTV and such, both of these formats will have other non-intended power players to contend with.

Read more...

In a release geared more towards providing consumers with a fancy computer peripheral rather than a home entertainment showpiece, HP has come out with their external HD-DVD drive. Repackaged under the HP name, the hd100 is a Lite-On manufactured drive capable of reading HD-DVD, DVDR/RW (single and dual layer), CDR/RW and CD-ROM discs. It manages all this from a standard USB 2.0 connection to the PC.

Availability for these drives are scheduled to appear in the UK as early as mid-December and have a retail overhead of some £399. This price not only gets you the drive, but also the Cyberlink playback software needed to view HD-DVD content on your notebook or PC.

HD-DVD pioneers, Toshiba have already been steaming ahead in the next generation digital media war against the competitive Blu-Ray format by unveiling its second generation HD-DVD players, the the HD-XF2 and HD-XA2. Toshiba and its partners in HD-DVD (including the likes of HP, Microsoft, NEC and Intel) have a long road ahead of them if they plan to battle it out with rivals Sony, Apple, Phillips, and Samsung against the Blu-Ray products. HD-DVD, however may have received a welcomed boost in its product by recent support from The American Independent Media Manufacturers Association (AIMMA) which consists of 37 influential media manufacturing companies all standing behind the HD-DVD format.

Read more...

Unlike past updates 2.81 and 2.82 which were simply security updates, Sony has officially released the 3.00 update for the Playstation Portable. This big number update will have homebrew lovers eyeing it carefully as they attempt to disect what Sony possibly has inserted into the firmware.

Big updates include downloadable content in the form of PSone games like the original Ridge Racer. Additionally, this is also the update that gives the PSP remote control over the new PS3 console. Although this update may not come as good news to everyone, it does feature some nice new things to toy around with.

• Game folder now supports Playstation Network titles
• Remote Play has been added in the Network section
• Online instruction manuals
• Timed Recording is a new feature under RSS
• A visual player has been added
• Music gets a three speed fast forward and fast reverse
• Camera has been added to the Photo section
• UMD Auto-Start has been added to the settings

The Playstation Network sounds nice for now, but it appears that the PSP is merely a gateway to get the PSone library of games from the Playstation Network to your PS3. Sony has stated that directly playable PSone titles on the PSP via downloadable content has not yet been implimented, but is expected to happen before Christmas.

Read more...

As more reports filter in from the few existing Playstation 3s available from the Japanese and US launches, people are finding more out about what it can and cannot do.

One recent test was performed on older HDTV sets that do not natively support the 720p resolution. It appears that on sets that do not have the 720p resolution built in, but only feature resolutions of 480i, 480p and 1080i the PS3 has problems. Games that were meant to be played at 720p appear to be downgraded to 480p instead of upgrading to 1080i, which would be far more desirable. Apparently this issue is the same, whether or not you use an HDMI cable or a standard analog HD cable (component cables).

In contrast, Sony's competitor, the Xbox 360 does upscale games meant for 720p to 1080i if the HDTV supports the latter but not the mid-resolution.

Sony had been contacted on the matter to find out whether this is a hardware fault or a software problem that could be fixed via a patch, however Sony has yet to comment on the subject.

Source:
IGN

Several music labels including the likes of EMI, Sony BMG, Warner Music and Universal Music collectively lost a lawsuit in which they tried to take down a Chinese MP3 search engine.

Baidu.com faced a lawsuit from the aforementioned companies for providing links to copyright protected music. The overturn in the ruling, however stated that the links provided were downloaded on third-party webservers and not from Baidu themselves. The companies involved with suing Baidu had demanded a formal public apology, termination of service and payment of over $216,000 in "damages".

Baidu had argued that its service provides the same type of services as other search engines in which links are provided for content of third party webservers. In their statment, Baidu representatives said, "If the music companies had won, the whole search engine sector would have ground to a halt".

Score one for the little guy as record labels try every possible angle to reap more money out of its digital battle.

Source:
BBC

Lines of avid gamers stretched around stores like Toys R Us as Nintendo launched its infamous Wii. With about 1.2 million units making it to the western shores, fans like Isaiah "Triforce" Johnson just had to be the first person to own one. So at midnight in New York City, Johnson was ceremoniously rang up by none other than Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aime. Not wanting to squander this opportunity away, Johnson quickly unwrapped his brand new Wii and had Fils-Aime autograph it personally.

Thousands of gamers lined up all around the United States each hoping to be one of the few able to purchase the Wiis in stock. Armed with over twice the amount of units as its competitor Sony which launched two days earlier, Nintendo hopes to make a splash with its North American debut. Nintendo also hopes to lure new gamers into the arena with unique games and unique gameplay mechanics with its motion sensor equipped controller.

The Nintendo Wii launched with a price of $250, in stark comparison to its competitors at $600 for a premium PS3 and $400 for the top of the line Xbox

Source:
Reuters

Sure, you could plug down your hard earned cash for an iPod that can help cure AIDS, but it might not be as slick as iriver's newest clix device. Upgrading to the 4Gb version, iriver will be bringing the general public another ipod contender.

Armed with features like 4Gb of storage, plays music, video and downloadable flash games, 2.2" color display, digital FM tuner, built in voice recorder, up to 50 hours of battery life and much more, iriver definitely has a nifty little device.



Now this isn't to say that Apple doesn't make a good product, but for the price and features, I like the iriver. Although currently not available for purchase from their website (only the previous 2Gb model is for sale at the moment), expect it to be available very soon.

Source:
iriver

Nintendo is preparing for the holiday seasons with announcing that it will have close to 400,000 Wiis on sale in Japan when it launches there on December 2nd. This comes in contrast to console rival Sony who was only able to provide some 100,000 units of it's PS3 due to shortages.

As many already know, the unorthodox move of launching in the United States first on November 19th has not officially given way to details as to how many units will be available to US gamers. The same can be said for it's launch in Europe on December 8th. Although earlier reports showed 1 million US units, Nintendo has been pretty tight lipped as to what their official numbers will be. However Nintendo will have tough competition with Microsoft and Sony both expecting to have huge sales this holiday season. To possibly pad their chances of a profitable season, Nintendo says they will have around 1.5 million units ready for shelves in Japan for its handheld device, the DS.

In related news, Nintendo has hinted that another version of the Wii will make it to market that will be capable of DVD playback. While they once stated at gaming conventions that they did not want to stray from their pure gaming intentions, it appears they are going to try to get the Wii to appeal to a larger audience. Unfortunately, these DVD capable units are only slated for launch in Japan sometime in 2007.

Read more...

Originally scheduled for its UK release this month, Toshiba's HD-E1 and HD-XE1 HD DVD players have been pushed back a month to take care of what is called a "minor reliability issue".

Toshiba had inked a deal with a third party hardware supplier for a few internal components and their testing revealed that these players were not as reliable as they would like. Instead of releasing a bad product to the general public, they've decided to hold off on shipping the units until they can fix the hardware problem.

The HD-E1 was scheduled for this month with the HD-XE1 to come out around christmas time, however both have been pushed back with the HD-E1 being now slated for christmas while the HD-XE1 will hit UK shelves in January 2007.

Of the problem with the players, Toshiba had this to say. "During final production testing of the HD-E1 model HD DVD player this month, Toshiba engineers have identified a minor reliability issue with an outsourced LSI component. This component is being replaced before the HD-E1 is released to consumers."

Specs for the units have not changed however. The HD-E1 boasts playback of pre-recorded HD-DVD, DVD and CD media in 720p and 1080i while the HD-XE1 ups the ante to 1080p and circuitry that converts resolution to 1080p, but not picture quality. The lesser unit sees an HDMI 1.2 port while the latter recieves 1.3 HDMI support.

Read more...

Currently, digital music tycoon Apple is working out the details for a deal with six major airline companies to allow it's very own iPod on major flights.

Now anyone who's taken to the air knows the familiar mantra, "Please turn off all portable electronic devices as they may interfere with flight operations", but that may change. Companies such as Continental, Delta, United, Air France, Air Emirates, and KLM have all agreed to begin installing iPod ports into the seats for passengers to plug into. Additionally, it is said that they are working on a way to stream video media from your iPod directly into the screens situated on the seat backs of the seat in front of you. I, personally cant wait to see reports on the first time someone loads up hardcore porn for all to see.

No details have been released yet as to which class of seating will receive the blessing from Apple, but one can guess where they'll start first. Installations of said ports are scheduled to begin by the middle of next year. Apple's partner in this venture is none other than Matsushita, the corporate headstone behind brands like Panasonic.

Read more...

It appears that the all mighty Sony is yet again hit with pains associated with their hardware launch. For the many people far and wide that can remember back in the days of the PS2 launch, where as little as a few months after purchasing the vaulted unit, were treated with the infamous "Disc Read Error" (myself included... twice); it seems that launch bugs have taken another bite.

Although not on such a grand scale of incapacitation of the disc read error, the new PS3 appears to be suffering from a software glitch that is not allowing it to live up to one of the claims made by Sony during it's many early showings. 100% backwards compatibility. It seems that due to this glitch, almost 200 individual games including the likes of Gran Turismo and Final Fantasy suffer from no audio or graphic glitches when loaded in a PS3. Lists can be found on the Internet outlining at least 192 confirmed games that do not work for the new unit. Although Sony has refused to admit to an exact number, they did reply that they will be issuing an update patch in the very near future to fix this problem.

Sony claims the patch will make its system backwards compatible as it once claimed, but it makes you wonder what happened to the research and development groups during OS testing.

Read more...

Chairman and CEO of Universal Media Group, Doug Morris, released comments about now rival iPod stating "These devices are just repositories for stolen music, and they all know it, so it's time to get paid for it."

Of course this statement comes after UMG just penned a deal with bedfellow Microsoft agreeing to share profits for every new Zune sold on the market. UMG wants to have this deal give off a trickle effect where money from the media devices can filter their way down to the artists themselves to ensure that everyone gets their "fair share". This profit sharing comes in addition to the money they're already going to receive for license fees.

Microsoft is currently working with additional music companies in hopes to ink similar deals, hoping to make profit sharing a regular occurance and get more people on board with the Zune. UMG is set to receive around $1 per Zune sold and has graciously stated that half of the proceeds will filter back to the respective artists.

Source:
Smarthouse

In a recent article, RIAA president Cary Sherman took time out of his busy day full of lawsuits to comment on what he refers to as a gross misinterpretation of Fair Use.

The Fair Use section of the Copyright Act in question is what regularly comes under fire from the record labels and movie industry. It is clearly stated that it serves the best interest of the consumer in that he or she may lawfully consume the content they purchased in the time, place and manner of their choosing. Instead, the recording industry would have consumers pay multiple times for the same content in their fight to restore funding for the artists who make the content available.

Sherman describes Fair Use as an "an undeniably important plank of copyright law," and continuing to say that it is "in danger of losing its meaning." He further goes on to say that Fair Use is intended for criticism, news and scholarship and that "it is certainly not an excuse to boost the sales of electronic devices and services on the backs of hard-working creators."

In the article, Sherman takes direct aim at his archenemy in his quest for digital abolishment, the group known as Digital Freedom. Digital Freedom was launched a few months ago by the Consumer Electronics Association to counter lobbying actions taken by the RIAA and bring the consumer into the limelight and stop further plans on making DRM policies more strict. Digital Freedom holds true to their statement in saying that Fair Use rights are "under attack by the big recording labels and studios, who would ultimately deprive individuals of the right to communicate using digital technology."

Read more...

The time was the late 1990's and during what seemed like a limitless horizon of digital possibilities. Internet companies sprang up out of nowhere and reproduced quicker than the proverbial rabbit. Overpopulation soon became a problem and many corporations were hit by what became collectively known as the dotBomb.

Lycos was one company that, although survived, felt a huge decline in service after that dreaded event. With popularity gaining for places such as Yahoo! and Google, Lycos fell to the wayside in the wake of the next wave of Internet entreprenuers. During it's hayday, Lycos saw success by rejecting a majority share buyout offer for $4 billion, only to accept a $12 billion dollar offer a year later. Hard times hit and the company was offloaded for a mere $95 million to the Korean Daum.

Fast forward to today and Lycos is announcing they want to take two of the most popular types of Internet interaction and meld them together in what they hope becomes a flurishing community. Lycos says they have a good product in their new Lycos Cinema.

Merging the styles of successful sites like YouTube and MySpace, Lycos Cinema hopes to allow users to view streaming video all the while participating in an online chat community. Executives hope that one potential avenue would be simliar to Match.com in which users can go on a virtual movie date before actually meeting each other. One would wonder if they'll provide the virtual slap in the virtual face when someone virtually suggests they have virtual sex after the virtual date.

Read more...

Once known for its massive collection of online music, MP3.com became a huge target for everyone's favorite fun spoiler, the RIAA. After several multi-million dollar lawsuits and a few corporate buy-outs, things are about to change for the once doomed website.

Since it's creation in 1997, founder Michael Robertson faced a several million dollar lawsuit loss at the hands of the RIAA and was later bought by Vivendi Universal Music in 2001. Recently, Vivendi sold the rights to CNet just in 2003. CNet now has worked deals that will give the new MP3.com music downloads from independent artists. This marks a significant change from it's previous format of simply having editorial content and news relating to music.

Source:
Reuters

Just days after it's sell out Japanese launch, the Sony PS3 already has downloadable television content via the Japanese network, So-net.

Details are sketchy at the moment as far as pricing and availability, but from what we can tell, these downloads are available in H.264 format, DRM free and available in resolutions of 720p to 1080p. With the console being so new to the consumers, there's no reports yet as of whether or not this content will be able to be retrieved from the PS3's hard drive.

Since these downloads are only visible on the Japanese based So-net, there's no confirmation on the same type of treatment for U.S. buyers when the console is released in the States on the 17th of November.

Source:
Engadget

Eager consumers hoping to whet their appetites with a Japaneses version of the Sony PS3 that launches in 2 days will be in for a little shock. Apparently this first run of PS3 consoles does not contain the correct firmware to enable it to connect to the Playstation Network hub. Have no fear as the update is fairly simple, if nothing more than just a simple annoyance.

If that doesn't trip your trigger for Sony being the master of release hardware, there's more. The much touted ability to connect the PS3 with a PSP has also run into a bit of a snag. Whether merely software concerns, or yet another attempt at stopping "homebrew" applications on the PSP, users will need to update their PSP to version 3.0 in order to connect to their new PS3s. Unfortunately it seems that this update will not be available until at least the end of November.

Source:
IGN

This morning in Japan, just 2 days before the launch of the Sony PS3, Japanese consumers were treated with an official release of one network download price point for content on Sony's network.

The content is a game called Blast Factor, an answer to the game Geometry Wars, and is set to be priced at 840 yen or approximately $7.00. Taking up about 95 megabytes on the hard drive, it looks like Sony's offerings for digital downloads may carry a bit more payload than those that can be had on the Xbox Live servers.

No pricing information has been released for any other titles as of yet nor for anything outside of Japan.

Source:
IGN