Christopher

Sony Japan has recently issued a replacement program for the mouse we have reviewed (VGP-BMS10/S) and Sony USA has followed up as well. Sony has identified a quality issue with the VGP-BMS10/S Bluetooth Mouse. When inserting batteries into the mouse, a battery terminal of the mouse can break which may cause the mouse to stop working, and under limited circumstances, cause the mouse to overheat. We are contacting customers to request that they stop using the mouse and remove the batteries. Sony will send a return shipping container along with shipping label to return the VGP-BMS10/S. Once your mouse is received, an improved VGP-BMS10/S will be shipped when available (expected early October). The replacement product will be provided at no charge. We apologize for this inconvenience and are always working to improve our quality. If you have any questions, or to arrange for a replacement mouse, please call Sony Customer Support at 1-888-476-6972. View the full article

“The Dr. Oz Show,” a high octane, multi-topic hour-long series hosted by trusted health expert, best-selling author, and world-renowned cardiac surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, premiered in syndication yesterday (check local listings – PDF). Episodes airing during its premiere week feature two of the recently announced “Core Team Oz” guest contributors, fashion and style expert Tim Gunn (”Project Runway”) and fitness specialist Bob Harper (”The Biggest Loser”). Also debuting this week as a member of Core Team Oz is “America’s vet,” Dr. Marty Becker, the popular author and regular veterinary contributor on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America.” What do you think of the show so far? On Tuesday, September 15, “The Dr. Oz Show” focuses on the H1N1 (”swine flu”) virus with “The Next Pandemic: 5 Things You Need to Prepare.” Statistics say that 150 million are at risk and up to 90,000 could die in America alone. The show looks at who is the most susceptible, what the key symptoms are and how to stay safe with five can’t-be-missed, life-saving tips. “The Fountain of Youth: Dr. Oz’s Top 10 Anti-Aging Secrets” airs on Wednesday, September 16. From bug spray to surprises in typical food pantries, Dr. Oz reveals astonishing toxic ingredients that are found every day in American homes that can speed up the aging process. Dr. Oz offers healthier alternatives to these products that can help prevent aging, plus renowned veterinarian Dr. Marty Becker performs a RealAge intervention on an overweight dog and its owner. On Thursday, September 17, fashion expert Tim Gunn makes his first appearance on the show as he provides uplifting makeovers for a mother and daughter, who are breast cancer survivors, plus metabolism boosters, information about what your urine says about your health and bathroom germs that will make you squirm. “Dr. Oz’s Highway to Health Bus with Bob Harper – Part 1″ finishes premiere week for “The Dr. Oz Show” on Friday, September 18 as Dr. Oz’s “Highway to Health” tour bus is revealed. Dr. Oz enlists Harper’s help as he launches one of the show’s big events of the season. Thirty-five people from the land of Oz–Kansas City that is–kick off the first all-American national challenge to add 10 years to one’s life in 60 days. Dr. Oz has served as health expert on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” since 2004, sharing advice with viewers to help them live their best life from the inside out. Dr. Oz has co-authored five New York Times Best Sellers, and has a regular column in Esquire magazine and is a contributing editor to O, The Oprah Magazine. He is also the host of a daily talk show on Sirius XM Radio’s “Oprah Radio.” Dr. Oz is vice-chair of the Department of Surgery and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University. He directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital and performs 250 heart operations annually. His research interests include heart replacement surgery, minimally invasive cardiac surgery, complementary medicine and health care policy. He has authored over 400 original publications, book chapters, and medical books and has received several patents. Cleared in over 99% of the country, “The Dr. Oz Show” is co-produced by Harpo Productions and Sony Pictures Television (SPT) and distributed by SPT. View the full article

Digital SLR cameras are hot. Entry-level SLRs should be small and straightforward, yet many people still find them big and complicated. Just who are these cameras for, and what should they be like? The new “α” gives us some answers, straight from the people in Sony who created the device who faced these issues in photography. Here is the exclusive interview (courtesy of Sony Design) with several of the designers of the Sony A380, A330, and A230 – Masahiro Takahashi, Shingo Kurokawa, Tetsu Sumii, and Kanae Fukamatsu. Takahashi: With the release of the “α900″ last year, the Sony “α” (”alpha”) product line launched in 2006 was finally complete. Now we’re building on this tradition in the second generation to offer new, desirable qualities you won’t find anywhere else. Toward this end, we asked ourselves what we could do through design. You can find some answers in the accessible “α380″, “α330″, and “α230″. Trying to rewrite the book on SLR cameras is both bold and difficult, even if these are entry-level models. SLRs have evolved over the years to meet the tough demands of professionals in reporting and journalism, among other fields. This has influenced many of the unwritten rules of design. Look at the grip, for example. Its size and shape makes the camera easy to handle even with large, heavy lenses mounted. Important dials and buttons are within reach, when you’re looking through the viewfinder, and conveniently shaped. Even SLRs for novices share this professional heritage. We can admire past chapters in the history of camera manufacturing, and this design seems fitting for an age when SLRs were exclusively for people determined to produce professional shots and master the traditions of photography. But as cameras became more common in general, attitudes in the market have changed. Browse popular camera magazines or photography blogs and you’ll find perfectly composed shots next to ordinary snapshots. Rather than honing their skills for specific kinds of photography, more people are discovering how enjoyable cameras can be as they learn how to frame everyday scenes or retouch images. Their shots reveal that new users’ reasons for picking up an SLR are changing. Cameras better suited to this market, the emerging generation of photographers, was our goal in development. Some of you interested in SLRs have been put off by bulky cameras or complicated controls. Through design, we wanted to give you a gentle push. We were determined to offer current novices the purest form of what they’ve been looking for, after repeated surveys and discussions took us past the unwritten rules of design. Indeed, responding to user needs must be a starting point in camera design, and we believe entry-level SLRs should have been like this all along. Sumii: Simpler and more compact. New digital SLR users value these qualities, and that’s what we sought to deliver. We also knew that more young women appreciate how fashionable classic cameras can be. With these trends in mind, we rejected the modern SLR shape, with flowing surfaces forming a solid, organic whole. Instead, new “α” cameras are modeled after classic film cameras. After all, the iconic look everyone recognizes, combined with clean, clear controls, epitomizes camera design. You’ll notice the classic shape when you see the new models from above. The basic shape is straightforward, with the lens housing intersecting an oval body. Even the mode dial is carefully designed to fit neatly into this shape. This approach defies the notion in SLR cameras that the bigger the mode dial, the easier it is to use. Beginners tend to watch the LCD monitor as they operate camera controls. It’s easier to keep holding the camera in both hands and use only your thumb to turn the dial, without using your fingers. So there’s no need to have the mode dial stand out. In fact, we were also motivated to do this because the understated appearance is more user-friendly. A camera that looks invitingly easy to pick up is more compelling. Sumii: The grip sets these models apart. SLR grips are usually larger, with a more complex shape for a better hold on the camera. But on smaller, lighter cameras, there’s no need to make it so big (except for professionals who keep giant lenses on hand). That’s why the grip on these models has a new shape, as small as possible while still feeling comfortably secure in your hand. Your first impression, if you only hold the camera from the side as you would regular SLRs, is that the grip might be slightly inadequate. But try holding the camera in position for shooting, with your finger resting on the shutter button. I’m sure it will feel reassuringly secure in your hands, with your fingers resting upright firmly against the camera. It took countless prototypes to arrive at this grip size and shape, and our testing involved many users with hands of all sizes. Finding the optimal shape on a scale of less than 1 mm was hard work. You may notice this when you pick it up, but a grip this small fits perfectly in your hand because we put the shutter button on the camera body instead of the grip. Holding the camera with your fingers upright also prevents any discomfort from your nails against the camera body (something women with long nails will appreciate), and there’s no need to worry about scratching the camera. We took a cue from SLR cameras of a bygone era for this style, where the grip serves as a finger rest and the shutter button is on the camera body. Shapes and materials were carefully designed. The “α330″ is covered with a rubberized material in a checkered pattern instead of genuine textured leather. In effect, it’s a classic camera with modern flair. And although we believe “simple is best” in many respects, we knew that people who pick up an SLR won’t be satisfied if it’s too elementary as simple as compact camera, for example. Balancing these conflicting goals was one of the challenges of this project. Kurokawa: Some media reports describe the user interface of these models as being updated, but in fact, the basic framework is the same. We didn’t want existing owners of “α” cameras to be confused if they pick up one of these. So within this framework, we made the cameras more accessible to beginners by refining the support features and feedback from user operations. One example is how the monitor display responds to mode dial operations. You can recognize the list of modes by icons, so you can choose the desired mode while keeping your eyes on the monitor. You’ll also know what effects are possible in each mode, because this is described in words and pictures by the help system. Cyber-shot users are already familiar with this, but we edited the support information to entice owners to explore their camera and see what SLR cameras are capable of, in creative expression. You can also choose your favorite background color or one that matches the camera body, from four options, and the function menu icons are now more intuitive. These touches make the overall interface more accessible. But besides ensuring easy operation, we also focused on another key role of these entry-level models: reinforcing your understanding of basic shooting techniques. Among these, exposure control is major advantage of SLR cameras. We want you to explore the various ways your shot can be rendered, so we created setting screens with graphical representations of aperture and shutter speed. Suppose you want to change the background blur. Even if you don’t know terms such as exposure, aperture, or depth of field, just look at the icons and turn the dial. Because setting values for aperture and shutter speed are interrelated, you’ll gain a basic understanding about exposure naturally as you use the camera. Fukamatsu: Stylish black inevitably comes to mind as an SLR color. Still, this is from our tacit belief that the tools of reporting or journalism shouldn’t stand out. Surely entry-level cameras can reflect their owner’s sense of style more than this. Body colors and textures in these new models will appeal to women (a new user segment) and men alike. They match gold and silver jewelry, sleek mobile phones, and other accessories nicely. These fashionable cameras hold their own against handbags and outfits women adore. We chose two color options, after careful consideration from a variety of perspectives and testing based on market research: versatile black, which matches fashion of all kinds, and a premium brown. But either one would have been rather boring if we’d only covered the body in one hue. And at the other extreme, the cameras would be too overbearing with a strong, two-tone color scheme. For a sophisticated air of luxury, we used a tone-on-tone color scheme for the “α380″ and “α330″. The black version also makes a stylish impression, from the combination of the metallic top cover and jet-black textured surfaces. This metallic sheen is even more noticeable in the brown version, and matching lenses enhance its luxuriousness. We tend to imagine cameras in use, in situations where we’re taking pictures. Actually, we’re not shooting most of the time. The appearance of cameras should excite us even when they’re not in use, and entice us to pick them up; that’s a worthy goal in design. I hope alluring colors and textures will always be one thing people appreciate about entry-level “α” models. Takahashi: Traditions in SLR cameras run deep. To respect these traditions, manufacturers often assign designers knowledgeable about professional models to design beginner models as well. Satisfying the needs of both savvy camera aficionados and beginners takes thoughtful innovation and a lot of hard work. I certainly value this approach, but on the other hand, it limits the chance for inspired design in line with the attitudes and shooting styles of current beginners. That’s why this time, we worked with designers who were not entrenched in SLR traditions as we explored directions in design and issues in usability through objective discussions and ongoing market research. The new entry-level “α” models that emerged from this work do show a different direction in SLR camera design than what we’ve seen to date. Although veteran photographers may feel they are incomplete, that’s because these models were designed for users who could not commit to SLR cameras until now. Our decisions were inevitable, and they support both the next generation of photographers and the future of photography. Cameras that look small and straightforward invite anyone to pick up an α SLR casually and enjoy capturing many shots. These beginners may capture impressive and unexpected shots, which will motivate them to pursue their creative vision and learn more about cameras. This series of captivating events is what we sought to provide through this design work. From the start and as a matter of basic policy, Sony has designed experiences beyond products. In this sense, I’m proud that the models we’ve introduced are full of ideas and values worthy of the Sony “α” tradition. View the full article

Sony Ericsson’s marketing engine is full steam ahead with a rather bold claim that they are going to change the way you listen to music forever, all starting on September 21st. I’m a bit skeptical here about how they will do this, considering the only information is flash animation of some dweeb with headphones drinking a soda. At least the VAIO team has it right by showing off some odd angle of a product when they tease something that’s coming soon. I’m reminded of a Sony Ericsson patent filed years ago where you could listen to music on a portable device without cords, bluetooth, and so forth – the music transferred via electric signals traveling through the body. It was an amazing idea at the time despite the maximum transmission rate of 48kbps ATRAC3plus, but if there was a large enough investment who knows how much this idea could have advanced. I doubt we’ll be seeing that on the 21st, but the main tagline of this promotion is “Put your ears in control.” Maybe its a way to control the music functions of a phone through our ears, or the addition of a large streaming media service. View the full article

I would love to pull up to an emissions test station here in the States with this thing! They would faint.

This Is It was a planned series of 50 concerts by Michael Jackson to be held at the The O2 arena in London. The shows were scheduled to begin in July 2009 and continue through March 2010, which would have totaled over a million in attendance and injected a billion into the UK’s economy. It was an enormous boost for London, and ticket sales surprised everyone – it’s impossible to deny the cultural phenomenon for Michael was back after all tickets sold out in mere hours. Unfortunately, the singer died in a tragic drug overdose that has sparked enormous controversy and greivance towards the fallen entertainer, still known to many as the “King of Pop.” Last night during the MTV Music Awards, a trailer was shown for the upcoming “This is It” film – based on more than 80 hours of concert footage that was recorded by the concert promoter, AEG Live. The film is due to arrive in theaters on October 28th for a limited two week run and is distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Here is the exclusive trailer: View the full article

Fresh off winning a CEPRO award, Engadget has posted a video of the BDP-CX7000ES in action. The Sony representative walked them through not only the XMB interface, but treated them to seeing how metadata is displayed via Gracenote. While you can’t display metadata tiled on the screen, or change the size of thumbnail’s Sony is supporting third party control system such as Crestron or Control4 which would allow that level of customization on their devices. View the full article

Unchartered 2 has officially gone gold. With a release date set for October 13th, one of Sony?s most anticipated titles of the year will be available in less than a month. In an exciting move for game fans, SCEA and Sony Electronics have partnered together for four sneak peak events. From details provided on PLAYSTATION.BLOG, these are set to be VIP events that will allow

The Tokyo Game Show (TGS) 2009 is held over a four-day period this year between Thursday, September 24 and Sunday, September 27, 2009 10AM to 5PM at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City. TGS is one of the largest shows in the world, and what makes it so unique is that public is given a chance attend the final 2 days. With areas such as the Gaming Science Museum where you can learn about things such as the internal architecture of the current generations consoles to the Sense of Wonder Night where game developers can show off their prototypes that wow the senses. It’s easy to see why it’s one of the most anticipated shows of the year. Delivering the Keynote this year will be Kazuo Hirai/President & Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment. The tentative title of his address will be “Sony Computer Entertainment’s 2009 Strategy”. Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has also released details on their floor presence as well. Sony will be organizing each of it’s product line’s into zones, and we can expect the latest in LED technology from Sony at their various zones to spotlight their games. Here is a list of what is set to be playable: PS3 FIFA 10 Lost Planet 2 Shin Sangoku Musou MULTI RAID Special Pro Evo 2010 Final Fantasy XIII FRONT MISSION EVOLVED Bayonetta Gran Turismo 5 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves God of War III Infamous Heavy Rain (Tentative) Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time Quantum Theory Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Tekken 6 Dragon Ball Rising Blast Assassin’s Creed II According to the rough translation, we can expect 2 unannounced titles as well. PSP Persona 3 Portable Dynasty Warriors 6 Special Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Valkyria Chronicles 2 Phantasy Star Portable 2 Gran Turismo Minna no Sukkiri Minna no Tennis Portable Jigen Kairou Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier SOCOM: U.S. Navy Seals Portable Bleach Soul Carnival 2 MotorStorm Raging Ice LittleBigPlanet Undead Knights God Eater According to the rough translation, we can expect 3 unannounced titles as well. PlayStation Network Angel Senki PixelJunk Shooter Thexder Neo Crystal Defenders Gravity Crush Hustler King Fat Princess LocoRoco Midnight Carnival Play x Catalog x-Radar Portable Disgaea Infinite It’s shaping up to be another amazing how. Stay tuned to Sony Insider for news as it develops. View the full article

There were many displays of high-end components, receivers, televisions and more in the Sony booth at CEDIA Expo 2009, but there was one configuration in particular that really jumped out at me. I think in total I must have seen about 50-75 LCD televisions at the Sony booth, which were mostly W-Series Bravia’s aside from the other specific product displays. It was awesome to be surrounded by all these product demonstrations and I wish I could have brought half of it home with me. 52″ BRAVIA W Series LCD HDTV (KDL-52W5100) = $2299.99 ES Series Network A/V Receiver (STR-DA5500ES) = $1999.99 400 Disc Blu-ray/DVD/CD MegaChanger (BDP-CX960) = $799.99 120GB PS3 Slim (PS398017) = $299.99 Total: $5399.96 View the full article

There were many displays of high-end components, receivers, televisions and more in the Sony booth at CEDIA Expo 2009, but there was one configuration in particular that really jumped out at me. I think in total I must have seen about 50-75 LCD televisions at the Sony booth, which were mostly W-Series Bravia’s aside from the other specific product displays. It was awesome to be surrounded by all these product demonstrations and I wish I could have brought half of it home with me. 52″ BRAVIA W Series LCD HDTV (KDL-52W5100) = $2299.99 ES Series Network A/V Receiver (STR-DA5500ES) = $1999.99 400 Disc Blu-ray/DVD/CD MegaChanger (BDP-CX960) = $799.99 120GB PS3 Slim (PS398017) = $299.99 Total: $5399.96 View the full article

There were many displays of high-end components, receivers, televisions and more in the Sony booth at CEDIA Expo 2009, but there was one configuration in particular that really jumped out at me. I think in total I must have seen about 50-75 LCD televisions at the Sony booth, which were mostly W-Series Bravia’s aside from the other specific product displays. It was awesome to be surrounded by all these product demonstrations and I wish I could have brought half of it home with me. 52″ BRAVIA W Series LCD HDTV (KDL-52W5100) = $2299.99 ES Series Network A/V Receiver (STR-DA5500ES) = $1999.99 400 Disc Blu-ray/DVD/CD MegaChanger (BDP-CX960) = $799.99 120GB PS3 Slim (PS398017) = $299.99 Total: $5399.96 View the full article

This year CEPro started it’s Inaugural CE Pro BEST Awards Products. Edging out some very difficult competition in the Source Components category from Pioneer, Crestron and Control4, Sony’s BDP-CX7000ES (pictures taken at CEDIA Expo 2009) was given the award. The BDP-CX7000ES is the industry’s first 400 disc Blu-ray Disc MegaChanger. When connected to a broadband connection, the CX7000ES automatically downloads and organizes movie and music metadata from the online Gracenote database so that the DVD, BD, or CD can be found quickly and efficiently. Combine that with Full HD 1080p,Super Bit Mapping video processing, Dolby True HD and DTS-MA audio decoding with analog 7.1 channel output, BD-Live 2.0 support,and DVD upconversion and you have quite a package. Congratulations to Sony Electronics Inc. View the full article

Here is a short video overview of Youtube in its Bravia Internet Widget form, found on certain Sony televisions and Blu-ray players (such as the BDP-N460) that support this feature. It’s a pretty cool service, enabling you to enjoy Youtube content just like the website. I was impressed with the overall speed of the service, and found that searching was easy to do with the remote. The video playing while choosing other videos is something that differentiates this service from the competition, along with the implementation of Cross-Service Search. Unfortunately it seems that Sony and other companies who have implemented Youtube playback are not offering YoutubeHD at this time, but it could happen down the road, and be a feature that doesn’t require new hardware. " />" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"> View the full article

Here is another video I shot at CEDIA 2009 of some other Bravia Internet Widgets, including a fully featured Twitter client and a glimpse at Netflix On-Demand. The Twitter client was very well done, and I didn’t get too deep into it because most of us understand how the service works already. After you log in, you see your friend’s tweets,

At CEDIA 2009, Sony announced that they added 25 content partners for Bravia Internet Video, but I was surprised that there was less emphasis that Facebook will also be coming to Sony’s Internet equipped TV’s and Blu-ray players as well. Unfortunately, Sony didn’t have a working demonstration of the service on hand, but we did manage to snag a picture of a poster at the booth that clearly states Facebook is coming in Fall 2009. I’m not sure exactly when that is, but I assume it will be before CES in January, that way CEO/President Sir Howard Stringer can brag about it during his keynote speech. View the full article

Sony has finally come to the market with a streaming 1080P solution for its television line, only found in the XBR10 Bravia, courtesy of the included MBT-WZ5 wireless HDTV reciever. Here is a video we shot this morning of both in action. The TV is stunning and I was most certainly impressed with it – 1080P wireless is crystal clear without hiccups. You cannot tell the difference between wireless and wired with this product. Plus, the wireless transmitter/receiver has enough I/O to satisfy just about any configuration. However, the 52″ costs $4,999, and the 46 is looking to be about a thousand less so this will be limited to the true playboys out there. Here’s the obligatory Mentos comparison, a Sony staff member idea: " />" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"> Please note in the picture above that the glass behind the TV is just part of the stand at the booth, and is NOT a part of the TV. It also doesn’t glow all those kind of colors underneath. Don’t mind Justin Timberlake’s Cry Me a River playing in the background of the movie – it was sound from another booth showing off their speakers (this happens often at CEDIA). Here are the key specs: 16:9 Full HD 1080p resolution panel (1920×1080) Edge Lit LED backlight (1,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio) Bravia 1080p Wireless 7 HD inputs (HDMIx4, Componentx2, PC Input x1) Motionflow 240hz technology Bravia Internet Video/Widgets Bravia Engine 3 DLNA View the full article

Peter Berg confirmed to MTV that Charlize Theron will be returning for the sequel to Hancock. At the close of the first film,

There are always a ton of features found in Sony ES components and receivers, but at CEDIA EXPO 2009 Sony was showing off how exactly some of this technology works. I was very interested in hearing more about Super Bit Mapping and the HD Reality Enhancer technology because I had always found the terminology a little difficult to comprehend. I think Sony should show off some of the demo videos they had at CEDIA on Sonystyle. Super Bit Mapping smoothes out background shadow and color gradients, and HD Reality Enhancer sharpens moving edges to create the finest video output available from Sony. Let’s talk about Super Bit Mapping. These aren’t the most scientific pictures, but I can tell the difference. It really is an amazing technology that can totally solve the old problem of gradients not appearing smooth as they naturally should. I think that this would even impress someone who has seen Blu-ray without this technology. Here’s how you adjust it and here are the results. Can you tell the difference? Click to enlarge. Here is Super Bit Mapping off: Super Bit Mapping at Standard: Super Bit Mapping at High: Also, some ES units have the ability to do 14 bit picture processing through the HD Reality Enhancer. This entails smoothing of color gradients, enhancer (detail reproduction), and film grain reduction. What’s unique is that I’ve finally been able to get a picture (below) of what it looks like when you are adjusting this setting. It is pretty wild. It’s cool to see how the original 8-bit video signal can be transformed by the Pixel by Pixel Scene Analyzer, which results in a reproduced 14 bit video signal. Basically, it’s a type of upscaling that some would overlook but I think the difference is very noticeable. I could tell in certain demonstration sequences that when this setting was adjusted higher versus off that there was much more clarity, color equality and so forth and an overall more detailed experience. View the full article

News from CEDIA 2009 continues to roll in. Two new projectors have been announced that are aiming to satisfy two segments of the market. Appealing to the enthusiast with the added features of the VPL-VW85 and those looking to upgrade their cinema experience on a budget with the VPL-HW15. According to Sony Style the VPL-VW85 is available for pre-order with an estimated ship date of 10/22/09 and the VPL-HW15 is showing as in stock with an estimated ship date of 09/18/2009. Notes by Christopher: I saw several VPL-VW85’s in person at CEDIA 2009 and it was outstanding. They had a really cool theater room with a curtained entrance that was very dark inside. A VPL-VW85 hung overhead showing Speed Racer in Blu-ray on a sweet projection screen. This was very humbling to me because I have always considered Speed Racer to be one of the best reference discs for showing off Blu-ray quality. It is absolutely lush in colors and fast paced action. For what it’s worth, sorry about the blurry picture above but it was very dark. It was a great impromptu standing room theater. I spoke to several installer reps in the room with us and they were pretty amazed by the quality, and they conversed their thoughts. The comment I remember the most was one fellow saying that this had the picture of a $27k projector. They were very surprised at the quality for $8,000 – these were obviously people who installed such equipment in high end environments and commercial venues often. This projector could really disrupt the market at its price range. To be honest, I haven’t had much experience in this department but have always found projectors to be the ultimate home experience. Now they have them with 120hz technology, which is even more interesting. I remember talking to someone else and they said the most important thing is that this is probably another highly reliable Sony projector. Apparently Sony has a very good reputation in this market with their projectors, not only for unreal quality but also excellent long term problem-free operation. Sony also showed off a VPL-VW85 with a Panamorph anamorphic lens system, which displays the image at 2.40:1 cinema widescreen. Details and prices are below. VPL-VW85 – $7999.99 Full HD 1080p, 3 SXRD™ 1920 x 1080 panels Motionflow™ 120Hz refresh rate Up to 120,000:1 contrast ratio 800 ANSI lumens 200W ultra-high-pressure lamp BRAVIA Engine™ 2 Advanced Iris 3 VPL-HW15 – $2999.99 I didn’t really get to see this one, but I imagine that it is probably just as brilliant as the VW85 but does not have 120hz technology. Full HD 1080p 3 SXRD™ 1920 x 1080 panels Up to 60,000:1 contrast ratio, Brightness of 1,000 ANSI lumens 200W ultra-high-pressure lamp BRAVIA Engine™ 2 Advanced Iris 3 1.6x zoom lens View the full article

In a press release, Sony stated that PS3 sales have increased 300% since the price drop: On September 1, the new 120GB PlayStation 3 hit retail stores, an incredible entertainment value for consumers at the new price point of $299. Our top retailers have reported a 300% lift in PS3 hardware sales and an increase of 140% in total hardware revenue across the PlayStation portfolio when comparing the first week of September to the week before the $299 price adjustment. Concurrently, the launch of a new PS3 marketing campaign, ?It Only Does Everything,? will continue to drive consumer education and awareness to the expansive PS3 benefits and features throughout the holiday season. This is definitely excellent news. In the same press release Sony sighted

At the 2009 Sony Demo Convention, Sony unveiled a demo of x-Radar Portable for the PlayStation Portable. x-Radar integration allows individuals to interface with Sony Style?s Petamap service which provides social mapping services to internet connected devices including PSPs, PCs and navigation devices. Users can find the locations of cafe?s, noodle shops, or places of interest that have been tagged to the map. After a connection is made via WLAN to obtain the map, utilizing the ?Place Engine? the current location is identified via the WLAN or GPS.

Sony and RealD have been working together to show off 3D content quite often in 2009 – during Sony’s keynote at CES 2009, they showed off several movie trailers in 3D. Sony and RealD showed off 3D again at the CES booth with the PS3, and also during the BCS Championship Game aired live in 3D at the theater in the Paris Hotel at Las Vegas. I’ve seen all of those experiences, and they were incredible, but what was really fascinating to me was those were all simple polarized solutions. Sony really shocked alot of people recently when they announced that they would be fully embracing 3D in 2010, employing active shutter 3D glasses to deliver an unparalleled entertainment experience. Not many people understand the science behind this ongoing revolution in 3D technology. Active (LCD) shutter glasses are glasses used in conjunction with a display screen to create the illusion of a three dimensional image, an example of stereoscopy. When you watch a TV with these glasses, you get a true sense of dimensionality. The glasses contain liquid crystal and a polarizing filter that has the property to become dark when voltage is applied, but are otherwise transparent. The glasses are controlled by IR, RF, BT transmitters that send timing signals to that little dot between the eyepieces of the glasses, by a device like the one pointed out by the arrow in the picture above taken at Sony’s booth at CEDIA EXPO 2009. The glasses alternately darken over one eye, and then the other, in synchronization with the refresh rate of the screen, while the display alternately displays different perspectives for each eye, using a technique called alternate-frame sequencing. In the picture below, you can see that these glasses have channels A and B, and an option to turn off the 3D mode. It’s amusing is that when you see these glasses they seem mostly ordinary, but have such unique technology within. I found the experience to be satisfying, but obviously it was still a demonstration at this time – in my opinion it felt like it was very close to the final product. I’m not so sure how much farther they could tweak things to truly make it work better after what I have seen earlier this year. There was definitely a sense of dimensionality around people moving around, such as when they showed a football match in 3D. It’s hard to explain the experience, but moving objects do pop out at you, enabling a sense of direction in the viewing experience that was previously impossible. They also showed Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune footage, with gameplay, and I really felt that 3D gaming on the PS3 combined with a super accurate motion controller could be really mind blowing. The 3D experience I saw with the BCS Championship Game in the theater was much more impressive than the LCD screen experience, though. A smaller 3D presentation is just not as overwhelming as a large screen theater. What makes it additionally tough is that you want to enjoy any of this in the future, your current TV will not be compatible with this 3D technology and you will have to buy a 3D equipped Bravia. What’s strange is that RealD only sells the CrystalEyes 3 (ugly) and 5 (very similar to these)on their site, but the glasses at Sony’s CEDIA EXPO 2009 booth was CrystalEyes 4. I’d never used these type of 3D glasses before, and very similar models are listed for $600 on RealD’s site. It will be very interesting to see how much Sony are going to sell glasses like these for, and what kind of partnership they will have with RealD when they go to retail. It obviously can’t be cheap. It would be very cool to see something like this become so mainstream that fashion designers adopt the glasses, and you see like Gucci, Prada, D&G glasses with this technology. These active shutter 3D glasses are definitely more stylish than before, though. Check out this ancient picture from 1994, from an unknown event in New York that I dug up with Filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud, ex-basketball star Magic Johnson & at the time, Sony of America CEO Michael Schulhof all wearing huge active-shutter headsets. You can see the receiver circle at the top. Could you imagine if those were still around today? Thank god things have toned down a bit. View the full article

Sony’s new “Network Blu-ray Disc Player,” model number BDP-N460 ($249), with Youtube, Netflix, and an excellent search feature called “Cross Server Search” (all featured in the Video section of the XMB) was outstanding to observe at CEDIA EXPO 2009 but not really a surprise to me. I remember back during CES 2009 Sony had showed off several items that suggested Internet streaming functionality in a Blu-ray player. I was very skeptical, due to obvious circumstances, that Sony would really be able to execute an attractive solution for streaming services by the end of the year as they promised. It is difficult to deliver Youtube effectively on a television; you have to be able to use it just as quickly as you can on a web browser or it becomes tedious. While I don’t think Sony has totally nailed it, it is really useful and fun. I think that people will use this kind of service to mess around when there is nothing on TV. It sure feels great to say that we have this kind of technology here in the USA after Japan has had it so long. However, there are some requirements for this stuff. You need to connect the BDP-N460 to the Internet via Ethernet, and at least a 2.5Mbps Internet connection, and 10Mbps for HD content). That doesn’t bother me at all, but I could see this being a problem for some people. There will be some people that can’t run an Ethernet cord from point A to point B. It is a little strange that they couldn’t implement WiFi with this device, but they do recommend taking advantage of the built-in software that makes it easy to connect this player to your existing wireless network by pairing an optional Linksys Wireless Ethernet Bridge (WET-610N) to connect to your home router (each sold separately). You don’t need a computer to set it up. Sony collaborated directly with Cisco, and this Blu-Ray player will bridge with A/B/G/N. However, from the marketing side of things, it is disappointing that there won’t be any bundles, or vouchers offered by Sony for discounts on the Linksys device they recommended. The Cross Server search is nice, and here is basically what it looks like. You choose it from the XMB, then type in via remote keypad the term you want to search for. It searches all of the bundled services at once. Very nice. We will be shooting video of this process and feature it in an upcoming post. Let’s see, how about we search for.. Here are sample search results for Youtube. You can either watch a clip in full resolution (I think it actually handles Youtube HD well), or preview it while browsing other clips. The whole experience was very fast, obviously because we were at a convention center, but I was definitely surprised with how quickly we were going through Youtube. There are many other worthwhile hardware and software features that make this an attractive Blu-ray player (which you can read about here). This is a true Blu-ray player, and capable of delivering rich 1080P content and can handle Dolby TrueHD and dts-HD Master Audio. Also, Youtube is not the only service available for it. There is actually in fact 25 content partners on board with this device, all of which you can see below in this handy chart: All in all, the only major flaws I can honestly see with the N460 is lack of WiFi, but I can see why it wasn’t implemented to keep costs down. It would also be nice if they offered compatibility with wireless keyboards somehow – I was told that wasn’t possible. Typing via remote is nice, but I would expect other options than just that. Also, why isn’t there a web browser? How hard would it be to enable what the web browser that the PS3 has in a Blu-ray player like this? They should make it so if I want to browse the web,

Sony has updated the PSP system software version to 6.00. The firmware update is pretty mundane, and includes the following: Settings New colors have been added under (Theme Settings) > . Game [Group Content] has been added to the options menu.You can now select either [by Expire Date] or [All] as the method for displaying content that is saved on Memory Stick? media. Network A security patch was added to address security vulnerabilities in the system software. What features would you like Sony to add to the PSP software? View the full article