Christopher

Sony settled a patent-infringement lawsuit filed by the California Institute of Technology over digital cameras. Terms weren’t disclosed in a federal court filing in the case. “CalTech hereby informs the court that it has resolved its dispute with Sony Electronics and Tokyo-based Sony Corp.,” the school said in a June 23 filing in Los Angeles. CalTech sued six digital-camera companies, including Canon Inc. and Nikon Corp., seeking royalties on 11 patents related to digital-camera technology. Some of the inventions relate to pixel sensors that improve electronically transmitted images and came from research CalTech did for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, according to information on the patents. In separate June 23 filings, Nikon and Panasonic Corp. denied CalTech’s infringement claims, said the patents are invalid and accused the school and inventors of misleading the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in order to obtain the patents. Canon, Olympus Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. haven’t yet responded to the complaints, according to the court docket. Michael Shore, a lawyer for CalTech with Shore Chan Bragalone in Dallas, said the university reached basic settlement terms with another party in the case and court papers may be filed in two to three weeks. Story courtesy LA Times/Bloomberg. View the full article

I am sure the whole world has been sadded and shocked by an unexpected passing of the Legend and King of Pop – Michael Jackson. Sony Music

That’s some title, huh? As paparazzi as it sounds, it’s true – according to a recent state of Sony article by Fortune Editor at large Richard Siklos, it’s a tough time being a Sony CEO right now. With the balance sheets doing cartwheels, it has been necessary for Sir Howard Stringer, CEO and President of Sony, to stick around Tokyo and take care of business. This excellent article by Fortune explores the current state of Sony and its products, the transformation process thats occuring, and other little tidbits. The article mentions a new wireless Sony Reader product, which we quoted below. The most surprising statements were of Stringer’s living situation and overall dedication to the job. Here’s some choice quotes: These days Howard Stringer makes his home in a hotel suite in an affluent Tokyo neighborhood not far from Sony headquarters. It’s a comfortable but far from palatial space consisting of a bedroom, bathroom, and decent-size living-dining area with a small desk that he has outfitted with a PC and fax machine. Among the few personal touches are photos of his family — his wife, Jennifer, and two children live in the country outside London — some books he is reading, and an intricate Spider-Man sculpture made of chocolate that the staff of the hotel gave him on his 67th birthday in February.The confection, inspired by Sony’s hit movie franchise and which Stringer is quite touched by, sits in a plastic case on the coffee table by the sofa. While he could not bring himself to eat it — and it’s starting to get a bit discolored at this point — he can’t bring himself to throw it out either. With hotel occupancy down amid the deepest Japanese recession since World War II, Stringer is a coveted guest. “This room keeps getting cheaper and cheaper,” he says. “They give an incredible price.” Stringer chose hotel living over buying or renting a home in Tokyo because he likes having the bustle of people around him. Besides, he never really planned to be here quite so much: When he became Sony’s chairman and CEO in 2005, the plan was for New York, his home for four decades, to remain his primary residence, and for him to jet to England (where he is Sir Howard) on weekends. He expected to spend only half his time in Tokyo, where he is Stringer Kaicho (chairman). Sony’s woes, especially since the global economic crisis rattled Japan, have led to his staying here 11 of the year’s first 14 weeks — a situation compounded by his hospitalization over the Christmas holidays with an intestinal malady. “I feel like I’m on the fringes of my old life,” he says. “If I had this to all do over again, I don’t know sometimes.” Doesn’t this sound like the plot of the greatest reality TV show of all time? Let’s watch a Welsh Knight in Japan lose his mind in the daily life of a CEO at Sony. It sure would be really strange to visit Tokyo and stay in a hotel, and you happen to pass by Howard Stringer in his pajamas getting ice from the ice machine. You think after weeks of staying in a hotel room you would just move on to an apartment, or maybe build a new one on the top of the numerous Sony buildings in Japan. They should make an apartment for him in the Sony Building, and people can tour his place while he’s working to bring more visitors. “Here honey, get a picture of me and the kids with the chocolate Spider-Man sculpture.” All joking aside, it does worry me to see that Stringer faced stomache complications over the Holidays last year. I sincerely hope everything is better since then – I couldn’t even tell anything was wrong with him when he spoke during Sony’s keynote at CES 2009. There’s other delicious items in this Fortune artcile for you to read, such as: At the same time, he reconfigured the company into two new core groups and elevated four English-speaking Japanese executives in their late forties and fifties — relative greenhorns by Japanese standards — to run them. Corporate troubleshooter and former TV division head Hiroshi Yoshioka, the eldest of the group at 56, now oversees a $50 billion consumer products group that includes TVs, stereos, DVD and Blu-ray players, and camcorders. Kazuo “Kaz” Hirai, 48, a marketing whiz who had been running Sony’s games business, now oversees a much broader networked-products and services group that is home to PlayStations, Vaio computers, and Sony’s Walkman audio line. It also is tasked with the critical job of creating a new set of digital services that will tie all of Sony’s gadgets and gizmos together. Kunai Suzuki, 48, is Hirai’s deputy and will run the Vaio business but will also have responsibility for incubating a next generation of devices for this networked world. Rounding out the four is Yoshihisa “Bob” Ishida, 49, a well-regarded strategist with an outspoken style whose assignment is to revitalize the TV-display business. Stringer, in a typically impromptu moment at a press conference in February announcing the changes, dubbed the core of his new team the “four musketeers.” Beyond the four, Stringer created centralized corporate functions like manufacturing and procurement, and hired an IBM executive, George Bailey, as the company’s first “chief transformation officer.” And other big but less central businesses, like Sony’s film, music, and financial arms, still report to Stringer. Finally, after years of promise, it finally seems that Sony is propelling everything it has together and will soon build devices that are completely interconnected. Does this mean that the Playstation Store will soon become the Sony Store? It gets better. Sony believes it has two advantages that its rivals lacked: it already has a big presence in people’s living rooms, and has a template for new Net-based businesses in the form of PlayStation Network, the online service that runs with the game system. The network has 23 million users, and in the U.S. it has been selling TV shows and films as well as music and games. An online service called Life With PlayStation, introduced last year, gives news feeds, weather, and camera feeds from around the world. Another recent product, PlayStation Home, is a virtual world designed to create communities among gamers. The team of engineers that designed PlayStation Network, like dozens of others around the company, now reports to Tim Schaaff, an Apple veteran who Stringer hired as Sony’s first head of software development. One other nugget of gold is the announcement that a new wireless version of the Sony Reader will be coming soon: The Sony Reader is the most jarring recent example of the way Sony’s internal structures and culture have led to missed opportunities. The device had first been developed in isolation by a group of engineers in the home-audio division; that group’s urgent focus was to try to revitalize the Walkman brand in the face of the iPod onslaught. Stringer, who collects rare books, was a strong proponent of the Reader, but earlier versions of the product fizzled in the Japanese market. Limited enthusiasm in Japan curtailed the project, even though more than three-quarters of Sony’s sales are outside the country. Stringer blames himself for not pushing harder for the Reader — which also lacked Kindle’s deep publisher relationships — and vows to catch up with a new wireless model. “It rankled me,” he says of the episode, “because it made me aware of the limitations of my power.” View the full article

Sony announced its plans to stage a world event called Twilight Football. As the hour of twilight moves across the world, a series of seven matches will begin. All seven games will take place on 22nd September 2009, the Autumnal Equinox (northern hemisphere) and Vernal Equinox (southern hemisphere). The matches will be taking place at stunning, specially chosen locations in: Italy, France, the UK, Spain, Argentina and Australia, with the Twilight Football grand final happening at Soccer City, Johannesburg, the venue for the final of 2010 FIFA World Cup. Each match takes place in a location chosen to provide a spectacularly beautiful background for a truly unique activity. Teams of any level from across the world will have the opportunity to take part in this once in a lifetime experience. There will be a number of local competitions run with multiple media partners for potential Twilight Football players to enter, ensuring that the event has a truly international flavor. A specific Twilight Football team will be sourced using social media channels like Twitter and YouTube, with players given the chance to display the skills they will be showing off in front of the world’s media. FIFA have also very generously agreed to supply the nine referees and refereeing assistants required for the matches. Finally, a specially selected pool of photographers and video makers are also attending each event to record these momentous games. Photographers will be able to try out Sony’s new range of products featuring its Exmor CMOS sensor. These models excel in capturing exceptional detail in lowlight, with two separate new shooting modes that reduce image noise when you’re shooting in challenging conditions. Anti Motion Blur mode will show its worth at the Twilight Football events, superimposing six frames to produce crisp, composite images with less subject blur. The aptly-named Handheld Twilight mode also grabs a high-speed burst of six frames, combining them to create a single optimised image with dramatically reduced noise levels. Sony’s Alpha range packs powerful specifications into an entry-level DSLR, perfect for people taking their photography habit to the next level. “Twilight Football is one of the most ambitious projects we have ever undertaken, with seven amazing games of football taking place in highly unusual locations around the world”, says James Kennedy, Brand Communications Director at Sony Europe. “We wanted to show the world what they have been missing when shooting images in the most picturesque light that nature has to offer. There is no better way to do this than by using the international language of football. This is an event to show real people the benefits of Exmor CMOS technology, giving them the opportunity to capture firsthand some of the most stunning locations in the modern world.” View the full article

So, the fabled Sony X-Series Touchscreen Walkman, NWZ-X1051 (16gb) and NWZ-X1061 (32gb) has been available to US consumers for a few days now. After all of the hype, the details, and the speculation, what do you think? Can someone also comment on the Slacker radio experience? I have the application for the iPhone and it is better than Pandora in my opinion. How about the web browser? Is the noise canceling great? p.s. SonyStyle USA’s model number for this device is the longest we’ve seen yet – NWZ-X1061FBSMP. Wow! Picture is of a Black Ice NWZ-X1060 courtesy of goodyoga. View the full article

I'm on it. Sorry about that.

Back in April we wrote an exclusive story about Crocodile skinned CS-Series Vaio laptops that were a SonyStyle Japan exclusive. The top of the laptops have a silicon/plastic texture that is molded to look and somewhat feel like real crocodile skin. It was a very unique design and gathered a lot of attention for this unique variation on a laptop, and was the first time in the world any consumer electronics manufacturer had offered anything like this. Well, I happened to notice recently on the SonyStyle blog that they posted a entry titled, “10 Interesting Facts About Crocodiles,” with some random facts about the creature. There was no explanation from the blog’s author, Gina, as to why they put this on the blog except for, “Now you might be wondering why I’m randomly talking about crocodiles on Sony Style. What I can say is that it isn’t random. Stay tuned to learn more.” We don’t have any specific word yet, but Sony may be offering these Crocodile skin laptops in the USA very soon. View the full article

Sony makes every effort to ensure that our products not only meet their own strict quality standards, but also support a positive customer experience. A limited number of NWZ-W202 headphone-style Walkman players may experience performance issues following exposure to sweat or other liquids. Sony Insider originally wrote about this W202 sweat issue a week ago after reading numerous comments around the Internet of users complaining about units malfunctioning during workouts. Sony takes all customer feedback seriously, and have implemented additional safeguards to promote sweat and moisture resistance. They are confident that these measures will ensure that all NWZ-W202 Walkman players support increased customer satisfaction and meet their high quality standards. Most customers who have purchased an NWZ-W202 Walkman player are unlikely to experience problems. We have determined that this only occurs in a limited number of NWZ-W202 players within a certain serial number range. If you have an NWZ-W202 Walkman player, and feel your player has been affected, please see Sony’s eSupport site where you can enter in your 7 digit serial number and see if your affected by this recall. Sony will replace, free of charge, Walkman players for customers who have players within the potentially affected serial number range. View the full article

SonyStyle Japan is partnering with a T.I.S Corporation to provide a new DSLR lens rental service available exclusively online. With twenty eight Sony lenses offered, this is an interesting direction for Sony that we’d honestly love to see at other SonyStyle locations across the world. I’ve read similar programs that Sony has offered, including rental of camcorders at SonyStyle Japan stores, but not on this scale. The allowed rental periods are 2 nights and 3 days, or 7 nights 8 days (at a higher cost). SonyStyle Japan customers who have purchased a new α330/α380 will receive a voucher for a free rental (2 nights, 3 days) for select lens models. Prices are pretty conservative, except the enormous 300mm F2.8 G will run you a stunning cost at Y19,800 ($207USD) for a 3 day rental, or Y49,800 ($522USD) for 8 days. Here’s the pricing (Y2,980 = $31USD; Y15,980 = $167USD, see xe.com for more currency conversions): Guest lens (model name) レンタル料金 Rental Rates 延滞料金 Late fees 2 nights 3 days 7 nights 8 days DT 50mm F1.8 SAM(SAL50F18) 2,980 yen 7,980 yen 1,000 yen 28mm F2.8(SAL28F28) 2,980 yen 7,980 yen 1,000 yen 50mm F1.4(SAL50F14) 2,980 yen 7,980 yen 1,000 yen 50mm F2.8 Macro(SAL50M28) 2,980 yen 7,980 yen 1,000 yen DT 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 SAM(SAL1855) 2,980 yen 7,980 yen 1,000 yen DT 18-70mm F3.5-5.6(SAL1870) 2,980 yen 7,980 yen 1,000 yen DT 55-200mm F4-5.6 SAM(SAL55200-2) 2,980 yen 7,980 yen 1,000 yen DT 55-200mm F4-5.6(SAL55200) 2,980 yen 7,980 yen 1,000 yen 75-300mm F4.5-5.6(SAL75300) 2,980 yen 7,980 yen 1,000 yen DT 11-18mm F4.5-5.6(SAL1118) 3,480 yen 8,480 yen 1,000 yen DT 18-250mm F3.5-6.3(SAL18250) 3,480 yen 8,480 yen 1,000 yen 16mm F2.8 Fisheye(SAL16F28) 3,980 yen 8,980 yen 1,000 yen 20mm F2.8(SAL20F28) 3,980 yen 8,980 yen 1,000 yen 100mm F2.8 Macro(SAL100M28) 3,980 yen 8,980 yen 1,000 yen 500mm F8 Reflex(SAL500F80) 3,980 yen 8,980 yen 1,000 yen Vario-Sonnar T * DT 16-80mm F3.5-4.5 ZA(SAL1680Z) 3,980 yen 8,980 yen 1,000 yen DT 16-105mm F3.5-5.6(SAL16105) 3,980 yen 8,980 yen 1,000 yen DT 18-200mm F3.5-6.3(SAL18200) 3,980 yen 8,980 yen 1,000 yen 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 G SSM(SAL70300G) 4,480 yen 9,480 yen 1,000 yen Planar T * 85mm F1.4 ZA(SAL85F14Z) 4,980 yen 15,980 yen 2,200 yen 35mm F1.4 G(SAL35F14G) 5,480 yen 15,980 yen 2,100 yen 135mm F2.8 [T4.5] STF(SAL135F28) 5,480 yen 15,980 yen 2,100 yen Sonnar T * 135mm F1.8 ZA(SAL135F18Z) 5,480 yen 15,980 yen 2,100 yen Vario-Sonnar T * 16-35mm F2.8 ZA SSM(SAL1635Z) 5,980 yen 15,980 yen 2,000 yen Vario-Sonnar T * 24-70mm F2.8 ZA SSM(SAL2470Z) 5,980 yen 15,980 yen 2,000 yen 70-400mm F4-5.6 G SSM(SAL70400G) 8,480 yen 15,980 yen 1,500 yen 70-200mm F2.8 G(SAL70200G) 8,480 yen 15,980 yen 1,500 yen 300mm F2.8 G(SAL300F28G) 19,800 yen 49,800 yen 6,000 yen Wouldn’t it be great if Sony offered this service at their SonyStyle website and stores in the USA? I think that this would bring more consumers by the store and possibly check out other products. View the full article

SonyStyle USA recently put up a new maxed out Vaio P that Stan wrote about earlier today -

A film about the Three Stooges, simply titled The Three Stooges, is scheduled to be released in 2010. The Farrelly Brothers, who have directed smash hits such as There’s Something About Mary, Dumb and Dumber, Kingpin, Me, Myself & Irene are attached to the project, even though their Warner Bros. deal to write and direct the film has expired. First Look Studios, working with C3 Entertainment, will distribute the motion picture. The Farrellys have said that they were not going to do a biopic or remake, but instead new Three Stooges episodes set in the present day. The film taken to MGM studios will start production in the fall of 2009 to be released in 2010, and will be distributed worldwide by Columbia and Sony Pictures. Jim Carrey is set to play Curly, with the actor already making plans to gain 50 pounds to approximate the physical dimensions of Jerome “Curly” Howard. The studio is zeroing in on another Oscar-winner, Benicio del Toro, to play Moe. The studio had previously set Oscar-winner Sean Penn to play Larry, but Penn has since dropped out to spend time with his family. Actors Paul Giamatti, Simon Pegg and Zach Galifianakis are rumored to be replacing Penn. Farrelly hasn’t mentioned much about its status aside from, “It will be three half-hour episodes rolled into an hour-and-a-half movie,” he said. “Each part picks up where the other one left off. They look the same, talk the same and act the same, but it takes place in the present, and we wrote new material.” There is some lingering skepticism that Penn’s departure could cause a “domino effect” on the other actors. View the full article

Sony, fresh from forecasting first back-to-back annual losses in half a century, is making “steady progress” in cutting costs, Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer said recently in front of thousands at the 92nd Shareholders Meeting in Tokyo. The company is eliminating 16,000 jobs, shutting factories and reducing the number of suppliers to cope with the global recession. Sony last month forecast it would post a second straight annual loss for the first time since its 1958 listing. The meeting essentially allowed shareholders to give final approval regarding some new additions to the board of directors, and give Stringer even more power as President. “My role is to recover the business,” Stringer, 67, told shareholders today at their annual meeting in Tokyo. Sony aims to marry “brilliant hardware engineers” with “equally strong software,” said Stringer, who’s chairman and chief executive. He wants to avoid losing out to rivals’ products with better, more advanced functions, as Apple achieved with its iPod music player and Amazon did with its Kindle book reader, he said. Stringer, who joined Sony in 1997 and became CEO in 2005, replaced Ryoji Chubachi as president on April 1. The company announced the move in February and said at the time it will combine Vaio computers, Walkman music players and games under Kazuo Hirai, who would focus on creating gadgets that work with each other and connect to the Internet. “We are not going to be beaten again in the network age,” Stringer said today. “This is our challenge and our opportunity and this is why we made the structural change. We have not finished, we have a long way to go.” View the full article

Moneyball is a movie that was set to release in 2011 based on the book Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, a book by Michael M. Lewis, published in 2003, about the Oakland Athletics baseball team and its general manager, Billy Beane. Its focus is the team’s modernized, analytical, sabermetric approach to assembling a competitive baseball team, despite Oakland’s disadvantaged revenue situation. Actor Brad Pitt is attached to play Billy Beane, while comedian Demetri Martin is attached to play Paul DePodesta. However, Amy Pascal (Co-Chairman, Sony Pictures Entertainment) at Columbia has put the upcoming movie

As we mentioned earlier, when summer season hits we would see a new and refreshed VAIO P series. Lo and behold, SonyStyle posted new models for your eyes to see. Noticeable features: price bumped to $999.99 and all the models listed come with a sweet and speedy SSD ranging from 64 to 128Gb. Higher end model packs Intel Processor 1.60 Ghz (I was hoping to see Bluetooth 3.0 too but to no avail) A variety of colors to choose from too, though I just wish they added some decorative options, as plain colors don’t do its justice. Check out all the specs here. Thanks Dharmesh Vasant! View the full article

It wasn’t very long after our eye-opening article “Sony’s NWZ-W202 Wearable Walkman Can’t Sweat It” appeared that Sony’s Marcy Cohen (Senior Manager of Communications) stopped by the blog to leave a note about the situation. It appears that Sony is fully aware of this issue and will be offering a replacement solution before the end of the month for all affected users. Sounds great! Keep an eye on Sony Insider on June 30th for more details. Here’s the official response: We’d like to assure your readers that Sony makes every effort to ensure that our products not only meet our own strict quality standards, but also support a positive customer experience. The comments about the W series Walkman (NWZ-W202), which has been available in the US and Europe since April 2009, involved a small number of W series Walkmans reportedly malfunctioning following exposure to sweat or other liquids. We take all customer feedback seriously, so we have implemented additional safeguards to promote sweat/moisture resistance. We are confident that these measures will ensure all W series Walkman models support increased customer satisfaction and meet our high quality standards. We will provide information for contacting Sony Customer Support and replacement unit availability by Tues. June 30th. We sincerely apologize to our customers for any inconvenience. Thanks, Marcy! View the full article

I couldn’t resist posting this classic picture I recently came across from Sony Electronics photostream on flickr. It’s of Senior VP of Corporate Communications Rick Clancy (now retired) writing a blog post while VP of Corporate Communications Dave Migdal looks on. Little did we all know that Rick would retire months later and Dave would take over as lead blogger at the Sony Community site. View the full article

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will unveil MovieIQ, its latest BD-Live feature for Blu-ray discs this September. This will give fans access to a real-time movie database, with scene-by-scene cast and crew data, music and soundtrack information, and trivia all handled by Gracenote. Every new and major catalog Blu-ray Disc release down the line from the studio will support this feature. “We know many people interrupt their movie-watching experience to look up the filmography of an actor or to find out more about a song playing in the background,” said Lexine Wong, SVP of worldwide marketing for SPHE. “Now through MovieIQ, movie lovers can dive into constantly-updated information about the movie they are watching without leaving their sofa.” The first Blu-ray titles to include the feature will be ‘Angels & Demons’, ‘Easy Rider’, ‘Punch-Drunk Love’, ‘The Quick and the Dead’, ‘Silverado’, and ‘Sex, Lies and Videotape.’ View the full article

It was 25 years ago that Sony DADC started up its CD production facility in Terre Haute, Indiana. The plant which occupied 60,000 sq. feet of space in 1984 now occupies 1.3 million sq feet. In 1984, CD output was 300,000 CDs per day. While today’s outputs are constantly changing, last year, the equipment base was in place to make 500,000 CDs per day. UMD capacity was about 250,000 a day, and DVD capacity was 1.3 million per day. Blu-ray capacity last year was 700,000, and that number will reach about 1 million a day this year. Even as the optical disc industry continues to face challenges, Mitchell says there are plant employees who have worked for the company 24 years, and Sony DADC has been lucky enough not to have had to lay off any one, so far, during this recession. Read more introspective towards the plant, people who run things at Terre Haute, and the optical scene in general at emedialive.com. View the full article

Here’s the cover art from a 1966 Sony Stereo High Fidelity Components color catalog, which shows quiet time around a STR-6050 receiver playing music, a PS-1800 record player and unseen loudspeakers. The catalog featured information about their range of home audio products at the time, which included their TTS-3000A turntable, PUA-237 and PUA-286 tonearms, TA-1120A integrated amplifier, ST-5000F stereo tuner, STR-6120 / STR-6060 / STR-6050 / STR-6040 stereo receivers, PS-1800 turntable system, TA-3400 electronic crossover, SS-3100 & SS-2800 speaker systems, and the TAH-10 headphone adapter. I was able to dig up more images (click to enlarge) of this ancient catalog – the times sure have changed with marketing: View the full article

Masao Morita, the son of the late Sony co-founder Akio Morita, is set to be appointed head of Sony’s film and music divisions at the end of June. Masao will be replacing the outgoing CEO Ken Munakata. Morita, 54, is expected to be named head of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPEJ) and Sony Music Entertainment (SMEJ) in the June appointment of group executives. Masao Morita entered Sony in 1981, after working at J.P. Morgan bank. He served as head of Sony’s audio business division, and in 1997 was appointed a standing corporate officer. From 2004 he served as a director of SMEJ, and was in charge of brand-related strategies. The picture we used for this story is of (from left to right) CEO Sir Howard Stringer, pianist Lang Lang, center, and Masao Morita around the time the Rolly debuted in April 2008. Lang Lang performed for everyone at a special event in New York City and also celebrated a new 3 year sponsorship with Sony. Feel free to leave a caption comment for this image! View the full article

From June 9th to July 17th, the first and second floor of the Sony Showroom housed within the Sony Building in Ginza, Tokyo Japan will have a mock laboratory for visitors to experience. Nothing too scientific will actually be occurring, but more or less a glorified way to try out some of Sony’s products. The “Laboratory of Sony Accessories,” pictured above in a computer mock-up produced by Sony, will offer a room-like atmosphere of elementary school science in 11 different stations. Directions can be found on the Sony Building website. Some of the products on display include wireless audio demonstrations (still a relatively new technology to many out there), a bike mount for a Nav-U, noise canceling headphones, camera/camcorder accessories (gps, zoom mic), and more: View the full article

Sony announced the world’s first digital noise canceling headphones early 2008. However, consumers are still in the dark how the technology really works. Conventional noise canceling systems have relied on analog signal processing. Sony has brought together acoustic analysis technology, digital signal processing technology and transducer technology to create a digital noise canceling system. What are Digital Noise Canceling Headphones? Noise canceling headphones sample ambient (surrounding) noise through a microphone and use signal processing to generate signals that cancel ambient noise. Emitting these canceling signals as sound through a driver unit provides the user with a quiet listening environment. The signal processing system at the heart of noise canceling headphones has conventionally been based on analog technology because of issues relating to processing speed. By introducing digital signal processing, Sony has succeeded in creating a system that offers unique advantages, as described below. Figure 1 illustrates the system found in Sony’s first digital noise canceling headphone, the MDR-NC500D. The headphones operate as a feedback system. A detection microphone located in the housing continually monitors the sound reaching the ears. Output signals (A in Fig. 1) from this microphone are amplified, digitized by the A/D converter, and then sent to the DNC software engine (signal processor). Signals from the music source (B in Fig. 1) are digitized by the A/D converter and then processed by a digital equalizer to achieve the proper frequency characteristics. The signals then enter the DNC software engine, which subtracts the ambient noise from the music source signals and extracts the noise that needs to be cancelled (Signal C in Fig. 1). Signal C then undergoes phase reversal, and the result is played back through the driver together with the music signal, thereby canceling the noise before it can enter the ears. However, if the noise signals that need to be canceled are simply played back after phase reversal, oscillation will occur at relatively high frequencies because of delays in phase reversal as the sound moves along the microphone→noise canceling circuit→driver unit→air→microphone route. The result is a phenomenon known as “howling.” To prevent this, it is necessary to use a filter circuit to eliminate the high frequencies that trigger oscillation. In Sony’s noise canceling, this is achieved through digital signal processing in the DNC software engine, which ensures extremely precise filtering and a dramatic improvement in performance. Conventional analog filters do not provide the necessary performance enhancement because of an inability to provide rapid isolation characteristics. With analog filters, any attempt to achieve stability (anti-oscillation performance) results in the exclusion of effective frequency bands that normally contribute to cancellation. Things got even more complicated with the recent announcement of the MDR-NC300D, which added a S-Master amplifier to the mix: ————————————————– The noises that noise canceling headphones are designed to eliminate include many high-pressure bass sounds not included in normal music sources, such as CDs. To cancel such noise, headphones require the capacity to produce sound pressure strong enough to overwhelm powerful bass sounds. However, headphones are portable devices, and there is a limit to the amount of power that can be provided. To achieve maximum performance with a limited power supply, noise canceling headphones need tuning capabilities that are totally different from the tuning technology used in stereo headphones for normal hi-fi listening. Specifically, they must be able to provide excellent electro-acoustic conversion efficiency at the frequencies that require cancellation (Figure 2). For this reason, when canceling performance is enhanced, there is a tendency for low frequencies to be over-boosted, resulting in sound that is less crisp and clear. Sony solved this problem by also using digital technology in the equalizer circuit positioned ahead of the cancellation circuit. This provides far better S/N performance and equalization precision than could be achieved with an analog equalizer, resulting in a more natural tone balance. A unique feature of the technology used in Sony’s efforts is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) noise canceling. Sony engineers observed that the effectiveness of noise canceling varied according to noise environment. They identified aircraft, trains and buses and offices as the three most common noise environments in which noise canceling headphones are used, and succeeded in creating three noise canceling modes optimized for each environment. With AI noise canceling, the headphones analyze the ambient noise and automatically select the appropriate mode. If the user presses the AINC Mode button when the power switch is on, the headphones will terminate normal noise canceling and switch to the analysis mode. In the analysis mode, the headphones analyze the ambient noise for three seconds before selecting one of the three noise canceling modes based on the noise spectrum and several other factors. The headphones then revert to noise canceling in the selected mode. The history of digital noise canceling headphones has only just begun, and there is enormous potential. Sony will continue to target further improvements in noise canceling performance, as well as functional enhancement, power efficiency, and cost reduction. View the full article

Sony is introducing the world’s first digital noise cancelling canal earphone, the MDR-NC300D, later this month. Boasting 98.4% noise reduction, an integrated S-Master amplifier, this sure is an interesting step for the company who has led the way for portable noise canceling. The build quality of this setup is outstanding, and Sony has included six different rubber ear tips for you to choose from for the perfect fit. The earbuds feature a 16mm diameter driver, and three separate modes of noise canceling – Mode A for aircraft, Mode B for train/bus, and Mode C for Office/Study Room to reduce light chatter and air conditioning noise. There is also an option for enhanced bass or Movie mode. This is the ultimate accessory or gift for the frequent business traveler, especially on international flights. Here’s an introduction movie by Sony Japan: Buttons found on the unit include Sound Mode, Volume (+ -), Hold, Power, and NC Optimize (allows you to fine-tune noise cancelling). The NC300D equipment runs on AA batteries. Playback frequency 6Hz ~ 24kHz. Sensitivity is 103dB/mW. Impedance is 16Ω. Removable clip. The MDR-NC300D will arrive in Japan on June 21st for Y30,975. No word on worldwide availability, but it should be soon. Pictures of the MDR-NC300D courtesy of AV Watch. View the full article

The folks over at Crackle sure have been busy lately, because when I randomly went to the site earlier today it looked far different than I remember a while ago. The re-design is much more functional and it seems to be better organized. The content has improved for the most part, and some of the custom shows are still hit or miss – they have a new show every day, and a series assigned to that day. Owen Benjamin Presents (Monday), Anytime with Bob Kushell (Tuesday), True Colors (Wednesday), The Jace Hall Show (Thursday), and Cell (Friday). The Movie and Television sections have some interesting choices, but it has a hard time keeping up with a service such as Hulu. The reason why Hulu is more relevant to the American public is because it has content that is It’s a very unique offering, to say the least. Some classics that would be fun to listen to while working one afternoon, or watch on a random night, some not so much – at least most of it is in good quality HD (even in full screen). The only thing that annoys me about Crackle is the commercials. Before every video plays I have to watch at least a 15-30 second commercial. I was trying to watch a :20 video clip from the Jace Hall Show and it had a :30 commercial! The commercial shouldn’t be longer than the content. I also had some random problems with the video player, where it would stop playing if I switch to Full Screen, or it wouldn’t start a clip after a commercial. However, with promising (and edgy) new content coming down the pipeline and a great new interface, perhaps Crackle has finally found its place after all. It seems to have a relatively vibrant community. The Crackle team also has a blog. My favorite part of the site is the Cinemactive game. It’s a free to sign up game that allows you to challenge your friends, or play alone to movie-clip based trivia. You have to pay decent money for a game like this on a console, and this works right in the browser. I imagine it would also work on the PS3’s browser. Give a shot – the clips are good quality and the trivia questions are entertaining. View the full article

Sony Japan keeps updating its Summer Season with newer VAIOs and threw in a new VAIO Laser Bluetooth mouse that may turn some heads in your local Starbucks. VGP-BMS10 boasts a brushed aluminum body with a sliding mechanism that turns it on and off. Like many other VAIO mice I own, this mouse also has a PTFE layer on the bottom that gives you a sense of smooth operation, reducing the strain on the hand. And if you feel like carrying it around your wrist, you are more than welcome to. View the full article