Christopher

To the delight of myself and hopefully some of you guys, Le Journal du Geek has posted some thoughts and great pictures of the new X-Series Walkman. The NWZ-X1000 is a Walkman we initially announced to the world and many consider it Sony’s best offering in the mp3/etc flash player market to date. Hopefully future updates that could enable downloadable minigames, movies and music from a Sony online store would make it even more rewarding to own in the future. This thing needs access to Sony’s media, now. Here are some more pictures from Le Journal du Geek: View the full article

MasterCard has become one of the first brands run a promotion around the upcoming film prequel to Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’, ‘Angels and Demons’. BrandRepublic reports that MasterCard has said ‘Angels and Demons’ will be “the first of many” associations between the brand and blockbuster films. MasterCard cardholders will be offered the opportunity to win tickets to a pre-screening of the film. Guests to the event will also be invited to a MasterCard ‘VIP’ post show party. The partnership with ‘Angels and Demons’ was created by Sony Pictures’ partnership agency Atom Marketing. The film, which features ‘The Da Vinci Code’ actor Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon aiming to halt a terrorist attack against the Vatican, opens on May 15. View the full article

Sony USA is kicking off its VAIO P Lifestyle PC campaign is going all out at it by inviting certain models and dancers that will be showing up in certain parts on NYC showing off VAIO P. I think it is a pretty cool idea to market a product like this new VAIO.

John Hamman (pictured) joined fellow workers at a job fair Friday at the Sony Technology Center-Pittsburgh plant in East Huntingdon — the sprawling US television assembly plant that will close in April 2010. Hamman, 51, an electronic technician who has worked at Sony for 14 years, said there are jobs available for workers with his skills. He has the advantage of time over some Sony workers because he anticipates his job will not be eliminated until this fall. “The thing is, how much of a pay cut (can you take). You don’t want to start out at the bottom again,” said Hamman, who wants to work at Sony as long as he can to earn severance pay. Hamman and more than 200 Sony workers gathered yesterday to gather information about jobs and opportunities for additional education. The event featured about 40 employers with jobs in professional and manufacturing sectors, and several schools and training institutes. The job fair gave Sony workers a chance to line up another career before their current one is finished. About 105 employees with television assembly duties will be laid off in a first round of cuts in March. Another 35 are scheduled for layoff in June. About 90 were able to be transferred to other jobs refurbishing television sets, said Sony spokesman Michael Koff. The plant closing is part of a global downsizing by Sony Corp., which will cut its work force by about 8,000. Closing the Sony Technology Center in Westmoreland County will eliminate about 560 jobs. Read more of this article at pittsburghlive.com. View the full article

India’s largest software exporter TCS is leading the race to win an outsourcing contract worth $60-100 million from Sony, the Japanese electronics giant struggling under huge losses and a high cost operating structure. While Economic Times could not independently verify the details of this contract, at least two people familiar with the development confirmed that Sony is evaluating vendors. When contacted on Thursday, a TCS spokesperson said the company would not comment on specific customer contracts yet to be awarded. “As part of its attempts to reduce cost of managing IT operations, Sony is discussing a contract to manage its desktops and servers over 3-5 years,” a person familiar with the discussions told ET on condition of anonymity. This is the first in a series of IT contracts—valued at over $250 million—to be awarded by the world’s second-largest electronics maker over the next two years. With this, Sony joins other global biggies like Citi, GE, BT and BoA, which are expected to award around $4-billion worth of new outsourcing contracts this year. TCS is seen as a frontrunner because of its existing relationship with the electronics maker. “Sony also works with Satyam for SAP development and maintenance. However, current developments at the scandal-hit company are not going to help it win new projects,” said a senior executive at a top Indian tech firm requesting anonymity. Tokyo-based Sony announced last week that the company would make savings of over $2 billion by reducing operational costs at its electronics unit, apart from undertaking several restructuring measures, including outsourcing. Customers such as Sony, with around $40 million offshore IT spend, are likely to outsource newer projects of infrastructure management and back-office work, as they derive cost benefits from their ongoing engagements. View the full article

In February 2008, Sony and Sharp signed a non-binding memorandum of intent regarding the establishment of a joint venture to produce and sell large-sized LCD panels and LCD modules using the world’s first 10th generation mother glass substrates, and since then the two companies have been negotiating to enter into legally binding joint venture documentation. Faced with changes in the world economy, today Sharp and Sony amended and extended the non-binding MOI to confirm their mutual intent to postpone the targeted establishment of a joint venture until March 2010, approximately one year later than originally scheduled. Sharp and Sony will, through continued discussions of how the two companies can best deploy their resources and expertise, continue to negotiate in good faith and have set June 30, 2009 as the target date by which to enter into a definitive agreement to establish a joint venture that will be mutually beneficial for both companies. Sharp plans to start operating its new LCD panel factory in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture (currently under construction) by March 2010 as originally scheduled. View the full article

Sony said Thursday its net profit plunged 95 percent in the October-December quarter, as the holiday shopping season provided no respite for the struggling electronics giant and tepid sales of TVs, digital cameras and cell phones hit its bottom line. The Japanese manufacturing icon said its usually dependable electronics division posted its first-ever operating loss in the fiscal third quarter. Look at Sony’s Q3 FY08 results presentation here. “From the second half of September last year, there has been a sudden deterioration in the economy, and with the effects of foreign exchange it has had severe consequences on our business,” Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda said. Sony Corp. said its net profit shriveled to 10.4 billion yen ($115.6 million) in the third quarter from 200.2 billion yen a year earlier. Revenue fell 25 percent to 2.15 trillion yen from 2.86 trillion yen. The quarter includes the year’s peak shopping season and is usually a big one for its core electronics division, which generates over half of its total revenues with well-known products like Bravia TVs, Cyber-shot digital cameras and Vaio computers. But sales of such products fell nearly across the board as consumers held back, and Sony’s electronics division posted an operating loss of 15.9 billion yen, versus a 200.6 billion yen profit a year earlier. The company has repeatedly warned of its troubled finances over the past few weeks, and the dismal numbers were in line with analysts’ forecasts. But many said the weakness in electronics was a troubling sign, as the division has long been a source of steady profits, even as other areas struggled. David Gibson, an analyst at Macquarie in Tokyo, pointed to a buildup in Sony’s inventories as it failed to move its products. “TVs really dragged them down during the period,” he said. The poor showing in electronics caused Sony’s operating profit, which is generally seen as the best indication of a company’s pure business performance but excludes taxes and other items, to fall to a 18 billion yen loss during the quarter. Sony generates nearly 80 percent of its sales abroad, making it vulnerable to a strong yen, which cuts into its profits from overseas. The dollar has hovered near 90 yen in recent months after rising as high as 117 yen last year. So far this fiscal year foreign exchange movements have taken about 216 billion yen from Sony’s operating income, the company said. Chief Executive Howard Stringer told reporters last week that he had not gone far enough with cut costs and would work harder to combine the company’s diverse businesses, which also include its movie division and PlayStation game console business. View the full article

I have been in search of a device(s) that would allow me to stream HD content wirelessly from one room to another, as I have only one HD Dish receiver and 3 HDTVs sitting in different rooms. I have lost all my hope for Sony USA to bring the Locationfree wireless device, something like this one (LF-W1HD) introduced early last year in Japan. LF-W1HD looked promising but it was still not all HD streamer solution, as the receiver was still outputting in SD. Anyways, Sony recently joined the WHDI headed by AMIMON. A key ingredient of WHDI technology is a revolutionary video-modem that operates in the 5GHz unlicensed band to enable robust wireless delivery of uncompressed HD video (including 1080p). WHDI allows secure, encrypted HD video delivery through multiple rooms and other potential signal obstructions, such as people and furniture, while maintaining superb quality and robustness with less than one-millisecond latency. Forth came their first product - Bravia Wireless Link DMX-WL1 that consists of a Transmitter and a Receiver. Interestingly enough it was not branded under Locationfree trade mark (I noticed a number of similarities in technology and specs) but under Bravia enabled DMeX devices (though the Wireless Link does not need to be connected at all by the propriety DMeX connection). Another interesting fact is that this device is only available in the US, while in Europe and Asia it has been directly integrated in the TV sets themselves. For example, the beautiful slim model KDL-40ZX1 has the receiver integrated inside and only comes with the wireless transmitter. The US model KLV-40ZX1 was stripped of that feature and asks the buyer to pick up the DMX-WL1 as an accessory to expand its features and capabilities. In Europe we noticed two models - EX and ZX series that have a wireless media receiver bundled. Back to my original post now, the DMX-WL1 comes as a bundle of a receiver and a transmitter. The transmitter (aka DMX-WL1T) allows you to connect up to 5 HD sources (4 HDMI and 1 Component), has S/PDIF Output, and 3 IR blaster terminals, supplied by a bunch of dual IR blaster cables, HDMI cable, stands and mounting brackets. The receiver (aka DMX-WL1R) can be mounted on the back of the compatible Bravia TV or on a wall, or if you wish sit on its on or vertically. Also included is a hybrid remote control (IR/RF). As usual Sony’s hardware looked great and slick (some of their products deserve to be in a techy beauty contest) and it was nice to notice a Made in Japan sticker on both units. First Impressions: The initial set up was not that bad, though for some reason it prompted to activate the remote control for further use. The remote itself can handle multiple commands for various devices that you may connect to the transmitter (from Play, FF to Rec controls). I have experienced a few pairing issues as I was testing the wireless link with 4 different Sony TVs (KDX-46Q005, TAV-L1, XEL-1 and KLV-30XBR900), they are all in different rooms and therefore in different environments. I was able to fix the pairing glitch by disconnecting the power from the transmitter. I have also noticed that the sound would disappear every now and then for like 2 seconds. I hope Sony engineers would look into that glitch as it can be pretty annoying. Lip syncing was not an issue at all. I was pleasantly surprised to experience a very nice picture quality. The units support 480i, 480p, 720p and 1080i formats. If the receiver and transmitter are located within its permissible range (up to 65 feet), the transmission of HD works flawlessly; picture degradation occurs if the units have significant obstacles. The Link Level LEDs on the transmitter are the indicators of the quality of the wireless signal between the receiver and the transmitter units (when all 3 are lit, it means the you are good). The system has four 5.2GHz band channels and you can select your preferred wireless channel from ch 36, 40, 44 or 48 manually in case you are using Wireless LAN IEEE 802.11 a/n network. I intend to use it with my PS3 so I could be in the same room with my family, while they enjoy using the Qualia 005 TV, I will be streaming content from PS3 to Sony’s XEL-1 OLED TV - sort of a portable solution to playing games and not having to drag PS3 to another room. Real time transmission for a true gaming experience proved to be right, I was amazed to see no lag or delay at all as I used the wireless PS3 controller and it was kind of weird to have your PS3 not directly connected to the TV. Some of you may think why on earth do you want to play on an 11 inch TV and my answer to you is the experience and picture quality of OLED TV is mind blowing and one has to physically see and experience it to fully understand what I mean. Games look so good and life-like I can only imagine how awesome it would be to have a 3-D 55 inch OLED TV sometime in 2015. And here is an idea for Sony (and they can buy it from me if they wish), those video glasses you showcased at CES, make them wirelessly connect to your future AV devices for a real true entertainment. You just put them on and submerge yourself to virtual reality fun. I will be testing this more in the coming days, so stay tuned for an update within this article. Check out the unboxing of the Sony DMX-WL1 below. Transmitter Connected to the PS3 LED Indicators Receiver Connected to XEL-1 View the full article

Have you seen those sexy pictures for the Vaio P floating around? Well, I found two high resolution pictures that Sony Japan used for the Vaio P to show off it could fit in a pocket, which started an internet firestorm as to if it could actually fit in a pocket or not. I also found a couple of good high resolution images of all the colors. Enjoy these wallpapers (click on image for larger size). View the full article

Sony has finally announced it will update the Vaio G series with four new models to replace the the third-generation G3 range. All four share a 12.1-inch 1024×768 max resolution LCD - we feel that is a little low for 2009. The entry-level model features a Centrino 2-era, ultra-low voltage 1.2GHz Core 2 Duo CPU; it also comes with 2GB of RAM, 120GB hard drive and Wi-Fi. A mid-range model receives a 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo chip and a 64GB solid state drive. The remaining two customizable packages include both have the 1.4GHz chip, though differ as one has a 120GB hard drive and DVD drive, while the other trades the optical drive for a larger, 160GB hard drive. All G5’s are preloaded with Windows Vista, with the option to downgrade to Windows XP Professional. Sony has made sure the updated G series can take a pounding, as their chassis are reinforced with carbon fiber while the display’s surface has a coating that can withstand scratches from a 5H pencil. Sony also spilled six ounces of water onto a G series, and after the appropriate amount of time to dry, the laptop still worked flawlessly. In other tests, Sony reportedly dropped the laptop 26 times from various distances (several feet and below) and the laptop still functioned. Watch video of the stress tests at Sony JP (unfortunately, I couldn’t get video to work for me). There are now three USB ports instead of just one, and other connections include a VGA output, SDHC/MMC/Memory Stick PRO/Duo slot and a fingerprint sensor. Battery life is rated at 12 hours for the hard drive models or 13 for the solid-state drive, and there is a lightweight power cell offered that will allow for 5.5 hours of operation. The notebooks will be released on February 7th and 9th, with prices starting at $1,960 and topping out at $2,240. Thanks, Electronista. Information also available at AV Watch, and Sony JP. View the full article

The “PAW A PRIZE INSTANT WIN GAME“

Late last year we had the opportunity to talk to Rick Clancy, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications of Sony, and ask him several questions you guys submitted to us via our “What Do You Want To Ask Sony?” post. The dialog lasted a while, and you can catch up on the interview by reading Part 1 of Sony Insider’s interview with Rick Clancy. Rick Clancy: Certainly alot of effort has gone into development of the Playstation Network. Initially, of course, as a service with the Playstation 3 console and experience. Certainly the vision is for that to extend like a tee if you will across other devices in the Sony family. Sony Insider [Christopher]: Wow that’s great, really fantastic news. I’ve got a Playstation 3, and when I use the store, and I’ve used others, and honestly it’s one of the best interfaces I’ve used for purchasing movies. It has clear lists of thumbnails for movies; you can search, and everything looks crisp and sharp. The previews, whilst not in HD, are still high quality; a very quick interface, and very smooth. It definitely feels, at least as a consumer as I use it, that this could be something much greater and obviously more unified. That’s really fantastic to know that Sony is moving in that direction. I believe that the consumer already identifying the disconnect where there is obviously multiple stores under the Sony wing. ..that are catering to their own areas, but are dying to be unified. Rick Clancy: Taking a step back again to the broader question, using our competitive advantages, I believe you are seeing Sony being much more nimble in respect to looking for opportunities to leverage one part of the Sony family along with another part. This was certainly something that came into play with the company’s global efforts in the Blu-ray disc format battle. Eventually, it came to an end 11 or so months ago around CES of last year and you saw the company pull together across operations in Electronics, Playstation, movies - globally behind this. I’m sure it had a lot to do with the success we had with getting to the point we’re at now. Now the challenge (and we’re still working together with others in the Sony family) is making Blu-ray successful force in the marketplace. We see it in other promotional avenues - if you go to a SonyStyle store, you’ll not only see a lot of electronics products, but you’ll see an awful lot of the entertainment assets that Sony can bring to the table, whether it be movies, music videos, or movie trailers. We explored merchandising other aspects of the Sony family - including the latest James Bond Movie. We were very active with placing Sony products in these movies. Other than that, the movie becomes something of a merchandising campaign that involves Sony Style stores and retail. Even products designed with James Bond series - like a Vaio, camera, etc. Sony Insider [stan]: I always look forward to prodcut placement in Sony movies. Rick Clancy: Yeah - Sony Insider [stan]: I can always recognize the products. Rick Clancy: At CES you’ll notice a strong representation across the Sony family. Of course, it is a consumer electronics show and electronics will be prominent and there will be some exciting innovations and announcements in that regard. You can bet it will be a very different kind of keynote than you’ll get with Samsung, Panasonic, or even Apple for that matter. Sony Insider [stan]: Talking about announcements, is Sony looking for a having speak from a younger generation, or someone who has really loved and adored working for Sony speak for them? Whenever we see presentations (online via Sony, Youtube, etc), you always see someone who works for Sony, but whenever they present something, like a new product, they’re not excited about it. You see the person go through the specifications, and the product can do this and that, but we don’t see the sparkle that would bring more hype and joy into consumers.. Rick Clancy: Are you talking about presentations that you’ve seen from Japan, or in the US, or..? Sony Insider [stan]: Pretty much everywhere. I’ve seen a few in Europe that were on the better side such as IFA. Pretty much across the Sony platform, but you see boring presentations.. Rick Clancy: Some people aren’t as comfortable as giving presentations, and they’re trained as engineers, and not as performers.. During CES 2008 at a press conference during the eve of the show, we announced a variety of initiatives and new products, but we saved what we thought was the best for last. We surprised the audience by asking Sir Howard to come up and join us during the press conference; Howard unveiled the OLED TV, which kind of popped up on pedestals out from below the stage and came out with smoke, lights, music, and stuff like that (laughs).. Certainly we’re making that effort, and it makes sense, and you’ll see that at CES 2009. That’s a good point though, we can always do more to bring more attention to new products and innovations, but put them in a perspective that sort of shows the enthusiasm and excitement and amazement around these products. Sony Insider [Christopher]: It’s interesting Stan said hype - the hype machine. Sony is obviously aware of the hype machine, and that exists on the Internet, and that’s through product leaks, FCC notices, inside sources, etc. It seems like instead of in the past, Sony would be a little turned off or get the lawyers ready for people who leak product information - it seems like now that Sony doesn’t hound people down on the Internet. In my time of ATRACLife and even on Sony Insider, we would bring product leaks, especially with many Walkmans, for several years. We would bring that information first, and Sony would release it later. It seems like Sony is really cognizant of these blogs and supports them. Rick Clancy: Certainly social networking has become more important to us. We were shooting this new global television commercial, for the next generation of Bravia televisions. One of the big features is the 240hz Motionflow technology which is aimed at particular keeping images real and sharp that are fast moving like in sports, action scenes, etc. We worked with an ad agency in Europe and created a Bravia-drome - a moving picture thing that spins around and around. Sony had some journalists, but mostly bloggers and social media types to see this thing. That was very much by design, and there was a certain amount of buzz out there. It is a visual and pictorial experience. We are thinking more and more that way. You mentioned the FCC; they put out these reports all the time as new products or technologies are destined for the market in this country from overseas. That’s part of the reality of what we have to deal with, so we’re doing the best to do just that. Sony Insider [Christopher]: It’s good to see that Sony isn’t making people take this information down, and not saying don’t read this, and being quiet and letting the people develop their own interest, which I believe is brilliant. Rick Clancy: We’re experimenting. We’re trying new things. The interesting thing is that there are now more opportunities, and it’s the basic necessity to communicate and share information directly with the consumers for the public without the filters. Without the press putting their own perspective on things - while you can always create an advertisement put on or television commercial, you don’t know if anyone is watching or listening. To get engaged somehow, whether its social media or directly. We did this promotion for the Sony Reader, you might have seen it on my blog. We had this guy in a window, on 5th avenue in New York, reading. It was an effort to get people to see what this thing is all about, and try to touch it, and try it out for themselves. We find with certain products, if people have an experience with it, they will be much more inclined to get enthusiastic about it and ultimately purchase it. Sony Insider [Christopher]: The next question we received is similar to the last one, in a certain sense, in a unity sense. “Sony has a lot of strong brands, like PlayStation, Walkman, Bravia, etc. Do they think they make enough use of the fact that they are all related, that they are all Sony? Do they think the general public related them to Sony?” Rick Clancy: Well, on the last question first - I think the general public does relate them by and large to Sony - that relationship to Sony makes those sub brands so strong. To the first question, I would say that this person has hit on something; it’s the strength of Sony that’s most critical. The strength of Sony resonates with consumers around the world, certainly in the US, where Sony has consistently been ranked for many years number one (or at least within the top 3) best brands in America, which is really phenomenal considering the company is based outside of America. I am very much in the camp that these sub brands are fine, and they have value, but the principal value is in the master brand of Sony itself. Sony Insider [Christopher]: This leads into the next question - which was a hot topic not that long ago during the summer of 2008. The world was obviously hemorrhaging with the financial markets, and even Jim Cramer, a very popular stock analyst and financial analyst that some people agree and disagree with called for this. Very unusual, that usually doesn’t happen often through the worlds of prominent media figures - What about rumors about splitting up Sony into parts? Rick Clancy: A few years ago, a part of Howard Stringer’s and Dr. Ryoji Chubachi’s initiatives after they became the CEO and President of the company globally, they took some initiatives to discontinue or sell off certain businesses that were not deemed to be strategic in terms of Sony’s global strength and propelling it to greater heights. You saw that with some businesses that are not obvious to people in the US - like restaurants, a trading company, and there are a couple of others. With that said, there are other areas that are very important to Sony aside from electronics which are fundamental and core - so too is entertainment - music, movies, video gaming. I remember the first CES Howard Stringer was at when he said something along the lines like - and I’m paraphrasing - “New technology and electronics hardware is rubbish” were his words, “..without compelling and exciting entertainment content.” The company sees merit in maintaining and building and having even more interaction between the different parts that make Sony such a global entertainment powerhouse. When you step back and look at it as I do from the electronics business perspective, it’s one of the things that make Sony stand out relative to our competition; Samsung, Panasonic, Apple, HP, Dell - Sony is unique, where it has this breadth of not only electronic products and technology, but these entertainment properties. It’s so cool that we can have planning sessions and product development meetings with colleagues at Sony Pictures, in the movie business, in the television business, in the home entertainment and package media business. We can talk to people involved with digital cinema - we can ask what is the future of movie-going going to be like? It’s just amazing. The whole video game area, and what’s that done in terms of Blu-ray and HD, making it better than it is today, and down the road - 3D. There are a lot of things that I mention here, but they make Sony unique and stay unique. Differentiating from the competition is very difficult in these days of digitization when it’s very easy to replicate a certain product in the marketplace. Back in the analog days, Sony would have at least a two year lead with some of our new products until the competition was anywhere close to what we had on the market. It’s more and more difficult to differentiate a digital camera, or digital music player, or a digital TV. What makes Sony special is our various businesses in the entertainment area. I don’t think the current management team, and the vast majority of business managers and employees would have it any other way. Sony Insider [Christopher]: It would be very strange to live in a world where Sony doesn’t have its media. Rick Clancy: The culture is 180 degrees from where it was in the early 90’s when Sony acquired Columbia pictures, and a couple years before that CBS records. I think when our people use electronics, music movies pictures and games, we all can find ways to take advantage of the strength of our sister companies in the Sony group to advance our business agendas, and give the consumer a better entertainment experience. View the full article

Ever heard of Rolly Ballet? Me neither. I recently stumbled upon a site that was devoted to that idea which actually came to fruition. One would never think of Rolly as a ballerina, but these folks figured why not, Rolly is quite a great dancer anyways. So with a help of 10 Rollies and its motion function they created something interesting. The choice of music was OK to me, I would have chosen something more up-beat, but again it is a ballet so one has to stay classic. Read more about that concept and people who stood behind here. I might as well come up with some Techno Rolly Dance by utilizing my 2 Rollies in unison. I will call it something like Ti

No one at CES knew what the metal was. It almost seems like a type of marble.

The recently released BRX-A320 is an HDD based DVR featuring a 320GB HDD that records your favorite TV programs in either SD or HD formats (up to about 90 hours in HD). The A320 is capable of recording two programs while you watch TV, and recommends programming based on your tastes. This little HDMI equipped DVR is now sold in Japan for around 50,000 Y; the small BRX-A320 is a cheap and great solution for anyone who records from TV. Unfortunately it only works with the following Bravia TVs : X7000/X5050/X5000/W5000/V5000/V3000/J5000/J3000/XR1/X1/W1/F1/V1/J1/V5/J5 Series. Read more about the BRX-A320 at Sony (ecat). Here’s some images of the UI: View the full article

Late last year we had the opportunity to talk to Rick Clancy, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications of Sony, and ask him several questions you guys submitted to us via our “What Do You Want To Ask Sony?” post. The dialog lasted a while, and we are very gracious for Sony and the Corporate Communications team for giving this opportunity to sit down and talk to them. Read on for the interview.. Sony Insider [Christopher]: Thanks for giving us the opportunity to interview you, Rick. I know that you’re very busy. One of the first questions we received (from user Jim Esco) “I would like to ask how Sonyinsider.com could use its incredible fan base to help better Sony products and services. They must have an idea how you could help benefit one another.” Rick Clancy: That’s an interesting question. On one level, for starters, we’ve begun this dialog with you. I think that’s where you have to begin, with some constructive communication. My aim would be to develop a mutually beneficial relationship; one that allows for Sony Insider to maintain its independence, and credibility. From the Sony Electronics point of view, it does give us an opportunity to tap into the insights and perspectives and opinions and suggestions that Sony Insider and its following would like to share with us. Not only share mechanically, but we’re also open to suggestions in terms of building upon this dialog and finding ways to have more interactions. As we go here, we’ll be opening more windows of discussion for Sony Insider and for the public in general. We’ve started some things recently like ratings and reviews, and Frontline. Which are two vehicles that allow consumers and the public to offer suggestions and opinion and criticism, which obviously we take it on the Sony blog which we host as well. We’re very open to getting the dialog going and building upon the relationship that we’ve started in the past year. Sony Insider [Christopher]: We certainly appreciate the relationship - it’s definitely been an exciting experience. Sony Insider [Christopher]: When you guys announced a new Sony community site on your blog, did you consider an overlap in format, style and necessity of this new site and Sony Insider? Rick Clancy: First of all, I give you and Stan a lot of credit with what you’ve done and what you’ve built with Sony Insider. I think one of the things that make it so special is your unique perspective as someone that is tracking and following Sony from all sorts of perspectives and from all corners of the world. That level of independence and separation is very important. There is no way we could be duplicative in that regard - the orientation is very different. I have to be totally transparent in terms of who I am and who I represent. On the other hand, I try to put as much personal perspective into this as I can and not just report or reprint press releases or advertisement. I am a Sony manager, and I have been with Sony for 18 years and that’s part of who I am and who I represent. I certainly think there is a place for both our initiatives and I welcome more, both from inside of Sony (in terms of my fellow Sony employees), but also from the outside of Sony. Sony Insider [Christopher]: At first It took me back (making a new Community blog), but then I realized some of the things we cover you may never be able to touch upon, like leaks or what have you, or some of the more negative things (which we try not to feature all the time, but do to make sure there is no sense of bias.) Rick Clancy: No, no, I think that’s reasonable. On the other hand, my focus is on the US electronics business and Sony. I comment on other things beyond that, but I do that in a way that relates back to the Electronics business almost all the time since that’s who I represent and who I am and where most of my knowledge lies. Sony Insider certainly has windows of opportunity that revolves around the globe, which is another dimension you bring. Sony Insider [Christopher]: When we saw that community posting, we were a bit jealous. A project like that would seem like a dream job to Stan and I. Rick Clancy: Hopefully if we get into the mode of hiring rather than cutting back, then we will see more of those jobs around. With the community site, Jen is very involved with this as well. We are looking to have our blog be the cornerstone of the community so it’s the first thing you see. We will have interesting neighborhoods or all sorts of specialized communities, whether it’s about the environment, bio, engineering, or customer service. We want to bring in some of these existing sites that are out there and have them all become part of this broader community. That is the vision. The folks at Playstation in some ways have it a little easier, because they can be a bit more focused than I am. The passion of gamers is very singular, and very intense. Sony Insider [Christopher]: Are you guys bringing, or having anyone from the Playstation blog bring their influence on your new Electronics blog? Rick Clancy: We are certainly consulting with them - Sony Insider [Christopher]: ..they seem so successful.. Rick Clancy: We’ve actually talked to some of the others they’ve worked with - like I said we’ve taken a different approach because of the diversity and breadth of Sony I represent versus the singular Playstation focus that these people have. I am in frequent contact with my counterpart there, and I know that Jen and Marcy Cohn are also working on the site with me - they have talked to their team quite a bit. Sony Insider [Christopher]: Let’s shift - I don’t want to dabble too long. Another question we received - I cannot emphasize how popular it was as many people asked about Sonicstage and ATRAC - was surprising because the market has shifted away from such; Sony’s focus has shifted away from that because of cost-cutting measures, and popularity of course. “Why the lack of support for SonicStage & ATRAC outside Japan these days.” (from bogon07) The Minidisc format and ATRAC, while efficient in their time, had difficulty in the digital age because of high capacity flash Walkman, but not only that - the iPod, Samsung players, Creative and so on. What a lot of consumers noticed, and left a bad taste in their mouths when Sony shifted away from Minidisc, and shifted away from Sonicstage after the Connect store and how that went. Consumers noticed quickly that there wasn’t much legacy or lack of support for Sonicstage and ATRAC outside of Japan. Rick Clancy: By and large, that came down to market decision. In Japan, the Walkman built around that ATRAC compression scheme has done reasonably well. There’s no reason not to continue there. In many regards, it’s a better system than many out there, at least from a pure audio quality standpoint. After a couple of years of working it here in the US, Canada, and Europe - especially in the US - it was very apparent what the market demanded, except for one company, was an open platform and providing a service a consumer could utilize regardless whether they subscribed to Napster, or Rhapsody, or what have you. It really came down to a market decision, and it was very apparent that the US market was not receptive to another closed music service. Sony Insider [Christopher]: I can almost sense a hint of if ATRAC was more open when it debuted that it could have fared better.. Rick Clancy: Perhaps, perhaps at least in this market place. Sony Insider [Christopher]: Are you guys looking to apply any of those technologies in further products, such as a resurgence of ATRAC in any way? Rick Clancy: I’m not aware of any initiative in that regard. Sony Insider [Christopher]: ..it pretty much seems to be faded out.. Rick Clancy: Well, you can never say never about something like that, but I’m not aware of anything. Obviously, it was very fundamental to our Minidisc initiatives, and later with the Network Walkman. At this point in time we’re not aware of any initiatives where it’s central to the development. Sony Insider [Christopher]: That is a shame. I can also understand, given the reasons that you described. There was so much development that went into that codec, software and everything else - I can see how as time progressed you guys said it’s time to pack up and move on. Sony Insider [Christopher]: The next question we received is from pudsey456. “The hi-end Vaio products have always commanded a premium for their engineering and material, but the new products for 2008 (the Z and the TT in particular) are pushing the price envelope even higher. Personally I’m a fan who sees value in these laptops, but I have never ever purchased a new Vaio, because the pricing is really out of my reach. I’m hoping Sony wouldn’t just keep pushing for the $5000 mark with the Vaios. I don’t want to say the N word (okay, netbook) but I think netbook or not, Sony can do a lot more at the lower end than the current CS. What could we expect to see at the lower end of the Vaio range?” Sony Insider [stan]: I could speak to that as well. The pricing of the new Vaio’s seems to be more expensive these days and not a lot of people can afford it. Of course, they are marketed to the executive, like the TT series, and not many students can afford it. Rick Clancy: There are a few levels to address this question, let’s step back for a minute. With the development of Vaio and its evolution over the years from its introduction in 1996, the product has always been focused to a market that appreciates something special that Sony can bring to PC’s in terms of functionality - some cases software, many cases design. We have not aggressively pursued the low-end market that the major companies in the PC area like HP and Dell for example go after. Certainly some of the most amazing Vaio products include some of the ones mentioned here in this question. I love the TT, for example, and have its predecessor TZ myself that is terrific. My desktop here at home is the LT, a very cool all in one that others have tried to emulate in some way. That said, we have taken some initiatives in the more popular price ranges that we have in the past and there will be more to come. One of the things about Vaio and Sony is that we’ve managed it in a reasonably successful manner. It’s very difficult for companies to make a profit on PC’s, especially on the hardware anyways. The approach Sony has taken is to slowly address the market share, but really focus on products, market segments that appreciate what Sony can do with the Vaio. You will see some exciting Vaio products that not only address the business and work style needs, but entertainment and lifestyle. We’ve had a lot of fun with the design things, like Graphic Splash notebooks. We also did the Bond 007 notebooks, in conjunction with the latest release of Quantum of Solace. Our Vaio group is willing to take risks and try new things, so you never know. Even our “U” series has been interesting. It’s interesting to see how others have followed us; it’s common to see a pink notebook from Dell, for example. We’ve tried some things that others have picked up on, like the engraving as another example. Sony Insider [Christopher]: I find it very interesting that the struggling worldwide economy, the interest seems to be with this revelation of the Netbook - a low cost machine capable of satisfying the needs of most consumers, like Internet and e-mail. It will be very interesting to see how Sony adjusts to not only the demand for a low price, but also quality and expected features. Rick Clancy: We always try and do something above and beyond what is currently available, and putting a different twist on them. Sony Insider [Christopher]: The TT is proof of that. Sony Insider [Christopher]: The next question we received from Houman is about creating not necessarily a music service, but a universal media service for people to access Sony media. As I use the Playstation Video Store I can see how quickly that’s matured and become a serious contender alongside larger services that have had longer time to saturate the market. When I see a model like the Playstation Video store, I wonder why something like this isn’t called the Sony Video store, and not available on all their networked products. The question - “Sony should use its competitive advantages. I am really surprised while Sony has such a great music and movie sections, why it does not combine them and launch a “Connect” thing again. I believe having some great products in MP3 & MP4 players, E-Book readers, Mobile phones (Sony Ericsson), laptops, and game consoles (PS3, PS2, PSP) range, as well as the second music archive in the world and also the first movie archive in the world (MGM is considered) make a great opportunity for Sony to combine and merge its parallel websites (Playnow, Playnow arena, Connect, myplay and…) and services in to the one most powerful website providing contents such as Music (for MP3 and MP3 players, mobile phones, Game consoles and …), Movie , E-books, Games (for game consoles, PCs and mobile phones.) and … in one place. It will boost the sale of electronics as well as music and movie providers and presents Sony an unreachable position in the market.” Rick Clancy: Well, directionally, as Sir Howard said, I believe that in a relatively short period of time - I don’t have it with me right now, but I think in 2010, 2011, we are looking to have 90% of our product categories in a position where they can be network enabled, or wireless. Part of that vision also includes a platform for content services, and distributing content across a variety of our products, and actually a linchpin of that begins with the Playstation network, which largely provides games through a Playstation 3 and therefore to other devices. A vision for the Playstation Network is that it will be something that is platform, and harmonious with a variety of consumer devices. More to come in part two of this interview - stay tuned! View the full article

Sony DADC and manufacturing joint venture Shanghai Epic Music Entertainment Co., Ltd. (Shanghai Epic) today announced the opening of the first ever BD50 replication facility in China. In celebration of the new facility, an opening ceremony was held in the Shanghai Epic factory this afternoon with hundreds of guests including high ranking government officials. Mr. Zhijing Zhang (Member of Standing Committee of Shanghai Municipal Committee and Vice Minister of Propaganda), related officials from General Administration of Press and Publicity of P. R. C. and hundreds honored guests from both China and overseas participated the opening ceremony. Mr. Zhang delivered an enthusiastic speech and started the BD line. It is Sony’s fourth Blu-ray disc plant after sites in the U.S., Japan and Austria. “Shanghai Epic is seizing the opportunity to lead a breakthrough in the entertainment industry during the global economic and financial crisis.” said Mr. Ruigang Li, CEO of Shanghai Media Group and the Chairman of Shanghai Synergy and Shanghai Epic, “I believe that the investment in technology upgrading and industry innovation is important as well.” The start of Blu-ray production line not only fills the gap of high capacity and high-tech Blu-ray Disc (BD25 & BD50) manufacture technology but also marks a technological advance in the overall quality of A/V entertainment products. It will play a significant role for the Chinese cultural industry to participate in this dynamic industry on a global level. Mr. Dieter Daum, President of Sony Disc & Digital Solutions and Board member of Shanghai Epic, stated that “more and more excellent A/V entertainment products will be introduced to China’s market with the coming of the BD era, also, Chinese movies and TV programs will be exported overseas by the BD format.” Mr. Xiao Wu, Managing Director of Shanghai Epic, commented, “This Blu-ray production line, which is manufactured by Sony, adopts state of art manufacturing technology and is the most popular one in the world, with 70% market share of global BD lines. The production line adopts the most advanced resin spinning coating and embossing technology with a yield rate comparable of that of DVD. Moreover, the installation and trial run of this line has been operated smoothly and the finished products passed every inspection and have been approved by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA).” View the full article

In a move designed to maximize playability, Sony is delaying the release of Roland Emmerich’s sci-fi action pic “2012″ from July 10 to Nov. 13, two weekends before the lucrative Thanksgiving session. 2012 is claimed by some with New age beliefs to be a great year of spiritual transformation (or alternatively an apocalypse). There is disagreement among believers whether 2012 will see an end of civilization, or humanity will be elevated to a higher level. Many esoteric sources interpret the completion of the thirteenth B’ak’tun cycle in the Long Count of the Maya calendar (which occurs on December 21 by the most widely held correlation) to mean there will be a major change in world order. The film has an ensemble cast, including John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Woody Harrelson. This time around, the studio has slotted its tentpole against two wide openers — Warner Bros.’ caper pic “Sherlock Holmes,” starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, and Fox’s Dwayne Johnson comedy “The Tooth Fairy.” It wasn’t clear whether the arrival of “2012″ would prompt the departure of either of those pics for clearer pastures. “We’ve had such success with the James Bond films in November that we wanted a big tentpole film in that slot this year,” Sony distribution president Rory Bruer said Tuesday. “We’ve got so many films in the summer that this is the perfect answer to that.” Here is an official trailer for 2012: " type="application/x-shockwave-flash">" /> Sony execs said “2012″ could have been completed by its summer date, though the new date will add some extra time for the effects-laden production. The studio’s remaining films set for release this summer include “The Taking of Pelham 123,” an action pic starring Denzel Washington and John Travolta; “The Year One,” a comedy toplined by Jack Black and Michael Cera; “Julie and Julia,” a drama featuring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams; “District 9,” a sci-fi movie with Jason Cope and Sharlto Copley; and “Mardi Gras,” a comedy starring Nicholas D’Agosto and Josh Gad. View the full article

Sony, which is expected to report its first annual operating loss in 14 years, plans to close one of its two Japanese TV factories and cut more than 2,000 full-time jobs, the Nikkei business daily reported. Chief Executive Howard Stringer will announce the move along with a cut in its earnings outlook at a news conference on Thursday. Sony plans to eliminate about 3 percent of its domestic full-time staff, or more than 2,000 workers, mainly through to natural attrition, by the end of the financial year ending in March 2010, the Nikkei said. But talk of cutting jobs in Japan has met internal company resistance, the Financial Times reported this week. Sony is looking at integrating TV assembly and production into one of the factories and use the other for distribution and other purposes, the Nikkei said. Both of the company’s TV plants in Japan are located in Aichi, central Japan. It would be the company’s first restructuring of its domestic manufacturing base since 2006 when it closed down a portable music player plant, the paper added. The Nikkei also said Sony plans to slash executive and managerial-level bonuses to cut costs. (Reporting by Ted Kerr and Sachi Izumi, editing by Edwina Gibbs) Story courtesy of Reuters/Nikki. View the full article

Shoot like a pro and record your memories directly to a massive 240GB hard disk drive with the HDR-XR520V Handycam camcorder. This impressive camcorder is capable of recording up to 92 hours of high definition (HD) video in HD LP mode. Equipped with an advanced ClearVid CMOS sensor with Exmor-R technology, you can capture stunning 1920×1080 HD video and 12.1 megapixel still images. Additionally, a built-in GPS receiver helps you keep track of your current location and even remembers where you shot your videos while the professional-quality Sony G Lens delivers superior optical performance. This will retail for $1,499 and be available at SonyStyle and other electronic retailers soon. 1920 x 1080 high definition resolution lets you record your memories in exceptional quality. 12.1 megapixel still image capture lets you take stunning, high resolution digital photos. A built-in 240GB hard disk drive can record and store up to 101 hours of high definition video footage in long play mode (HD LP, 2ch Dolby mode). In addition, “HDD Smart Protection” gives you peace of mind by helping to prevent any recorded video and images from being lost if the camcorder is accidentally dropped. HDR-SR12 vs. HDR-XR520V Exmor-R Sensor from Sony Insider on Vimeo. 1/2.88″ Exmor R CMOS sensor delivers bright, vivid, spectacularly detailed video footage - a total improvement over last year’s model, which is demonstrated in the video above. With 6 megapixel (effective) video resolution, the image sensor actually captures video at four times the density of high definition resolution resulting in a sharper and more detailed 1920 x 1080 HD picture. In addition, “Exmor R” technology captures images with high resolution and high sensitivity, while the advanced Sony BIONZ™ image processor improves camera response time and screens out noise to help ensure that the signal from each pixel is as pure as possible. Experience stunning low-light sensitivity with improved image clarity and drastically reduced grain with the newly developed, back-illuminated “Exmor R” sensor. Designed for compact cameras and camcorders, the “Exmor R” sensor relocates the photo diodes above the support circuitry, maximizing the light-gathering area per pixel so you can shoot with better results in lower lighting conditions. Geotagging with built-in GPS receiver: A built-in GPS receiver makes the HDR-XR520V an ideal choice for travelers. In addition to automatically adjusting your camcorder’s clock to the proper time zone, the GPS receiver also gives you the ability to view your current location on the LCD map display, as well as “tag” your shooting locations. Tagged videos and still images can be reviewed and played back using the Map Index function on the camcorder or once downloaded to your PC using the supplied PMB (Picture Motion Browser) software. We question why Sony didn’t include some sort of GPS software as well, which would give this product extra value by also working as a navigation device. It is a perfect idea if you think about it - a large, vivid touchscreen would work quite well. Map Index function: Map Index uses the geotagging capabilities of the built-in GPS receiver to “tag” your shot locations on a map in the camcorder, offering a new way to easily search and find a desired scene by location or view where a scene was captured. Face Detection technology for Video Footage and Digital Still Photos: Made possible by the BIONZ™ image processing engine, Face Detection technology recognizes up to 8 faces anywhere in the frame and by selecting the most prominent, automatically controls focus, exposure, and color to help capture smiling faces brightly and clearly. Face Detection technology also helps make skin tones look natural without affecting other colors in the image. On AVCHD models, the camcorder allocates encoding bits on detected face areas prior to encoding other parts of the picture, making them sharper and clearer. In still picture mode, Face Detection technology sets the flash level to optimize picture clarity. Smile Shutter™ technology for still and dual capture: Smile Shutter™ technology lets the camcorder automatically take still photos when your subject smiles, even while shooting high definition video. You can also set the sensitivity and choose child, adult, or auto priority. Sony Shows Off Optical SteadyShot from Sony Insider on Vimeo. Optical SteadyShot image stabilization with Active Mode represents the next step forward in Sony

Sony Corp is preparing to announce on Wednesday or Thursday details of its December restructuring plan, including where job cuts will fall, the Financial Times reported. The newspaper said Chief Executive Howard Stringer was facing resistance to cutting jobs in the electronics division and in Japan. A Sony spokesman declined to comment on the report. Article courtesy of Reuters. View the full article

For all of you who pre-ordered VAIO P, saw some lucky dudes unbox the baby and just can’t wait to get your FedEx tracking number, here is a piece of info that came from Cnet to wet your tech appetite even more. You know you are getting a really slick, light weight VAIO and Cnet agrees with you all that it is not a bad purchase you made. OK, we won’t hold you any longer here, check out the pros and cons below and hit the link for more. The good: Elegant, thin design; large keyboard; multiple networking and connectivity options; high-resolution screen; less expensive than Sony’s UMPC experiments. The bad: Stuck with Windows Vista (for now); trackpoint navigation isn’t ideal. The bottom line: Sony’s upscale Atom-powered Lifestyle PC has the components of a cheaper machine but the design of a more expensive one. The end result will be a useful travel PC for some and a conversation piece for others. Oh and by the way, VAIO P is coming without any crapware preinstalled on it! Yes, you heard it right. Sony listens, you know. View the full article

Sony has updated the firmware of the NWZ-S730 series to version 1.11 and resolves an issue where, while playing any music files, the player may stop responding and then may automatically power off and on. This firmware update is only for use with the products identified and sold in the United States, Latin America, Canada, or Brazil - we cannot verify if it will work for other countries. Read more at Sony eSupport. Forum user Zizone has reported that the download location at the eSupport page is NOT working. Download the NWZ-S730 firmware 1.11 update here. Thanks, Zizone! This firmware update is intended only for NWZ-S736F and NWZ-S738F Sony Walkman Digital Music players that have firmware version 1.10 or lower installed. Please follow the steps below to check the model and firmware version of your player. 1. Press and hold the “BACK/HOME” button until the “Home” menu appears. 2. At the “Home” menu, use the arrow buttons () to select “Settings” (), and then press the “Play/Pause” button (). 3. At the “Settings” menu, use the arrow buttons to select “Common Settings”, and then press the “Play/Pause” button. 4. At the “Common Settings” menu, use the arrow buttons to select “Unit Information”, and then press the “Play/Pause” button. 5. Confirm that the model is NWZ-S736F or NWZ-S738F and that the firmware version is 1.10 or lower. If the firmware version is 1.11 or higher do not attempt to install this update. It is strongly recommended that you transfer all tracks and data from the player to the computer before performing this update. Tracks and data that remain on the player may be damaged or deleted during the update process. In order to install this update, there must be at least 30 MB free space on the player. View the full article

Social networking is all the rage with Sony’s new stylish cameras that make it easy to capture and upload MP4 video and still photos directly to the Web. The MHS-CM1 and MHS-PM1 Webbie HD cameras capture daily events in high definition video (1440×1080/30p) and 5-megapixel still photos. Embedded software makes it possible to quickly upload content online to Youtube, Vimeo, etc in a few simple clicks. Two portable designs in three stylish colors—eggplant, orange and silver—reflect your personal style while capturing every wish-you-were-here moment. “Webbie HD cameras are perfect for youth culture, who love to share moments on social networks as they happen,” said Kelly Davis, director of camcorder marketing at Sony Electronics. “It’s exciting to see these new customers embracing video to share their experiences and we’ve expanded our camcorder line to meet their needs.” The MHS-CM1 camera sports a slim horizontal design that fits naturally in your palm with a large 2.5-inch (measured diagonally) LCD screen that swivels up to 270 degrees. It also has 5X optical zoom to snap a detailed close-up of your subject. Recording modes include 1080i, 720p, 3:2, and more. I assume that 720p will be the most popular mode for most consumers. The four-ounce MHS-PM1 camera is (very) lightweight and can be taken virtually everywhere—just stash the vertical chassis in a pocket or purse to catch that once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity. A rotating swivel lens with 4X digital zoom flips over so you can see yourself while shooting video and taking photos. By connecting the camera to your computer via the supplied USB cable, the embedded PMB Portable software quickly transfers content to video and photo sharing websites. It includes direct upload to Shutterfly™ and Picasa™ Web Albums photo sharing sites, YouTube™ and Dailymotion™ video sharing sites and Photobucket™ video and photo sharing site. You can also simply drag and drop video files from the camera to your personal computer folders. Five scene selection modes—such as low light, sports and landscape— help you capture the best picture possible in any situation. Both cameras record directly to Memory Stick PRO Duo™ media (sold separately). The MHS-CM1 camera is available today for about $200 and the MHS-PM1 model will be available in April for about $170. The Webbie HD cameras will be sold at Sony Style

Sony Japan released a camcorder specific DVD writer - VRD-P1 that will help you flawlessly create DVDs by connecting your camcorder via USB cable with One-Touch Dubbing function, of course assuming that the content recorded on your camera does not need any editing done priror to creating a DVD. You may also connect it to your TV for playback purposes. It will cost around $165. View the full article