Christopher

Columbia Pictures has inked the writing team of Tim and Tom Mullen to adapt the raucous comedy novel The Swap by Antony Moore for the screen, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach, presidents of Columbia Pictures. John Calley, Diana Napper, and Lisa Medwid will produce the film for John Calley Productions. The Swap is a superbly plotted comedy that centers on an out-of-shape comic book dealer who, haunted by the casual loss of a priceless comic book, tries to reverse his fortunes at his high school reunion – and becomes involved in murder, romance, and the unearthing of long-buried secrets. Read more at the Sony Pictures press release.. addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sonyinsider.com%2F2008%2F11%2F26%2Fcolumbia-pictures-to-produce-antony-moores-the-swap%2F'; addthis_title = 'Columbia+Pictures+To+Produce+Antony+Moore%26%238217%3Bs+%26%238220%3BThe+Swap%26%238221%3B'; addthis_pub = ''; View the full article

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) will be the first Hollywood studio to distribute high-definition Blu-ray Disc™ in the Chinese market, it was announced today by T Paul Miller, SPHE’s Senior Vice President, International and Kenny Ling, General Manager of Excel Media (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, SPHE’s local distribution partner. “We’re thrilled to be the first to offer the high-quality HD product that discerning Chinese customers demand and deserve,” said Miller. An initial slate of 30 Blu-ray Disc titles will coincide with Sony Electronics’ introduction of the popular BDP-S350 model Blu-ray player to the Chinese market on 21 November 2008, and will include both new releases and popular favorites. Ling commented, “We are very happy to be the first video distriburtor releasing legitimate Blu-ray Disc in China. We believe that transforming the home entertainment experience to high definition is an essential trend. Sony Pictures Home Entertainment plays a big role in this video format transformation and Excel Media will continue to release more high quality legitimate Blu-ray Disc available to consumers in China.” Titles available at launch include Hancock, Kung Fu Hustle, Open Season, the Spider-Man trilogy, xXx, S.W.A.T., Vertical Limit, Men in Black, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Water Horse, Peter Pan, Erin Brockovich, In The Line of Fire, Tears of the Sun, The Patriot, Into the Blue, Hitch, Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, Are We Done Yet?, The Pursuit of Happyness, Mirror Mask, RV, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, The Rundown, 50 First Dates, and Big Fish. Consumers will be able to purchase many of these titles at participating retailers including Sony Style and Joyo.com, for around 205 RMB. Initial shipments will be manufactured and imported from outside China, with plans to begin local production of Blu-ray Discs within the year. View the full article

Columbia Pictures, Overbrook Entertainment and Jerry Weintraub Productions will remake the 1984 hit The Karate Kid with Jaden Smith starring in the lead role, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach, presidents of Columbia Pictures. The film will be produced by Jerry Weintraub, James Lassiter, Will Smith, and Ken Stovitz. Chris Murphy is writing the screenplay adaptation. The new film will be set in China and shot on location next year in Beijing and other cities. China Film Group Corporation and Xinhua Media Entertainment, a subsidiary of XFMedia (NASDAQ: XFML) will co-produce the movie in China according to applicable Chinese co-production requirements. Commenting on the announcement, Belgrad said “Karate Kid is one of the studio’s prized franchises and we had been talking about how we could re-invigorate it for some time. So it was very exciting when Overbrook approached us with the idea of building a remake around Jaden and setting the new film in China. Jaden’s performance in The Pursuit of Happyness blew us away and we later found out that he’s a serious martial arts student. The fit couldn’t be more perfect. We’re honored to have the opportunity to shoot the new version of this film in China and we can’t wait to get underway next year.” Lassiter added, “The original Karate Kid tapped into a universal theme: that you can become a great fighter outside, but it means nothing without training the mind inside. Those lessons are just as relevant and true today as they were in 1984, and we look forward to bringing this story to a new generation.” Weintraub said, “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to continue this series. The Karate Kid remains close to my heart and I couldn’t be more overjoyed by the opportunity to work with Jaden, James and Will. I believe we have a terrific new story to explore and one that will completely surprise and delight fans who are familiar with these films.” addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sonyinsider.com%2F2008%2F11%2F26%2Fwill-smiths-son-jaden-smith-set-to-star-in-new-karate-kid-remake%2F'; addthis_title = 'Will+Smith%26%238217%3Bs+Son%2C+Jaden+Smith%2C+Set+To+Star+In+New+Karate+Kid+Remake'; addthis_pub = ''; View the full article

When Sony introduced its first iPod friendly wireless audio system earlier this year, I have quickly acquired the tasteful look of the dock itself, its design and wireless capabilities. There are a gazillion of iPod docks available on the market and some of them simply do not deserve to hold an iPod. This wireless audio system arrived a few weeks to my house and I gave it a fair use. And since PC Magazine just published their review of it, I thought I would provide a few pictures and thoughts about the system. This product consists of a few components that come in a pretty big box and being Sony, it is well packed and protected as usual. There is a pretty dock itself, and 2 wireless speakers which I was surprised at first to see, as Sony usually likes to tease you by providing one accessory and eager to sell you more if you want to expand your system. Accessories that came with it were: a remote for the dock, and two more remotes to control your wireless speaker, a bunch of batteries and wireless cartridges. Talking about the latter, those cartridges kind of threw me off and made me think it was 1989, as they look like those Nintendo game cartridges we used to insert in the game consoles. Why didn’t Sony think of integrating those in the speakers and the dock itself (you have to insert the three supplied cartridges in each), left me wondering too… There is also another little something that sort of made me wonder why it was implemented that way it was …. the on/off function of the dock. You would probably think what could be wrong with it? Well, first of all you won’t find an actual button on the dock itself, instead of it was placed as a little switch(!) on the back of the unit. I thought it was odd. The rest of the functionality and the use of the S-Airplay went swiftly. The setup was easy and did not require any tinkering or settings to be messed with, it just worked (Apple’s influence and statement, you know). The streaming of the music was also seamless and audio played without any hiccups throughout the house. The speakers could have been a bit more stylish but will leave it to the designers for the next generation. At the end of the day though, isn’t it all about enjoying the simplicity of use and nice music flowing in the air from room to room? Sony Air-SA20PK certainly delivers that. P.S. Now where is a dock like that for my Sony Network Walkman? View the full article

RCA Records (a Sony BMG label) has dropped Velvet Revolver, the band featuring former Guns N’ Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum. Velvet Revolver released two full-length albums through RCA/Sony BMG — 2004’s “Contraband,” which has sold 1.98 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan; and its follow-up, “Libertad,” which has shifted 301,000 units in the U.S. since its July 2007 release. Weiland reunited with his previous act, Stone Temple Pilots, and has spent the last few months on the road with them. In a recent interview with MTV.com, Weiland said about the split with his previous band, “Velvet Revolver fell apart because there were too many big egos in the band — and I’m including myself. It wasn’t necessarily about bad egos, just big egos, and unfortunately, it just mistakenly kind of eroded.” Just for fun, here is probably their biggest hit, Slither, live on the David Letterman show: addthis_url = 'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sonyinsider.com%2F2008%2F11%2F24%2Fsony-music-drops-velvet-revolver%2F'; addthis_title = 'Sony+Music+Drops+Velvet+Revolver'; addthis_pub = ''; View the full article

Sony currently offers a slew of accessories for their Bravia televisions, including a DVD player, HDMI switcher, wireless HD module, and more. Gizmodo was fortunate enough to take on the task of reviewing all of these devices connected to a Bravia television. While mostly positive, the experience is mostly positive. The results are what most would expect, but we found it disappointing that the wireless HD device had problems synchronizing to a Samsung TV and therefore will probably only be a good fit for just Sony Bravia TV’s. Sony needs to create a device like this that is more compatible for all televisions. Read more at Gizmodo. Thanks, gsmne. View the full article

The BRAVIA Z4500, announced at IFA, most certainly piqued the interest of our readers as it had Bravia Engine 2, 200hz frame rate, and a 80,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. We thought you might be interested in a video that provides a visual demonstration of the technology behind Motionflow. The idea behind the video is to explain Motionflow, so the flipbook on the left is more jerky and represents a standard LCD picture - you might notice this if you watch a lot of sports. The flipbook on the right simulates how Motionflow makes the picture smoother, by inserting extra frames. The reason we decided to produce the video was because you have to see Motionflow in action to really understand how it works, but obviously not everyone is in a position to see the Z4500, especially before it is released. So the video attempts to explain and demonstrate the technology in a way that’s easy to understand. View the full article

Let’s talk a bit about Audio division, namely its baby Network Walkman that has been bullied pretty much to near death by Apple’s iPod. I know a lot of audiophiles out there who are die-hard Sony devotees pray and hope that Sony still has something up its sleeve to show the world that Walkman is still alive and has a lot of potential. I’d say that thanks to those fans the Walkman business stayed alive in the US even though it was crippled with DRM and MP3s were a big No-No in the Sony Audio division. Eliot Van Buskirk from the WIRED blog has shed some light on the upcoming Walkman line up for us. In the picture I can see familiar faces of Rick Clancy and Stan Glasgow discussing their plans for that product for 2009. Check out the article below and let us know if you think Walkman has a chance to live on another year… “At Sony’s annual executive round table in New York on Thursday morning, Sony Electronics’ president and COO Stan Glasgow told reporters gathered there about the company’s forecast for the holiday (grim but not disastrous), how the imploding electronics retail market is affecting Sony and its product roadmap for 2009 and beyond. There’s still no sign of the iTunes/Zune-style store that Glasgow (seated at the head of the table in the photo to the right) said the company was looking into at this same meeting in 2006. Sony president of consumer sales Jay Vandenbree told Wired.com after the round table that Sony had no plans to launch such a store in the coming year. Instead, he said, Sony will add “solid” audio feature to their portable hardware, and that the company’s next-generation portable audio designs would feature “stronger integration” with its other products. Sony will likely add stronger WiFi features to its audio-capable portables (the PSP already has WiFi but not the standalone music portables). This woul enable wireless song syncing and streaming within the home and near hotspots. Those devices could borrow technology from Sony mylo. Plus, Glasgow said Sony is adding WiFi syncing to its line of point-and-shoot cameras, so the same could hold true for its portable audio players. Another wireless feature could be in the works too. Sony was bullish on Bluetooth at the same meeting in 2007, so it Vandenbree’s “integration” could mean the ability to beam music from portable audio devices into more of the company’s home theater receivers, although neither executive touched on Bluetooth during this year’s roundtable. Vandenbree also told Wired.com after the meeting that Sony’s portable audio players will be “more versatile” in 2009. This could mean support for more audio and video formats in addition to the wireless features mentioned above. Wild speculation: Sony has close ties to Apple on the video side… could he have meant that Sony players will work with Apple’s DRM? Not likely. Overall, Vandenbree told us to expect new designs, closer integration with other Sony products and more versatility from the company’s upcoming portable audio line-up. But Sony will not announce a major music store/player strategy at the Consumer Electronics Show in January (a plan probably best left abandoned, judging from their first online music store). We look forward to seeing the specifics in January, but this is the Sony portable audio scoop for now.” View the full article

I frequent from time to time AVS Forum and enjoy reading discussions on the latest Sony TVs and other AV gear and I noticed a number of members are still not sure about different Bravia Engine versions Sony markets with their TVs. As some of us know BRAVIA Engine™ is a fully digital video processing system, sort of a brain of BRAVIA TVs designed to reduce noise and produce sharp, vibrant, life-like images. Here is a simple breakdown and explanation between the versions: BRAVIA ENGINE™ 2 TECHNOLOGY The BRAVIA Engine 2 is a display engine that controls the turning on and off of the individual detail points - the pixels. It is the brain of the display controlling the basics of contrast, color, brightness and motion, which are actually more important to the performance of the panel than its resolution. There are three versions of BRAVIA Engine 2: BRAVIA Engine 2 (52XBR7) BRAVIA Engine 2 EX (40XBR7) BRAVIA Engine 2 PRO (70XBR7) But don’t let that confuse you – the video processing functions and the benefits remain the same. The big difference between each of them is the addition of an exclusive Sony technology called Digital Reality Creation Multi-function (DRC-MF). Digital Reality Creation technology essentially enhances video signals making them sharper and clearer. There are two variations of DRC-MF technology. In the BRAVIA Engine EX circuit (in the 40XBR7), DRC-MFv1 works with 480i (standard definition) video sources. In the BRAVIA Engine PRO circuit (70XBR7), DRC-MFv3 goes a few steps further by processing ALL video signals. That’s right - 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i and 1080p! Details in images, textures in plants and fabrics, and computer graphics all benefit from DRC-MFv3 technology. And here is some info on the new 240Hz technology Sony introduced earlier this fall. MOTIONFLOW™ 240HZ TECHNOLOGY (KDL-52XBR7 ONLY) Motionflow™ 240Hz technology takes a BIG evolutionary step upward in motion enhancement over 120Hz frame rate technologies. MotionFlow 240Hz is the world’s first quadruple speed 240 Hz frame rate conversion in the U.S. market and is designed specifically to improve the clarity of fast-moving objects on screen. The system creates three new intermediate images for 60fps video (such as DVDs and some TV broadcasts) and inserts them between the 60 original frames. This method creates a total of 240 frames-per-second (fps). It also improves the display of movies and cartoons shot at 24 fps by inserting nine new frames between the existing 24 frames. And, just like Sony’s exclusive Motionflow 120Hz technology, Motionflow 240Hz technology applies Image Blur Reduction technology BEFORE it creates new frames to reduce blur artifacts that can be introduced by the camera. The benefits are sharper picture quality with smooth, more natural motion. Hope this helps some of you trying to decide whether to go with Sony or some other brand out there… View the full article

In my opinion, the Bravia Internet Video Link will go down in Sony’s history as a forward-looking item that lacked the practicality and differentiation of services it needed to truly be successful in the market. In the world of Tivo, DVR’s (onDEMAND and DirecTV), AppleTV, and so forth, the device simply has an awkward sense of being in comparison. However, with a few simple tweaks, Sony Insider feels that Sony may actually have the framework for an optimal home entertainment device. Think with me here for a moment, and maybe with your comments and ideas we can inspire Sony accordingly. The Bravia Internet Video Link needs a hard drive - at least 80gb - and a small form factor. Make it more HD centric in terms of features. In fact, give it the XMB interface and include the Playstation Video Store (and Netflix if you really wanted to kick the market’s butt). Retain Amazon Video on Demand, Youtube, and Slacker Radio but throw in Sirius/XM Internet streaming capability (which is available to subscribers for free) if people have subscriptions. A wild card, but totally possible if you could throw in some of the PlayTV DVR abilities with TV would be mint. This would be a killer device and could stand on better ground with the real market, but it all depended in one thing: you would have to maintain the $200ish price point. It can’t be priced higher than the PS3. Also get rid of that akward name - make it more unified and simple sounding, like Sony Video. Integrating more of the Playstation XMB into a device like this would make the Bravia and Playstation people work closer together. Isn’t that what Sony is trying to achieve these days? View the full article

Looks like Sony acquired another provider for their Bravia Internet Link that connects to your Sony TV and lets you enjoy online content and this time Sony brings you … Radio with CD-quality music. From the press release: “Slacker Personal Radio delivers millions of licensed songs and more than 100 individually programmed genre music stations, while Howcast offers up a selection of its engaging how-to videos. Both channels offer content at no additional charge to BRAVIA Internet Video Link users. “Internet content is expanding faster than ever and Sony is bringing it straight to BRAVIA televisions,” said Randy Waynick, senior vice president of Sony Electronics’ Home Products Division. “Slacker and Howcast are great examples of new types of entertainment that are bridging the gap from an Internet experience to entertainment shared in the living room.” Slacker’s library of CD-quality music across all genres and eras ensures that music lovers can enjoy radio stations on their BRAVIA HDTV ranging from music of the golden-era classics to today’s hottest hits. By simply linking their BRAVIA Internet Video Link to your online Slacker account, users can easily enjoy their own custom Slacker stations created online where they have fine-tuned categories to set artist, year, popularity and more. “ I am still not sure about Bravia Internet Link Module and its worth, as many users of Bravia may enjoy more content and choices by just connecting their PS3 or VAIO PC… I also think this module could have been an additional feature added on XMB menu in Bravia and be free after all…but I hear it is coming soon to new Bravias so we’ll see. View the full article

Please continue this conversation via private message. Thank you.

That is one of my favorite fonts of all time. I love fonts, and notice them often. Most people who do websites become obsessed with fonts and become very conscious of them..

Sometimes the urge to have a new Bravia is so overwhelming that you just have to go out and steal one. Fairbanks Police in Alaska, USA are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and indictment of a man who was seen on surveillance cameras at Wal-Mart stealing a 32-inch Sony Bravia flat screen TV valued at over $600 on Nov. 1. According to Fairbanks Crime Stoppers, the young, white male entered Wal-Mart and headed straight for the electronics department where he put the TV in his cart and walked out of the store. Smooth exit - how did he elude the old man/woman checking receipts? According to parking lot surveillance, the man put the TV in the back seat of a white or silver four-door sedan and drove off. Here is the actual pictures of the thief and crime in progress: Anyone with information regarding the crime is asked to call Investigator Dan Gibson at (907) 450-6549 or Crime Stoppers at (907) 456-CLUE. Callers will remain anonymous and could be eligible for a cash reward up to $1000, the press release stated. View the full article

CNET is very keen on the new Sony Vaio AW125J/H, which is a true gem in its price range considering the sleek design and impressive featureset. Aside from having the attractive title of being the cheapest 18 inch laptop available with Blu-ray and a great native 16:9 resolution (most laptops have 16:10). This thing is a multimedia monster - of course when you have that in mind then it must mean it can have disappointing battery figures, and it does, in some aspects. However, this is a desktop replacement and I feel that it has the specs to most certainly qualify for that title. Here are the specs: Price as reviewed / Starting price $1,849 Processor 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T9400 Memory 4GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz Hard drive 320GB, 7,200rpm Chipset Mobile Intel P45 Express Graphics 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9600M GT Operating System Windows Vista Premium Dimensions (WDH) 17.4 x 11.8 x 1.4 inches Screen size (diagonal) 18.4 inches System weight / Weight with AC adapter 7.9/9.2 pounds Category Desktop Replacement Some interesting things from the review I noticed included a mention about too much proprietary software being installed, which indicates to me that Stringer’s mention of “craplets” hopefully not being prevalent anymore obviously hasn’t gained much weight in the company. Also, CNET found that the battery life for their video playback tests was about 1hr and 53 minutes. The AW125J/H also scored the best times in the Adobe Photoshop CS3 image-processing test by a significant margin. View the full article

I am seeing QoS as soon as possible. As for a movie I have watched recently, I did check out Ocean's Thirteen on HBOHD the other day, very nice quality..

Sorry for just getting to this now; school has been overwhelming lately. Nonetheless, after some ossec issues, the memory was just too low and there was too much running in the background. After inspecting top I realized I had three security programs running at once, unnecessarily consuming excessive RAM. The forums and atraclife couldn't really run when those programs are occupying all the RAM, so they hit the swap file. The swap file was getting nuked so it would crash. I got rid of a few things and optimized others and hopefully it should be silky smooth for a while. Thanks guys for your understanding. Hopefully I can get the Gallery fixed soon.

ok, I've made even more changes so things should be much better.

WOW! Sorry to hear about the damage(s). I am very glad that you are safe - please post some pictures if you can, as I always find the aftermath so fascinating to observe. I was keeping an eye on the storm via http://www.caymanislands.ky/hurricane/paloma.aspx, hehe.

I'm trying as hard as possible to resolve the issues, Guitar. Please stay positive. There is no need to abandon your activities on the site as things will stabilize soon. I've purchased more memory for the server for the time being until we can fix some of the memory leaks that are happening with the site that cause it to crash accordingly.

Stay safe old friend, just in case..

Happy Birthday nywytboy68! You are 41 years old. I wish I lived 41 years ago myself, when Hendrix was king..

Without any announcement or fanfare, SonyStyle.com added a new family member to the VAIO line up - VGF-HS1 Home Server first introduced in Japan, then promised to be released in Europe. Its round shape will remind you about VAIO TP series PC, though the server is just a tad slimmer. Here is what it does: Features: 1TB (7200rpm) hard drive (500GB x 2), 3 USB ports, gigabit Ethernet, one-touch transfer of files, stream digital multimedia to DNLA compliant devices, automatic file backup. Enjoy peace of mind and keep all your photos, music and home videos backed up into a single, easy-to-access location with the VGF-HS1 VAIO

Beautiful MD unit.

A $25 million Blu-ray Disc marketing campaign launched this week from the Digital Entertainment Group and a number of studios, raising the format’s profile in time for the holiday season. Dubbed ‘Tru Blu,’ the TV, online and in-theater blitz kicked off during Fox’s NFL programming on Sunday, Nov. 2. The campaign will target consumers ages 25 to 44 who already own or intend to purchase HDTVs. Tru Blu is designed to both spur Blu-ray fourth-quarter spending as well as educate consumers about the advantages of the format. The spots will additionally drive viewers to the Web site WatchBlu.com, which includes Blu-ray news, trailers and exclusive content. Retail plans to support the campaign with in-store merchandising to help customers navigate through their Blu-ray purchasing. Studios coming together to finance the Tru Blu promotion are 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Home Video. Electronics manufacturers Panasonic and Sony also are involved. “Blu-ray is clearly the best way to watch and experience high-definition in the home,” DEG chairman and Disney president Bob Chapek said. “It is unrivaled by any other delivery system and theretofore becomes essential to accompany any high-definition TV. As such, Blu-ray is a clear successor to DVD and will enable a revolutionary entertainment experience that will transcend the next decade of movie watching in the home.” The DEG and studios are proud of Blu-ray’s progress so far. U.S. consumers are expected to purchase 2.4 million Blu-ray set-top players in 2008, three times more than what sold in 2007, according to DisplaySearch. Blu-ray software sales now account for more than 10% of sales for major releases, marking a significant uptick over its Blu-ray portion sales from last year. Still, the Tru Blu backers hope to give the format an extra push for the holidays, which are hitting at a time when consumers are spending conservatively in a softening economy. This blitz marks the studios’ second major collaborative effort to promote Blu-ray. Last year, during the thick of the format war, studio-backed ads pushed the image that high-def TVs and Blu-ray players make the perfect marriage. TV programs set to feature the Tru Blu campaign include ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money and Grey’s Anatomy, Fox’s House and NBC’s The Office and Law & Order: SVU. Web sites targeted include Maxim.com, GameSpot.com, ESPN.com and MSN.com. Ads also will unspool in theaters nationwide. Article courtesy VideoBusiness. View the full article