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Tag: sony

  • How will Xbox's streaming HD Fare Against PS3's Blu-ray?


    For a while now, Sony’s PS3 has done very well out of being the best Blu-ray player in its price range – oh, and you can play games with it too.

    So it will be interesting to see how it fares now that Microsoft’s Xbox is offering US users streaming HD content from Netflix.

    That, and the fact that Blu-ray player prices generally are falling drastically, may have some impact on the Sony console.

    PS3 sales figures for the third quarter showed a very respectable 56 per cent increase year-over-year, even if total numbers were lagging behind Nintendo’s Wii and the Xbox 360.

    There are also now 14 million active PlayStation Network (PSN) accounts worldwide – equalling the number of Xbox Live (XBL) subscribers, according to Sony.

    Registered PSN users have leapt by four million since July, with the total amount of content downloaded shooting up from 170 million pieces to 273 million pieces.

    That said, the Xbox 360 isn’t doing badly. Microsoft forecasts that by the end of this month, 25 million Xbox 360 consoles will have been sold worldwide.

    The NPD Group reported in September that the Xbox 360 was ahead of the PlayStation 3 in sales for the first time in months – even if only by a slim margin.

    So Microsoft will be hoping that today’s Xbox update will add further appeal to its console and keep those totals climbing higher.

    It will be offering HD content from Netflix, the latest entrant to the rapidly growing streaming digital market that has seen a series of set-top boxes begin offering the service.

    Movies from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment subsidiary, Columbia Pictures, will not be available to Xbox 360 users streaming via Netflix, though.

    Shortly before Xbox 360’s update went live, the list of movies available for Netflix Watch Instantly streaming suddenly dropped all Columbia’s offerings.

    All the blocked content can still be viewed online and through all other Netflix enabled TV devices except for the 360.

    Rivalry issues aside, as well as the lure of high-def programming, the Xbox changes offer a new interface with a simpler panel and new customizable avatars to display users in the friends list and certain games.

    A LIVE Party function can be used to virtually host up to seven friends for voice chat, game play, and photo sharing.

    There is also a community games channel which allows users to play games that have been created by private individuals.

    Among the new games to be launched are "You’re in the Movies" and "Lips".

    So, plenty of entertaiment for Xbox users to get their teeth into – but will it be enough to halt the march of the PS3?

  • New High Speed Camera Memory Stick

    Sony model ideal upgrade for high performance digital cameras and HD camcorders

    As files get bigger, so the pressure for flash memory grows.

    The latest offering from Sony Recording Media & Energy is one solution for users needing high capacity and high speed data transfer.
    The Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX comes with 4GB or 8GB capacity and a read speed of 20MB/second (15MB/second write).

    This makes it more than capable of coping even with the strain of HD video.

    When used with the supplied USB adaptor for maximum speed, it can shorten data transfer time by one-third compared to Sony’s Memory Stick PRO Duo (Mark 2).

    The provision of a USB adaptor as a standard accessory also makes it very simple to transfer data onto a PC or notebook.

    Also useful is the free, downloadable Memory Stick Data Rescue Service which can quickly recover deleted photographs and files.

    The Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX uses an 8-bit parallel interface to achieve this level of performance and comes with a 10 year warranty.

    It will be available from October 2008.

  • OLED is coming – but at a price


    As a next-generation display technology, the first OLED (organic light emitting diode) screens were never going to come cheap.

    For the introduction of the first OLED to the European market, Sony is said to be putting a €3,500 (US$5,000) price tag on its XEL-1 when it becomes available before Christmas.

    The astronomical cost, reported by OLED-Display.net, dwarfs the US$1850 paid in Japan and even makes the US$2,100 price stateside seem reasonable.

    When the XEL-1 launched in Japan it was unveiled as a kind of prototype for what could be. Sony was said to be making a loss on each set.

    While the XEL-1 has received a positive reception from consumers in Japan, expansion into other markets is sure to be slower at such elevated prices.

    Competition from Sony’s rival Samsung

    OLED TVs, which could potentially replace LCD and plasma TVs, are predicted to sell close to 3 million units in 2012.

    Samsung, which released the world’s largest OLED television at the IFA trade show in Berlin, has committed itself to
    commercial production of mid to large screens by 2010.

    “Samsung will begin commercial production of mid- and large-sized OLED televisions around 2010,” according to a statement from Samsung.

    At IFA, Samsung displayed two OLED screens – a 14.1-inch model and a 31-inch model.

    Sony had the XEL-1 and a 27-inch prototype, which was introduced at the CES in Las Vegas earlier this year.

  • How Do You Turn a PS3 Owner Onto Blu-ray? With a Remote

    Hollywood studios recognise the importance of PlayStation as a driver for Blu-ray Disc (BD) sales and remote control is indicator of household demand

    Reports on Blu-ray’s progress – and difficulties – on the road to becoming the mass-market video format are legion.

    Monica Juniel, vice president of international marketing for Warner Home Video, added an interesting statistic into the mix during her presentation at IFA 2008 in Berlin last week.

    According to the former commercial banker, Sony PlayStation owners that possess remote controls for their games consoles buy more than twice as many BDs as those that don’t have them.

    Perhaps not rocket science, since if you are going to be watching movies on the PS3 it’s fairly fiddly doing it with a game controller.

    But with millions of PS3s sold around the globe, it’s understandable why those with an interest in the Blu-ray industry pay particular attention to how they’re used.

    Games and Movies

    In July, a report from the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) showed that 87 per cent of PS3 owners watched Blu-ray movies on their console.

    While this is an impressive headline figure, Warner aren’t getting carried away with it.

    According to Juniel owners of stand-alone Blu-ray players buy twice as many BDs as PlayStation households.
    She said this undoubtedly meant there were “other opportunities” for the format.

    “There are a few things that are slowing us down,” she said. “PS3 comprises the majority of the installed base, but with software buy rates significantly lagging behind those of Blu-ray set-top box owners.”

    Control by Remote

    Juniel said one way to drive BD movie sales was to “convert PS3 households via remote control usage” – the logic presumably being that if it’s easier to play the disc, you’re more likely to buy more of them.

    No figure was given for the percentage of PS owners who had remote controls but HDTV.biz-news.com has asked for the data and will post an update as soon as its received.

    She also detailed a few other barriers to purchasing Blu-ray Discs, such as hardware prices and consumer indifference.

    Remove issues such as these and there might be a lot more people happily zapping their PS3s.

    Do you agree? Please let us know your comments on what the real barriers are to consumers adopting Blu-ray technology.

  • Race towards OLED TVs quickens

    Sony set the pace with the launch of its AM-OLED TV last year, now momentum appears to be growing among TV manufacturers in the race towards mass producing larger OLED screens.

    According to recent reports in Japanese newspapers, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic) has set internal directives to start offering OLED TVs by 2011.

    The company intends to use its R&D center in Kyoto as a base for a manufacturing plant solely for OLED panels.
    By next spring, the first prototype OLED TVs with a screen size of around 20 inches are expected to be produced there.
    Mass production of OLED TVs with a screen size of 40 inches and more is scheduled for 2011 in a factory in near Kobe in central Japan.

    Panasonic has said 200 engineers will be assigned exclusively for the development of the next-generation displays.
    While not denying the reports, the electronics firm did say: “Panasonic is continuing R&D on OLED panels with an eye toward the future development of the Himeji plant. At this time, there is nothing decided about how this R&D will develop into a specific business operation.”

    Meanwhile, activity in the OLED field seems to be having an effect on AU Optronics.
    The Taiwanese display panel manufacturer is reportedly considering re-opening its OLED product line.

    LJ Chen, president and COO of AUO indicated that the company has been monitoring the development of OLED technologies and, as they improve, is interested in re-opening its production line although a possible time-line is still unclear.

    HB Chen, vice-Chairman and CEO added that although AUO will not re-open the production line in 2008, the company will showcase its OLED developments in Yokohama, Japan in October this year

    But how realistic are the industry’s hopes for mainstream production of OLED TVs?

    Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst for mobile displays at iSuppli Corp, said the key factors determining the success of OLED in the market will be the display industry’s capability to address key issues like manufacturing costs, material lifetime and efficiency.

    “Furthermore, given that OLEDs are LCD replacements, the technology at least initially will be subjected to the price pressures placed on it by competing LCD panel products,” he said.

    LCD TV makers are introducing thinner models to compete with the flatter-than-flat OLEDs and other OLED products are making their way to market.

    These include an OLED-based DVD Global Positioning System (GPS) device for car navigation.

    Among the other initiatives is the collaborative push to promote the technology by some big name electronics firms and the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

    Ten companies including Sony, Sharp, Toshiba and Matsushita (Panasonic) are collaborating on the five-year effort, which will likely cost ¥3.5 billion (US$32.8 million).

    The project is aimed at “developing a core technology to mass-produce 40-inch or larger OLED displays in the late 2010s”.

    The positive response to Sony’s launch of an AM-OLED TV late last year has built momentum in the industry.

    While small, the display quality of the AM-OLED TV is superior to anything anyone had seen to date—and extremely flat.

    Sony is now expanding on its OLED portfolio with a 3.5-inch, 0.2mm-thick panel that will be used in high-end mobile devices.
    The company has also released in Japan the 11 inch Sony XEL-1, which is expected to reach European markets in 2009.

    We are always interested in hearing your views – when and who will be first to market with a 40 inch OLED TV?

  • Chinese rival to Blu-ray squares up for fight

    Odds stacked against Blu-Ray competitor despite cheaper production costs and lower royalties

    Volume production of China’s self-developed high-definition optical disc format – China Blue High-definition Disc (CBHD) – is to begin in the fourth quarter of 2008.


    Shanghai United Optical Disc has completed its first production line and its output is initially expected to sell only in the Chinese market.

    Until recently CBHD was known as CH DVD (China High-definition DVD) – the Chinese version of the Toshiba-supported HD DVD format that lost out to Sony-backed Blu-ray last year.

    Yet while the costs of setting up a CBHD manufacturing facility and royalty fees to produce players are lower than those for Blu-ray, Taiwanese drive-makers are not optimistic about the format’s prospects.

    A report in the Chinese-language enorth.com.cn says that CBHD will find it difficult to compete with Blu-ray Disc (BD) in the Chinese market.

    This is despite the costs for refitting a DVD production line to manufacture CBHD discs being only US$800,000 – much lower than the US$3 million needed to set up a BD disc production line.

    Royalty fees to produce licensed CBHD players will be about 55 yuan (US$8.10), are also much lower than BD licensing rates.

    However, the enorth.com.cn report suggests that these cost advantages will not be sufficient to impact upon BD’s increasing market penetration.

    It points out that members of the BD Association have reduced retail prices for their entry-level Chinese-made BD players in the North American market to around US$299 and prices are expected to drop further.

    This would leave CBHD players facing challenging price competition once they are launched in the China market.
    The reports also notes that CBHD has not won support from leading movie studios in Hollywood and this is expected to render the format at a significant disadvantage in competition with BD.

  • Race towards wireless HD hots up

    Sony and Samsung join new consortium supporting technology that could replace tangle of video cables with wireless transmission of HD video

    A group of consumer electronics manufacturers and wireless technology firms has joined forces to develop a new standard that could send HD video signals wirelessly from a set-top box to screens around the home.

    The consortium – comprising Sony, Sharp, Samsung, Amimon, Hitachi and Motorola – expects to have specifications for its Wireless Home Digital Interface (WHDI) technology finalised by the end of the year.

    Based on technology from Amimon Ltd of Israel, WHDI is the latest addition in the race to replace video cable.
    A key ingredient of WHDI technology is a new 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.

    The consortium plans to enhance the current WHDI technology to enable wireless streaming of uncompressed HD video and audio between CE devices such as LCD and plasma HDTVs, multimedia projectors, A/V receivers, DVD and BD players, set-top boxes, game consoles, and PCs.

    The new interoperable standard aims to ensure that CE devices manufactured by different vendors will simply and directly connect to one another.

    TVs with Amimon’s chips could reach stores by next year, costing about US$100 more than equivalent, non-wireless sets.

    Noam Geri, co-founder of Amimon, said: “If you have a TV in the home, that TV will be able to access any source in the home, whether it’s a set-top box in the living room, or the PlayStation in the bedroom, or a DVD player in another bedroom. That’s the message of WHDI.”

    The quest for wireless streaming of high-definition video has seen various contenders emerge.
    Among them is WirelessHD, centered on technology from SiBEAM Inc, of which Sony also forms part of the group to enable it to have “wider options”.

    Another hopeful is ultra-wideband, or UWB, which requires less compression than Wi-Fi but its range is more limited.
    WHDI is less exotic than either WirelessHD or UWB. It uses a radio band at 5 gigahertz that’s used by some Wi-Fi devices.

    Motorola has looked at competing technologies, but WHDI is the only group it has joined.
    The company plans to build the technology into its set-top boxes, but the first product is likely be a pair of adapters that talk wirelessly to one another. One could be attached to a set-top box, the other to a TV set.

  • Ad targetting to US teens expected to boom

    Smartphone ownership among American teens will mushroom beyond current 20 per cent – presenting massive opportunities for ad targetting

    Research shows that American teenagers have at their disposal an estimated US$200 billion annually in discretionary spending.
    The marketing agency Fuse recently interviewed execs from companies like Sony, MTV Networks, Yahoo and Nokia to get their take on what the future of technology will look like for the teen market.

    Among the conclusions was that the mobile phone in the US will supplant the PC in terms of popularity for teenagers.
    While currently only 20 per cent of US youngsters own a smartphone, both mobile and content companies are certain this rate will rise dramatically.

    Bill Carter, a partner at Fuse, presenting his findings at this year’s YPulse Mashup convention in San Fransisco, said smartphones like the iPhone are just the beginning for multi-functional devices.
    “Uses of mobile devices will expand to include all kinds of bar code applications and prepaid debit card payment methods,” he said.

    This prediction is a large part of the reason why geographic ad targeting to teens is expected to increase dramatically in coming years.

    Currently, providers analyse about 4 billion Protocol addresses to provide what is called street-level targeting to consumers.

    Companies can then reach teens directly via their phone with ads and info on nearby places to go like nightspots.

    “When you combine this new technology with teens giving their permission to market to them, the growth could be exponential,” said Carter.

    He predicts that teens will end up buying subscription based music services, a lot like the cable TV model.

    Carter also feels that other tech platforms will actually save not kill TV networks.
    The analog-to-digital conversion will allow teens to watch live TV on their smartphones.
    This will then in turn help the TV networks to target their programming to specific audiences, which will maintain the cost of advertising.
    What it boils down to is “the device is inconsequential compared to the content,” he said.

  • Sony adds HD downloads to PS3

    High Definition choice on game consoles boosted as Sony launches an HD movie download service for the Play Station 3 in the US

    Sony has signed up the major studios, including Fox, Disney and Warner, to offer HD movies on its US download service.
    The downloads can be transferred from the console to the Play Station Portable handheld device.

    This latest development follows Microsoft’s announcement that it will add a NetFlix movie streaming service to its XBox 360 video game console.

    While the NetFlix service will not include high-def movies, Microsoft does offer HD TV shows and movies on its XBox Live (link to other story) service.

    The rivalry between the console makers is good news for consumers.

    Microsoft has said it will triple the storage capacity of the Xbox 360 and sell the consoles with 60-gigabytes of storage starting in early August in the US and Canada.

    Meanwhile Sony is to introduce an 80GB Play Station 3 for US$399 in September.

    Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, said the new 80Gb console was “perfectly suited for high-definition downloads of games, movies and more”.

    However, the new movie download service does not permit viewers to purchase HD programmes.
    PS3 owners can rent movies in HD, but they can only purchase them in standard-def.

    The HD-rental only policy is understood to have been the decision of the Hollywood studios, perhaps fuelled by the concern that PS3 owners could illegally copy and sell the high-def movies.

  • Former backer of Toshiba's "defeated" HD DVD format to release first Blu-ray Disk player










    Onkyo, the A/V manufacturer that backed the high def DVD format and sold around 2,000 players, is to launch its first BD player later this year.
    The company had flagged up its intention to let bygones be bygones and join the other “side” shortly after Toshiba announced that it would concede the format war last February.
    It discontinued production of its HD DVD players, while assuring existing customers they would continue to receive full product support and service.
    A company statement also said it’s R&D team had “maintained a parallel development programme for the competing Blu-ray technology”.
    The results of that effort are an as-yet un-named Blu-ray player which has been designed to be partnered with the company’s high-definition A/V receivers that come equipped with 1080p HDMI processing and Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding.
    Product and pricing details will be announced in advance of the product’s official entrance into the market.