Filed under: Gaming, Laptops, Portable Video

Wouldn’t you know it? Right after we got done throwing away recycling all of our laptop PCs in favor of an explosion-free, desktop computing environment, Consumer Reports comes along with the disturbing news that some of our other favorite gadgets may have been tainted by Sony’s huge batch of crappy batteries as well. In its On Safety blog, CR quotes Consumer Product Safefy Commission spokesperson Julie Vallese as saying that “the upcoming Sony recall [in October] could very well expand beyond notebook computers and could include DVD players and portable gaming devices.” That’s right folks, not only is it unsafe to use a laptop anymore, there’s also a slight chance that all your battery-powered devices are ticking timebombs that could totally ruin a quiet night of Grand Theft Auto or Kill Bill. We’ll keep you posted on the latest developments here, but if you just can’t get enough of this inflammatory (ahem) fear-mongering, head on over to our new spin-off — Engadget Recalls — for round the clock coverage of what has now become the defining issue of our time.

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Portable Audio

Surely Sony would love it if a new music player could drown out the sound of the company’s exploding battery bruhaha, but sadly that probably won’t be the case. Nevertheless, Sony has just released the new NW-S706, which comes in an elegant elliptical form factor along the lines of the NW-E series — that said, it appears to be an update to the NW-S205. All we know so far, according to one British online retailer, is that the NW-S706 comes in three colors (purple, black and pink), packs 4GB of storage, up to 50 hours of battery life (probably only if you’re bumping ATRAC), line-in recording, an FM tuner, and should be due out on October 9 for £180, or $336. We’re still unsure if this is a Europe and Asia-only release, but nontheless, we’d love to be able to snag one of these Stateside real soon.

[Via CNET Asia]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Gaming

Sony, you’re really, REALLY not doing anything to help the perception that the PS3 is a large, overblown, intimidating monolith of a game console. And yes, we still want one.

[Thanks, Iboro Ekpo]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Digital Cameras, HDTV

You know, if CamcorderInfo really wanted to write a shorter review of the Sony HDR-UX1, it probably should have hired Leo Tolstoy, who’s always been known for his brevity. That said, we revel in doing the heavy reading for you; so what’s the skinny on this high-def shooter? We’re glad you asked, because here’s the good news: CamcorderInfo enjoyed the cam’s strong colors and even saturation, gave it bonus points for the multi-purpose ring control, and noted the respectable battery life, which topped out at barely over two hours. Further, the site says the revamped on-screen menus with two columns of options make the camcorder’s on-screen controls a fair bit faster and easier to access. On the minus side, they were very disappointed with the serious noise issues probably caused by the AVCHD compression, particularly in bright light, and added that the problem is even “worse in low light.” In addition, the lack of higher-end features like a shutter speed control mar an otherwise decent product. Overall, though, the site gave the $1400 HDR-UX1 (one of the first AVCHD cams on the market), its blessing as a “great camcorder.” How do you like that — a 13,000 word review summed up into four syllables.

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Digital Cameras, HDTV

The in-laws have been pestering you to do a little video chatting so they can see their grandkids a bit more, right? But we’re sure the thought of digging out the ‘ol webcam from 2001 brings up repressed memories of jerky, tiny video chatting. Well Sony may have the solution — albeit an uber-pricey one — but still, it’s a high-def solution in the form of its new IPELA package. The large pictured box (PCS-HG90) converts the captured HD video stream to H.264 (1,280 x 720 at 60fps) and shoots off the data to the receiving box via the Internet — sending the video of your child’s smiling face to his/her grandparents’ HDTV. Plus, there isn’t a cheap webcam in the system: Sony has bundled a 1.12 megapixel, 3CCD camera to get the best picture quality possible. While this system could theoretically work for remote family reunions, its $42,000 pricetag (you need two of each component, after all) would indicate that these units are aimed more towards the corporate market. Then again, you simply cannot put a price on your parents seeing every last feeding, diaper change, or spit up, now can you?

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Handhelds

A kind employee reports that the CompUSA in Clearwater, Florida is stocking the $350 Sony mylo (only in black, apparently), and he’s got a set of pics to prove it. The store’s SKU spotted in the photographs assures us that these are the real McCoy indeed, and not just some pre-production model. Of course, just because mylos have been sighted in one CompUSA (and on various online retailers, including Amazon and SonyStyle.com) doesn’t mean they’re necessarily available everywhere yet — so as always, your mileage may vary. That said, be sure to click through for one more mylo close-up before we send you on your merry way to your local gadgeteria.

[Thanks, Dan the Man]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Gaming

Press releases are boring. We go through literally hundreds of them a day, and for the most part, they’re self-serving documents full of half-truths and inflated claims about products and services. So imagine our delight when we stumbled upon this little doozy of a release from marketing firm Ipsos Insight, which details a study done on behalf of the Immersion Corporation concerning gamers’ preferences and purchasing plans with regards to the trio of next-generation consoles. You probably remember Immersion as the company that successfully sued Sony over the use of computer-controlled vibration technology in its PlayStation and PS2 Dual Shock controllers, and since Sony has apparently neither paid Immersion the $90 million it owes nor licensed the rumble tech for its SIXAXIS PS3 gamepads, the release comes across as a thinly-veiled reminder that gamers really, really like playing with input devices that shake and buzz in their sweaty hands.

Not only does the (completely unbiased) poll report that 72% of the 1,075 respondents agree vibration feedback enhances their game experience, it goes on to note that 59% of those surveyed would prefer rumble on the PS3 controller, while only 8% care about motion / tilt sensing (sorry, Nintendo). As if these numbers didn’t paint a clear enough picture of the message Immersion is trying to convey, two further questions spell it out even more explicitly: when asked if the lack of rumble capabilities would affect their buying decisions (apparently 74% of those polled weren’t even aware of the “no rumble” policy — clearly no Engadget readers amongst that bunch), 5% said that it would definitely cause them not to buy a PS3 and 32% claimed that they were less likely to pick one up for this reason and this reason alone. Now obviously Immersion knew exactly the results that it wanted before it conducted this “study,” and probably phrased the questions in order to get the most desirable data set, but even non-statistics majors like ourselves could have figured out that gamers accustomed to the fun of Dual Shock would be in for a letdown the first time they picked up a rumble-free SIXAXIS controller.

Okay, Sony, the cards are on the table, and even if these numbers are skewed, you know full well that you can’t be the only player in the game without a little vibration action going on. So what’s it gonna be: are you going to keep hoping that some appeals court finally overturns the numerous prior decisions against you, or are you going to shell out some dough just like Microsoft and Nintendo did, and finally give the majority of your target audience what it wants? To us, it doesn’t really seem like much of a choice at all.

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Since advertisers — and broadcasting companies — aren’t exactly fond of folks cruising through those ads while watching a recorded show through their DVR, and can’t seem to get legislation to make it illegal passed just yet, a few companies have resorted to clever tactics to get those spots viewed. KFC offered up a “secret message” that could only be seen if witnessed in slo-mo, and TiVo has been testing fast-forward-proof banner ads to get the idea across even when blasting through the commercial breaks. Now Sony is getting in the act, by teasing viewers with an interactive plug for its Bravia TVs that shows “alternate endings” tailored to both men and women. It should be noted that only viewers watching through a DVR / TiVo will have the, um, luxury, of being able to pick and choose which endings to see. Sony apparently hopes to draw more attention to that fresh new LCD lineup by making stagnant ads a bit more lively, but we think they should be focusing on ramping up production on those sure-to-be-sold-out-everywhere PlayStation 3s.

[Via PVRWire]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Laptops

We suppose “We Didn’t Start the Fire” is quite the popular tune around the Sony HQ these days, but, unfortunately, that statement seems to be proving increasingly false. After a recent rash of violent Lenovo battery explosions, Sony claims they’re “investigating” the fires, specifically the LAX incident. Sony apparently thinks there is no official confirmation that the battery in the PC was Sony-made, but we’ve got a lot of empirical evidence that has us betting otherwise. Lenovo wasn’t available for comment, but it doesn’t seem far-fetched that we could have the making of a fourth major Sony battery recall in the recent weeks.

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Gaming

Oh deary us, pictures of the PlayStation 3 before it’s launched? Looks a lot like some Sony dudes setting up at TGS when these were snapped, we can’t imagine anywhere else in the world right now that would require such a setup. So what if we want our cake (Wii), and to eat it too (PS3) — we could live with all three next-gen consoles.

[Thanks, Iboro Ekpo]

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Laptops, Transportation

Hoo boy, the fun just doesn’t end with this little Sony/Dell/Apple battery fiasco, does it? Virgin Atlantic is now the third airline to take issue with Sony’s exploding batteries, and is playing it safe by requiring the removal of batteries from all Inspiron, Latitude, iBook, PowerBook, MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops. Of course, that includes a wide swath of laptops that aren’t affected at all by the recall, but them’s the breaks. Virgin was gracious enough to allow laptop use without a battery — if you’re lucky enough to sit close enough to an in-seat power supply — but otherwise users of two of the most popular brands in laptops had better bring a book or prepare to acquaint themselves well with a few in-flight magazines.

 

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SPONSORED BY: BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time.

Filed under: Robots

Sony, after your futile attempt to scorch the Earth of our beloved robot dog, prepare to meet thy maker. MI RAI-RT, from AIBO’s creator Tomoaki Kasugi now of Speecys Corp, is the latest all singing, all dancing robot, all growed-up and ready for release upon Japan. In addition to reading you the news downloaded over its 802.11g WiFi module, MI RAI-RT (which presumably translates to “future judgement” in Japanese) will teach your family English and deliver “3D messages” via RTML — yes, that’d be Robot Transaction Markup Language — which entails reading emails or other message types with appropriately intimidating body language. Weighing in at just 13-inches and 3.3-pounds, he won’t be grinding execs into a human sausage all on his own, but he’s apparently capable of terrorizing the shiznit out of your kids right from the box. Expect critical density to build starting October 31st when these drop for a ¥294,000 or about $2,495.

[Via Robot Gossip]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Speaking of the future, we always thought that by the 21st century we’d all have digital pads to read stuff on, instead of these old-fashioned analog “books.” Well, that’s what Sony‘s betting on with its PRS-500, anyway, which has just been spotted in the wild for the first time — in the hands of none other than Phillip Torrone of MAKE magazine (and Engadget) fame. We’d previously reported that this $350-ish e-book reader was going to be delayed (again), but that somehow it would be shipping in time for “the holidays.” Given Sony’s other problems of late, though, we wouldn’t be surprised if the company was referring to our next summer holiday. Remember, regular ol’ books may be low-tech, but at least they don’t explode. Keep reading for another snap, and then head over to MAKE for the full lowdown…

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Filed under: Handhelds

While the Sony mylo isn’t really meant for your lap (we envision it as more of a dual-handed device — or, erm, “dual-core,” if you will), Laptop nonetheless decided to take ‘er for a spin — one of the first in-the-wild reviews that we’ve seen since our recent unboxing. The verdict? It’s a cute little curvacious piece of hardware that does what it advertises — you can surf the web, Skype, IM, and play back media from it all with ease (they even claim it plays back WMA “secure”, i.e. PlaysForSure, which we somehow highly doubt). But the mylo isn’t the be-all Sidekick killer that Sony would surely like it to be. The magazine described the keyboard as too small and cramped for their liking and added that the mylo didn’t handle all web pages perfectly (specifically the image-heavy MySpace, whose denizens Sony is aiming at) on its 2.4-inch display. This led us to wonder if we’ll start seeing mylo-friendly webpages in the near future, but nevertheless, we still think Engadget looks best on the biggest screen in your house.

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Filed under: Gaming

Actually, the headline that would more accurately reflect the situation would read something like “Microsoft talks trash about Sony delay; Nintendo respectfully reinforces its own launch goals,” but headlines like those don’t sell RSS subscriptions. After hearing about Sony’s weak launch quantity and global delays, Microsoft came out woodwork with a bit of backhanded sympathy (laced, of course, with some low blows): “We know how challenging it is to pull off a global launch, so it’s not surprising that Sony has backed away from their previously announced launch plan, due to the unproven technology they are trying to pack in to their console.” The MS types also made sure everybody knew how much they care for the global gamer: “Europe remains a priority for us. That is why gamers have been able to experience Xbox 360 from day one, and why we’re confident we’re going to have a great Christmas – regardless of what competitors are or are not in the market.” Zing! Nintendo, however, merely reiterated their launch goals: “Wii is on track to ship in Q4, Nintendo plans to ship 6 million systems to retailers around the world between its launch in the fourth quarter of 2006 and the end of its fiscal year on March 31, 2007.” Nary a dis for Sony, but we’re sure they’ll catch the drift all the same.

[Thanks, AJ]

Read – Microsoft talks trash
Read – Nintendo respectfully reinforces

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Filed under: Laptops

So it would seem that Korean Air has forbidden all Dell laptops and Apple‘s PowerBook and iBook models from its flights due to the risk that those computers’ batteries might explode, reports The Korea Times. The newspaper also reported that Australian airline Qantas made a similar ban last month for the same reasons. Naturally, the longer it takes Sony, the batteries’ manufacturer, to sort through this exploding battery fiasco, the harder and harder its going to be to get your Dell or Apple on a plane, but we know the pressure’s on. Sony company has already faced the wrath of the Japanese Ministry of Trade, and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, and apparently the US Federal Aviation Administration is also looking into the problem as well. Damn, it’s hard out there for Sony — maybe it’d do well to quell everyone’s fears by giving out some free PS3s for awhile, whattayasay?

[Via ThinkSecret]

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Filed under: Home Entertainment, Networking

We haven’t heard from Sony‘s LocationFree since 2005, but our best buds over in Japan have been busy on some new models since then — and they look startingly like a shiny acrylic PS2. Today the company is announcing two new base stations, the LF-B10 and the LF-B20 (pictured above) and the LocationFree TV Box. The LF-B20, which goes for $250, also acts as a WiFi access point, whereas its less expensive sibling, the LF-B10, priced at $200, doesn’t. Sony’s LocationFree Box (dubbed the LF-BOX1) is a $230 receiver unit that will let you watch said content on an in-home television — although it may work on your hotel’s television too, should you be so inclined to take it with. That said, it’s well possible that as an alternative, you’ll have your PSP or a laptop with LFTV software on it, just like a Slingbox. The trio of LFTV units will be available next month, and are currently on pre-order from Sony’s site.

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Filed under: Handhelds, Tablet PCs

After mysteriously pulling all mentions of the UX180P from their online store a week or so ago — they claimed they were merely out of stock — Sony is back with the UX280P, which doubles both the RAM and the HDD size from that of the UX180P. Along with the new 40GB hard drive and 1GB of RAM, we hope they found some time to refresh that debilitating software we encountered in our hands-on preview of the 180. The processor remains the same ol’ Core Solo U1200, and there’s still EDGE, WiFi and Bluetooth radios. Unfortunately, the price has now reached the $2000 mark, so you best have cash to burn or a real good excuse for some UMPC+QWERTY action, or you’re just going to look silly.

[Via jkOnTheRun]

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Filed under: Gaming

As you’ve probably already discerned from the headline and the pictures themselves, the images above supposedly depict the demo kiosks that Sony and Nintendo will be setting up in retail locations to lure people into buying the PlayStation 3 and Wii, respectively. Since the photos are low-res, a little blurry, and of unknown origin, they have all the makings of a jolly good Internet hoax, but we’ll play along for now and assume that they’re the real deal. So, what new information can we glean about the upcoming consoles based on their respective kiosks? Well, by mounting the LCD so high, Sony is obviously targeting taller individuals with its marketing strategy, while Nintendo is going after the brainier crowd as evidenced by the lack of any informational pamphlets adorning its display. With all of this speculation swirling around, one thing is certain, though: tucked behind the Wii kiosk’s center column are a bevy of first aid kits, for the inevitable injuries that will occur when arm-swinging gamers collide with innocent passers-by in the impending blood baths sure to plague our favorite big box retailers.

[Via Joystiq]

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Filed under: Storage

The optical drive industry has been dominated by joint ventures lately, ranging from the Hitachi-LG partnership to the Toshiba-Samsung mashup, so both Sony and NEC knew that they’d better get in bed together if each wanted to remain competitive in the marketplace. The first product resulting from the new Sony NEC Optiarc, an 18x DVD burner called the AD-7170A, is set to hit the market next month — but competition will still be fierce, as 20x burners are just beginning to see the light of day. Sources quoted by DigiTimes indicate that soon the actual drive manufacturing will be outsourced to Lite-On IT, whose prowess in volume production should complement Sony’s skill at developing optical pick-up heads and NEC’s chipset design capabilities to allow the JV to produce attractive products at higher margins. Or something like that — either way, we’ll bring you more on this inaugural product (including pics) when it becomes available.

[Via TG Daily]

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Far be it from Sony to pre-announce future battery recalls and further dampen its Q3/4 financial woes even further, they’re trying to get the word out that Sony’s own laptop line won’t be affected by the same battery recalls that have pulled back nearly six million Dell and Apple cells. Still, this isn’t entirely good news for their business; does this mean that Sony’s been keeping all the best manufactured batteries for their own machines, passing off lesser cells — maybe even those that didn’t pass muster — to their partners? Yeah, we’d really want to get all cozy with a parts OEM that does that kind of stuff, one that might end up possibly endangering our own customers in the process. Cheers!

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Filed under: Gaming, GPS

You’re probably getting pretty sick of toting around all those cables, adapters, and antennae required by the GPSP mod to get sat nav functionality on your PSP, so you’ll be happy to know that Sony’s official GPS add-on for its portable console has just been spotted in the wild. We’ve already seen pics (albeit crappy ones) of the wayfinding peripheral, but now we’ve got proof that it exists somewhere besides on a PowerPoint slide. Unfortunately there’s really not much to see here (it’s a little gadget sticking out of another gadget — wow), and we’ve got no new info regarding functionality, pricing, or release dates. Still, when we come across something that we think you’d be interested in, we write a post about it — that’s how we do things around here. Sharing is caring, right?

[Via DigitalBattle, thanks Tom]

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Filed under: Laptops

In a brief but pointed statement by Sony, hygienically entitled “Statement Regarding Sony’s Support of Apple’s Recall of Lithium Ion Battery Packs Used in Apple Notebook Computers,” the mass manufacturer of defective batteries announced that the recalls we’ve been hearing so much about in the past few days are due to “microscopic metal particles in the recalled battery cells [that] may come into contact with other parts of the battery cell, leading to a short circuit within the cell. Typically, a battery pack will simply power off when a cell short circuit occurs. However, under certain rare conditions, an internal short circuit may lead to cell overheating and potentially flames.” Ok, got it, we’re with ‘em, especially on the bit where they announced they’re taking additional measures to ensure the safety of future batteries manufactured. So, howsabout putting a pricetag on all this carnage, eh? Well, between Apple‘s and Dell‘s six or so million units that are about to be recalled, it’s going to set Sony back between ¥20 and ¥30 billion, or in dollar terms, between $134.2 and $201.3 million (or in per-unit terms, that’s roughly $22 and $33 per battery). Now that, dear friends, is a spicy damned meatball.

P.S. -Ok, so howsabout that markup on those batteries? Even after shipping, support costs, and costs per unit, your $100-$150 battery is still only going to cost Sony as much as $33 per. As if we weren’t already angry enough.

[Thanks, Tim]

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Filed under: Gaming

There’s been a lot of speculation that Sony won’t hit its PlayStation 3 launch targets for 2006 (which includes 2 million units at launch, and another 2 million units by the end of the year), but it sounds like they were dealt a pretty severe blow by Japanese brokerage Mitsubishi UJF Securities. The Japanese investment firm predicted major component shortages that would hamper sales by as much as a million units (trust us, that’s a lot of units), and lowered its rating, causing Sony’s stock to drop 3%. It’s a harsh day in the office for Hirai, Kutaragi, and Stringer, but there’s no doubt about it, and Sony’s once again going to have to seriously prove itself come this holiday season.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

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Filed under: Gaming

Pretty bold move, Hirai, to admit that you’re less than three months out from the global launch of what could be one of the most expensive propositions Sony has ever undertaken — and you haven’t even started manufacturing. According to Kaz, who recently spoke with GameSpot, Sony “haven’t started manufacturing yet. Some of [their] ops guys were actually just in China, and also in Japan just reviewing the [production] lines and everything else.” Oh, great, you’ve got two million units to whip up and you’re still in the review process. That’s over 660,000 units a month if they start, um, tomorrow. Look, we’re not saying it can’t be done, but unless the hefty price tag of the Blu-ray behemoth outstrips consumer interest, it seems like we could be in for some serious shortages come the holiday buying season.

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

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