Mar 01
There are a myriad of reports and Sony has confirmed that there is a bug in the PS3 that could not cope with the date role over from the 28th of Feb to the 1st of March. Thousands (probably millions) of PS3 users are reporting that they cannot play online Sony states that off line play should be unaffected, however there are also reports that off line play is also affected. Sony is working on an update to fix it but this could take days.
Errors include:
* The date of the PS3 system may be re-set to Jan 1, 2000.
* When the user tries to sign in to the PlayStation Network, the following
message appears on the screen; “An error has occurred. You have been
signed out of PlayStation Network (8001050F)”.
* When the user tries to launch a game, the following error message appears
on the screen and the trophy data may disappear; “Failed to install
trophies. Please exit your game.”
* When the user tries to set the time and date of the system via the
Internet, the following message appears on the screen; “The current date
and time could not be obtained. (8001050F)”
* Users are not able to play back certain rental video downloaded from the
PlayStation Store before the expiration date.
The only good news is that Blu-ray playback and the PS3 slim are unaffected.
I’m actually seeing this on my son’s PS3. At the moment I’m keeping mine off until there’s a fix
Dec 18
Sony and ReadD announced a partnership to use ReadD’s 3D technology in future Sony Bravia TV’s. The ReadD system is currently used in hundreds of cinemas worldwide. Sony will product new LCD TV’s that will work in conjunction with ReadD’s glasses, to bring 3D technology to the home. It has already been announced that the final specification of the Blu-ray 3D standard will work with the Playstation 3 so coupling this with the new Bravia 3D TV’s should be an exciting prospect.
Dec 17
Today the Blu-ray Association announced the final specification for 3D Blu-ray. The specification used a new version of the existing video compression currently used called H264 MVC (MultiView CodDec) this uses two separate transport streams, one for each eye. However this will mean that there will be around a 50% overhead for decoding 3D. The good news is that by decoding just a single stream existing players should be able to play the 3D disks however in plain old 2D. The specification also means that the Playstation 3 will be able to play these disks in full 3D. The new disks can also contain new 3D options for the interface in the disks menu’s which would make for some nice 3D views of scene selection a 3D version similar to Apple’s coverflow for album artwork would be a nice 3D navigation feature. As well as backwards compatibility the new specification is display agnostic meaning that any display can be used, the two video streams once decoded can be displayed by and means which stops Blu-ray 3D being tied to any specific display technology.
Dec 07
Check out our review of the Western Digital My Book Wold Edition World Edition DLNA network storage/streaming device
If yo’re looking for a device for backing up your PC’s and streaming your photo’s, video and music around your house it’s an essential review.
Click here to read
Oct 26
Already available for the Xbox 360 Netflix and Sony today announced that movies and TV shows will soon be available via Netflix streaming on the PS3. The system sounds a little weird in that users will visit www.netflix.com/ps3 and sign up for the service. They will then receive a Blu-ray disk featuring BD-Live software to enable streaming. The disk must be inserted every time they want to access Netflix. This sounds a little bit of a kludge, hopefully in time this could be made a download from the Playstation Store.
Convenient and if you’re not bothered about having the best HD experience in audio and video then OK but those that do would stick to Blu-ray.
Sep 30
Yahoo Tech News is reporting that Sony will start including PSP movies on Blu-ray disks. Users will be able to download a lower resolution version of the movie from a Blu-ray disk via their PS3 to their PSP. I guess it was inevitable since with the launch ps the PSP Go Sony has abandoned the UMD disk format (about time).
Full story here
Sep 25
From the title you might think that this is not going to be a very good review. Well far from it I really enjoyed the first Crank movie with its non-stop adrenalin pumping pace and sense of humour. Well Crank 2 is more of the same only with the dial set to eleven. The movie starts where the previous movie ends with our hero (?) dropping to the ground from a helicopter and surviving only to have his heart stolen and replaced by an artificial version which he must keep charged and that’s all I’m going to reveal about the plot.
As far as picture quality at times it’s outstanding and always looks good. At low of the action takes place outside or in well lit interiors which contribute to the quality. However once you realise while viewing the extras that the whole film was made on hand held consumer 1080p cameras you’ll understand a good job they have gone with the picture and some of the effects. The 7.1 channel DTS HD Master Audio mix is also very good bullets and the effects constantly fly around the sound stage.
The extras are also reasonably good with some insight into why and how the movie was made but as with the movie don’t expect anything too deep and meaningful. However marks are taken off as the US version comes with a digital copy which is missing from the UK release.
Now the Cranky bit. There is a major issue with this disk in the UK. It’s quite obvious that the disk was not thoroughly tested before it was sent to be mastered and there are a lot of posts on the internet from people having issues getting this title to run and I experienced it myself. After inserting the disk and waiting quite a while you get a small square in the middle of the screen and you only get video here and no menus. I experienced this on both a PS3 (I never download updates the first time I load a movie) and also on a Sony BDP-S350, both very popular players. On the PS3 I was able to stop the disk and start it again and said yes when it prompted me to down load an update, after this all was good. For the S350 it was a little more complex as the machine is not within easy reach of an internet connection and I had to add a USB memory stick to allow it to update, again once the update was complete all was good. But a word of warning if you have a profile 1.0 player or your player it not connected to the internet, it’s not your player it’s the disk.
Overall a good fun movie but Lionsgate really need to sort their testing out for future releases.
Aug 20
Typical I take a few days off and Sony unveil a new Playstation. Well the worst kept secret is out. Sony announced the new Playstation 3 ‘Slim’. This new Playstation will be $299 US and is currently advertised for £249 in the UK. It will also feature a 120GB hard disk. However as with the current machine the hard disk on the slim will be upgradeable via a panel on the bottom. I purchased a 60GB just after release which was a very easy upgrade to 250GB. The new slim PS3 also consumes less power, there are rumors that its new version of the Cell processor is also more powerful, however this is probably not the case as the new processor is based on 45nm process technology, opposed to the 65nm technology of the old version. It’s likely that rather than use this reduction and usual reduction in heat from moving to a smaller process Sony will keep the processor at the same speed which will mean is can run at lower energy consumption which is what they are claiming. There are also unsubstantiated rumors that there has been s similar shrink on the RSX graphics processor (it had already gone from 90nm to 65nm). It would be good to see a side by video comparison on Blu-ray to see if there any quality changes in the video output. Sony also announced firmware version 3,0 is coming soon most of the changes with the Playstation store being pimped at every opportunity in every menu as theme changes, there’s no word on anything directly video related but we’ll keep you posted.
Jul 08
Speaking to Reuters at the Allen & Co conference Sony CEO Howard Stringer brushed off comments from Activision CEA Robert Kotick that the console and BluRay player was too expensive in the current economic crisis and that they might reconsider supporting it. Stringer said “I (would) lose money on every PlayStation I make — how’s that for logic.” And went on to say “He likes to make a lot of noise,” Stringer said, when asked about the comments. “He’s putting pressure on me and I’m putting pressure on him. That’s the nature of business.”
Jul 01
To promote the release of The Green Lantern: First Fight on DVD and BluRay in the US on July 28th Warner Bros have released the Facebook Power Ring widget. Once added fans can keep the ring charges 100% to submit additional entries to win a Playstation 3, 40” 1080p HDTV and the movie on BluRay. You can also take IQ tests and see which Green Lantern you are.
Grab your Power Ring here
Jun 24
A work colleague of mine recently purchased a £250+ media streamer to stream movies from his PC to another room in the house. My first reaction was OK looks like a good solution, then I thought a little more about it and realised he could have purchased a XBOX360 60GB which all now feature HDMI plus wireless adapter plus remote for less. Both of the HD games consoles will stream media from a PC including DIVX files over a network, the PS3 which is higher priced (but not by much) will also give you web browsing and BluRay playback. Are Sony and Microsoft not pushing these capabilities enough, are they missing a market? So if you are thinking about getting one of these media streamers (i’m talking about the devices from the likes of Netgear, D-Link, Linksys etc), have another think.
May 22
More Watchmen news. Warner Home Video will release a combination package for Watchmen containing the movie Watchmen – The Directors Cut plus Watchmen The End is Nigh game for the PS3. The game is in two parts with the first part released in March the second part available in July, the combo package will feature both parts. Price and other features have yet to be announced.
Apr 21
There are lots of rumours about Sony working on a cheaper PS3. While this would be good I can’t see any features they could cut, possibly Wi-Fi – make it an option, smaller hard disk but I don’t think you can get smaller than 40GB these days.
My suggestion; Make a PS3 with no BluRay drive but 802.11n that can stream HD video, audio and games from a BluRay capable PS3. For households that want to play BluRay movies and games around the house it would be perfect and would cut out the BluRay drive that’s the most expensive component in the PS3, OK I could see a few fights breaking out, maybe I need to rethink a little
Apr 03
Sony have released PS3 firmware 2.70. Not much for the home cinema owner or if you use it mainly as a games or BluRay player but the music normaliser is a nice new feature.
Full list of new features here
Mar 30
Sony has announced two new HDMI cables with one end set at a right angles. Aimed at the flat panel market these new cables ideal for installation where the panel is wall mounted with minimal depth behind the TV. Whereas typical connectors need 7cm clearance (so claim sony with ferrite suppressors – which are typically lower on the cable anyway) these new cables only require 28mm clearance.
Specifications;
• HDMI™ version 1.3a Category 2 rated for an all-digital, uncompressed A/V signal supporting 1080p or higher
• Support for up to 10.2Gbps signal bandwidth, 240Hz refresh rate and 48-bit Deep Colour
• 24 carat gold plated connectors for optimal conductivity and long life
• High quality OFC (Oxygen-Free Copper) core wire for excellent signal transmission quality
• Triple shielding for a high level of protection from electro-magnetic interference
• PLAYSTATION® 3 and Blu-ray™ Certified, compatible with BRAVIA Theatre Sync and X.V. Colour™
Both 1m and 2m (which seem a little short for wall mounting) will be available in April
