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
Jan 11
Available this summer, the BRAVIA XBR-LX900 series features integrated 3D functionality and screen sizes including 60 (XBR-60LX900), 52 (XBR-52LX900), 46 (XBR-46LX900), and 40-inch (XBR-40LX900). Sony is using its own active shutter glasses which fly against their recent announcement of a partnership with ReadD which uses passive glasses. The models also include integrated Wi-Fi for streaming video from the internet including services such as YouTube and Sony’s own Bravia Internet video platform. Perhaps more interesting is that these sets couple 3D with full-array LED backlighting improves contrast and dynamic range by local dimming that controls the LED backlight level by area so that detail is maintained in the dark areas
The XBR-HX900 series 3D ready (with the addition of Sony active shutter glasses and transmitter, both sold separately) full HD (1920 x 1080p) models feature Intelligent Dynamic LED backlight and Sony’s new Monolithic Design. These can be upgraded with an optional wireless adapter for internet streaming. These models are lit by edge LED backlighting.
Your new Sony TV will also watch you, with face detection the new presence sensor will detect if you’ve left the room and dim the TV to save power and if you’re out for an extended period of time the TV will turn off.
New 3D Blu-ray options
The BDP-S770 is Sony’s new top of the range 3D capable Blu-ray player. Featuring 802.11n high speed Wi-Fi and a wired Ethernet connection, this player also allows streaming on internet content. This player can also be controlled from Sony’s BD Remote iPod/iPhone application.
The BDV-HZ970W 3D capable home theatre system features S-Air wireless speaker technology to enable wireless (excluding the power) rear speakers or you can stream wireless audio to another room. With wired connections the system delivers 1000watts of power over its 5.1 channels.
Jan 08
3D systems manufacturer which created the ReadD 3D system used my many cinemas for showing 3D movies has now signed up Toshiba, Panasonic and us TV broadcaster DirectTV to use its 3D glasses system. Recently ReadD announced that they had alliances with Sony (who they have worked with in digital cinemas for a while), Samsung and JVC. That’s pretty much most of the large TV manufacturers signed up and it looks like as previously reported that the RealD 3D system will be the default system for 3D in the home.
Jan 05
The Register reports that ESPN is going to launch a 3D version of the channel in the US. However of perhaps more interest is word that Sony is working with Discovery and IMAX on a new 3D channel that could launch sooner.
Full story at the Inquirer here
Jan 04
It’s looking increasingly likely that RealD’s glasses systems for 3D TV may be the default system for 3D TV. Previously signed up by Sony and JVC/Kenwood the company has now announced that its system will also be used by Samsung. With some of the biggest players in TV technology now signed up it looks like RealD could be the dominant system for 3D in the home. This could also mean that with so many companies adopting the same technology that the price could be driven down where the expected premium for 3D over conventional 2D TV’s could be lower than expected.
Dec 22
Following on from the recent announcement that Sony has selected ReadD as its technology partner for 3D TV’s JVC Kenwood as how announced that it will also use ReadD’s systems in future 3D TV’s and imaging systems. No announcements were made about specific products.
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.
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.
Oct 08
Sony has announced a new range of Vaio L Series PC’s featuring full 1080p displays with multi-touch capabilities. These new computers feature 24” LCD displays supporting touch allowing the user to interact with images and Windows 7 through touch with Sony’s latest X-Black panels giving excellent images. The some PC’s also feature Blu-ray drives enabling HD disk playback. Processing power will be from Intel’s Core2 Quad processors. Storage will be available up to 1TB with the built-in tuner giving these PC’s full DVR capabilities. The Vaio L Series will be available from October 22nd which is also the launch date for Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system.
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 06
It seems like the 3D bandwagon is well and truly rolling, following recent releases from Panasonic and other manufacturers Sony has announced that it will bring 3D into the home in 2010. Unlike some other manufacturers technologies Sony is committing to offer full HD 1080p resolution to its 3D offering. As well as announcing that it will introduce a full line up of TV’s they also announced that 3D support will come to the Playstation 3 for Blu-ray and games. Sony’s system will be based on sequential display technology where the screen runs with high refresh rates showing each eye’s frame in succession synchronised to a pair of glasses. Sony is in a somewhat unique position to drive 3D not just by owning Sony Pictures Entertainment but also in producing Cinema equipment as well as home hardware and being a driver in Blu-ray technology
Sep 03
With most people’s AV setup’s far away from their internet connection it’s often puzzled me why so few manufacturers have included wireless internet connectivity in their Blu-ray players so people can enjoy all the wonderful BD-Live content they can’t experience anywhere else (please note the sarcasm). Well it appears Sony is now among the few that have woken up and have launched two new players with 802.11n high speed wireless. Both new players also feature DLNA so that all your home cinema devices can control each other. 1080p upscaling is included as well as support for HD audio including Dolby HD and DTS HD Master Audio. The BDP-S760 differs from the BDP-S560 in offering Sony’s Super Bit Mapping technology for audio and video as well as Sony’s ES (Elevated Standard) and has the HD Reality Enhancer, which smoothes the image tone, and reduces picture noise (re3ad robs the picture of fine detail). Both players will be available shortly.
Sep 03
Well is if you like your HD programming sparse (I like to think of Freesat as HD 1.1 as you only get BBC HD as a complete channel with the odd ITV HD program now and then) well previously only Panasonic had launched TV’s with integrated Freesat receivers so if you want to join the recently disappointed then you have another option.
All the usual features are there, 1080p, 100,000:1 contrast ratio, 24p support, BRAVIA ENGINE™ 3 and Live Colour™ the main difference is that the W5810 offers 100Hz picture processing and the Z5800 comes with 200Hz processing
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.”
