Hands on with Sony’s NEX-5R WiFi viewfinder feature
Just about anyone who's tried to take a self-portrait with a camera agrees: it's a hassle. Setting the scene, hitting the timer, then rushing into place only to find half of your head has been cut out is par for the course.
If that sounds like you, a new feature that makes use of a smartphone or tablet PC as a remote viewfinder could help. One of the first cameras to offer this will be Sony's NEX-5R, which will be available in major markets in October.
At Berlin's IFA consumer electronics show, I got a chance to try out a prototype. (See a video review of the remote viewfinder function on YouTube.) Read more...
Sony’s new ‘stacked’ image sensors open door to smaller devices, more pixels
Sony, which makes the camera modules used in the latest smartphones from Apple and Samsung, said Monday it will begin sales of a new image chip that is nearly half the size of current models.
The Tokyo-based electronics giant said its new CMOS sensors will begin shipping in October. The devices use a technology that "stacks" their processing circuitry under the pixels used to capture images, as opposed to laying it alongside as in current versions, leading to a smaller footprint that is more power efficient with faster processing.
Sony first announced it had developed the new technology in January. The company is struggling with its electronics business and selling off other component factories but remains a world leader in digital imaging technology - teardowns have shown that its tiny camera modules are used in both the Apple 4S and the Samsung Galaxy S3.
"The biggest benefit is that the new modules are much smaller," said Sony spokesman Jin Tomihari. "This will contribute to the demand for smaller components from makers of smartphones and other devices."
Tomihari said that a current 8-megapixel sensor could be made 40 percent smaller using the new technology. With most smartphones now measuring less than a centimeter thick, and battery life a major concern for consumers, size savings in key components are important. Read more...
Sony’s Music Unlimited service will get its own iOS app on May 25
Sony's Music Unlimited service is poised to invade Apple's line of smartphones and tablets this Friday, May 25, with the release of the Music Unlimited iOS app. The app will push Sony's upstart mobile music offering to millions of new compatible devices, and offer iPhone and iPad owners another iTunes alternative. Read more...
Sony Confirms 10,000 Jobs To Go As Part Of Its Big ‘One Sony’ Reorganization
So the reports have proven to be true: Sony has now officially said that it will be reducing its headcount by 10,000 people worldwide, some six percent of its workforce, as the struggling electronics giant reorganizes under new management and its new “One Sony” plan.
Sony says the employee reductions will be made over the course of this fiscal year, and will also include some employees leaving the company through sale and transfer. Meanwhile, the organizational restructuring will see Sony strengthen its focus on the core units of digital imaging, gaming and mobile; attempt to turn around its ailing TV business and expand in emerging markets. Altogether Sony estimates that the restructuring will cost it ¥75 billion ($926 million). Read more...
A year after killer tsunami, Sony factory faces tough reality
The story of this Sony factory, which took the full brunt of a powerful tsunami that washed through a year ago, reflects that of much of Japan's northeastern coast - abrupt tragedy, battled with ingenuity and stoic resolve, and now grim economic reality.
Electronics factories throughout the region were disrupted by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and deadly tsunamis that followed on March 11 last year, but few took the damage like Sony's Sendai Technology Center, located less than a mile from the sea.
Earthquakes are common in the region, but tsunamis less so. Locals were caught off guard when the waters crashed this far inland, flooding to meters deep within minutes and carrying a churning morass of cars and debris. Many in the neighborhood raced to take refuge in the facility's main building, at six stories high the tallest around. Read more...
Sony hikes Whitney Houston album prices online
It's easy to get so emotional about a singer after they've passed prematurely, as Whitney Houston did Saturday at the age of 48. But fans seeking to buy her albums in remembrance weren't too happy at sudden price hikes so soon after her death.
The Brits picked up on it quickly, with London-based Next Web writer Matt Brian and The Guardian's Josh Halliday both finding the price increases, which raised Houston's "The Ultimate Collection" 2007 album from £5 (about $7.89) to £8 (about $12.63). In the United States, the cost is even steeper: $15 for the "Greatest Hits" collection at both Amazon and iTunes. Read more...
Is Sony’s PlayStation Network rebranding really necessary?
As device manufacturers eye the living room as the next great uncharted frontier (with an increasing nervousness about Apple’s impending TV set), they look for any “in” that they already have. Video game consoles provide as good of an entryway to the living room as there is.
We’ve already seen Microsoft expand the Xbox 360 software to include some TV integration, including voice control. Now Sony is preparing to make a similar shift, by transforming the PlayStation Network (PSN) into a full-fledged entertainment suite. To match that change, it will soon be rebranded as the Sony Entertainment Network.
The kicker is, the PlayStation Network is already an entertainment suite. In addition to playing and purchasing games, you can already rent and buy movies, stream music, and watch Netflix and Hulu Plus. Read more...
Sony announces next-generation image sensors for smartphones
Sony said Monday it has developed new technology for the tiny imaging chips that power cameras in portable devices, which will allow for clearer photographs while using less space and cutting manufacturing costs.
The company said it has developed a method for building CMOS sensors, widely used in mobile phones and digital cameras, that will reduce their surface area and allow imaging circuitry to be produced separately from the supporting logic. Sony said it will also add new technology to reduce picture distortion in dark scenes and allow videos to capture a wider range of light.
Sample shipments of image sensors that use the new manufacturing method will begin from March, with mass production to start in the fall. The new imaging technologies will be introduced into broad production late this year or early next, the company said.
"Initially we will work to insure that these sensors can be used in all smartphones," said Yasuhiro Ueda, an executive in Sony's image sensor division. "After we have achieved success with phones, we are planning to expand into areas such as audio-visual products, surveillance and manufacturing." Read more...
Sony’s new Walkman uses Android and apps
Sony’s Walkman line has come a long way since it first debuted way back in 1979 in Japan, and the latest iteration isn’t just taking aim at other MP3 players, it’s setting its sights on the iPod Touch.
The Walkman turned from CD player to MP3 player a few years ago, but it’s only now that Sony is adding apps to the equation. Dubbed the Walkman Z1000, the Japanese electronics maker’s latest model runs Google’s Android mobile operating system and can handle Android apps, just as Apple’s iPod Touch can run apps from the iTunes App Store. Read more...
Sony, Samsung dissolve panel joint venture
Japan's Sony and South Korean rival Samsung are dissolving their joint venture in liquid crystal display panels as Sony tries to stanch years of losses in its TV business.
Sony Corp. said Monday that Samsung Electronics Co. will buy all of Sony's shares in the joint venture for about 1.08 trillion Korean won ($935 million) subject to a final agreement.
The joint venture called S-LCD was set up in 2004. Sony, which fell behind in flat panel TVs, invested in a Samsung panel factory to ensure a steady supply of panels for its LCD TVs.
Sony's TV operation has lost money for seven straight years and the company is straining to return that key business to profit. Read more...
Sony’s PlayStation Vita hits stores in Japan
Sony's long-awaited PlayStation Vita portable game machine hit stores in Japan on Saturday as thousands of game enthusiasts lined up early in the morning to be among the first to buy it.
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is predicting brisk sales, even though the launch may have missed some holiday shoppers. A successful debut would help the company offset the rest of its struggling business. Sony projects a loss of more than $1 billion for the fiscal year through March 2012, which would be its fourth straight annual loss.
In Tokyo's Ikebukuro shopping district, some 300 game enthusiasts lined up outside a major electronics chain that opened a few hours earlier than usual for the event. Many of the purchasers had made advance orders on the Internet so they could start playing immediately. Read more...
Sony detects attacks on its networks, over 90,000 customer accounts locked
Today, Sony's PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment service are up and running in fine style, but if you rewind just a few months, you'll remember that it hasn't always been this way. Earlier this year, Sony suffered one of the worst cyber attacks on a company in recent memory. Millions of accounts were compromised, and Sony spent months cleaning up the mess. And according to a new press release by the company, someone is at it again.
Sony's Chief Information Security Officer (that's a title we wouldn't have wanted to have back in May), Philip Reitinger, revealed that someone with a large number of email and password combinations attempted to access the accounts of hundreds of thousands of PSN users. The attack resulted in roughly 93,000 accounts being fraudulently accessed, all of which have now been locked for security. Read more...
Unauthorized access hits Sony PlayStation accounts
The Tokyo-based company temporarily locked about 93,000 accounts whose IDs and passwords were successfully ascertained by the blitz. Sony sent email notifications and password reset procedures to affected customers on the PlayStation Network, Sony Entertainment Network and Sony Online Entertainment services.
Credit card numbers linked to the compromised accounts are not at risk, Sony said. It has "taken steps to mitigate the activity" and is investigating any wrongful use of the accounts themselves. Read more...
Sony makes gamers promise they won’t sue with new mandatory Terms of Service agreement
When Sony's PlayStation Network went down for the count earlier this year, it did more than hurt the company's reputation and scare consumers — it led to a litany of class action lawsuits. Consumers take their privacy very seriously, and the breach — which exposed the accounts of millions of registered users — could have been catastrophic. Thankfully, while customer information such as name, address, birthdate, and password was compromised, it appears as though the perpetrators weren't able to utilize the information for nefarious purposes. That's not stopping Sony from taking every available measure to cover themselves in the event of a relapse, and that includes mandating that anyone who uses the PSN is unable to levy legal action against the company. Read more...
Sony to ship first Android-based tablet in September
Sony's Android Honeycomb-based single and dual-screen tablets will be called Tablet S and Tablet P, and will cost 479 euros (US$690) and 599 euros (US$860), the company said Wednesday at the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin.
The two tablets were announced in April and have until now been known as the S1 and the S2.
Like so many other vendors of Android-based tablets, Sony hopes it can make a dent in Apple's sales of the iPad and grab a piece of the growing tablet market.
Sony's products take the tablet sector to a new level, according to Howard Stringer, the company's chairman, CEO and president. Read more...