sony

Today's Vision of Tomorrow: Digital Music From Mobile Pandora, Sony's iTunes Rival

Digital music turned the recording industry upside down several times already, and given the amazing rate of change it's going to keep evolving dramatically. A couple of news items today point to how this evolution will mean we ...READ»

The Most (and Least) Inventive Inventions on Time's '50 Best Inventions' List

If someone decided to do a list of innovative magazine lists, it probably wouldn't include Time magazine's "50 Best Innovations" list. The new one's out, and we've sub-selected some of the good items for you. But a broad swath of the ...READ»

Digital Music Arms Race: MSN Joins the Fray

The arms race to lure music-loving clients is heating up at the moment: First Google gets a music service, and now MSN does too. MSN's download service launches tomorrow, and Microsoft's schmoozed all four big record labels to help it ...READ»

Watch the XPERIA X10's Rachael Interface in Action

In case you missed it, the XPERIA X10 got official overnight. Besides the 1GHz Snapdragon processor and big 4-inch capacitive touch display, it's Sony Ericsson's beautiful Rachael interface sitting on top of Android that impresses. ...READ»

Nice Party, Windows 7. But Where's the Software?

As is my custom with all parties, I arrived to the Win7 hoopla promptly at 10 a.m., ready to sample the wares: coffee, biscuits, and a whole lot of hardware. In fact, there were so many dozens of netbooks, TVs, gaming beasts, and ...READ»

Polaroid SX-70 and Other Classic Products That Have Social Media at Their Core

Products like the Polaroid Instant Camera and the Sony Walkman provided technology that enabled sharing pictures, music, and ideas--in other words, social media.READ»

• Rob Tannen's Designing for Humans Blog

Sony Dabbles in Part-Serious, Part-Toy 3-D Display Tech

Sony's released some information about a prototype 3-D display it'll be demonstrating at the Digital Contents Expo in Tokyo this thursday--and among the sparse details the most promising tidbit is that this screen needs no special ...READ»

Why Should We Care About Intel's Light Peak Data Cable?

For weeks, the Internet's been a-buzz about Intel's Light Peak optical data cable--but why should we care about it? Is it just another tech we'll have to shell out hard cash for...or is it the cabling solution we've been waiting ...READ»

Is Toshiba's $11K Turbo TV the Media Hub of the Future?

Today Toshiba announced an ultra-powerful LCD TV powered by the same chip as the Sony PS3. It's backed by a 3 TB hard disk, and can play and record up to eight different television channels at once. It'll also cost 1 million yen ...READ»

Sony's New PSP Go Gets Trashed

Today Sony will begin shipping its next-gen portable video game device, the PSP Go. With the iPhone fast becoming the new hot gaming platform, it stands to reason that Sony would take a few cues from Apple. Then why is the PSP Go ...READ»

Panasonic Dips a Giant Toe Into 3-D TV With a 50-Inch Plasma

With lots of industry players working on 3-D TV, and the supporting HDMI 1.4 cable format on its way, 3-D television is guaranteed to be pushed on consumers during this holiday shopping season and the next. Panasonic certainly plans ...READ»

Sony Motion Controller Officially Due in Spring

Sony's just officially pulled the wrappers off its motion-control peripherals--the one's we're eagerly awaiting. They're due in the Spring, which is probably before Microsoft's Natal will arrive, and they'll beat the next-gen Wii by a year.READ»

Affective Interfaces Wants to Keep Track of Your Emotions

Emotion-detecting software isn't new--Sony, for example, recently filed a patent for a "laughter detection" system--but a San Francisco-based startup called Affective Interfaces, launched at TechCrunch50, claims that it has ...READ»

PS3 Sales Rocketing, Leaving Nintendo Lost in the Dust?

We knew it was likely to happen, we just didn't realize how big the effect was going to be: According to some reports, the PS3 make-over and price drop has resulted in sales rocketing 1000%. Is Sony beating its gaming rivals? The ...READ»

iRiver "Story" E-Reader Has Looks to Kill the Kindle

For a while, rumors suggested that iRiver would enter the e-reader battle, and now an image and specs have surfaced for its Story device that looks like iRiver's not just joining the battle--it's leaping in to the fray, guns blazing. ...READ»

Sony Reader's Edge: Free Books

This morning Sony added to its line of ebook readers with a 7-inch touchscreen device they're calling the Sony Reader Daily Edition. At an announcement at the New York Public Library on 42nd street, Steve Haber, president of Sony's ...READ»

Sony's 3G-Capable E-Reader Goes Head-to-Head With Kindle

Sony's just pulled the wrappers off its latest electronic book, the Reader Daily Edition. Unlike its earlier siblings, the DE comes with 3G-technology, so it'll pick books up over the air. It's designed, frankly to nip the Kindle in ...READ»

Sony Exec Confirms PS3 Motion Control in Spring

Sony's Computer Entertainment head Kazuo Hirai has been speaking to the media about his company's gaming plans, and one little nugget slipped out: The PS3 Motion Controller is due next year. Is Xbox 360 beginning to lose to the ...READ»

Barnes & Noble Gets Aggressive in the E-Book Wars

Don't buy that Kindle just yet: the Battle of the E-Books is just getting started. Barnes & Noble today announced a partnership with Netherlands-based Irex Technologies to introduce an e-reader in the U.S. later this year (it ...READ»

How to Innovate, Step by Step

So how does a company become an engine of innovation? Although we are all unique and unpredictable in our strengths and shortcomings, most successful innovators follow some common steps in the innovation process. In his new book "A Fine Line: How Design Strategies Are Shaping the Future of Business," frog design founder Hartmut Esslinger presents these steps in a broad outline.READ»

Why Did Sony Take So Long to Revamp the PS3?

There's been much hand-wringing about the PS3's price and the fact it needed a cheap revamp ever since it launched in 2006. But here's the thing--Sony didn't drag its feet on the issue at all, especially if you look at the PS2's ...READ»

Three Reasons You Will Buy a PlayStation3 Slim

To no one's surprise, Sony pulled the wrappers off its skinnied-down PlayStation 3 games console yesterday, the PS3 Slim. It's been long expected, and comes with a much-needed price cut. But will you buy it? Here's three reasons you ...READ»

Need Fancy Wireless Audio Equipment? Sony and Best Buy Can Help

Sony, high-tech electronics giant, has just announced a partnership with Best Buy, U.S. retail giant, to produce a whole new audio product line. It sounds like an unusual pairing, but it looks like it's borne some pretty interesting ...READ»

Redbox Antitrust Case Can Proceed Against Universal, Federal Judge Says

Redbox scored at least a partial victory in its battle with a triumvirate of Hollywood studios yesterday as a federal court ruled the company can proceed with an antitrust lawsuit filed last October against GE's Universal Studios. ...READ»

PS3 Slim "Confirmed"--It's Real, Coming to GamesCon, Supposedly

We've heard rumors for a while, but now Web site Pocket Lint is saying it's got the reliable honest-to-goodness real word on the matter: Sony's revamped skinny PlayStation 3--the PS3 Slim--is real, and it'll be announced next ...READ»