Concerning Toshiba's recall for battery packs used in its notebook PCs

Toshiba announced today that, after working with Sony, they have decided to undertake a recall of specific production lots of lithium-ion battery packs which were confirmed to have contributed to recent overheating incidents of Toshiba's notebook PC. The Toshiba notebook PC battery packs covered by Toshiba's recall contain different Sony-manufactured battery cells from those subject to the global replacement program for certain notebook PC battery packs which Sony initiated last fall.

A few days back Microsoft's Peter Moore attacked Sony's PS3...Today Sony's marketing VP Peter Dille does the same about Microsoft's console the Xbox 360.

I don't want to be argumentative, but I take issue with Microsoft either having a long tail, or being profitable, because they've never done either. They've never made a dime in this business. With the Xbox 360 you've got an inconsistent design, some have a hard drive, some don't, and none of them have Blu-ray, and the HD DVD will be out of business in a matter of months. Is this a 10 year product? And by the way it doesn't even work. Do they want to be selling it for 10 years and refurbishing them all for 10 more years? I don't think that's a 10 year product. You could disagree with me, or they could disagree with me, but I'd put that up against the PS3 any day

Information on Sony's new VAIO TZ Series notebook first leaked out in early May from Sony's European website. From the specs that gathered, the VAIO TZ looked to be a real winner for mobile professionals.

Yesterday, Sony officially announced the VAIO TZ for the U.S. market and it doesn't disappoint. The notebook features an 11.1" LED-backlit display (1366x768), weighs just 2.65 pounds and is less than an inch thick. Battery life is listed at up to 7.5 hours.

The VAIO TZ notebooks incorporate ULV Core 2 Duo processors, dual-layer DVD burner, 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR, EV-DO Rev. A (Sprint Mobile Broadband) and a fingerprint sensor for increased security.

All VAIO TZ notebooks come pre-loaded with Windows Vista Business.

Sony Europe president David Reeves has hinted at the possibility of a new PlayStation 3 in Europe, which will accommodate a hard drive capacity of 120GB. Reeves stated that the leap from 60GB to 80GB would not be significant enough to pursue.

The difference between 60 and 80GB is very small, we just feel that going up 20GB is not worth it, if you go to double it, it's worth it , so maybe you'll see something a little bit later.

Although there are no plans for an 80GB version of the PS3 or a price cut anytime soon in Europe, gamers may be happy to hear that Sony is set to offer a new 'starter pack' as a consolation. For an unchanged price of £425, Sony is offering a bundle consisting of the standard 60GB PS3 console, two SIXAXIS controllers and two free games from a choice of Resistance: Fall of Man, MotorStorm, Genji: Days of the Blade, Formula One Championship Edition and Ridge Racer 7. Sony, which announced this new deal at this year's E3, says it is offering £115 of extras for with no increase in price, although European gamers may still be displeased to hear they won't be getting the 80GB version of the console after the initial launch was so delayed. Compared to similar deals in the UK, this price is still £125 more expensive than the Xbox 360 with games and £225 more expensive than the Wii with two games.

The specifications for the new PSP have found their way onto the internet, and it's generally good news if you're planning to buy one. Not only will the new version feature a video-out port, but it will have twice as much RAM as the original (64MB compared to 32MB), it can be charged via USB, it uses a 1200mAh battery (compared to 1600mAh on the original but apparently it lasts just as long), it has a WLAN switch on the top and is based on a TA-085 PCB (which apparently is good for homebrew applications). The downsides are that you can't use the original PSP remote with the new model and the AV cable is sold separately. So to sum up, the new PSP will be smaller and quicker.

Sony BMG is suing Amergence Group, the guys that made the infamous rootkit that went on all of their CD's. Sony is claiming that Amergence was negligent, and delivered software that didn't work. If Sony wins the lawsuit, they will get $12 million USD. Presumably, Sony is trying to get some of the money it lost in the original rootkit lawsuit ($7.5 million USD) back.

DNP (Dai Nippon Printing) and Sony PCL Inc. have created and started production of a new hologram for security uses, that can store dynamic picture images created with stereogram technology.
This hologram has the capacity to store up to 100 image frames on a single hologram thus making it almost impossible to counterfeit. Moving images such as animation and live action can be played back by changing the viewing angle which provides a way for the customer to see if the product is genuine or not.
Both companies have already started receiving orders.

Just a couple of days ago we learned that you can get a 60 GB console for a reduced price in the USA but now news are that its only while stocks last.
Sony won't be making them any more, and analysts predict the last few will probably be snapped up by the end of the year.
Either way this is a sure win for Sony since not only they get all the positive media attention for their price drop but also they get to advertise the new 80 GB console...

Konami's Hideo Kojima told everyone at an E3 SONY press conference that the new Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots will be a PlayStation 3 Exclusive and so far there are no plans for its transfer to other Media.

During a press conference at E3, Kazuo Hirai, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment, unveiled an updated version of the Playstation Portable. While the form factor is virtually unchanged it will be 33% lighter and 19% slimmer. The new version will also come with a video-out port. There has been no release date or price announced yet. Sony has sold more than 25 million PSPs worldwide lagging behind Nintendo which has shipped over 40 million DSs.

Sony cut the price of their Playstation 3 selling in the United States by $100 today lowering the cost to about $500 or $20 more than the most expensive XBOX 360 model but still twice that of the Nintendo Wii. Chief Executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America Jack Tretton believes sales will double. The price drop was widely expected by industry analysts despite the denial of such plans by Sony's President last week.

For some time, scientists have been debating whether or not airbags harm people more than help them in an automobile accident. Sony, blatantly ignoring the claims of the anti-airbag scientists, has decided to reinvent the airbag, and use it as a way to protect cell phones.

According to Sony's patent application, the water-tight casing would surround the internal electronics of a mobile phone and then be placed within a second liquid-filled container, which would be perforated with holes.

Apparently, the purpose of these liquid airbags would be do hold your cell phone in place, and protect it in the even of a fall/spill. While the research is physically sound, whether or not people will want this awkward (and possibly large) cell phone case remains doubtful.

The latest firmware update for Sony's Playstation Portable, made available last month, officially increases the CPU clock speed from 266 MHz to 333 MHz. While current games will not see any real improvement from the update, games in development will most likely utilize the boost at the cost of decreased battery life. Many enthusiasts were already running the PSP at the increased clock speed.

There is good news for PS3 owners. By March 2008 Sony expects 380 new Playstation 3 games to hit the market which it says should rev up demand for the console that has so far lost out to the Nintendo Wii. 180 of those titles will be launched over the internet. Sony also aims to ship 11 million PS3 units by the year's end as shareholders call for higher dividends.

Nintendo has continued its recent console success throughout May, with the DS taking top spot and the Wii in a comfortable second in terms of sales. The Nintendo DS sold an impressive 423,000 units and the Wii 338,000 units, with the PSP next in line with 221,000 units, ahead of the PlayStation 2's 188,000 units. The PS3 and Xbox 360 are continuing to lag behind, with Sony's latest console on just 82,000 and the Xbox 360 on 155,000 units - the PS3 only beat Game Boy Advance figures by a mere one thousand units. Sales in May totalled $815.5 million, up 49% compared to figures from last year - a strong month for the games industry.

Often labelled as being the 'father of PlayStation', the chief architect of Sony's successful line of consoles has now stepped down from his position as Sony Computer Entertainment's chairman and group chief executive. The job has been passed on to Kazuo Hirai, SCE's former president (who had already relieved Kutaragi of most of his day-to-day responsibilities last year), after Kutaragi announced his intention to retire in April. Kutaragi faced numerous problems during the production of the PS3, including shortages and extremely high manufacturing costs, and once the console was released it faced unexpectedly fierce competition from Nintendo's Wii, resulting in Sony achieving less than 50% of its target for PS3 shipments by March 31st this year. According to SCE, Kutaragi will continue to hold an advisory post for the company's gaming unit, although his involvement will certainly be much less than before.

Since last year Blockbuster Inc., a major U.S. movie rental chain, has been offering both Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs for rent in over 250 stores around the country. Once it expands its high definition offerings next month it will be exclusively renting out Blu-Ray in 1,450 of its stores. The move is based on statistics that claim consumers in Blockbuster stores are choosing Blu-Ray over HD-DVD 70 percent of the time. The availability of Blu-Ray movies greatly outnumbers those of HD-DVD. The North American HD DVD Promotional Group said the decision was shortsighted and skewed by the success of films released by Blu-ray studios in the first three months of the year

Sony took a look at it's Blu-ray player, and decided that $599 USD was a little rich for a simple optical drive. And so, they have lowered the price of the BDP-S300 to $499 USD. Sony dedicates this price drop to increased demand for the product, as well as lower production costs.

The Inquirer points out that another possible cause of this price drop is the price of a Toshiba HD DVD player: less than $300 USD.

Sony has updated the firmware for the PlayStation Portable, enabling it to use Remote Play - a new feature which lets PSP owners remotely access media stored on their PlayStation 3 consoles. Users can stream videos, music and pictures from their PS3s directly to the PSP, but they can't play games remotely as some may believe from reading the name. Because the data is transferred via the internet it means users can access media on their PS3 from almost anywhere where they can get online, provided that the bandwidth is adequate. To use remote play, you will need to download the 3.50 firmware update for the PSP using the auto update feature, and you will also need the 1.8 PS3 firmware released just over a week ago. The 3.50 firmware update also provides a new RSS Channel Guide, offering improved support for RSS feeds.

Sony is the first company to show off 24-bit color flexible OLED. It features a contrast ratio of "above" 1000:1, is 2.5-inch large with a resolution of 160 x 120 pixels. It can easily be bent, as it is just 0.3 mm thick. Just do not expect this technology to hit retail any time soon.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc has announced that it is working on a new Korean version of PlayStation 3 with an 80GB 2.5" SATA hard drive. The new console will be identical to the European model, aside from the 80 GB hard drive and that it will be introduced only in South Korea, with no plans to ship in Europe for now. The 80GB version will launch there on June 16 priced at KRW 518,000 (EUR 412). Currently, the only version of the PS3 game console contains a 60GB hard drive. Read the full story here.

Sony has seen its biggest quarterly loss in four years after the release of its new PlayStation 3 console, with the company losing an overall figure of $563 million US, with the games division alone seeing a huge $1.9 billion loss. It's estimated that the company loses $240 on each PS3 console sold ($300 on the 'low-spec' model), and experts predict that this is likely to continue for the rest of the financial year. "In the game segment, there was a significant operating loss as a result of the sale of PS3 at strategic price points lower than its production cost during the introductory period," said the company. Sony isn't the only one making a loss with its consoles - Microsoft is also believed to be selling Xbox 360 consoles for a price lower than production costs, leading to the Zune and 360 losing £315 million between them.

Sony today unveiled a portable multimedia PC with Blu-ray Disc technology that packs power and entertainment into a compact package. The new VAIO FZ notebook comes in multiple configurations, including a premium and standard model. The premium version plays Blu-ray Disc high-definition content so you can enjoy movies in full 1080 HD resolution, as well as record, store and play back personal content on high-capacity 25-50GB Blu-ray disc media. The latest VAIO FZ notebook is also combined with 15.4-inch widescreen display featuring Sony's patented XBRITE-HiColor technology(on the premium model). The FZ premium model also has an HDMI connector, built-in 802.11n wireless LAN and pre-installed Windows Vista Home Premium operating system. The FZ standard model will start at about $1,400, while the FZ premium Blu-ray Disc model will go for around $2,000. The VAIO FZ series will be available online here. They will also be sold at Sony Style stores and select retailers starting in mid-May.

I think many readers will agree that The Inquirer sums up this story quite nicely with the title 'Sony finally goes mad'. At the God of War II launch showcase, Sony has managed to pile yet more controversy onto itself by inviting members of the press to reach inside a warm goat's carcass to eat offal (internal organs) from its stomach (although the offal itself was prepared beforehand). Not only did Sony arrange this grotesque 'sacrifice' for the event, but it then went on to publish it in the Official PlayStation Magazine. Guests were encouraged to compete to see who could eat the most offal, whilst other activities such as topless girls dipping grapes into guests' mouths, throwing knives at targets and pulling live snakes from pits were all on the agenda.

A spokesman for the International Fund for Animal Welfare said "We are always opposed to any senseless killing of an animal and this sounds like a gruesome death. We condemn Sony's actions. It is stupid and completely unjustified." The event was held last month in Athens, and Sony has now commented "It has come to our attention that at the God of War II launch showcase, an element of the event was of an unsuitable nature. We are conducting an internal inquiry into aspects of the event in order to learn from the occurrence and put into place measures to ensure that this does not happen again." The magazine has now been recalled and will not hit UK shelves, but anyone who is subscribed to it will already have been sent a copy. If you wish to see the picture, here is a link to the censored version (the original apparently had the goat's head hanging by a thread of tissue with blood dripping out) - it's still a bit gory so isn't suitable for the main page.