After a couple weeks in which the 360 posted better sales numbers than the PS3 and it was revealed that Sony inadvertently funded Microsoft’s next-gen development efforts, you’d think Microsoft execs would be getting a little cocky, but it sounds instead like they’re expecting a renewed offensive from Sony based on price. That’s direct from the 360’s director of product management Aaron Greenberg, who told Edge that MS “absolutely expects” a PS3 price cut in the next few months, and that the team is “frankly surprised it’s taken this long.” Of course, we’ve been hearing tons of PS3 pricing speculation from all corners lately with no change to that $399 MSRP, so we’ll see how it goes.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Filed under: Gaming

Microsoft exec predicts Sony will be forced to cut PS3 prices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony is expected to unveil this new wearable Walkman here at CES according to SonyInsider. The W-series device is said to feature 2GB of memory with a price in the range of $50 to $75. Magnetic connectors keep the 13.5mm EX earphones with built-in MP3, AAC, DRM’d WMA and PCM player tidy and heart-shaped when not in use. The Walkman charges to 90 minutes playback after just 3 minutes on the mains — 30 minutes will give you 12 hours. Sounds good, but we’ll have to check these out in person to measure the dork-factor.

Filed under: Portable Audio, Wearables

Sony hearts its new wraparound Walkman W-series originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chicklet keyboard, check. Tiny pointing nub, check. Looks like this is Sony’s Vaio P series ultraportable on display at CES. By on display we mean, on display as these shots were taken off the display monitors here at CES. Engadget was first in the world to reveal the P from the FCC specs so it seems only fitting that we bring you the first authenticated pictures dontchathink? The Sony Picturebook… it lives again at CES!

P.S. Sorry for the blur, best we could do before the security hammer came down across our knuckles.

Filed under: Laptops

Sony’s VAIO P ultraportable revealed originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony may not have that much to brag about, comparatively speaking, with the success of its PS3, but can still crow about the fact that it sits at the top of the pile when it comes to current console usage.

It’ll have to reach back to its last generation machine for a statistic that it can wave in the faces of the competition, but according to Nielsen Media Research’s “usage minutes”, which we’re guessing is the result of consumer polls, the Playstation 2 tops the pile by quite some margin.

Microsoft will be walking around with a spring in its step this New Year, at least those in its console division, as it has revealed that the Xbox 360 had its best ever Christmas period in Europe.

The console sold almost double numbers over 2007, taking its total to date to around eight million units.

Despite not mentioning any actual figures, it is quick to point out that last year saw it ‘grow faster than any competitor’ and that it ‘leads the Sony PS3 by over one million units.’

Filed under: Digital Cameras, Gaming

Famicom cart camera provides its own smile-catching technology originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 18:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Rumors of drastic cost cutting at Sony abound, Sony says not so fast originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 17:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nie chcemy za bardzo wyżywać się na Toshibie, ale co oni sobie u diabła myśleli? Po zdecydowanie nieudanym pomyśle z technologią Super Resolution, firma po raz kolejny strzela sobie w stopę zapowiadając linię prototypowych odtwarzaczy, które zamierza zaprezentować podczas CES w przyszłym tygodniu. Co jest nie tak z tymi playerami? Otóż mają one jako nośnika używać kart SD, których (tak, zgadliście) absolutnie nikt nie używa w celu oglądania filmów czy słuchania muzyki. Toshiba pracuje nad tym pomysłem wraz z Mod Systems. Firmy zamierzają utworzyć ponoć sieć kiosków sprzedających filmy na kartach SD. Może marudzimy, ale brzmi to jak porażka porównywalna z opychaniem przez Sony muzyki na kluczach USB.

[Za: usnews]

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Sony’s not playing it too coy with the upcoming VAIO P — some more detailed specs on the widescreen netbook have leaked out, and they’re just about what we expected: a 1.33GHz Atom Z520, 2GB of RAM, standard HDD with optional SSD, GPS, and a 3G WWAN card, all for about €700 ($974). No word on that crazy rumored 1600 x 768 display resolution, but apparently that sexy Photoshopped VAIO TT pic we saw is close to the real thing, trackstick and all. We’ll see — for close to $1000, this guy had better run Vista a hell of a lot better than the similarly-spec’d ASUS R50A UMPC Portal just trashed in a review.

[Via UMPC Portal, image from Pocketables]

Filed under: Laptops

More VAIO P specs leak out originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Some would say that Sony pricing the PS3 so high was all the help the Xbox 360 needed to pull ahead in recent months but it seems that Sony - unknowingly - may have helped fund and create the 360 as we know it.

A new book from a couple of IBM engineers, called “The Race for a New Game Machine”, tracks Sony, Toshiba and IBM’s massively expensive and troubled efforts to create a brand new gaming chip, Cell, back in 2001. It also notes that Microsoft contacted IBM in 2002 to create new chip for the Xbox 360 and that IBM showed them what it was doing with the Cell.

Of course, while IBM had the green light to sell the Cell processor technology later on, Sony was unaware that’s its key gaming rival was benefitting from all its R&D cash and research during the Cell’s creation.

According to the WSJ:

24. czerwca do życia powołana została Symbian Foundation, organizacja zrzeszająca takich potentatów, jak Nokia, Sony Ericsson, NTT DoCoMo czy AT&T. Założyciele fundacji uważają, że zaspokojenie potrzeb użytkowników komórek, których liczba sięgnie 4 miliardów w 2010 roku, będzie wymagać stworzenia darmowego i niezawodnego systemu operacyjnego, działającego na zasadzie open source. Głównym celem fundacji jest unifikacja systemów Symbian i pokrewnych S60, UIQ i MOAP oraz stworzenie jednolitego oprogramowania wysokiej jakości.

W tym samym miesiącu okazało się, że jeden z największych hitów polskiego internetu, czyli portal Nasza-Klasa, zmienił właściciela. Posiadaczem większościowego pakietu akcji został estoński fundusz Forticom. Transakcja ucięła spekulacje zwolenników teorii spiskowych, którzy utrzymywali, że Naszą-Klasę chcą wykupić rosyjskie służby specjalne za pomocą podstawionych inwestorów. Co ciekawe, transakcji wartej 200 mln zł dokonano już w styczniu i utrzymywano ją w tajemnicy przez kilka miesięcy. Według ostatnich danych portal ma już około 12 milionów zarejestrowanych użytkowników i jest zdecydowanym liderem jeśli chodzi o miesięczną liczbę kliknięć w polskim internecie (blisko 10 miliardów). Jak większość portali społecznościowych, Nasza-Klasa ma jednak kłopoty z zarabianiem pieniędzy — użytkownicy tego typu stron są generalnie niechętni reklamom i firmy promują się za ich pośrednictwem z mniejszym entuzjazmem.

Ciekawą deklarację złożył Gianpiero Morbello, wiceprezydent Acera ds. Marketingu. Stwierdził on, że jego firma widzi wielką przyszłość we współpracy z Linuxem. O ruchu zadecydowały względy ekonomiczne: Linux jest darmowy, a Windows wciąż jeszcze sporo kosztuje. Dynamiczny rozwój rynku niskobudżetowych netbooków wymaga poszukiwania tanich rozwiązań i większość producentów zdecydowała się na podobny krok, oferując swój sprzęt z preistalowanym Linuxem.

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At least overseas, Endless Ideas’ BeBook is competing most directly with Sony’s succulent Reader, and reviewers over at Trusted Reviews immediately noticed the step back in style. If you can get over that, the device was said to be delightfully light, though the user interface reverted their brief smiles back to frowns. This up and down (or love and hate, if you will) affair continued on throughout the review, with critics finding a nitpick for every glimmer of awesomeness. The real bummer came when they attempted to use USB 1.1 for mass transfers — it’s practically 2009 people, and USB 2.0 is a must. All in all, the crew couldn’t bring themselves to calling the BeBook a bad device, with the broad format support, satisfactory screen and longevous battery all earning high marks; that said, the clunky interface and sluggish overall performance really put a damper on things, particularly when you consider a Sony PRS-505 can be had for around £30 less.

Filed under: Displays, Handhelds

BeBook eBook reader gets reviewed: a library rental, at best originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 07:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Międzynarodowej grupie naukowców udało się przeprowadzić atak phishingowy, który jest prawie niewykrywalny. Za pomocą 200 konsol Sony Playstation 3 udało im się złamać algorytmy wykorzystywane do zabezpieczania stron WWW. tech.wp.pl

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Wireless keyboard / controller / remote control for PS3 could make your day / week / month originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jeśli mieliście resztki nadziei, że kryzys gospodarczy ominie branżę elektroniczną, to mamy kolejne dane, które popsują wam humor. Według analityków z DisplaySearch, przychody ze sprzedaży telewizorów LCD zmniejszą się w przyszłym roku po raz pierwszy w historii. Rynek skurczy się aż o 16% i będzie mniejszy nie tylko od tegorocznego, ale również od tego z 2007 roku. Co ciekawe, malejące przychody nie będą wynikać tylko z mniejszego popytu, ale również ze znacznych obniżek cen przez potentatów na rynku (takich jak Samsung czy Sony).

A dlaczego to zła wiadomość? Bo może oznaczać śmierć mniejszych producentów, którzy oferowali przyzwoity sprzęt za rozsądne ceny.

DisplaySearch sugeruje również, że kontynuowany będzie spadek sprzedaży telewizorów kineskopowych, a telewizory OLED zaczną zyskiwać popularność, gdy gospodarka odbije się od dna, czyli w okolicach 2010-2011 roku.

[Za: Wired]

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Apparently impressed by the stunning success (and $157 winning bid) of his earlier Wii64, the modder who goes by the name n8bog is back with another brute-force console hybrid, this time shoving an entire Xbox 360 into a disused PS3 case. We wouldn’t say it’s a perfect fit, as there’s been a rather large hole cut into the front to allow access to the tray, and that HDD just laying on top of the DVD-ROM looks a bit precarious, but if you have a hankerin’ for something Microsoft but prefer the look of something Sony (or just really like gratuitous neon) all this can be yours at a starting bid of just $100. Any takers?

Filed under: Gaming

Xbox 360 + PS3 case + many Dremel bits = PS360 originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sure, that Photoshopped image of the VAIO P we got on Sunday wasn’t the real deal, but it looks like it might have some relation to reality — Sony’s got a teaser up for a “VAIO New Mobile” that includes some brief shots of a very swank-looking keyboard and tracking nub. We’ll be honest — we’re totally stoked to check this thing out at CES. Counting the days! One more shot after the break.

[Via Pocketables]

Continue reading Sony teases the VAIO P’s keyboard and tracking nub

Filed under: Laptops

Sony teases the VAIO P’s keyboard and tracking nub originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Seriously, there’s only so much picture improving you can do before the law of diminishing returns demands some recognition. While Sony just spent boatloads creating an over-the-top advertisement for its largely unimpressive 240Hz Motionflow technology, LG Display is laughing all the way to Vegas with its Trumotion 480Hz LCD TV. Set to debut at CES 2009, said panel will boast a four-millisecond response time and an unprecedented 480 refresh rate per second. Curiously, we’re not informed of the screen size nor the resolution, so we could theoretically run into a 9-inch 320 x 240 display and be totally underwhelmed. On the real, the outfit is expected to launch the world’s first Trumotion 480Hz LCD TV panel in the second half of next year, but we’re just about to lay down good money that Sony or Samsung accelerates development in order to beat it to the punch. Full release is after the break.

Continue reading LG Display plans to melt eyes with Trumotion 480Hz LCD TV

Filed under: Displays, HDTV

LG Display plans to melt eyes with Trumotion 480Hz LCD TV originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:22:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Po premierze VAIO TT przyszedł czas na kolejnego, jeszcze mniejszego netbooka Sony, którego producent zapowiada już od jakiegoś czasu. Tym razem dzięki serwisowi CNET mamy okazję rzucić okiem na VAIO P, który będzie reklamowany jako netbook do torebki (albo co bardziej przepastnej kieszeni). Według informacji, które wyciekły z Sony, komputer ma być wyposażony w 8-calowy wyświetlacz 1600 x 768, procesor Intel 1,33GHz, dysk HDD do 60GB (lub SSD do 128GB) i będzie obsługiwał Windowsa Vistę. Dostępny będzie w trzech kolorach: karmazynowej czerwieni, złocie szampana i czarnym jedwabiu. Na razie nie wiemy nic na temat ceny, ale liczmy, że będzie dużo niższa niż 11-calowego VAIO TT, który wyceniono na 4,5 tys. dolarów (13 tys. zł).

[Za: CNET]

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ASUS’s R50A UMPC has been sort of lost in the company’s flood of Eee PCs, and maybe for good reason — the crew at UMPC Portal just reviewed the $2,000 handheld and came away unimpressed. Although the software package overall was described as “atrocious” and the lack of a keyboard was annoying, the biggest problems were all essentially related to running Vista on the 1.33GHz Atom Z520 CPU with 1GB RAM — you can delete bloatware and use a bigger stylus, but you can’t fix “pretty bad” performance on the lowest possible graphics settings. Ruh roh: Sony’s upcoming VAIO P supposedly has a similar 1.33GHz Intel chip in it and runs Vista. Here’s hoping Sony’s got something a little more impressive up its sleeve for us than what ASUS managed to put together here — otherwise the full R50A review at the read link might be discouragingly prophetic.

Filed under: Handhelds

ASUS R50A UMPC reviewed — same in