MasterCard First Brand To Run Promotion For Angels And Demons

MasterCard has become one of the first brands run a promotion around the upcoming film prequel to Dan Brown’s ‘The Da Vinci Code’, ‘Angels and Demons’. BrandRepublic reports that MasterCard has said ‘Angels and Demons’ will be “the first of many” associations between the brand and blockbuster films. MasterCard cardholders will be offered the opportunity to win tickets to a pre-screening of the film. Guests to the event will also be invited to a MasterCard ‘VIP’ post show party. The partnership with ‘Angels and Demons’ was created by Sony Pictures’ partnership agency Atom Marketing.

The film, which features ‘The Da Vinci Code’ actor Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon aiming to halt a terrorist attack against the Vatican, opens on May 15.

Catching Up: PlayStation Network Video Content Update – Jan 30th

Some cool additions this time around, with some good rather interesting HD content. How about American Psycho, for example? Can anyone forget Christain Bale running down the hallway naked with a chain saw covered in blood? Whew. Other notables include Beverly Hills Ninja, Escape from Alcatraz, etc. The most random movie award goes to:

• Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco

So, we’ve got Christain Bale killing everyone and the adorable dogs from Homeward Bound in the same update. Spicy, Sony, I like it. I edited up a little thing in Photoshop for you (above).

This week Sony added the following new HD video content:

HD

• 24 Season 7
• American Dad Season 4
• Xam’d: Lost Memories Season 2
• Girl With a Pearl Earring
• College Rated & Unrated
• RocknRolla
• Pride and Glory
• Damages Season 2
• Lair of the White Worm
• Traitor

And the following feature films:

Movies:

• 28 Days
• Adaptation
• American Psycho
• Anastasia
• Bandidas
• Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman
• Beverly Hills Ninja
• Broken Lizard’s Club Dread
• Carrie
• College Rated & Unrated
• Crocodile Dundee
• Deep Winter
• Escape from Alcatraz
• Fast Food Nation
• Fireproof
• Girl With a Pearl Earring
• Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco
• Island in the Sky
• Lair of the White Worm
• Lakeview Terrace
• Open Range
• Open Season 2
• Popeye
• Pride and Glory
• RocknRolla
• Rugrats Go Wild
• Swing Vote
• The Brothers Solomon
• The History Boys
• The Lords of Flatbush
• The Note
• The Rocker
• Till Human Voices Wake Us
• Traitor
• Uncommon Valor
• Underworld
• Zathura

And here’s our new video content from the following television series:

TV

• The Simpsons Season 20
• Deadliest Catch Season 1
• Deadliest Catch Season 3
• Just Shoot Me Season 1
• Moral Orel Season3
• Fringe Season 1
• Nip Tuck Season 5
• The Closer Season 4
• Watchmen Season 1
• American Chopper Season 3
• Friends Season 6
• MadTV Season 13
• Miami Ink Season 5
• Nip Tuck Season 4
• Sealab 2021 Season 3
• Shuffle Season 1
• The Drinky Crow Show Season 1
• 24 Season 7
• American Dad Season 4
• Xam’d: Lost Memories Season 2
• Damages Season 2
• Supernatural Season 4
• Smallville Season 8

And finally, here are the top 10 HD and non-HD movie and TV downloads for the week:

Top Movies

1. Max Payne (Unrated)
2. Step Brothers
3. Eagle Eye
4. Mirrors (Unrated)
5. Disaster Movie (Unrated)
6. Appaloosa
7. Babylon AD (Uncut)
8. Pride and Glory
9. Pineapple Express
10. RocknRolla

Top HD Movies

1. Eagle Eye
2. Step Brothers
3. Appaloosa
4. Wall-E
5. The Dark Knight
6. RocknRolla
7. Hancock
8. Disaster Movie (Unrated)
9. Pride and Glory
10. Chronicles or Narnia: Prince Caspian

Top TV Episodes

1. Smallville Season 8 “Bulletproof”
2. 24 Season 7 “Day 7: 12:00PM – 1:00PM”
3. Family Guy Season 7 “The Man With Two Brians”
4. Smallville Season 8 “Legion”
5. Family Guy Season 7 “I Dream of Jesus”
6. Family Guy Season 7 “Road to Germany”
7. Family Guy Season 7 “Tales of a 3rd Grade Nothing”
8. Family Guy Season 7 “Baby Not On Board”
9. Xam’d: Lost Memories Season 2 “Voices From Beyond”
10. Supernatural Season 4 “Criss Angel Is a Douche Bag”

Top HD TV Episodes

1. 24 Season 7 “Day 7: 12:00PM – 1:00PM”
2. Xam’d: Lost Memories Season 2 “Voices From Beyond”
3. 24 Season 7 “Day 7: 8:00AM – 9:00AM”
4. 24 Season 7 “Day 7: 11:00AM – 12:00PM”
5. 24 Season 7 “Day 7: 10:00AM – 11:00AM”
6. 24 Season 7 “Day 7: 9:00AM – 10:00AM”
7. The Beast Season 1 “Episode 100 – The Beast Pilot”
8. Burn Notice Season 2 “Do No Harm”
9. Sons of Anarchy Season 1 “Giving Back”
10. The Beast Season 1 “Two Choices”

Is The Valentines Day LittleBigPlanet Theme Pack A Possible Swagger Gift?

With Valentines day coming around and the pressure of creating the perfect gift, Sony has released a LittleBigPlanet Valentines Day Theme pack for $2.99. Geeks everywhere are going to make a level for their love – imagine the possibilities. So, there’s a freaking cute McLovin SackBoy costume, and a theme pack comes equipped with a full array of stickers and decorations that will surely inspire some wild and crazy creations. Create that ultimate Valentines Day level or object for your chosen SackBoy or SackGirl, and be sure to also show it off on the LittleBigWorkshop..or your girlfriend.

And just a friendly reminder, if you haven’t done so already, be sure to download the Groundhog Day costume from the PS Store today as this may be your only chance before it’s gone forever.

Battlefield 1943 Coming To Playstation Network

If you’re a Battlefield fan like me, then you know that they release these Battlefield Games just as often as the Madden series. EA/DICE has announced Battlefield 1943, a multiplayer game coming to Playstation Network and other platforms. Built on the same engine as Bad Company, the downloadable game will offer 24 players the chance to battle it out across Wake Island, Guadalcanal and Iwo Jima. I’ve spent hundreds of hours in various BF games (BF2, 2142, etc) and sniping has always been my game – I pick people off from 400+ yds with ease. Joystiq has a cool trailer of BF1943:

High Speed, High Accuracy Sony Finger Vein Authentication Coming Soon

Sony has announced the development of a finger vein authentication technology called “mofiria.” The user-friendly technology offers quick response and high accuracy and comes in a compact size for mounting on mobile devices such as a personal computer or mobile phone.

With the increase of networked products and services, a user-friendly interface for personal authentication and higher security of personal information is in great demand.

Compared to the other biometric authentication techniques, vein authentication technology achieves higher accuracy on personal identification and forgery resistance because it uses the veins inside the human body. Finger vein patterns differ from person to person, each finger to finger, and it is said that they do not change over the years.

“mofiria” uses a unique method where a CMOS sensor diagonally captures scattered light inside the finger veins, making a plane layout possible. As a result, a small and more flexible design can be realized in building this technology into mobile devices.

The vein pattern is extracted from the captured finger vein image, and data from the pattern is compressed into the size of one-tenth to store in memory, which makes it possible for the data to be stored on a mobile device.

Sony’s unique algorithm achieves fast and easy operation. The vein pattern is quickly and accurately extracted from the captured finger vein image without a fixed finger position, as the position of a placed finger is automatically and simultaneously corrected. As a result, the authentication accuracy is less than 0.1% for the FRR (False Rejection Rate), less than 0.0001% for the FAR (False Acceptance Rate), and processing time for identification takes only about 0.015 sec*1 using a personal computer CPU and about 0.25 sec*2 when using a mobile phone CPU.

Sony plans to promote the “mofiria” technology for use in mobile devices, gateway security systems and solution services. Sony will aim for commercializing this technology within the 2009 fiscal year.

VAIO Visits Manhattan

Sony USA is kicking off its VAIO P Lifestyle PC campaign is going all out at it by inviting certain models and dancers that will be showing up in certain parts on NYC showing off VAIO P. I think it is a pretty cool idea to market a product like this new VAIO.  The campaign itself is called Mannequins Take to the Street.

Check out the swanky Sony Go Lightly website and feel free to follow the events unfolding in NYC via Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.  And if you are in New York check out the locations and visit to witness the live marketing ideas.