Is Sony’s Touchscreen Walkman Also Coming In Red?

The NWZ-X1000/NWZ-X1050/NWZ-X1051/NWZ-X1060/NWZ-X1061 is one of the most anticipated Walkman-branded devices to be released in known memory. The monolithic black music player boasts incredible features (OLED, Noise Cancelling, etc) and a cool black paint job. However, we are seeing something in the NWZ-X1000 FCC reports that makes us wonder – is it only coming in black? There are two requests for label color in the FCC ID *.pdf file for black and red. We’ve seen similar requests before with other Sony FCC filings, which accurately predicted available color variations for a given product, such as the black and gold Vaio TT.

If you have any additional information for this story, feel free to comment. This information is a Sony Insider exclusive, brought to you here first.

Sony Music Sponsors Multilingual Improvements In Drupal 6

Over the past two and a half months, Sony Music rolled out some of their top musical artist sites in new multilingual versions based on Drupal 6. P!nk, Beyonce, Britney Spears, John Legend, Kelly Clarkson and The Fray were among the first to go multilingual, with many more on the way. Before introducing multilingual support, Sony Music had a solid platform built on Drupal 5 from which they delivered dozens of major artist websites with interactive and social networking features. But having their sites in English only presented significant barriers. Going multilingual would allow them to expand fan bases and reach out to new audiences.

In addition to their team of in-house developers and other contractors, Sony Music sponsored CivicActions to improve internationalization support in Drupal, contributing back all development work. CivicActions guided the internationalization of Sony Music’s platform and ensured stability as they upgraded from Drupal 5 to Drupal 6.

Learn more at the official Drupal blog.

Tronic Studio Creates Interesting Spot For Sony/Comcast Store

Tronic Studio 3HD theatrical trailer-style spot, “Emerge,” plays across one the world’s biggest hi-definition (25×80-foot, 4mm) LED screens in the Comcast Center, in Philadelphia, to herald the launch of the retail marketing partnership between Sony Electronics and Comcast Labs. The Tronic spot co-brands Comcast Cable and Sony Electronics as they inaugurate their partnership in a 3,400-square-foot retail experience, which opened last week in the lower-level concourse of Comcast’s downtown Philadelphia headquarters. Tronic also produced three HD product spots, which play across numerous screens in the retail showcase, to explain the perfect marriage of Sony hardware and Comcast cable, phone and internet services.

For Tronic, the project marks a continuation of its move into OOH, high-end HD retail content. “The challenge was to link two distinct companies together in a coherent voice,” said Vivian Rosenthal, co-founder and art director for Tronic Studios, whose NY City-based animation studio has produced several HD out-of-home videos, including two recent spots for the Sony Style stores. “The Sony Comcast co-branding spot has the feeling of a trailer for a feature film that brings the brands together in an uplifting, aspirational way that captures one’s imagination and hits at the converging technologies they offer.”

“The story is a highly abstract metaphor that employs flying CG life forms, which, in a visually engaging manner, presents a simplified representation of converging technology,” said Jesse Seppi, Tronic Studio’s creative director. “The creative concept was set high in the atmosphere above a fluffy cloud layer, where futuristic generators pump out hundreds of floating pods. The pods represent emergent technological forms (i.e. Sony), which intermix with the fluid, ephemeral structure of the clouds (symbolizing Comcast Media).”

An intelligent force residing in the clouds projects cable-like tendrils that inject consciousness into the pods, transforming them with intelligent purpose. The camera follows as they sail through the atmosphere demonstrating a purposeful downward movement. Gaining color as they fly, the viewer follows a flock of pods as they spread their mechanical wings, glide closer together and finally form the end-tag for the new Sony Comcast partnership.

Stunning Pictures From Sony’s Past

I’ve come across one of the best organized archives of old Sony stereo equipment that also has interesting items related to the company – the website is called The Vintage Knob. TVK has some amazing pictures, including those of Sony’s past. The picture above, taken in 1946, is of the first few engineers in the Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo factory – Sony’s previous company name.

From TVK – “1951 – The four-hundred and eighty-three Sony employees. Sony then still was Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo. Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita are fronting. Morita is holding a TR radio – and a bit of an attitude. Iwama, Sony’s original engineer with Ibuka, with clear overalls, is just behind Morita.”

Kazuo Iwama was a physicist at the Earthquake Research Institute of Tokyo University before he joining Akio Morita, Masaru Ibuka and Akira Higuchi in June 1946 as part of Totsuko. Iwama became Morita’s brother-in-law and celebrated his wedding ceremony soon after Totsuko was established, with Ibuka acting as the “Nakodo” or intermediary. His efforts were particularly significant in Sony’s commercial development of transistor technology. At the height of his career, he served as Sony’s president from 1976 until his death in 1982.

From TVK – “Masaru Ibuka, Sony’s founder, checking a portable TVs production line, circa 1963.”

In 1946 Ibuka and Akio Morita co-founded Sony Corporation, originally named Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering Corporation (prior to 1958). Ibuka was instrumental in securing the licensing of transistor technology to Sony from Bell Labs in the 1950s, thus making Sony one of the first companies to apply transistor technology to non-military uses. Ibuka served as president of Sony from 1950 to 1971, and then served as chairman of Sony between 1971 and 1976. Ibuka left Sony in 1976, but maintained close ties as an advisor until his death in 1997 of a heart failure.

Sony’s DSC-HX1 Incredible Sweep Panorama Sample Picture

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(download the full 7152×1080 pixels – 3365KB image)

With Sony’s new DSC-HX1 Cyber-shot camera, capturing wide landscapes, church spires or skyscrapers is as easy as “press and sweep.” Sweep panorama mode lets you reach beyond the traditional wide-angle lens and capture breathtaking shots. With wide and ultra-wide settings and horizontal or vertical directions, sweep panorama mode can take up to 224-degree horizontal or 154-degree vertical shots. Here is a picture taken by Sony Japan that shows off this cool technology in Sydney, Australia, capturing the beautiful sights of the city. I could only imagine that picture during a sunset.

Using the fast-speed Exmor CMOS sensor, the camera continuously shoots full-resolution images at a high speed. Using the BIONZ imaging processor, it automatically stitches the pictures together to create one stunning panoramic photo. The maximum resolution is 7152 x 1080 (ultra wide horizontal).

Lesser Profits, Sales For BMG After Sony

Here’s some pictures of Bertelsmann Chief Executive Hartmut Ostrowski, speaking in annual balance press conference in Berlin, Tuesday, March 24, 2009. Media group Bertelsmann AG, whose properties range from television channels to magazines and book publishers, said Tuesday that its 2008 profit fell by a third after it shed its North American book club and sold off its stake in the former Sony BMG music company. Sony BMG is now known as Sony Music Entertainment.

Profit and sales will drop this year and the degree will depend on the “intensity and duration of the economic downturn,” Chief Executive Officer Hartmut Ostrowski said in Berlin today. Last year, net income fell 34 percent to 142 million euros ($193 million) while sales adjusted for disposals were little changed at 16.12 billion euros, the Guetersloh, Germany-based company said today.

To reduce costs, the management board members decided to forgo their 2009 bonus payments, Ostrowski said, adding that this means a 50 percent pay cut for most of them.

Sony Walkman W202 Pictorial

Well, the heart-shaped, butterfly Walkman has arrived and here are some shots for you all to check out while it is charging. Packaging was made of one of those hard plastic materials, I thought Sony did away with those?

Walkman comes with pre-loaded software Content Transfer – quick and user friendly utility I mentioned previously here, also the Manual is embedded within its memory as well. 12 tracks of MP3 are also loaded to get you going.

PicView Gallery:

Some Zapping Info:

This is what you get: Walkman, USB Stand, extra rubber thingies for your headphones (different sizes), Protective Cover, Documents.

MxN Media Group Sign On To Bring FeliCa To North America

Sony Electronics announced the appointment of MxN Media Group as an authorized FeliCa technology deployment channel partner, continuing the expansion of the FeliCa System Integrator Application Developer program launched last year. The FeliCa System Integrator Application Developer (SIAD) program offers integrators and application developers the resources, training and support necessary to deploy FeliCa technology-based solutions in a wide range of markets in North America, such as retail, hospitality, healthcare and cinema.

Program resources include the FeliCa technology software development kit, as well as such FeliCa products as cards, readers/writers and other internal enabling components to deploy contactless applications. The Sony-developed FeliCa microchip provides a fast, convenient and secure all in-one solution platform for multiple applications, including electronic pre-paid transactions, access, interactive signage, and membership or loyalty rewards systems.

“MxN’s focus in the theatre, quick serve restaurant and theme park markets significantly extends FeliCa adoption in the North American market,” said Tim Lindner, director of strategic business development at Sony Electronics. “Beyond application development, MxN’s ability to create, package and distribute content to customers as part of a holistic service has exciting implications for FeliCa-based programs. And since MxN serves customers in both the U.S. and Canada, the company can provide synergistic application development to companies operating across borders that require a common functionality to their customers regardless of location.”

“It will be very beneficial to work with Sony to bring FeliCa contactless technology to our markets. Sony’s global stature as a quality technology provider enhances our ability to provide value to the major global brands we consider our customers,” said Bill Clapes, president, MxN Media U.S. “FeliCa technology allows us to offer innovative technology-based solutions that improve merchandising and consumer action at the point of purchase.”

Headquartered in Toronto, with U.S. operations based in Alpharetta, Ga., MxN Media Group offers innovative technology-based solutions that improve merchandising and consumer action at the point of purchase. The company specializes in digital merchandising products and solutions including menu systems, merchandisers, theater box office presentation systems, digital movie posters and more. New products in its roadmap include interactive and transaction-focused systems such as electronic couponing, ticketing, payment and loyalty using FeliCa contactless technology.

The chip combines processing, storage and communication functions, and can be implemented in a variety of form factors like cards, key chains and mobile phones. Deployed in Asia for more than ten years, FeliCa technology has formed the basis for transportation access and merchant communities where customers can easily and rapidly purchase goods and services.

I happen to live very close to MxN’s US offices, and have spoke with them, so expect more exploration of this company and their upcoming products soon!

XEL-1 OLED TV Finally Coming To Australia

CNET Australia has written that you bloody blokes will be getting your mitts on a shiny new XEL-1 in April, eh? Heh, sorry. But you will, and it will cost between AU$6,000 and AU$8,000. Now that’s a bit of scratch for anyone, especially a poor sap like me in America. I will say though that it is certainly the most beautiful television in the world, especially if you’ve seen the 20+ inchers they show off at trade shows. The eleven inch XEL-1 is hard to find practical, but, is still a beautiful image. At CES they really popped out at you, it was impossible not to watch them. I would assume that watching HD (blu-ray, whatever) on OLED would feel better than a LCD HD experience.

If you have any doubts, look how freaking clear it is when you take a picture of it. Even videotaping it was silkly smooth as evidenced by our CES videos. This thing oozes quality that you cannot deny despite the small screen, plus it is super anorexic in design.

Sony’s OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) TV, the XEL-1, is truly the next big thing in television technology. It boasts a 3 millimeter thin panel and offers unparalleled picture quality with amazing contrast, outstanding brightness, exceptional color reproduction, and a rapid response time. It delivers astounding performance in all the key picture quality categories. OLED technology can completely turn off pixels when reproducing black, resulting in more outstanding dark scene detail and a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. OLED also creates unmatched color expression and detail and enables rapid response times for smooth and natural reproduction of fast moving images like those found in sports and action movies. The XEL-1 features the latest connectivity options including two HDMI™ inputs, a digital tuner, and a Memory Stick® media slot for viewing high-resolution photos.

First picture courtesy of Shanie Aibo, the coolest girl in the world.

Sony Charging Game Companies For Their Playstation Store Bandwidth Usage

Sony has started charging game developers and publishers for the bandwidth used to deliver their game demos and downloads via its PlayStation Network for the PS3, according to MTV’s Multiplayer blog. Sony will now ask 16 cents per Gigabyte from publishers when their game content is downloaded by consumers. Promotional content like game demos will only be charged for the first 60 days, but bandwidth used to deliver actual game downloads will always initiate the bandwidth fee.

“It’s a new thing we have to budget. It’s not cool. It sucks,” one anonymous publisher told Multiplayer.

“We foresee no change in the high quality or quantity of demos and games available on PSN,” a Sony spokesperson told PaidContent.

Microsoft does not currently charge publishers for distributing game content via its Xbox Live online service, but consumers must pay to access the content. Access to the Playstation Store has been free since the console’s debut.