Sony To Release FVA-U1 USB-Based Mofiria Finger Vein Authentication Device

Sony Japan has announced they are bringing a device based on Mofiria technology to the market on December 18th. The USB-based FVA-U1 is a tamper resistant authentication device, similar to a fingerprint scanner, except it scans the veins in your fingers. 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 technology uses a unique method where a CMOS sensor diagonally captures scattered light inside the finger veins. The vein pattern is quickly and accurately extracted from the captured finger vein image without a fixed finger position – ensuring it will be very easy to scan your finger vein pattern. Sony will also be providing a SDK for Mofiria technology, and has stated this is network compatible.

Sony hopes to attract businesses where security is key, hospitals, universities and information security specialists with this new product offering. The Y30,000 FVA-U1 will come with a special case, USB cable, guide, instruction manual, and warranty. Sony has also launched a new Mofiria website.

52″ Sony BRAVIA XBR10 Series HDTV Bows Out Of USA

I’m surprised to announce that only after a few months of being on the market, the super thin 52″ Sony BRAVIA XBR10 (aka in Japan as the Sony BRAVIA ZX5) with wireless HD capability is no longer for general availability in the USA. While a few models are left at various brick and mortar SonyStyle stores, the official SonyStyle USA website states, “No longer available for purchase at Sony Style.” We tapped our contacts at SonyStyle who confirmed this information and stated that it was a “limited production model.” Limited production? We’re surprised at that statement, since the TV was not announced as such.

Fortunately, the 46″ XBR10 is still for sale at SonyStyle and will probably continue to be available through the holidays. But for how long? This sure seems like Sony is clearing the slate for some new BRAVIAs (e.g. XBR11, XBR12), which Sony has stated before they will bring to the market by February.

I’m not surprised that the 52″ model is being phased out, though. Sony has been slipping hard in the USA with their TV sales, falling victim to extraordinary prices, too varied of a lineup (XBR7, XBR8, XBR9, XBR10 are all for sale simultaneously), and consumers being manipulated by the phrase “LED TV.” Last time I looked Sony were tied in a distant fourth place with Toshiba, which placed them far behind Samsung, Vizio, and LG. Consumers may also be confused with the XBR9 and XBR10 line (LCD with edge-lit LCD), which many online have found inferior to the XBR8, which is a LCD with RGB backlit LED.

I still think the XBR10/ZX5 was a true marvel in Sony technology; perhaps ahead of its time (or just simply misplaced for sale in a struggling economy) with its high price, incredible design and wireless 1080P capability.

Content Transfer 1.3 Update, EU and Japan Get Walkman X Firmware Update

Hey guys and girls, looks like Japan and Europe get to update their Walkman X firmware which is said to improve online browsing (is anyone surfing the net on your X?):

This firmware update improves the following performance:

• Displaying and navigating Web sites will be improved.

Note
“NetFront” browser installed in your device will be upgraded with this update. After the upgrade, the browser will not display Thai language fonts anylonger. If you want to be able to display Thai language fonts, do not perform this update.

Let’s hope we get the same treatment in the US soon, as I understand it is a holiday season and Sony software engineers just need to tweak the installer to work on the US models. When I tried using the firmware upgrade from a European website, it does not recognize my Walkman model (NWZ-X1051/1061) as it is intended for NWZ-X1050/1060 models (even though the software agreement lists all the US legal language and the installer is for X1000 series).

Anyways, the good news is Content Transfer software is at version 1.3 now and you can get it here and install it without any problems on your English speaking VAIOs, Lenovos, Dells  and whatever else you are using.

Content Transfer software is an easy way to get audio, video and photos, as well as podcasts on your Walkman.

Models:

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NWZ-X1000 series

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NW-A800 series

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NW-S74x/S74xK/S64x/S64x

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NWZ-W202

Sony Black Friday 2009 Master Deal List

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States, which is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many employees have the day off (with the exceptions of those employed in retailing, health care, and banking), which increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas and holiday season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open extremely early, with most of the retailers typically opening at 5AM or even earlier. However, the whole experience has become rather intimidating lately, with an enormous amount of deals out there that often leave the consumer bewildered. So, that’s why we condensed all Sony Electronics products (including PSP, PS2, and PS3 games) that have special Black Friday prices in one master list for your convenience. Unfortunately there aren’t any links for the deals, but a simple Google search of the store/product in question should help you on your way (if applicable). Enjoy.

The Sony Black Friday 2009 Master Deal List is also available to view at Google Docs.

VAIO X Unboxing Video

Hey guys,

Here is my commentary of VAIO X and its contents. In this video I talk a little bit about everything from packaging to notebook’s design and its ports. If you would like to learn more about this VAIO and see what it looks like inside, check out this interesting  article where an engineer was invited to assess this VAIO ingenuity and at the end he was pretty impressed at how VAIO developers put their hearts into designing this notebook.  Here is a little abstract from that article:

Engineers felt that every part of the Vaio X shows ingenuity.

“I felt that Sony put its whole heart into developing this,” one of them said. “I would like to have a drink with the designers of the Vaio X. I think I will find a kindred spirit in those people.”

As for the employed components, the Vaio X is the integration of the best possible parts, engineers said. For example, if Sony had designed a PC that is very difficult to reassemble after being torn down, like the MacBook Air, the company would have not had to make that much effort. They were impressed by the fact that Sony realized the slimness while following basic design rules.

“I was surprised that Sony engineers were allowed to make efforts to realize such thinness,” an engineer said. “It requires cooperation with production plants. At which phase of the project, the plants started to be involved? No matter how much enthusiasm the engineers have, it wouldn’t be possible to realize such a design without the cooperation. Manufactures and engineers have to share the same spirit.”

Enjoy!

The Ultimate Music Gift For The Holidays: The Miles Davis Complete Columbia Album Collection

I’d like to give a shout out to what may possibly be the greatest gift to give this Holidays for that special someone who is a true music aficionado. The Miles Davis Complete Columbia Album Collection (currently $293) is a deluxe, limited edition retrospective of the iconic music Miles Davis created during his 30 years with Columbia Records. If you don’t know, Miles Davis was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. But he was just more than that, he was an iconic figure whose music has withstood the tests of time and plays in a way that always captures you. Widely considered one of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music including cool jazz, hard bop, free jazz, fusion and techno. Many well-known jazz musicians made their names as members of Davis’s ensembles.

Anyway, this exquisite package, comprised of 70 CDs (!) and 1 DVD, contains all 52 of Miles’ Columbia recordings in Japanese-styled mini LP jackets and includes a 250-page book with a biography, a fully annotated discography, a complete song index, and rare photos. It’s so amazing to see such a large box set of Miles Davis like this – I would dedicate the time to eventually listen to every CD. I couldn’t imagine trying to do it in one sitting, though.

Appearing on DVD for the first time in this box is Live in Europe ’67, shot in Stockholm and Karlsruhe during the Miles Davis Quintet’s European tour of 1967. Completely remastered from the original broadcast tapes, these performances feature Miles with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Tony Williams. In addition to the DVD, there will be a first-time audio release of the full performance from the 1970 Isle of Wight festival. Bonus tracks and other rarities that have been added to the CD reissues of individual albums in past years are also included.

Just to whet your whistle, here is one of my favorite Miles Davis songs:

Thirty Years Of The Sony Walkman In Three Minutes

Walkman is a Sony brand originally used for portable audio cassette, and is now used to market Sony’s portable audio and video players as well as certain Sony Ericsson phones. The original Walkman introduced a change in music listening habits by allowing people to carry their music with them, a revolutionary concept for its time. The device was built in 1978 by audio division engineer Nobutoshi Kihara for Sony co-chairman Akio Morita, who wanted to be able to listen to operas during his frequent transpacific plane trips. The original Walkman was marketed in 1979 as the Walkman in Japan, the Soundabout in many other countries including the US, Freestyle in Sweden and the Stowaway in the UK. Morita hated the name “Walkman” and asked it to be changed, but relented after being told by junior executives that a promotion campaign had already begun using the ‘Walkman’ name and would be too expensive to change.

In this video courtesy of SonyLearnTV, we see the history of the Walkman (which celebrated its 30th anniversary this year) in just a few short minutes.

My familiarity with the Walkman brand is probably obvious to some of you who have been following my words for a while in my past ventures (Minidisc Community Forums and ATRACLife). Watching this video brought back many memories – what about you? Whats your favorite Walkman?

Star Wars Galaxies Chronicles More Than Three Million User-Created Quests Within A Month

Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) today announced its Chronicle Master system in the hit title Star Wars Galaxies has resulted in over three million user-created quests to date. The Star Wars Galaxies Chronicle Master system gives players the ability to create stories in-game and allow other players to follow and complete these quests. The player-driven content creation empowered the community by allowing players to create their own plot using iconic characters in the legendary setting of the Star Wars universe. User-created quests is a feature that is mostly unique to Star Wars Galaxies, and is not currently offered in its biggest competitor World of Warcraft.

In just over a month since launching, players have told their own stories through the Chronicle Master quest creation interface including one individual who has created over 6,000 playable quests. Players who complete these quests are rewarded with in-game tokens that can be used to purchase unique loot items specially created for the Chronicle Master system.

Steam users interested in trying the Chronicle Master system firsthand can now download Star Wars Galaxies: The Complete Online Adventures Premium Plus Pack directly from Steam and from Direct2Drive. This compilation includes An Empire Divided™, Jump to Lightspeed™ expansion, Episode III: Rage of the Wookiees™Trials of Obi-Wan™ expansion. Players who download the game through Steam and Direct2Drive will also receive three exclusive in-game vehicles based on the Star Wars film series.

US Air Force Orders 2,200 PS3′s For Clustered Supercomputer

According to a recent article in InformationWeek, the United States Air Force is moving forward in obtaining 2,200 PS3 systems to enhance its already 336 unit strong supercomputer. The PlayStation 3s will be used at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s information directorate in Rome, N.Y. The Air Force also has no plans to drop this method, as moving to an alternative technology hardware would also cause duplication of costs associated with redeveloping the software, military systems, and applications already based on the existing Sony PS3 cluster. This will become increasingly relevant as the magnitude of applications and supporting hardware infrastructure likely will increase over time.

With respect to cell processors, a single 1U server configured with two 3.2GHz cell processors can cost up to $8K while two Sony PS3s cost approximately $600. Though a single 3.2 GHz cell processor can deliver over 200 GFLOPS, whereas the Sony PS3 configuration delivers approximately 150 GFLOPS, the approximately tenfold cost difference per GFLOP makes the Sony PS3 the only viable technology for HPC applications. Sony is the only firm capable of manufacturing the brand of required hardware without the Government experiencing substantial duplication of cost that would not be recoverable through competition among providers of alternative technology. Using cell processor technology besides the Sony PS3 would cost the Government the equivalent of several years of professional research and engineering effort.

Hacker Puts Mac OS X On Sony VAIO X

Ever heard of a hackintosh? If not, it’s essentially someone loading OS X on non-Mac hardware. According to some pictures that have surfaced on Facebook, a Chinese hacker was able to put OS X on the Sony VAIO X. This is rather amusing because the notebook already has been compared to the Macbook Air due to their similarities. I’m not sure how well the VAIO X handles OS X, but with up to 2GB of RAM and a speedy SSD I can imagine that the experience is probably pleasing. It’s a shame that Apple doesn’t let other hardware manufacturers build systems with its operating system, as I’m sure there are consumers out there who would probably enjoy the option of buying something like this as standard.

Thanks, GadgetMix.