Share Your Playstation Network ID With Sony Insider!

Hey friends, as you may or may not have read in my other writings, I own a Playstation 3. However, my friends list is not as big as it should be! It would be really great if I could add a few of you guys and girls to my list so we can play games together. I own several multiplayer games, including LittleBigPlanet, Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Hot Shots Golf, and more. I’ve been playing alot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 though! Please add me:

kurisumaku

p.s. This post originated nearly after I started the site back in 2008, but wanted to repost it again to add more friends.

New Addition to VAIO Signature Collection – VAIO W

Remember this lil netbook Sony introduced not long ago? VAIO W  is a small form factor at 2.96 pounds first netbook introduced by Sony. Since we are heading into Christmas Sony pimped this cute notebook’s lid into snowflakes.

Featuring a unique snowflake motif, the VAIO® Signature Collection W Series Holiday Sparkle mini notebook seems to change its design depending on the angle you look from. Ideal for every member of your household, the W121AX/WZ mini notebook packs a 1.66GHz Intel® processor, 1GB of memory, 250GB hard disk drive and pre-installed Microsoft® Windows® 7 into an incredibly lightweight, go-anywhere design. The perfect addition to your on-the-go lifestyle, the W Series mini notebook is great for checking email, instant messaging and connecting to the internet from virtually anywhere. Created to provide the essential laptop experience, the W also comes equipped with built-in Wi-Fi, integrated Bluetooth® technology, and features a responsive keyboard and touch pad.

As you can see specs wise it is pretty attractive and you will also get an extended battery as well. I was just not sure what to do with it in summer time, as snowflakes won’t turn into green leaves on that lid.

Pictorial: VAIO Bluetooth Laser Mouse VGP-BMS80

VGP-BMS80 is the latest VAIO Bluetooth Laser mouse and trust me Sony has come up with a different kind of a mouse this time. Since VAIO as a brand has been introduced there were a dozen of mice that Sony created and in recent years bluetooth mice dominate the market. All kinds of colors were introduced to match your VAIO. I will be prepping up a post in the near future about a VAIO Mouse and how this device has been evolving throughout years. For now, check out this pictorial and watch out for the upcoming video of this laser mouse to be paired with PS3. Our earlier post about it can be found here.

The Bluetooth Laser Mouse VGP-BMS80 is a multifunctional mouse that can connect to a VAIO PC or PLAYSTATION 3 without using a dedicated device driver. It has the following modes of operation:

1. PC Modes. There are 2 PC Modes available for you to operate with your VAIO:

• Air Mode
• Mouse Mode

During Air Mode you can freely operate your personal computer at a distance from the display. For example, you can operate your VAIO connected to a TV to play movies or music, or view a Web browser from the comfort of a sofa. While in Air Mode, the mouse  operates in your hand and does not have to be on any surface.

During Mouse Mode you can use this BT multifunctional mouse as a standard mouse with some enhanced features for browsing, scrolling, etc (additional software supplied).

PS3 Mode

There are two modes available: Air and Mouse mode. Once connected to PS3, the mouse functions similarly to a PS3 controller. However, the mouse has no functionality within PS3 games.

You can move the mouse pointer freely with the Optical Finger Sensor in the middle of the mouse. You can also input an URL or perform keyword searches using the supplied software keyboard. The input language is switched to your personal computer’s display language. Compliant languages are English, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Japanese.

Pictorial: VAIO Bluetooth Keyboard VGP-BKB1

Sony has introduced a number of keyboards to accessorize your VAIO from wired to wireless (VGP-WKB1 and VGP-WKB5)

Here is a pic of VGP-WKB5:

This is the first time Sony went with Bluetooth option (the ones above used RF). We have written about its introduction here and now it is time to unbox it. Watch out for a video review and its interaction with PS3 later on.

PSP Go Hacked With Custom 6.1 Firmware By Team Typhoon

Well, it didn’t take very long for the PSP Go to be hacked, with some people heralding it as nearly an impossible task since the homebrew scene has been struggling to thrive lately. The only problem is that the creator of the hack is keeping the hack to himself, and won’t be releasing it. The video of the hacked PSP Go showed up on YouTube yesterday under the username daveexfusion, which is associated with a website I found called Davee’s DevSite.

He goes on to state,

This video is for bragging rights ONLY (since it’s very cool nowadays) and shows our Proof of Concept 6.10 Custom Firmware running on the PSPgo. This will never be released to the general public or anyone else at all whether you are a dev or not, this is Team Typhoon internal material, we have no reason whatsoever to waste a perfectly good exploit. So don’t ask for release dates. We don’t care about your complaining, whining and everything remotely related and it’s your own damn fault since you brought this on yourselves. Better version of the video showcasing more homebrew coming next week. Thanks go to Sony for this awesome piece of new hardware, finally a decent hardware revision. Also thanks to all historied PSP Homebrew developers for paving the way for us to be able to do this.

PSP Go Possibly Coming In New Colors

The gaming blog Destructoid has a hot tip on some possible color variations coming for the PSP Go. Apparently, marketing firm Hall & Partners Europe (connected with Sony) posted a survey on their Valued Opinions website that shows the image in this post. The survey queries users as to what colors they would like to see next for the PSP Go – including, Bright Yellow, Coral, Burgundy, Light Grey, Camo Green, Blue, Turquoise, Pink, Bright Red, Lemon, Navy Grey and Ocean Blue. It doesn’t surprise me that Sony would go down this route since the regular PSP-3000 is available in several various colors in various regions.

Which one do you like? I like the Blue of course! It would remind me of Sony Insider.

Sony Integrating TransferJet Into MS Duo Cards, MS-JX8G Hits FCC

Sony has posted a FCC application on a new product – the AK8MSJX8G, which is the application for a MS-JX8G Memory Stick Duo card. I’ve never seen a MS Duo card on the FCC before, because its limited to devices that transmit information over a radio spectrum. After peeking inside the FCC files I found the 4480Mhz frequency listed in the Test Report. My first assumptions of the card containing 802.11a/b/g wireless suddenly vanished, because the 2.4ghz band wasn’t listed. I did some Googling with this radio frequency I’d never seen before, and it didn’t take long to find out that the 4480Mhz band (as defined by Tyco Electronics) is associated with TransferJet. Hence, Sony is bringing a TransferJet-equipped MS Duo card to the market very soon.

This is very surprising information. I had originally thought that TransferJet would be equipped into the hardware itself, but what I failed to realize is that they could integrate it into removable media. It makes sense because it requires little power to work, so it would probably have minimal effect on battery life to the attached device. This means that there is a possibility that any product that uses MS Duo could become a TransferJet equipped device, which signals a new era of connectivity for mobile devices in the USA. What’s even more promising is that Sony is also aggressively working on bringing TransferJet-compatible USB readers to the market, so its very possible that you will see a TransferJet MS Duo card and USB-based TransferJet base station for your PC. TransferJet can also be eventually built into Sony VAIO PC’s and BRAVIA Televisions, as well as other consumer electronics.

Forget what TransferJet is? It’s a technology shown off by Sony nearly at every trade show exhibit they have done in recent memory. It’s a wireless technology that can transfer data at 560Mbps (Max.) / effective 375Mbps (throughput). We covered the product in The Science of TransferJet. There is also a very good TransferJet demonstration video over at engadget.

TransferJet is a close-proximity (3cm) wireless transfer technology developed by Sony. A very large consortium of companies are involved. Data to be transferred simply by touching the transmitting device directly to the receiving device. TransferJet eliminates complex and troublesome configuration and settings typically associated with conventional wireless technology. For example, simply touching a TV with a digital camera will enable still images to be displayed on the TV screen. Put it near your computer and transfer your data without wires. Alternatively, downloaded music content can be enjoyed simply by touching a mobile phone to a portable audio player. TransferJet can be thought of as a universal interface that will replace current connectors, cables and memory cards used in many consumer electronics devices. And now, it’s really going to happen soon in the USA.

Sony Bravia XBR11/12 Line Up Leaked

It seems like XBR10 line up was just announced and people already started wondering what Sony has in store for the next line up. It’s like Windows 7 is out now and we know for sure M$ is already working and developing the next operating system. There were a ton of rumors going around and a number of unhappy customers who were hoping that XBR10 to have TruLED or RGB Triluminos technology, as we all know now the pretty Bravia is shining with LED Edge-lit panel and wireless HDMI.

However just recently a certain internal document was leaked from Sony that identified a line of upcoming TVs with some pretty juicy details. The good news is LED RGB is coming back! It will be released in the XBR12 flagship models with ”High Range Advanced LED RGB” backlighting. Local Dimming and a bag of chips too!

XBR11 line up lists panels ranging from 32 to 60 inches:

• KDL-32XBR11 | 32-Inch
• KDL-40XBR11| 40-Inch
• KDL-46XBR11| 46-Inch
• KDL-52XBR11| 52-Inch
• KDL-60XBR11| 60-Inch

The Sony KDL-XBR11 series uses W-LED technology, which is White LEDs.

XBR11/12 will feature:

• New LCD development called UV2A developed by Sharp;
• Bravia Engine 3 PRO with HD Video Processor DRC;
• HD Triple Tuner;
• New EMO brand The Edge Motion Speaker
• New Look (Floating Glass design is coming back, something similar to Sony’s very first and dear KLV-30XBR900 model), available in semi-gloss and glossy pane.
  

Another interesting piece of info, the document mentioned KDL-ZX series OLED! Woot! I was hoping we would see the continuation of XEL series. Anyways, all this info should be of course not considered as final, the doc does state those models are prototypes. However the specs do speak for themselves. CES 2010 will be the answer to those who are wondering and is just a few months away…for now feel free to salivate about these new Bravias…

Other models listed are:

• KDL-S6100 | Entry CCFL
• KDL-V6100 | Mind Range CCFL
• KDL-W6100 | Mid Range CCFL
• KDL-Z6100 | High Range CCFL
• KDL-X500 | Mid Range Edge-Lit LED LCD
• KDL-650 | High Range Edge-Lit LED LCD

Here is an additional picture:

Sony To Hold Hour And A Half Investor/Analyst Meeting On November 19th

Sony has notified its stockholders that its new management team will hold a investor/analyst meeting on November 19th at 17:30 – 19:00 JST. A company spokeswoman declined to give further details on what the briefing will entail. The new team, set up in April, includes CEO Howard Stringer, Executive Deputy President Hiroshi Yoshioka, and Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai. You can tune into the presentation courtesy of Sony’s website following the link above.

Sony NWZ-S740 Series Walkman Selling In Asia Pacific

It appears that the elusive Sony NWZ-S740 series Walkman has been on sale in various Asia Pacific markets, including Hong Kong. Availability varies, and judging by past releases, the most advanced S-Series Walkman will slowly trickle out to other countries in that region eventually. It doesn’t seem to have the lyric service like the Japanese model, but does retain all of the other incredible features such as noise cancelling technology, FM, TV Out (at SD), 42 hour battery life for audio, 10 hours for video, and more. Reception to the product announcement was very strong back on September 16th, but also was confusing to consumers because of a limited Japanese debut. With the product now available in in more countries, can we assume it won’t be too much longer before it comes to the USA and Europe?

The S740 Series also have Clear bass, Clear Stereo, and DSEE to color your sound. I like several of these features and usually enable them. Colors available to Asia Pacific include just the black model – which is a far cry from the gold, green, violet models available in Japan. Not sure if any of the other colors will be available, which is sad because the green is pretty neat.

On a side note, will we ever see the latest A Series Walkman outside of Japan? I have heard some rumblings that it may be so. Stay tuned.