Sony announced it will be moving any DVD production efforts occurring at its DADC Pitman plant to Terre Haute, Indiana, where a majority of DVD manufacturing is taking place already. The move means 160 of the plant’s 570 employees will be losing their jobs, though the plant will remain open in other manufacturing capacities, continuing to produce CDs and video games. Sony can produce up to 15 million DVDs and 18 million CDs per month at the facility. The plant’s last DVD rolled off the line Thursday.
Profits from disc-based operations have been steadily declining for most major CE manufacturers in the wake of on-demand methods, downloadable content and other instant services. The Pitman facility will still continue to manufacture Music CD’s and Playstation game discs.
Lisa Gephardt, Sony’s Senior Director of Communications, said the decision was made to “take advantage of operating efficiency and lower costs.”
“We have very little manufacturing in Gloucester County and to lose even more jobs is devastating,” said Michael Batten, mayor of Pitman. “I think about single parents, people who need to put food on the table, and I wonder where they will turn next.”
In a written statement released by Sony, “economic hardships and the current competitive landscape,” made the move a necessity.
In another unfortunate turn of economic events for Alabama, Sony announced last week that they are closing down their Dothan-based Sony Magnetic Products, Inc. after 33 years of being in business. Established in 1977, the facility manufactures Sony’s professional, consumer and data storage magnetic tapes, print media products, as well as coating material for optical disks. The closure wasn’t really a surprise to the 320 full time employees working there. Workers have been flexible with their schedules in recent times to keep the plant viable. The company runs some departments 24 hour a day, but operations had declined from seven days a week to four or five over the last several years. Operations will be phased out starting in April 2010, with the closure planned to be completed by September 2010.
Spokesperson Elizabeth Boukis, Public Relations Manager for Sony USA, said “this strategic business decision is designed to strengthen Sony’s cost-competitiveness by consolidating production.” Boukis said employees will receive severance and other benefits as the operation of the plant ceases. In regards to job transfers, she said all employees who have been given notice “are encouraged to find out about job openings within Sony Electronics and at other Sony companies by reviewing current internal and external job openings.”
I found a great historical perspective of the plant, courtesy of the Dothan Eagle, which describes how the Mayor (Grant) of Dothan, Alabama at the time convinced Sony to put the plant in his state instead of Florida:
Grant was instrumental in getting the electronics giant to re-evaluate its decision to open a plant in Florida, after reading about Sony’s plans in the newspaper.
“We found out they were looking to locate in Tallahassee, but they were having trouble with the property rezoning in their location,” Grant said. “We called Sony and they said they were not interested in going anywhere but Tallahassee. We begged them to come up here.”
Grant said Sony officials did come and he took his personal motor home and loaded it up with city officials representing utilities, engineering, fire, police – virtually every city department – to answer any questions Sony representatives had. But none of the properties officials showed was acceptable to Sony, Grant said.
“I realize we needed something stronger. I called Governor Wallace and asked him to call the president of Sony in Japan and ask him to locate in Dothan. We knew they were having a hard time in Tallahassee.”
George Wallace made that call, at 3 a.m. local time. Sony officials from Japan came in the spring of the year in 1974 or 1975.
“They flew in here and we picked them up in the motor home. We couldn’t speak Japanese and they couldn’t speak English. As we rode down the road, the president asked me through an interpreter what people do after work, on weekends and for vacations. I answered him what I thought people did, and then he asked to go to a golf course.”
The motor home turned from Montgomery Highway down Cherokee to the Dothan Country Club.
“We walked over to the ninth green and he saw all the azaleas and dogwoods in bloom and he said, ‘We come to Dothan.’ We went back to the motor home, took him back to the airport and he went to Naples to play golf.”
Sony officials wanted the plant located “in a nice neighborhood” with lots of trees, so they built the plant adjacent to Chapelwood.
The plant opened at its current location on West Main Street in 1977 with an anticipated 1,200 employees, but by the time it was set to open, Jimmy Grant, who was mayor at the time, said Sony had already expanded and had 2,000 employees on the payroll.
The plant has had multi-million dollar expansions twice in the past 11 years. In 1999, Sony completed a $34 million expansion, involving a new metal evaporation process for producing computer date storage products. In 2003, the Dothan plant invested $8.8 million and planned to add about 80 jobs over a three-year period as part of company requirements to produce two new products – a data storage LTO (linear tape open) and a digital video cassette media.
The workforce has declined steadily since the ‘90s and the company has reconfigured itself as consumer interest has driven market changes. According to an official statement, the Dothan plant currently manufactures professional, consumer and data storage magnetic tapes, print media products, as well as coating material for optical disks.
The Dothan plant just started its print media component in January, as a 30-day trial.
Sony is finally turning around in the US LCD TV market after falling behind throughout most of 2009, according to iSuppli. In the fourth quarter of last year, Sony was the best performer with a 13.2% market share, a dramatic rise from 7.7% a quarter earlier. As we all know, price erosion in the LCD market has been rampant and Sony responded with great promotions and pricing schemes. As you may recall from the recent Executive Roundtable, Sony stated that in collaboration with Best Buy, they sold 12,000 BRAVIA TV bundles that included a PS3, one game and a Blu-ray movie late last year. It was the best bundle deal Best Buy has ever done and that Sony has ever done. Sony also mentioned one day record sales with another bundle during Fall of last year, where they sold a BRAVIA TV and a PS3 at SonyStyle for a great price, which helped Sony move three times more TV’s than the prior year.
Despite these initiatives and growth from the previous quarters, Sony ranked in third place based on sell-in numbers throughout 2009.
Vizio was the leading LCD TV brand in the US in 2009 – their shipments nearly doubled throughout the year at 5.9 million units, up 92.1% from 3.1 million in 2008. They were third place in overall sales ranking in 2008, and is Sony’s strongest competitor in the USA. During the US recession, Vizio has established itself as a price leader in the market for LCD TVs, and continues to offer attractive promotions that hurt the higher priced premium brands.
Another strength for Vizio is the fact that they are incorporating premium features in their products, such as LED backlighting, high framerate (120hz, 240hz, etc) technology, and Internet connectivity. When a consumer compares specifications between a Vizio and a Sony, and sees that the lower-priced Vizio has many of the same features, suddenly the word “premium” becomes a blur. Vizio also is preparing a very strong line-up of affordable 3D TVs that will most certainly disrupt pricing strategies for Sony and other premium brands later this year.
Samsung was the overall US flat-panel leader in 2009, which is a segment that includes LCD’s and Plasma sets. Samsung’s overall shipments were 6.6 million units in 2009, which is a 22.6% increase from the 5.4 million units in 2008. This contributed to a steady 18.4% market share, virtually unchanged from the year prior.
We must note that iSuppli bases their information on sell-in information, which is not point of sale information. Technically, “sell-in” isn’t even shipped. It’s any TV that Sony has taken an order for, including the ones still sitting in their own warehouse. The only source of POS information is the NPD, but Walmart, Costco and other major retailers do not report to them so their numbers are skewed as well.
The recently released Heavy Rain, a PS3 exclusive, is a video game developed by Quantic Dream that has been in development since 2006. Director David Cage has stated that Heavy Rain would be “a very dark film noir thriller with mature themes”, without any supernatural elements, and that “the real message (of the game) is about how far you’re willing to go to save someone you love.”
Back in 2008, David Cage gave a further explanation of his goals for the game by stating, “Heavy Rain is about normal people who have landed in extraordinary situations. I wanted a much more personal story. The first thing that came to my mind, as a father of two little boys, was that the main theme should simply be a father’s love for his son. This is not a game about saving the princess or the world. Its [sic] purely about a father’s love. The main story will revolve around four different characters, and we’re putting the spotlight on their perceptions. The question ‘what is good and what is evil’ is the key here, that will be just a matter of viewpoint…I believe heavily in moral choices, I’m going to use them A LOT. They’re not about being good or bad, but about finding the right balance.”
What really separates the game from everything else out there is the unique control style and incredible realism found in each character.
Heavy Rain uses a unique control scheme. A trigger button on the PlayStation 3 controller will move the character forward. It will take advantage of the button’s analogue function, allowing the user to control the speed of the character’s movement by pressing harder or softer on the button. The left analogue stick will control the movement of the character’s head and the direction the character moves in relation to where the character is looking. David Cage explains that this frees the movement of the character from the perspective of the camera.
The rest of the game is played using a series of context sensitive actions such as picking up a bottle in a grocery store and hitting a robber on the head with it or pressing the “X” button to call the player character’s son, Jason, and quick time events, normally for chase and combat sequences. Players are able to bring up a selection of their character’s current thoughts by holding the L2 button and pressing corresponding buttons to say or do what they’re thinking. These thoughts will sometimes blur, and selecting them at the wrong time will affect the character’s reaction, causing them to say or do something in the wrong way.
Action sequences, such as when the player is being attacked, will be played out as quick time events. Players will be presented with various symbols, requiring them to either press buttons, move the right analogue stick in a certain way, or shake or tilt the controller. Failure to execute these commands take the story along a different path, and certain mistakes will lead to a character’s death.
For example, in one scene, Norman Jayden is interrogating a suspect named Mad Jack when he starts to suffer from withdrawal symptoms and button prompts will show up. If he fails to take his drugs, he will be taken to a scenario in which he will have to escape from a car before it is thrown into a crusher, killing him. In scenes like these, a ‘timer’ scene (a portion of the screen that is devoted to show the player how long he or she has until their time runs out, or another event is scripted to occur, which is shown through several different camera angles) is shown at the bottom of the screen, indicating how long the player has to escape from his predicament.
If a character dies, the game does not end, and play control switches to another character, with the events of the previous character’s death affecting the story. In the event that all four characters die, there is a proper conclusion to the story and the game ends.
There are four playable characters.
Ethan Mars: Played by French actor Pascal Langdale. Mars is a young architect living on the east coast of America. In 2008, he lost his eldest son in a car accident that left him in a coma. Once a successful and happy family man, Ethan is now grief-stricken and depressed two years later, separated from his wife and distant from his other son, Shaun. Still suffering from the after-effects of the accident, Ethan is thrown into a nightmare when he discovers that Shaun may become the next victim of the Origami Killer. He will be forced to confront just how far he is prepared to go to rescue his son, and in doing so, he may be able to finally find redemption from the guilt and grief he feels.
Madison Paige: Played by model Jacqui Ainsley. A twenty-seven-year-old photographer living alone in the city. Suffering from crippling insomnia and nightmares, she often finds herself checking into local motels for the night – seemingly the only place she can rest and relax. Though she has no apparent connection with the Origami Killer case, she will soon find herself unexpectedly drawn into the investigation. When she does, she will show courage and commitment, placing herself in great danger to find out the truth.
Norman Jayden: Portrayed by British actor Leon Ockenden. Jayden is a dedicated and thorough FBI profiler sent into this unfamiliar city to support the police force with their investigation into the Origami Killer. Jayden specializes in utilizing an experimental device called ARI, short for “Added Reality Interface,” which allows him to investigate crime scenes and analyze evidence in a unique way. With the local cops resentful of both of his methods and his very presence, he struggles urgently to piece together the evidence before it is too late and another victim is discovered.
Scott Shelby: Played by actor Sam Douglas. A forty-five-year-old cop-turned-private investigator after twenty years with the local police department. Two decades on the streets have left him tough and cynical, but despite his sometimes hard demeanor, he has a sense of honor and compassion that shines through under pressure. Shelby has been hired by the families of previous victims of the Origami Killer and is now conducting a parallel investigation into the case, searching for clues and leads that the authorities may have missed.
Early reviews of Heavy Rain have been very positive, and has received very high marks in nearly every major publication and blogs out there.
The UK Official PlayStation Magazine scored the game 9 out of 10, with reviewers saying, “I’m convinced it’s one of the freshest, most exciting, and even important games on PS3 so far.” The magazine praised the effective controls of the game, as well as the pacing of the story, which the reviewer described as key, and perfectly designed to create an “exhausting, exhilarating, and, crucially, involving” experience. He concluded by saying that, “Certainly there’s nothing quite like it on PS3, or indeed any other system. Put gaming conventions aside, go in with no expectations other than this is something new and massively good-looking, and you’ll be rewarded with a unique experience that lurches between genius and madness, manages to be genuinely emotional, and that you’ll be bursting to talk about with your friends.”
Eurogamer France also gave the game a score of 9 out of 10, saying, “The game of Quantic Dream has touched me, unquestionably, as a player because it symbolizes today the culmination of a genre halfway between cinema and video game that has always seemed interesting in its intentions but rarely conclusive.” The reviewer concludes by saying, “A high score, therefore, to welcome risk-taking that represents this type of production today.”
British magazine GamesMaster gave the game a score of 91%, complimenting Heavy Rain for being ‘incredibly original and compelling.’ It adds, “The atmosphere is incredible – full of driving rain (which becomes central to the plot), fizzing neon lights, dank apartments and warehouses. It’s a dark noir game, not a bright adventure.” The title was also given a GamesMaster Gold Award.
IGN’s Chris Roper scored the game 9.0/10 commenting specifically on the game’s “fantastic story that’s one of the best in gaming.” However, he pointed out that the game’s beginning is very slow, and might turn off some players.
Many news outlets and bloggers have written about two new PS3 models that have recently shown up on the FCC – the CECH-2101A and CECH-2101B. The new models were filed under the alias “Sand Dollar Enterprise,” which is a name Sony used last Fall to slip the PS3 Slim past eagle-eyed enthusiasts who regularly scour the FCC. When new entries appear under the fake name it’s very natural for people to report on this and start speculating.
However, after looking at some of the FCC documents, we’re not really sure how much of a change these two new models will be. In the Class II permissive change letter, Sony asks for the FCC to refer to the Theory of Operation for what exactly changed. This document is obviously confidential and unable to view, but they do mention that the changes do not affect the RF characteristics.
This is quite confusing, because a Class II permissive change is usually one of three things:
When the antenna gain of the new antenna of the same type as the originally approved antenna is greater than the antenna gain of the originally tested antenna
When the emission levels or reported RF safety levels of the same antenna type increases
If the antenna is a different type, has a lower gain than the originally approved antenna and tests show that the spurious emission levels or reported RF safety levels have increased
What we do know is that there is no addition of 801.11n Wi-Fi. There are many theories out there, some of which I found interesting, such as backwards compatibility, USB 3.0, HDMI 1.4, 45nm GPU, and so forth. However, I have the feeling it may just be a lower-cost PS3 Slim. I guess we’ll see!
Aside from the new ultra-compact concept cameras with APS-C sensors, Sony also showed off several “alpha” DSLR bodies with new features. These prototype cameras have the new Exmor APS HD MOS sensor, which is a general APS-C sized sensor (24mm x 16mm) that is larger than the usual Micro Four Thirds system. It also will have the ability to take 1080P AVCHD video. Sony representatives were mentioning that one of the models (presumably on the left) would be the successor to the A700. Could this be the A750 we’ve heard murmurs about in the past from the usual rumor mills? It’s hard to tell, but we do know that you should see a a DSLR with these capabilities sometime soon.
We were surprised to see another model to the right of the A700 successor (enlarged above), which looks like a more budget-friendly version without several features such as a LCD panel on the top of the camera. Could this be a sub-$750 DSLR with AVCHD capabilities? Hard to tell, but it wouldn’t surprise us. Here are some pictures courtesy of Digital Camera Review of the two new DSLR’s:
Sony has really started some buzz in the camera world at the PMA 2010 conference with the introduction of an interesting concept camera. It’s an ultra-compact interchangeable lens digital camera system that Sony says “packs the quality of a DSLR camera in an extraordinarily small body.” The concept primarily revolves around the introduction of a new Exmor APS HD MOS sensor, which is a general APS-C sized sensor (24mm x 16mm) that is larger than the usual Micro Four Thirds system. It also will have the ability to take 1080P AVCHD video and should come with three types of new compact lenses to match the small form factor of the new system. So when is this beauty arriving? Sony stated at PMA that it will come this year.
Many were wondering if Sony would respond to Samsung’s NX10, which is very similar in specifications but still had the same formfactor as a DSLR. The concept Sony showing off is nearly all metal and has Sony’s rich design characteristics and “alpha” branding. Red, blue and silver colors indicate Sony has no reservations offering a model in the future with such options. As you can see, Sony’s design concept is far smaller, stylish, and will really make an impact on how these types of products are designed in the future. Here is a photo and more information on the concept camera at PMA by Digital Camera Review.
Sony Europe and Japan are showing off some interesting additions to their digital photo frame line – a total of six new products are now coming throughout the Spring and Summer.
First off, there is the DPF-X85/DPF-X95 (pictured above), which has absolutely stunning picture quality with huge memory capacity and smart, easy to use features. The X85 features a 8″ WVGA 16:10 LCD, with TruBlack screen technology for a delicious view of your pictures that will be noticeably different than other photo frames. Unique to Sony, TruBlack technology boosts contrast while reducing screen reflections for rich, deep blacks and sparkling highlights. For an even bigger picture, the S-Frame X95 showcases the benefits of TruBlack technology with a larger 9″ WVGA screen.
Just slip in your camera’s memory card or connect S-Frame to your computer via USB, and enjoy a generous 2GB internal memory inside the S-Frame X85 (pictured below)/95 which roughly gives you storage space for up to 4,000 images in Album mode. New ‘X’ models are also able to display large image files up to 48 megapixels: this makes them ideal for showing off the highest-resolution images from your DSLR or compact camera.
A smart orientation sensor on the X85/95 – and all S-Frame models –automatically rotates images so they’re always displayed the right way up, whether the frame’s in landscape or portrait position. As an extra refinement, the X85/95 (and D85) feature an illuminated Sony logo that disappears automatically when the frame is oriented vertically in portrait position. Both X series models also feature an Auto dimmer function that saves power while ensuring comfortable viewing in darker environments.
Then there is the DPF-D85, which is virtually the same as the X models (and has all of its memory card options including SD), but only has 256mb of built-in memory and doesn’t have Tru Black technology.
The value-packed E75 and E73 that make an ideal gift for someone special because it has such cool interchangeable faceplates. The European E75 and E73 come supplied with three interchangeable colored bezels that make it easy to personalize your photo frame whenever you wish. Europeans will be able to pick from a choice of black/red/brown or beige/moss green/white colors to match your interior or mood.
We noticed the E models have a smaller screen at 7 inches, but is still 16:10. The E75 is margianlly better than the E73 since it has a higher pixel density, Clear Photo LCD mode, and 128mb of additional storage amongst other minor details.
Then there are some colors we noticed in Japan for the E models. It appears that pastels will be in bloom with these interesting color options such as pink, white, and green:
Lastly, we have the DPF-A73, which is basically identical to the E73 in specifications but doesn’t have interchangeable faceplates.
The little brother to the HX5V is the new H55, which has some pretty solid features for the price of $250. With 14.1 megapixels and a 3.0 inch LCD (230k pixels), this workhorse should satisfy someone for quite a long time with its 720p HD movie recording capabilities (30fps, MP4) and our favorite Sweep Panorama Mode, which makes wide shots as easy as a sweeping motion with your hand. Automatic mode (which is really helpful when you need to grab a quick picture is greatly enhanced with iAuto, and you’ll feel comfortable even shooting in low light situations with Sony’s advanced G lens. We have noticed an improvement in overall picture quality and contrast with that type of lens.
Self-Portrait Timer helps take the guesswork out of self portraits by using Face Detection technology to recognize when your face enters the frame. Once the camera detects your face, it triggers a 2-second timer, and then snaps a picture. The DSC-H55 features 11 convenient scene modes: High Sensitivity / Twilight / Twilight Portrait / Portrait / Landscape / Beach / Snow / Fireworks / Advanced Sports /Gourmet / Pet. In addition to High Sensitivity Mode (ISO), you can select up to eight ISO settings (Auto, 80, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200) when shooting in Program Auto Mode to adjust sensitivity to your shooting conditions. For convenient storage and sharing of your images, the DSC-H55 accepts Memory Stick Duo/Memory Stick PRO Duo/Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo media (sold separately) or SD/SDHC media (sold separately).
Sony’s recent DSC-TX5 announcement also came with an exclusive accessory – a soft, fashionable case (LCS-THQ) in a choice of colors that uses water repellent materials to dry the camera while carrying it. Not that it really matters if the TX5 is dry or not since its water resistant up to 10 feet, but most certainly not invulnerable to scratches. This is the perfect case for bringing the camera to the beach, while your swimming, or the great outdoors. We think the camera is going to big hit in the market and this will definitely be the perfect accessory. No word on MSRP yet but I imagine it will be somewhere around $30.
Here are some of the color options, starting with green:
Sony Develops “SmartAR” Integrated Augmented Reality Technology
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