Ghostbusters III Coming In 2012

Over the years various rumors have floated around about the film Ghostbusters III. The official press release regarding the movie has yet to be issued, but is expected within the next month.

Let’s take a look at the story so far this year with the anticipated movie.

In early January, Ivan Reitman confirmed that he will be directing the film. In March 2010, Bill Murray appeared on Late Show with David Letterman and talked about his return to Ghostbusters III, stating “I’d do it only if my character was killed off in the first reel”. In an interview with Coming Soon, Murray said: “You know, maybe I should just do it. Maybe it’d be fun to do.”. Aykroyd said a release is set for Christmas 2012.

In October 2010, Dan Aykroyd gave Vanity Fair an update on the status of the Ghostbusters 3 script, written by Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg: “I’m working on the script now and those two—Stupnitsky and Eisenberg, [writer-producers of The Office]—wrote Bill the comic role of a lifetime, and the new Ghostbusters and the old are all well represented in it…we have a strong first draft that Harold [Ramis] and I will take back, and I’m very excited about working on it.”

Shortly after that interview, at the Spike TV Scream Awards, Bill Murray appeared to accept an award for Zombieland. He appeared in full Ghostbusters gear, but gave no statements regarding the film.

In mid-October, a Sony Product Marketing Manager (Stefano Paganini) appeared at a Ghostbusters event in Rome and said “I spoke about this night with my boss from Los Angeles. She allowed me to let you know that the script of ‘Ghostbusters 3′ has been approved so the engine has been turned on!”

The original cast will return while casting is currently underway looking for young Ghostbusters. It has been reported Anna Farris has been cast as a young Ghostbuster and Will Forte and Bill Hader have be linked to unamed roles. Shooting will begin in May 2011.

Sony Japan And Disney Reveal S750 Mickey And Minnie Christmas Walkman

Earlier this month, Sony Japan revealed a special Disney-themed NW-S750 S-Series Walkman that will ship in early December. This 8GB music player is a limited release, and has all of the specifications found in the regular version. The styling on the unit is very cutesy, with a pink lilac exterior and shiny rhinestones forming an arc over the player controls. The rear of the device has an engraved Mickey and Minnie smiling and facing each other while holding presents behind their back. The Walkman also has a special Mickey and Minnie themed wallpaper as well.

A special silicone case is also included in the package, which features Mickey and Minnie bound together with a heart and stars above them that form the word “M&M”. If your senses aren’t overloaded at this point, Sony finishes you off with an exclusive Minnie doll, which can attach to the player itself, or your purse, book bag, key chain, etc. The entire package is housed in a special commemorative blue box.

Sony Japan and Disney have collaborated before on several products, mostly in portable audio. None of these products have ever been sold in the USA, Europe, etc. Real life photo courtesy of AV Watch.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA X12 Completely Detailed By Mobile Review

Several weeks ago, Mobile Review wrote in depth piece about the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X12 (aka Anzu), which is the company’s next major flagship phone and the spiritual successor to the XPERIA X10. The review is so extensive, you would almost swear for a moment that the device is on sale now, but in reality it hasn’t been announced by SE yet! This is probably one of the most detailed leaks I’ve seen in all of my years of writing about Sony products.

Let’s talk about hardware first and foremost.

The phone obviously looks like the X10, but is thinner, lighter and has a bigger screen. The X12 will contain a Qualcomm MSM7230 (Scorpion) processor, which is a 800MHz ARMv7 that is capable of reaching 1GHz according to the processor spec sheet. The processor’s features include an embedded DSP(GSM, GPRS, EDGE, UMTS/WCDMA, HSDPA 14.4Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps baseband), Embedded gpsOne GPS module, gpsOneXTRA Assistance, Dedicated audio subsystem supporting 5.1 surround, 12-megapixel camera support, Integrated 2D/3D graphics GPUs with support for OpenGL ES 2.0, OpenVG 1.1.

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XPERIA X10 owners may wonder why the next phone in this series may have less MHz, but it actually is an improvement, as Mobile Review states the phone “..offers a smoother and more optimized operation, with all the graphic elements of Android presented without any lagging of any kind. The chipsets multimedia capabilities are equal to the ones offered by the QSD8250 but with some improvements. The chipset can now encodes 720p video in H264 smoothly and offers increased playback times for both audio and video while being optimized for decoding DIVX and XVID videos.” It will also have HDMI output to enjoy HD video on your TV, etc.

The camera will most likely be a 12 megapixel sensor and capable of recording 720p video, which Mobile Review states will be much smoother and reliable than the X10. The screen is massive at 4.3″ (854×480) and will support multitouch technology, a feature that was painfully missing from the X10. It is believed that the X12 will not have an AMOLED nor a S-LCD, which is rather unfortunate. DPI is suggested to be around 240, at least in the pre-production unit that was tested.

As for software, the X12 will most likely launch with with Android 2.2 (Froyo) and will recieve a 2.3 update in the summer of 2011. This could frustrate potential owners of this device, but Mobile Review seems more optimistic as they say “for Sony Ericsson, being just one OS version behind the others on the release date of X12 is a step forward.” A rather sarcastic remark, considering the company had sold devices with Android 1.6 for way too long.

Unfortunately Mobile Review has a rather grim outlook for the company and the success of the XPERIA X12, and went on to say:

“So what’s left for Sony Ericsson and the X12? Some of the momentum created years ago in many markets still holds in some of them at least enough for the networks and local retail stores to trust Sony Ericsson and buy one of their devices. This momentum is slowing down in some markets and in others it has completely stopped. X12 will only help stopping in more of them and will leave Sony Ericsson lagging behind even more. A device that could easily have been a decent middle range solution (much like Desire Z is for HTC) is thrown into the market to be eaten at the top end and take down the company with it. Its price tag will not be justified with its features in any possible way and the software disadvantages will only disappoint the buyers of the device.”

Sony’s Next President

If you’ve been watching Sony for the last few years, then you remember Sir Howard Stringer has basically had two roles at one point – Chairman and CEO (2005). He assumed the role of President after Ryoji Chubachi stepped down in 2009.

Bloomberg has the scoop that Sony is looking to divide the President responsibilities from Stringer, and either offer it to Kazuo Hirai or Hiroshi Yoshioka. It’s not necessarily a jab at Howard or anything, but it would be nice to lighten the load for the man. He is turning 69 years old next Feburary and has been bouncing around his main office in New York, Sony’s Tokyo headquarters, the movie division in Los Angeles and London where his family lives for the last few years. Bloomberg had an interesting quote about Howard’s future with the company as well, nothing “He said last year he wanted to remain on the job until Sony completes its business plan ending in March 2013.”

Kaz has has always been a very positive personality for Sony and is already doing many things for the company that are similar to the role of a President. Hirai is the current Chairman and Group Chief Executive Officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. He also serves as Executive Vice President, Officer in charge of Networked Products & Service Group of Sony Corporation. It makes sense to play a guy like this as the new President of Sony, especially since the USA is more familiar with him and he is a part of some very innovative areas of the company.

There is also word from Bloomberg that the other person to assume the role of President could be Hiroshi Yoshioka, the executive deputy president and a corporate executive officer who has been with the company since 1979. He has been instrumental in helping the company change over the last few years and obviously has a great deal of experience with Sony.

Both are referred to as members of the “Four Musketeers,” which is a group Fortune published a great article about back in 2009:

At the same time, he (Stringer) reconfigured the company into two new core groups and elevated four English-speaking Japanese executives in their late forties and fifties — relative greenhorns by Japanese standards — to run them. Corporate troubleshooter and former TV division head Hiroshi Yoshioka, the eldest of the group at 56, now oversees a $50 billion consumer products group that includes TVs, stereos, DVD and Blu-ray players, and camcorders.

Kazuo “Kaz” Hirai, 48, a marketing whiz who had been running Sony’s games business, now oversees a much broader networked-products and services group that is home to PlayStations, Vaio computers, and Sony’s Walkman audio line. It also is tasked with the critical job of creating a new set of digital services that will tie all of Sony’s gadgets and gizmos together. Kunai Suzuki, 48, is Hirai’s deputy and will run the Vaio business but will also have responsibility for incubating a next generation of devices for this networked world. Rounding out the four is Yoshihisa “Bob” Ishida, 49, a well-regarded strategist with an outspoken style whose assignment is to revitalize the TV-display business.

Stringer, in a typically impromptu moment at a press conference in February announcing the changes, dubbed the core of his new team the “four musketeers.” Beyond the four, Stringer created centralized corporate functions like manufacturing and procurement, and hired an IBM executive, George Bailey, as the company’s first “chief transformation officer.” And other big but less central businesses, like Sony’s film, music, and financial arms, still report to Stringer.

All this organizational jujitsu must now yield tangible results: sustained profitability, a more cohesive corporate culture, and the nimbleness to fend off all its new-style rivals. (A single iconic new hit gizmo won’t revive Sony, but it wouldn’t hurt either.) After the plan was announced, the Nikkei Weekly tartly wrote that the moves “smack of desperation.” But investors are, for the moment, onboard.

Gran Turismo 5 Now Available

Gran Turismo 5 is now available for the PlayStation 3 (PS3). Can you believe the wait is over? Known for its signature beauty and precision, the highly anticipated racer will showcase new jaw-dropping cars, real-life tracks, and diverse racing styles. Gran Turismo promises to deliver exciting advancements to the series in the most comprehensive racing experience ever.

We have the complete list of cars in our post, “The Full List Of Cars In Gran Turismo 5“. There was also a GT5 launch event today of course and what better than to host it in Madrid. PlayStation Blog EU has some pictures and I also saw a nice set of shots by flickr user armo. If your hungry for even more GT5 coverage hit this Google News link. I think you could spend days reading all the reviews within.

The game was currently holds a Gamerankings score of 88.5%, and an 87% on Metacritic at the time of this writing. Reviewers praised the number of cars, car-specific information and single-player content included and commented positively on the driving-physics which had been improved from Prologue. The inclusion of karts as well as licensed WRC and Nascar-vehicles was also received positively.

The graphics received mixed reviews with reviewers praising the lighting-effects as well as in- and exterior-details of premium-cars, stating that Photo Mode showed-off their detailed graphical design very well, but commenting negatively on the detail of standard-cars which lacked cockpit-views, looked like upscaled versions taken from GT4 and did not keep up to the level of detail found in the premium-models. The newly-included damage-feature received criticism for barely effecting car-handling and damage-effects only being applied after multiple serious crashes. Graphical on-track-detail was also criticized as being sub-par to the detail found on the cars.

The new Course Maker-feature was also commented negatively upon. Reviewers were dissatisfied with the tool only allowing to edit randomly-generated tracks instead of letting users create their own track-layouts.
The AI was also criticized for still making CPU-drivers brake unexpectedly and not being aware of the player’s car on the track, just as in previous games in the series. IGN called it “the series’ now trademark zombie A.I.”

Here is an incredible overlook of GT5 by Qore:

We couldn’t resist posting this video by the main man himself, Kevin Butler, about his influence on GT5:

Please leave a comment about your thoughts regarding the game and any other helpful links!

Original photo at the top of the story taken in-game by flickr user pllll.

The World Faces Apocalypse In Battle: Los Angeles Movie

Battle: Los Angeles, also known as World Invasion: Battle LA outside the U.S., is an upcoming 2011 science fiction film directed by filmmaker Jonathan Liebesman, and starring Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Pena, and Bridget Moynahan. The film premise is inspired by the Battle of Los Angeles incident.

For years, there have been documented cases of UFO sightings around the world – Buenos Aires, Seoul, France, Germany, China. But in 2011, what were once just sightings will become a terrifying reality when Earth is attacked by unknown forces.

As people everywhere watch the world’s great cities fall, Los Angeles becomes the last stand for mankind in a battle no one expected. It’s up to a Marine staff sergeant (Aaron Eckhart) and his new platoon to draw a line in the sand as they take on an enemy unlike any they’ve ever encountered before.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has been investigating the possibility of legal action against the filmmakers Greg and Colin Strause, who were hired to do visual effects work on Battle: Los Angeles through their special effects company Hydraulx. Sony Pictures suspects the Strause Brothers have created their own Los Angeles based alien invasion film Skyline, which will compete with Battle: Los Angeles release, by using resources they had gained while working on Battle: Los Angeles without the consent of Sony Pictures.

A spokesman for the Strauses has responded saying, “Any claims of impropriety are completely baseless. This is a blatant attempt by Sony to force these independent filmmakers to move a release date that has long been set by Universal and Relativity and is outside the filmmakers’ control.”

Filming took place from September 2009 through October 2009 in Shreveport and Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Principal photography began in the second week of September in Shreveport with scenes depicting a destroyed interstate filled with cars, an overturned tanker truck, and a crashed helicopter. Special effects used, which were unfamiliar in the Shreveport area, included pyrotechnics. The most climactic of all was a large fireball producing explosion, which alarmed passers-by unfamiliar with the filming. Film crews implemented use of a large “green-screen” billboard at the base (end) of the “destroyed” interstate to use later for inserting CGI images of Los Angeles.

Marines of VMMT-204, Marine Corps Air Station New River North Carolina were present for filming in Baton Rouge from October 19 through October 22, 2009. During this period there were multiple shots filmed of the MV-22B Tiltrotor aircraft flying and turning while on the ground. There were also shots of Marines entering and exiting the aircraft.

Also included Marines and CH-46′s from HMM-774 (Medium Lift Helicopter Squadron) stationed in Norfolk, VA, as well as marines from 3D BN 23D Marine Regiment in Belle Chasse, LA.

Sony Black Friday 2010 Buying Guide (Updated 11/23)

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving (November 26th) 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 will open extremely early on Black Friday 2010, 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).

This is an early version of our list and will be continuously updated till Black Friday. Check back for more updates!

Sony NXCAM to be Released in Summer of 2011

When Sony released their groundbreaking world’s first interchangeable camcorder NEX-VG10, they mentioned that a professional model will follow as well. Currently under development, new NXCAM has surfaced and like its semi-professional cousin, it will be compatible with e-Mount lenses as well as “α” A-mount lenses. It will deliver 1080p (60p / 30p / 24p or 50p / 25p) recording modes in AVCHD, something that NEX-VG10 is missing and left with 1080i to entertain your video projects. Here is a little video teaser and a short press release. Looks a little boxy, but  we’ll take it anyways, even though it will cost probably 3 times more than NEX-VG10.

Sony Corporation announced today that it is developing a new type of E-mount interchangeable lens camcorder for professional use that is equipped with a Super-35mm equivalent large format CMOS sensor. This new addition to Sony’s professional “NXCAM” line will be available in the middle of 2011.

Already a key player in the 35mm digital cinematography business with the highly acclaimed “CineAlta” F35 and SRW-9000PL for high-end digital cinema production, Sony has just strengthened its lineup in this category with the recent PMW-F3 announcement. In addition to this, with this new “NXCAM” HD camcorder now (still under development), Sony looks to further strengthen its position in the entry-level segment by providing an affordable yet highly capable professional solution for many applications including independent film, music video and corporate communications all looking for the cinematic look.

This “NXCAM” HD camcorder under development will be equipped with a Super-35mm equivalent sensor, a widely used film stock size in the film industry that is perfectly designed for capturing motion picture. This new sensor will have extraordinary performance in terms of picture quality and sensitivity, and is able to create rich “Bokeh” effect (beautifully defocused image) that is perfect for artistic story-telling in motion picture.

Thanks to the adoption of the E-mount interchangeable lens system that is identical to the “α” series NEX-5, 3 and “Handycam” NEX-VG10, the E-mount lenses will be compatible with this new professional camcorder. In addition, a very short flange back distance (the distance between lens mount surface and sensor surface) let various “α” A-mount lenses be mounted via a mount adapter (LA-EA1). Furthermore, it is also possible to attach many other lenses using third-party mount adapters^*1. With such flexibility, users will be able to experiment with various creative expressions by exploiting the characteristics of different optics.

VAIO Signature Collection Ready for the Holiday Season

When SonyStyle debuts new and or updated VAIOs, it is highly recommended to check out the special line of called VAIO Signature Collection as you as a buyer will be pleasantly surprised by rare and eye-catching offerings. In most cases you will witness hip and trendy VAIOs aimed to match your fashion-forward lifestyle as well as impress your friends around you. Due to the nature of this collection, it is usually a limited production, so act quickly before they disappear.

So what exactly Sony has launched this holiday season? VAIO X has come back in Gold, this VAIO when first introduced back last year was a huge hit and sold out real quickly, so due to the demand for that color you will be able to score one again and with current promotion you can even save $200. It’s an awesome notebook for those of us who like to travel light and enjoy the true beauty of engineering. Feel free to check out our unboxing video of its previous generation here.

Next in the line up is a VAIO P outfitted in Pink and Black crocodile and looks like a nice clutch. VAIO EA series with the black and gold Arabesque designs is something you have to check out in person. Very detailed pattern shows off really well in gold.

And of course there is an all powerful and intricate VAIO Z that has a few custom options that will blow you away in specifications and definitely bankrupt you for a couple of years. This season’s Carbon Fiber Z is one to consider with the premium specs including Full HD, Ci7 processor, a hybrid graphics card, BDRW, 512 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM and ships with Windows 7 Ultimate. Another thing to note is that a TPM chip is now included on all new Z’s. Pretty cool, all it is missing is a USB 3.0 slots but we’ll forgive them for now, as those will be widely available in 2011 line up on many VAIOs.  Your VAIO lid can be outfitted in Bordeaux Red (like VAIO TZ models back in 2009) and Infinite Stripes.

If you are into nice picture gallery viewing experience, check out the VAIO Z currently available in Japan.

Other Signature models include a Red Sangria Y series and a Gold VAIO J118 all-in-one touch screen computer.

Here is a direct link to VAIO Signature Collection.

Sony Ericsson LiveView Is A Must Have For Every Android Phone

We wanted to take another look at Sony Ericsson LiveView, which is a micro display the company announced several months ago. The low-cost, thin, low weight 1.3 inch color OLED display (128×128) is crisp and can provide information from your Android phone through a bluetooth connection. It recently went on sale in several countries in Europe, and will eventually be available in the coming months around the world. Sony Ericsson is quick to state that its compatible with of course their XPERIA X10, X10 Mini, and X10 Mini Pro phones but it’s also compatible with many other phones running Android 2.0.

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With LiveView, you don’t have to take your phone out of your pocket to check up on the usual suspects, such as texts, e-mails, and Facebook/Twitter statuses. Its all available in this tiny display, which has much more functionality than you think. In some ways, its that geeky watch I’ve always been looking for, and the four day battery life is not too shabby especially when it can be recharged very easily via the common MicroUSB cord. Sony Ericsson even knows they have created the ultimate Android accessory, a watch, by including a wrist strap when you buy the device. Cost? Less than $50-75 equivalent in most European countries, so the outlook is good here for a similar price range.

I currently have an iPhone 4, but when I switch over to Android (the PSP Phone) this will be a must have.

The features are great and keep expanding. Here’s an idea:

Music player control

Social Networking Services

Messaging/Web

Calls

Other

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What’s really neat is Sony Ericsson is not letting this turn out to be a one-trick pony, as there will be more apps for the device in the future. Finding LiveView-enabled apps will also be a breeze, according to the official press release:

To find Sony Ericsson LiveView enabled applications, Sony Ericsson has developed the Sony Ericsson LiveWare Manager application. It will scan Android Market for Sony Ericsson LiveView enabled applications and present them to the user. The Sony Ericsson LiveWare manager will be available from Android Market, or come preinstalled in phone bundles.

Sony Ericsson UK has a brief LiveView compatibility list (which is in no way complete, just merely an example):

• Samsung Galaxy S
• Samsung Galaxy S 2.1
• HTC Desire
• HTC Desire 2.2
• HTC Desire Z 2.2
• HTC Nexus One 2.2
• HTC Wildfire 2.1
• Motorola Milestone 2.0.1
• Motorola Milestone XT720