Sony Brands

Sony are releasing a new TV in Japan, which comes equipped with a 500GB hard drive. Like the other TVs being released there, the BX30H will offer up 3D. It will be available in both white and black, along with a choice of 22 inch, 26 inch or 32 inch display. Pricing is currently unknown. While over in the US, Sony will be releasing the Bravia TV as the BX300. In the US it will only be available with a 22 inch or 32 inch display and only come in black. The US will also miss out on the integrated HDD. Pricing for the US will be $280 for the 22 inch model, or $420 for the 32 inch model. Other specs of both of the TVs are:

* 720p HD resolution
* 100,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio
* CCFL back lighting
* 5.1 channel audio output
* 24p True Cinema
* BRAVIA Engine 2
* BRAVIA Sync

After finally seeing the Sony Vaio netbook in the flesh, I fell in love with it immediately. The VAIO W netbook has been released in two varients, the W11S1E and the W12S1E. The difference between the two are the hard drive size, operating system, battery and price, while the rest of the specs remain the same. The W11S1E has a 160GB hard drive, Windows XP and is available for £300 with a 3 cell battery, giving 2.5 hours battery life. While the W12S1E is equipped with Windows 7 Starter, 250GB HDD, a 6 cell battery providing 7.5 hours battery life and retails for £350. So naturally, I went with the W12S1E. Both models are hard to find in most shops within the UK, with only one store in my area having the netbook (W12S1E) on display. Both models are available in white, pink and tan/brown. Although Argos also lists the W12S1E available in charcoal.

Other specs of the netbook include an Intel Atom N280 processor, 10.1 inch display, with an impressive screen resolution of 1366×768, which really does make a difference, 1GB RAM, web camera and an SD and Memory Stick card reader. Connectivity wise, it features WiFi b/g/n and bluetooth.

You can view my unboxing photos of the netbook after the break.

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Sony have announced that the company plan to release 3D TVs in Japan starting from June 10th with the rest of the world, also to receive the 3D TV sets around the same time. Initially, Sony will release two TVs, a 40 inch model and a 46 inch model, which will retail for 290,000 Yen ($3215) and 350,000 Yen ($3898) respectively. Each TV will include two pairs of 3D glasses.

From July, 6 more models will be released. One will be a 40 inch set and another a 46 inch model. The other four, will not include the 3D glasses or 3D emitter and must be purchased separately. The cheapest of these models, will be a 40 inch display set, which will retail for 220,000 and glasses will cost 12,000 Yen, while the 3D infrared emitter is priced at 5,000 Yen.

A firmware update for the PS3 will also come out around the same time, adding 3D support.

Sony have put in a patent for ‘degradable’ video game demos. With the new system, demos will lose features the more you play it. It could range from the weapon becoming weaker, or less race tracks to play within the demo. With the example shown above, it shows that after 6 hours, or 6 plays of the demo, the size and strength of the weapon will decrease.

Characters could also be removed from the demo, along with subtle changes, such as the color depth and brightness changing, or sound effects softened. It appears however, this will apply more to new types of demos, which offer almost the full game up. With the demo degrading, it should help more sales of the game, so consumers can continue from where they left off. Once bought, the weapon, character, tracks etc, will be put back in the gameplay.

Source

David Jaffe has posted on his blog that Sony should “send a sternly worded legal letter” to Microsoft over the vehicle combat game Scrap Metal, as it is just a bit too close to Twisted Metal.

“Sony should [sue] or if I owned the rights to TWISTED METAL and GOD OF WAR, I sure as hell would at the least send a sternly worded legal letter,” he wrote. “Heck, I’d send two legal letters if it were me.

“I mean, first Microsoft puts out a car combat game and calls it SCRAP METAL? Hey, looks like a great game! Right up my alley! Day one purchase for me. But come on guys, isn’t that just a little too close to Sony’s own car combat game TWISTED METAL?

“And then Sony has GOD OF WAR, a game and potential movie about mortals fighting ancient Greek Gods. And then this movie gets announced called WAR OF THE GODS about- yep!- mortals fighting ancient Greek Gods.

“And look: Sony doesn’t- and should not- own the concept of the Greek Myths. Nor should they own the idea of mortal fighting ancient Gods, Greek or any other kind. That’s all public domain stuff. But the TITLE? Sony DOES own that. And GOD OF WAR/WAR OF THE GODS seem a little too close to comfort ya’ll

He then went on and added a few expletives but ended the post that it was all in good fun and that people should not get “sue happy”.

It’s seems to be that time again when the PlayStation Portable phone rumours are hitting the interwebs. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sony is currently working on a smartphone that can “download and play Playstation games.”

I might be tempted to buy a PSP Smart phone. Might, being the key word. But let’s see where these rumours lead.

The Wall Street Journal is an English-language international daily newspaper published by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, in New York City, with Asian and European editions.

The Journal has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the United States. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 2.1 million copies (including 400,000 online paid subscriptions) as of October 2009[2] compared to USA Today’s 1.9 million. Its main rival in the business newspaper sector is the London-based Financial Times, which also publishes several international editions. Taken from Wikipedia

Sony’s Personal Internet Viewer, the Sony Dash is due to be released April 25th and consumers interested in the device, can now pre-order it. The Sony Dash, does not feature any built in battery and so needs to be plugged in all the time, making it a purely at home, or in the office device. Featuring a 7 inch display with a resolution of 800 x 480, it naturally features WiFi. It can access over 1500 Chumby internet applications. It will retail for $199.

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Here is a list of the God of War 3 trophies. There are also 18 secret trophies, one of which must be the Platinum. God of War 3 will be launching on March 16th.

Bronze

* Mr. Hand
Discover the secret ‘Hades Arm’ room
* Hit Man
Perform a 1000-hit combo
* Rip One!
Rip apart 1 Olympus Sentry
* Nice Tan
Blind 100 enemies with the Head of Helios
* Obedience School
Deliver 50 kicks to Hounds
* It’s getting hot in here…
Burn 100 enemies with the Bow of Apollo
* Souled Out
Summon every Soul with the Claws of Hades
* Bloody Hell
Cover Kratos in 500 buckets of blood by killing the enemies
* No Guts, No Glory
Gut 3 Centaur Generals
* Hitting Your Stride
Upgrade any weapon to the next level

Silver

* Eye Candy
Collect all of the Gorgon Eyes
* Feather Plucker
Collect all of the Phoenix Feathers
* Are You Horny to Win?
Collect all of the Minotaur Horns
* Maxed Out!
Completely upgrade all weapons

Gold

* Vengeance Complete
Beat the game
* Up to the Challenge
Beat the Challenge of Olympus
* Unhuman
Beat Titan Mode
* Priceless
Collect all of the ‘Godly Possessions’

Ubisoft’s Max Beland has said Splinter Cell will probably end up coming to PS3 and other platforms after the release of Conviction in April.

But Conviction is a fully-fledged exclusive on Xbox 360 and PC, with no release planned for other consoles.

He went on to further say:

“I joined Splinter Cell after the exclusivity deal with Microsoft had already been signed, but there’s no reason why Splinter Cell couldn’t be on the PS3,”.

“Conviction? No, because of the exclusivity deal. I know people keep talking about maybe, maybe not, [but] at Ubisoft Montreal I haven’t seen anyone working on PS3 for Conviction.

“If Microsoft wants an exclusivity deal, they don’t call me, it’s Yves [Guillemot, Ubisoft CEO] dealing with the business people. But yeah, I guess we could even be a PS3 exclusive if there’s a deal that makes people happy there.”

I really can’t believe that this series is still alive and kicking? Good for them though if they keep making good games.

Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain has come in at number one in the latest UK charts. It’s Sony’s first number one since Killzone 2 released just over a year ago.

Top ten is below.

* 1 – Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream, SCEE)
* 2 – Alien vs Predator (Rebellion, Sega)
* 3 – Just Dance (Ubisoft, Ubisoft)
* 4 – Wii Fit Plus (Nintendo, Nintendo)
* 5 – Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Infinity Ward, Activision Blizzard)
* 6 – Wii Sports Resort (Nintendo, Nintendo)
* 7 – New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Nintendo, Nintendo)
* 8 – Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (Sumo Digital, Sega)
* 9 – BioShock 2 (2K Marin, 2K Games)
* 10 – FIFA (EA Sports, EA)