Sony have announced a US release date for their recently showcased HMZ-T1 Personal 3D Viewer.
The 3D capable visor, which is worn on the head of users for a virtual reality effect, was shown at the IFA conference and Sony have also released pricing details for their US launch.
Coming in November to both American and Japanese markets, the HMZ-T1 will be compatible with Blu-Ray players, computers and the Playstation 3 through it’s HDMI port and gives an impression of a 750 inch screen through its OLED panels. The headset also features integrated 5.1 surround sound capable headphones to offer a complete cinematic experience.
The video below shows the HMZ-T1 in action:
Pricing has been set at approximately the $799 mark in the US and is expected to be launched in Japan on 11th November at a cost of 60,000 yen. There is no news of a European release date or pricing currently.
While this may not be the most flexible OLED display we’ve seen, this new OLED panel from Sony will delivery higher quality images, with enhanced glitch free brightness. The panel is in the form of a 9.9 inch display, which outputs images in a 960×540 resolution, while having a 96% color gamut. It also has a Self-Aligned Top-Gate FTF, which reduces disparities in luminosity.
The manufacturing process is now completed in four parts, which lowers the parasitic capacitance between the gate electrode and the TFT, thus bringing higher quality images compared to other OLED displays. As well as this, Sony have also shortened the TFT’s channel length which will make it easier to use the technology and adapt it for larger screens with higher resolutions.
Sony haven’t provided any release information on this prototype but, hopefully it will be reasonable priced like other OLEDs from Sony.
Certain services on the PlayStation network and on Qriocity are to be reopened, according to a press release from Sony. Kazuo Hirai, the head of the PlayStation department has made a statement apologising for the error that caused over 75 million PSN users to have their confidential details stolen by hackers. He has also announced that some services on PSN will resume
“The organisation has worked around the clock to bring these services back on line and are doing so only after we had verified increased levels of security across our networks. These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security” – Mr Hirai
Sony have also announced that the PlayStation 3 is to recieve a compulsory system software update which will make users change passwords before they can use the network again. Sony intend implimenting a number of new security measures including more intricate firewalls and data protection and by allowing users to change passwords only from the PS3 console that they first activated the password on or by activating through email.
The ‘limited’ services that Sony are reopening on the PlayStation Network and Qriocity are expected to be up and running within the next week or so.
Following on from the news that the Sony PlayStation Network (PSN) had been hacked and confidential user details had been stolen, including credit card data, the latest update is that the details that were stolen have now reportedly appeared for sale on the internet.
A group declaring themselves as responsible for the hacking of the PSN are now apparently posting on forums around the internet that the whole PSN database is for sale to ‘the highest bidder’, according to a security expert at TrendMicro. Details including users names, addresses, telephone numbers, email details, date of birth and credit card information were stolen as part of the electronic hacking of the PSN databases and details such as card expiry dates and the security number on the back of credit cards (CVC number) are apparently now for sale by the hackers, although Sony have responded to the rumours stating that security numbers from credit cards are not amongst the stolen data:
“your credit card security code (sometimes called a CVC or CSC number) has not been obtained because we never requested it from anyone who has joined the PlayStation Network or Qriocity, and is therefore not stored anywhere in our system While we do ask for CCV codes, we do not store them in our database..”
If the rumour is true and these details are indeed for sale then this could clearly be a further huge mess for Sony and it’s customers to try and clear up.
For many users, the initial reaction to the Sony Playstation Network (PSN) and Qriocity services going ‘offline’ on April 20th was one of disappointment and irritation. Many were optimistic that the service would be resumed quickly though, presuming maintenance or a small glitch were to blame for the downtime.
The optimism ended officially on the 23rd of April however, when it became apparent that the reason for the outage on the PSN was a lot more serious than a simple glitch, as Sony themselves declared on their own blog – the reason that the PSN was offline was because there had been an “external intrusion” to their systems.
“An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20th. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share.”
Although at that time, no further explanation regarding the ‘intrusion’ was given, days later Sony finally admitted that the intrusion was actually an electronic hacking attempt that had successfully taken user details including names, addresses and more seriously, credit card details from the Sony databases.
“..between April 17 and April 19, 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network.”
Sony are now working to ‘save the situation’ and the closure of the PSN was their first step. However, users are now left wondering firstly why their details were left accessible to a hacking attempt in the first place secondly, why Sony took several days to admit that these details had been stolen and thirdly, what damage will be done by the theft of their personal and financial details.Credit card companies/financial institutions have been quick to reassure affected customers that they should be covered in the event of any fraudulent use of their details however, the whole event is causing much anguish amongst PlayStation Network users, understandably.
As news comes in regarding the hacking of the PSN and the fallout from it, we will update our readers. In the meantime Sony suggest following them on Twitter for updates on the situation: Follow – @PlayStation or @PlayStationEU.
