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 games on the PS3 have supported 3D for a little while now, Sony hadn’t added 3D support for Blu-ray movies. This is set to change on the 21st of September though, when Sony will release a new firmware update for the PlayStation 3. Firmware 3.50 will allow all PS3s worldwide (38 million of them) to play Blu-ray movies in 3D, as long as you have a 3D TV of course. Other features should be included in the update as well but, we’ll have to wait until the update is released to find out what.
Sony have revealed that the 3D Blu-ray update, allowing playback of 3D Blu-ray movies, for the PlayStation 3 console should be available at some point in September. The release was originally dated as available “in the fall” of this year. There will also be a further update to come after that to add compatibility for 3D photographs on the PS3.
SCEE are keen to add 3D gaming to the PlayStation format as soon as they can because they see the gaming side of 3D as the front runner in the 3D revolution. As SCEE director Mick Hocking announced “We think games are going to be the killer content for 3D. In general, we find that 3D enhances all types of games. There are no types that it doesn’t bring a benefit to. We think the games this year are going to do the same [as Avatar did for movies] for the gaming community”.
Four gaming titles have been released already on the PSN that support the upcoming 3D technology – Wipeout, Motorstorm (demo), Super Stardust and PAIN and there are more to come including top titles such as Killzone 3 and Gran Turismo 5.
The full interview with CVG shows that Sony are taking 3D technology very seriously and the future of 3D in their hands is very exciting indeed!
Sony has announced that it will cease operations at its Hungarian manufacturing site in Gödöllö, Hungary and transfer production to its manufacturing site in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. Production will be discontinued by the end of this year. With this move, Sony is aiming to improve its profitability and efficiency in manufacturing.
The Hungarian site, which currently manufactures Blu-ray Disc players and DVD recorders, was established in 1996 while mass production began in 1997. The plant produced batteries, displays, DAV systems, speakers and Micro Hi-Fi systems. This move to transfer operations will result in the loss of 540 jobs.
“The worldwide demand for Blu-ray disc players is expected to expand. By consolidating global production to achieve efficiency and offering customers higher value-added products such as Blu-ray 3D-compatible Blu-ray disc players, Sony aims to increase the competitiveness and profitability of its home video business,” the Sony website said.
When Netflix and Sony announced the Playstation 3 would be getting the former’s “Watch Instantly” streaming-movies feature, but that the PS3 would require a special Blu-ray disc, PS3 owners were a little bummed.
Now PS3 owners are just miffed due to the fact that Sony says there will be no firmware update like the Xbox 360 has that allows streaming for at least a year. And worse: there’s no clear way for Netflix to offer interface improvements to the PS3’s Watch instantly mode.
