Sony

Sony’s S1 And S2 Android Honeycomb Tablets Will Launch In The Fall

April 26

Fresh from a press conference in Tokyo (where else?) Sony announced two Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablets that may be subject to design changes, however here are their specs anyway: the Sony S1 tablet is a 9.4-inch device with a Tegra 2 SoC processor that has an “off-center of gravity design,” the while S2 sports has a folding form factor (a la Microsoft Courier) with dual 5.5-inch displays at a resolution of 1,024 x 480. Both will have access to an eBooks store, PlayStation Network (get it back online, Sony!) with Qriocity music services, have DLNA, are PlayStation Certified, have access to WiFi and 3G/4G radios, and their own UI enhancements/skins. They are expected to launch sometimes in the fall of 2011, globally. Press release at the end of the post.

Sony Has Admitted That PlayStation Network Got Pwned

April 23

So finally. Sony has gone out and said something (which is sometimes rare in situations like these) in a recent blog post stating that the reason for PlayStation Network and Qriocity to be down for more than 2 days at the moment (and disrupting my usual pwnage runs) was due to “an external intrusion”. However, this statement does confirm more than one thing: the downtime will continue, as no scheduled restoration of service was mentioned.

Via: Sony PlayStation Blog

The PSP Go — Stops

April 20

That’s all folks. Sony has come to the realization that the PSP Go sucks (insert something not offensive but funny here) so production has ultimately ceased. Sony will still however provide support and updates for the stupid gaming device, but that’s all. Via: Impress Watch

Sony VAIO S Is The Newest Ultraportable From Sony, Obviously

March 7

Today, there’s a new laptop walking the grounds (more than one, actually). The one from Sony carries a 13.3-inch screen in its chassis, Sandy Bridge Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, AMD Radeon HD 6630 graphics with 1GB of VRAM, a Blu-Ray drive, a massive $150 extended battery which attaches itself all throughout the bottom of the laptop, and different SSD options. The whole package starts off at 3.9 pounds and costs $979 for the Core i5 version with the Radeon graphics setup and a 320GB hard drive. Pre-orders start later this evening. PR after the leap.

Oh Noes! Sony Had To Cut Certain Features Off The PSP2 Because Of Pricing

February 15

In other words, this probably is bad news. Sony’s Next-Generation Portable (NGP or PSP2) was so awesome with specs like 3G, twin analog sticks, and such that the price would be too high (which for portable gaming machines, is anything above $300). Thus, Sony had to make some cuts.

According to Sony Computer Entertainment worldwide studios boss Shuhei Yoshida (while speaking to Edge): “There were elements that we found pretty cool, but had to set aside to remain on target,. “It’s a big lesson we learnt from the PS3. There’s no point putting everything you want into a device and doing the math later.”

So essentially, there were some cuts, but we don’t know what they are (or were). So this only makes the situation worse. On the other hand, it’s nice to know Sony is thinking of your wallet (or theirs). Via: CVG

Sony VAIO YB Now Shipping With AMD Fusion For $600

February 7

It’s Fusion time! No really, the Sony VAIO YB is shipping for $599.99, of which contains a 1.6GHz AMD Fusion APU (for decent gaming and battery life), glossy 11.6-inch screen at 1366x768 resolution, 4GB of tasty RAM, 500 GB of hard drive space, and silver or pink color coatings. Also, Amazon will be selling a 320GB hard drive with 2GB of RAM variant for $50 less. Check it out, if you’re so inclined.

Via: Sony Style, Amazon

The PSP2 (or NGP) Won’t Cost $600 At Launch, Says Sony

January 28

Remember the PSP2 that was recently announced (actually I mean it’s called the NGP, for now)? It’s the successor to the PSP, and it’s the most powerful portable gaming hardware to date. Well, while the hardware is both huge and seemingly awesome, price is a factor. Rumors swirled, and soon your NGP would cost $600. Cue on Sony to blast this one. Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida stated that “It’s not going to be $599,” and obviously that Sony “will shoot for an affordable price that’s appropriate for the handheld gaming space.”

It better be Sony. It better be. Via: EuroGamer

This Is The Next-Gen PSP, Codenamed NGP

January 27

This is the most intriguing portable gaming device announced of all time. Just read the specs of the NGP, codename for “Next-Generation Portable”, and you’ll see that not only is it huge, but insanely powerful. A 5-inch, 960 x 544-pixel OLED touchscreen display, two analog controllers (!), two touchpad control surfaces, two cameras, electronic compass, SIXAXIS support, GPS/Wi-Fi/3G connectivity and a quad-core processor.

Quad-core processor setup on a portable gaming device, n00bs.

The NGP will launch in the holiday season of 2011, and will have access to something called the PlayStation Suite, which is an emulator for PS1 games at first, then will feature an Android game store, which currently is in development (requires Android 2.3). To compensate for devices that don’t have hardware controls, touchscreen controls will be an option in the PS Suite app. Both glorious press releases for the PlayStation NGP and PS Suite are embedded after the break.