Sony Daily Edition may miss Xmas deadline
Sony appears to have been surprised by demand for its new Reader Daily Edition and may not be able to satisfy orders in time for Christmas.
Pre-sale orders opened today for the eReader and Sony is expected to announce newspaper and magazine content partners in about three weeks’ time. But Steve Haber, president of its digital reading division, told us Sony could not guarantee delivery by Christmas to those ordering early. Continue reading "Sony Daily Edition may miss Xmas deadline"
PSPgo faces iPhone, Android, Windows rivals
Sony’s launch of the PSPgo and its Minis store today will inevitably invoke comparisons with Apple’s iPod touch and the App Store.
But Sony and Nintendo’s handheld consoles will also be competing with forthcoming Android-based smartphones, where the next version of the Google OS will focus on improving 3D gaming performance, as well as from new Windows Mobile devices.
Leading iPhone game publisher Gameloft has 11 titles ready for the launch next week of Skymarket, the Windows Mobile “App Store”. An interview after the jump with Gonzague de Vallois, Gameloft’s head of publishing, on the challenge facing Sony and Nintendo. Continue reading "PSPgo faces iPhone, Android, Windows rivals"
Holy Kindles Batman! Sony comics have e-readers licked
Sony’s e-book reader may have been put in the shade by the Amazon Kindle, but the consumer electronics giant is planning a superhero-style comeback in the comics genre.
At a San Francisco event on Thursday night, Sony showed off its new handheld PSPgo console, launching on October 1, some forthcoming downloadable “Mini” games and its Digital Comics, an addictive new service for the PSP coming in December. Continue reading "Holy Kindles Batman! Sony comics have e-readers licked"
The first data are starting to appear on sales of Sony’s revamped Playstation 3 “Slim” since price cuts went into effect at the start of September. The data are good. The question is whether they are good enough.
In Japan, research company Enterbrain says that Sony sold 150,252 PS3 Slims in the four days between its launch on September 3 and September 6. That is the highest weekly sales number Sony has recorded for the PS3 since its launch in 2006 and also compares well with products past, such as the 170,779 units of Nintendo’s DSi handheld console sold during its first two days in the shops last autumn. Continue reading "A good start for the PS3 Slim - but is it good enough?"
How electronic paper displays are stacking up
You may be only aware of Amazon’s Kindle and Sony’s Reader, but there are now more than 45 e-reader models available worldwide, according to E Ink, the dominant technology provider for their displays.
More are expected in the coming year, including ones with smaller, pocketable displays, colour and different ways of producing the paper-like screens, the Emerging Display Technologies Conference in Silicon Valley heard this week. Continue reading "How electronic paper displays are stacking up"
First impressions of the PS3 “Slim”
Sony has changed the dimensions of its PlayStation 3 console and the dynamics of the current generation console wars with the introduction of the PS3 “Slim” from September 1 at $299 in the US.
Sony gave me a quick tour of the new console in San Francisco on Wednesday. Take a look at the smaller, lighter, less shiny PS3 in a video after the jump. Continue reading "First impressions of the PS3 “Slim”"
Wii and PS3 console sales slump in US
The US video game industry, which appeared to be riding out the recession last year, had the horse shot from under it in the first half of 2009.
The June sales figures released by the NPD research firm on Thursday night showed the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year declines. June’s 31 per cent drop was the greatest year-over-year monthly fall since September 2000, when the industry declined 41 per cent. Continue reading "Wii and PS3 console sales slump in US"
Nintendo’s flagship summer title, Wii Sports Resort, has got off to a strong start since its launch in Japan last Thursday June 25th.
According to figures from publisher Enterbrain in its Famitsu magazine, Wii Sports Resort sold 353,827 copies in its first four days on sale. That makes it the third most successful launch in the history of the Wii in Japan.
Sony’s Blu-ray IQ rises as consumer interest falls
Sony tried to breathe new life into its Blu-ray format on Thursday, just as a new poll suggested interest in its high-definition disk was waning among US consumers.
At a San Francisco event, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment told us it was launching what it believed was its first “killer app” using the internet-connected BD-Live features of the standard. Continue reading "Sony’s Blu-ray IQ rises as consumer interest falls"
In May 2008, chairman and chief executive Sir Howard Stringer said that, within the next twelve months, Sony would launch a 27″ television based on OLED - organic light emitting diode - technology.
More than twelve months later, with no 27″ version released and Sony showing only 21″ prototypes, it’s time to ask what happened. Continue reading "So what happened to Sony’s 27″ OLED television?"
David Gelles, Joseph Menn, Chris Nuttall and Richard Waters in the FT's San Francisco bureau upload their views - plus tech insights from writers in New York, London and Tokyo
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Richard Waters has headed the FT's San Francisco bureau since 2002 and covers Google and Microsoft, among other things. A former New York bureau chief for the FT, he is intrigued by Silicon Valley's unique financial and business culture, and is looking forward to covering his second Tech Bust.
Chris Nuttall has been online and messing around with computers for more than 20 years and since 2004 has reported from the FT's San Francisco bureau on semiconductors, video games, consumer electronics and all things interwebby.
David Gelles, a California native, has been hanging around and reporting on Silicon Valley for several years. He joined the FT's San Francisco bureau in 2008 and writes about social networking, clean tech and artificial intelligence.
Maija Palmer has been writing about technology for the FT since 1999 and is facinated by cybercrime, privacy and all the other issues of the information society. Based in London, she covers European tech companies and hopes that they won't all get acquired by American rivals.
Joseph Menn writes about tech security and privacy, digital media, and the computer industry from the San Francisco bureau. He spent a decade covering tech for the Los Angeles Times and therefore remembers the days when pre-revenue dot-coms handed out free bottles of champagne at their launch parties.
Robin Harding is the FT's technology correspondent in Tokyo, following the fortunes of Japan's videogame, semiconductor and consumer electronics companies. Before that, he was an FT editorial writer in London, having previously worked for various banks and asset managers.
Robin Kwong is the FT's Taipei correspondent and writes about the companies that manufacture the vast majority of the world's computers and gadgets. He is interested in the intricacies of the technology supply chain and how China is increasingly changing the tech landscape.
Tim Bradshaw is the FT's digital media correspondent. Based in London, he has covered start-ups such as Twitter and Spotify, as well as the online ambitions of more established media companies, such as the BBC iPlayer. He also covers the advertising, marketing and video-game industries. Tim has been writing about technology, business and finance since 2003.
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