Sony

Today Sony announced Backstage, an in-store support service for its VAIO PCs that includes product consultations, tutorials, and buying advice. Sounds like marketing-speak for "sales" to us, but apparently Backstage staffers can also help troubleshoot hardware and repair or replace components. Additional services, such as data migration, performance enhancements, and memory upgrades, are available for a fee.

The service has already rolled out in San Diego, Scottsdale, and Atlanta, and it will appear in four stores in New York and New Jersey this week. Sony expects to bring the Backstage service to 15 of its Sony Style retail … Read more

Apple will begin selling the iPhone on Friday, but I'm not buying one.

It isn't that I don't like Apple hardware. I'm typing this on a MacBook Pro I bought last November. I have a stack of older PowerBooks (literally), a couple of iPods (one dead, alas), and a Power Mac G5.

It isn't that I don't like to buy new toys. I just counted: I carry around ten battery-powered devices every day, four of which are less than six months old.

But I don't need a new phone, especially not … Read more

Immersion vowed Tuesday to fight Microsoft's breach-of-contract lawsuit regarding "haptic" technology that endows mice and joysticks with tactile feedback such as shaking and jerking.

"Immersion intends to defend this lawsuit vigorously," the San Jose, Calif.-based company said Tuesday.

Immersion sued Microsoft and Sony for patent infringement in 2002, but both suits were settled. Through a resulting sublicense agreement with Microsoft, Immersion agreed to pay Microsoft for any fee amounts from Sony in the event of a settlement with that company. That issue now is at issue in the breach-of-contract suit Microsoft filed against Immersion … Read more

We know you've been waiting for the moment when you could watch condensed episodes of The Partridge Family online. As expected, MySpace Video and Sony Pictures Television have collaborated on the "Minisode Network," a broadband video page featuring shortened versions of various Sony television shows available in a free, ad-supported form (the current sponsor is Honda) and which launched on Tuesday. MySpace members also have the option to embed 'minisodes' in their profiles.

You can think of it as TV on Cliff's Notes. Each 'minisode' is three to five minutes long, but Sony and MySpace have … Read more

Here's a good rule of thumb: when a product is recalled for, say, bursting into flames, take the time to get the replacement.

A Toshiba laptop containing a recalled Sony battery caught fire and burned a desk in Great Britain last month, Toshiba said today. The laptop maker asked Sony to investigate the incident, and a short circuit in the battery pack was deemed the culprit. Toshiba says it will reach out to customers to ensure they are aware of the potential danger of continuing use of recalled batteries. A list of 28 models of affected laptop will be … Read more

As the new Sony BDP-S300 begins shipping on Amazon and SonyStyle for $499.99 (add $10 for shipping if you purchase it from Sony), I'm left wondering if people even care.

Now before some of you jump up and down claiming I am off-base by saying that most people really don't care about the high-def wars, hear me out.

Sony's decision to drop the price of the BDP-S300 to $500 may seem like a great concession that will spur sales, but the price is still too high for the average person to even consider buying one of … Read more

Not content to rest easy after its announcement of a slew of new cell phones and a Bluetooth watch, Sony Ericsson has also announced several new accessories as well. They are all music-related in some way or another, starting off with the MDS-65 Music Desk Stand, which acts as a portable speaker of sorts for your Sony Walkman phone, and the MMR-70 FM transmitter for playing music on a nearby FM radio.

And what's a cell phone accessory announcement without a few headsets? The HBH-DS200 is the only stereo Bluetooth headset in the group, and it has a few … Read more

Sony Ericsson today took the wraps off six new cell phones and three Bluetooth watches. The phones include two Walkman models, a Cyber-shot model for the North American market (yay!), a 3G handset for our European friends, a mid-range camera phone, and a basic mobile phone.

The three Bluetooth watches put some basic cell phone controls on your wrist. You can view caller ID, reject calls, or adjust the audio volume. Check them out in our slide show.

Sony Ericsson didn't just unveil new cell phones today, it also introduced three new Bluetooth watches. What's a Bluetooth watch, you ask? Quite simply, it's a watch with Bluetooth built in. And what do you use it for? Well, that's a better question.

Though "smart watches" came into vogue briefly in 2005, we haven't seen much timepiece technology since then. But Sony Ericsson decided to pump some new life into the sector with its MBY-150 series. Designed in partnership with Fossil, the three watches come in three versions: a "classic edition" … Read more