sony

Sony's Walkman love child

Early this morning, Sony announced its latest digital audio player, the NW-S700, and dubbed it the best-sounding Walkman yet. This is apparently thanks to the device's built-in noise-canceling technology. Noise-canceling headphones are nothing new, but a noise-canceling MP3 player is not something I've had the chance to meet...and I thought I might not still: most reports cite only the Japanese release of the NW-S700. However, the press release I received clearly lists U.S. pricing ($169 for the 1GB version, $199 for 2GB) and availability (November).

The player looks like the love child of the NW-E000 and … Read more

In search of elusive next-gen games

With just over a month until the Sony PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii release, your average everyday non-journalist gamer still hasn't had the opportunity to try out the upcoming consoles. The burgeoning Digital Life show, open to press and public alike, would have been a great chance for folks to get some hands-on time with the consoles, but console manufacturer and game developers alike conspired to deliver few opportunities to do just that. The PS3 had a dedicated area in Sony's booth, but only two demo units and two playable titles--NBA Live 2007 and Resistance: Fall of Man. … Read more

Sony tries the Walkman again (yawn)

It's kind of pathetic, when you think about it. Here's the Sony Walkman, once the king of all portable music players, now left scrambling for crumbs left in the iPod's wake.

The latest innovation is a line of new miniature Walkman players that come with noise-canceling technology embedded in both the music player itself and its headphones. It's not that this is a bad idea; it's just not exactly the kind of killer product that can get Sony back in the game.

The NW-S705F, a 2GB version that stores about 1,350 songs, comes in … Read more

Report: Microsoft offers cash incentives for HD-DVD

Microsoft is offering cash incentives called coupons to computer makers that sell personal computers with HD-DVD drives, a next-generation DVD format the software behemoth is supporting over rival Blu-ray disk, Electronic Engineering Times reported Monday.

Microsoft declined to comment in the EE Times report, which cited as evidence of Microsoft's success Hewlett-Packard's decision to back HD-DVD as well where it previously exclusively supported Blu-ray. An HP executive also said Microsoft's forthcoming Vista version of Windows will include HD-DVD support for free, whereas PC makers must pay about $30 per drive in Blu-ray royalties.

In September, Microsoft and Intel raised the profile of the battle between HD-DVD and Blu-ray … Read more

Intel to battle rootkits

The chipmaker is working on hardware-based security protection that will tell people when a rootkit is being downloaded to their PC, according to a report in ITObserver. The plan is to put a small chip on the motherboard to do this, Intel said at a press and analyst event in Folsom, Calif., on Thursday.

The move comes as Sony works to pull itself out of an embroglio over rootkit-like tool included in the antipiracy software on some of its CDs.

Leading them by the nose

Why would somebody of sound mind wait 36 hours on the street just to be first in line when a store opens its doors for business? "It's fun," Richard Roth told our very own sleep-deprived reporter David Becker, after being the first person in San Francisco to buy a Sony PlayStation Portable. Then again, you should consider the source. Four years earlier, Roth said, he also was first in line to buy a PS2. "It's my 15 minutes of fame. You don't get on CNN for putting in a preorder at GameStop."

Such … Read more

My blind date with PSP

OK, so we've had an actual PlayStation Portable in our hot little hands for two days now, enough to form some initial impressions:

I now have a vague sense of what it feels like to be a gorgeous woman. I used the PSP twice while commuting on public transit, and both times every male within visual range fixed me a gaze that conveyed a worrisome mixture of lust and "I am a potential mugger."

Contrary to what certain curmudgeons have said, it's a very capable movie player, especially compared to my 15-year-old TV. But … Read more