sony

Perhaps believing that it's not wise to put all its smartphones in an iPhone basket, AT&T has been on an Android tear lately. The last two weeks have yielded eight handset announcements with more on the way as we head full-on into the holiday buying season. Suffice it to say, AT&T is headed into the fourth quarter with its strongest Android lineup to date.… Read more

Well, it's officially almost official. According to a ramp up of very specific recent rumors, Apple is set to send out invites to an iPad Mini event next week, with an unveiling the week after. We have a Humiliation Day bet riding on whether an iPad Mini will come out this year. Emily has staked her dignity on a debbie-downer "No" -- will she have to find a duck suit to wear, or will Karyne play her trusty ukulele in an embarrassing spectacle? Seems like we'll be finding out on October 17.

Also this week, Web-shopping … Read more

With the Photokina show in Germany producing so many new high-end cameras, it's evidently been a busy season for Adobe Systems' Lightroom team.

That team just released Lightroom 4.2, which supports 22 new cameras, 43 new lenses, and lets people shoot with 11 new cameras tethered to a computer. It takes work to figure out how to decode each camera's proprietary raw format.

Here's the full list of new cameras supported, but note that the Nikon D600 support is "preliminary and there is a minor risk that the appearance of your images may change when … Read more

The Compact Disc format changed the way we listened to music in the 1980s. Sony's first player, the CDP-101, went on sale on October 1, 1982, in Japan, and six months later here in the U.S. At $1,000 it was pretty expensive, but supplies were limited, so every one sold for full price. Before the CD arrived, the mainstream music market was split between vinyl albums/singles and cassettes, and strangely enough, it wasn't just CD's sound that won over the masses, it was digital audio's no-wear durability and noise-free sound that drew raves. … Read more

Just when many may have lost hope in a slick Sony Xperia handset hitting American shores with carrier blessing, Sony outs plans to sell the new Xperia TL on AT&T. The device will feature a big 4.6-inch (1,080x720-pixel) screen, a 13-megapixel camera, Android 4.0, all powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. … Read more

There was a time when Sony was the first name in consumer electronics. The company's Trinitron TVs dominated the TV market for decades. In 1975, Sony's Betamax was the first widely adapted consumer video recorder format. The Walkman hit the market in 1979 and changed the way people listened to music, creating the personal audio market category. In 1982 the CD, which the company developed jointly with Philips, changed the way we listened to music even more. Sony extended its reach when it purchased CBS Records in 1988 and Columbia Pictures in 1989, and scored a triumph in … Read more

Sony has decided to help out Olympus.

The Japan-based companies announced today that Sony will acquire over 34 million shares in Olympus through a third-party allotment to the tune of $645 million in cash. The deal, which both sides are calling a "capital alliance," is designed to help keep Olympus afloat following a scandal that has brought the company to its knees.

To consumers, Olympus is best known for its cameras. But the company also produces optical equipment for medical, scientific, and industrial uses.

Olympus' troubles started -- on paper, at least -- last year when its dismissed … Read more

A Pandora-like streaming service could have debuted with last week's iPhone 5 launch if negotiations between Apple and Sony/ATV had not failed, according to a published report.

Sony/ATV, which is owned by Sony and the estate of Michael Jackson, wanted Apple to pay a higher fee for each song played than Apple was willing to shell out, according to the New York Post.

News broke earlier this month that Apple was considering the idea of creating a streaming-music service similar to that of Pandora, the online-radio service. Typically, a music distributor will just pay the statutory rate … Read more

Sony is now offering the unlocked GSM version of its Android-powered Xperia Acro S smartphone, according to a press release issued this afternoon. Priced at $599.99, the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich handset features a number of decent specifications, including a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, a 4.3-inch scratch-resistant HD Reality Display, and a 12.1-megapixel camera. Additional details for the Xperia Acro S include 1GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, NFC, HDMI, and MHL support.… Read more