sony

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Help Kickstart a documentary on the cultural impact of "Back to the Future."

- How movie theaters keep cool through summer's scorching months.

- A Web site that exposes Instagram frauds that use #nofilter.

- Kanye, the new Steve Jobs, gets Jobs-signed Apple mouse.

- How Xbox fans in Japan earned the nickname "Gropers."

- Pebble smartwatch coming to Best Buy starting July 7.… Read more

Sony's FMP-X1 4K Ultra HD Media Player will land in living rooms and on retailer shelves in two weeks, the company announced Monday.

The media player, which was unveiled in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, will play ultra-high-resolution content on 4K TVs, which have four times the number of pixels as a regular HD TV.

However, the box, which retails for $699, is compatible only with Sony 4K TVs. Sony is offering owners of its X900A sets a $200 introductory discount on the media player's price. The media player will be bundled with 10 feature films and … Read more

While summer break has just started for students across the country, that means that the all-important back-to-school shopping season is not far behind. And with it comes a flood of new or updated systems -- everything from traditional laptops and desktops to tablets and hybrids.

But before swiping your credit card on a new ultrabook, all-in-one, or convertible, you're going to want to dive a little deeper into the spec sheets. That's because the latest Intel CPU upgrade -- code named Haswell, but officially known as "fourth-generation Core i series" -- is offering significant battery life … Read more

T-Mobile issued invitations today for a media event in New York City on July 10.

Exactly what the carrier has in store for the shindig remains a mystery, but T-Mobile promises that it will deliver its "boldest moves yet." It all begins at 11:30 a.m. PT.

Of course, a flashy new handset (or handsets) is a big possibility, with the Sony Xperia Z as the most likely star. Remember that last week, CNET's Roger Cheng reported that T-Mobile had confirmed that the Xperia Z would go on sale "in the coming weeks."

The … Read more

SHANGHAI, China -- Though the focus of Sony's presentation earlier this week was the supersized Xperia Z Ultra phablet, the company also took the opportunity at Mobile Asia Expo to announce normal-sized handsets like the Xperia C. Meant for the Chinese market, the Android device will come with two SIM slots: one WCDMA and the other GSM.

Featuring a 5-inch qHD (960x540-pixel) screen, the Xperia C slightly resembles the Xperia Z from the front. However, the build is completely different once you turn it around. Instead of a glass chassis, it features a soft-touch back cover that completely envelops … Read more

Sony has released a patch to fix the buggy 4.45 firmware update that left some people with crippled PlayStation 3 consoles.

Complaints flooded in last week after Playstation users downloaded and installed the 4.45 update, which was designed to let users turn trophy notifications on or off. According to the PS3 forum, users found that after they rebooted, the installation left their consoles "bricked," or frozen, locked, and unplayable.

Sony apologized to its users, pulled the update offline, and promised an investigation, apologizing "for the inconvenience."

The new patch, firmware update 4.46, promises … Read more

Sony may have called an audible on the robotic eyeball accessory of its upcoming PlayStation 4 console, according to a new report.

Citing sources, IGN says Sony originally intended to include the $59 camera accessory inside a $499 launch system bundle, but changed plans at the last moment by removing it in favor of trimming everything down to $399. All to beat out Microsoft's Xbox One and its mandatory Kinect accessory with its $499 price tag, IGN's sources said.

Sony did not respond to a CNET request for comment on the report. We will update this story when … Read more

The past three weeks of Always On showcased the roles tech can play in your summer vacation. In some cases, we determined whether or not your tech can survive your summer vacation. Now this episode doesn't involve snapping photos of spinner dolphins, desert road tripping in a tricked-out RV, or fitness tracking through mud at an average of 8,150 feet of elevation. But just because we're finally back home in the Bay Area doesn't mean we took a break from turning our environment into a tech battleground.

We start things off with an unboxing of the … Read more