Time to give George Hotz (geohot) a job.

'Geography is hot'
        - George Hotz

(He didn't really say that)

George Hotz with the 'Where's my Job?' pose.

Does anyone think that it's time Sony just hired Hotz?
Sony have spent heaps of time and gotten a lot of media attention entrenched in this whole legal battle with the infamous George Hotz (GEOHOT [his internet alias]). I'm surprised that Sony haven't just offered him a job to build security measures into the PS3 and other hackable Sony devices.
And Hotz can stop getting himself into legal trouble.

NGP uses flash based cartridges. Proprietary written all over it. Goddammit.

Why oh why oh why would Sony  make ANOTHER proprietary cartridge system for the new NGP. They've successfully lifted themselves out of the whole slow connection digital distribution problem with this plan, but have set up booby traps everywhere. A completely digital world is inevitable and is evidently going to happen in the very near future, many analysts are saying Blu-ray disc will be the last hardware format before digital distribution hits the forefront, and here Sony comes prancing along with this new proprietary media format.

Credit: Engadget

The real problem isn't that it's proprietary, but that once digital takes over, the system will be ditched in a similar way the PSPGo ditched the UMD leaving thousands if not MILLIONS of angry owners of UMD cartridges. In my projection of approximately 5 years (or maybe a bit longer) Sony will have a congregation of angry UMD AND Flash -based media cartridge owners wanting to convert their games to digital. Have they learnt nothing from the whole X10 update debacle?

I remember, I was reading an article a while back, about how Sony were just building things and throwing them onto the market without much thought and seeing which ones would catch on, in the process eroding company focus and brand value. This seems similar, just making a short term solution to a problem that will come back to bite in the future.

Using the proprietary card does have its benefits though, instead of using regular memory cards, game piracy is less likely and harder to do. However I wish they just stuck with download only, despite the slow internet connection of some users, it would save problems in the future.

Playstation Suite? SUITE! Now get rid of the Xperia Play.

I promised a separate post dedicated to the new Playstation Suite launching at around a similar time as the NGP so here it is. The reason this is getting a dedicated post, is because this news is actually BIGGER than the news on the next generation portable (notice how I made the word bigger, bigger. Very clever Jeremy).
The reason why this news is so big is because it applies not only to Sony users, but all Android device users alike, the Playstation Suite, is a software framework that allows all Android phones to play Playstation games.

First off, it was definitely a good idea to have decided to make Playstation Suite available on all Android devices and not just Xperia handsets as the Xperia doesn’t have quite the brand equity and popularity to be able to sufficiently carry such a powerful brand as the Playstation. Anyway, Sony has now single – handedly increased the gaming potential of all Android devices, which is great for Google and great for anyone who has or is going to purchase an Android device.

Most importantly, they can’t put this on iOS devices, and given there was no formal announcement of iOS support, I’m pretty sure they won’t, and even though Sony have made some pretty abominable decisions in the past, surely they’re not THAT vacuum-headed to screw this one up. iPhone devices are clearly Sony Ericsson’s main competitors, and giving your competition an exclusive service is like introducing your girlfriend to *insert hot guy here*. I trust that Sony won’t pull a ridiculous act and make an iPhone version.

The Playstation Suite will also be compatible with NGP obviously, and I’m guessing that Sony porting the PS Suite onto smartphones are hoping they will entice users into getting the full experience by purchasing an NGP.


Credit: Engadget.
Demo of what gameplay will be like on Android smartphone running Playstation Suite.

Overall, Sony were a little short on details about this Playstation Suite, however I’m sure they’ll give us more information when it comes closer to release date. We still gotta wait a year before this comes out, I wonder whether the Xperia Play will be coming before this device, and whether it will come with the Playstation Suite, or not. Sony Ericsson haven’t officially announced the existence of the Xperia Play so we don’t even know if this whole nonsense is legit news at all. Which brings me to my next point.

I REALLY REALLY WISH THE XPERIA PLAY IS A LIE

Now that we have this whole Playstation Suite stuff do we really need a gaming handset that will only have one differentiating feature, tactile gaming buttons. As you can see from the photos above, the Playstation Suite will use overlay touch buttons to simulate normal Playstation controls. Now that we have this new software framework, the Xperia Play (the new name for the ubiquitous Playstation Phone) is destined to fail harder than the PSP Go for the following reasons.

1. It looks stupid: This should actually be two points, but I’m combining them both because they both involve the notion of stupidity. The design is really really terrible, it's chunky and fat and looks like another low quality plasticky Samsung Phone. Sony generally pride themselves on high class industrial design but this is just abominable, I vomited (inside) when I first saw it. Secondly, holding a smartphone with Playstation controls makes YOU look gay. You would look like the lamest try-hard holding one of them.


I would not sacrifice my dignity to carry this around

2. Potential market is small: The simple fact is, not many people will buy it, we can almost rule out the entirety of the female population as no girl would want to be seen holding a gaming smartphone that replaces slide out texting goodness for game controls. Also, core gamers will most likely go for the NGP given it’s not priced outrageously, and then given the availability of Playstation games on Android smartphones with the new Playstation Suite service no one is going to bother switching.

3. Cannibalisation: Finally, the Xperia Play would suffer a reduction in sales volumes at the hands of the much more capable Xperia Arc. Sony need not also to dilute the strength of the Playstation brand by combining it into some corny name like 'Xperia Play' or joining with the Xperia family at all.

UPDATE: Sony confirms NGP won't be '599 US Dollars'.

'It's not going to be $599 (LOL)," 
       - Shuhei Yoshida (SCE Senior Vice President of Product Development)

Shuhei Yoshida laughed off the notion of the NGP being priced the notorious number.
Apparently it will be 'affordable', however Sony's definition of affordable is generally vastly different to the rest of the population.
Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) CEO Jack Tretton though made hints that it would be more expensive than the Nintendo 3DS's $250 (which is fair enough).

We won't be too optimistic though, Yoshida didn't rule out $598.

PSP2 (NGP) announced. Don't you dare '599 US Dollar' me Kaz!

Everyone: OH MY GOD OH MY GOD PSP2!
Kaz: 599 US Dollars


Finally the PSP2 is out, the moment that most people on this planet have been waiting for. We never really though this day would come, but here it is. Yesterday at the 'Playstation Meeting 2011' Kaz and crew announced the PSP2, codenamed NGP that will be released at the end of 2011.

First things first, if Kaz plays the 599 US Dollar card again, then this thing will inevitably fail. Knowing Sony a high price like that is a distinct possibility.

Second thing second, why on earth would something be codenamed NGP when clearly it will be called Playstation Portable 2 on release and it has already been announced. Codenames are generally used when you're trying to keep a secret, something that is announced deliberately to public isn't normally a secret. It kinda makes me wonder that they used NGP intentionally because it could stand for 'Nintendo Got Pwnd', very clever Sony.

Despite that, system specs are quite phenomenal. I'm sure you already know them but I'm going to put them down anyway.

CPU	ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)
GPU	SGX543MP4+
External Dimensions	Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
Screen (Touch screen)	5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED Multi touch screen (capacitive type)
Rear touch pad	Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
Cameras	Front camera, Rear camera
Sound	Built-in stereo speakers Built-in microphone
Sensors	Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Three-axis electronic compass
Location	Built-in GPS Wi-Fi location service support
Keys / Switches	PS button Power button Directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left) Action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square) Shoulder buttons (Right/Left) Right stick, Left stick START button, SELECT button Volume buttons (+/-)
Wireless communications	Mobile network connectivity (3G) IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1x1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode) Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR （A2DP/AVRCP/HSP）

*I copied that right off the Playstation website so no time was wasted typing it*


There are several interesting innovations with this new device, the most useful and interesting being the rear touch-pad which I have mentioned before introduces a world of potential for new interaction and what not. The 5-inch capacitive multi-touch OLED display is huge and due to the superiority of OLED display technology will offer exception colours, making this a great media device not just for games. Browsing the web on this device would also be great on such a huge display however let's hope they don't mess up the browser like they did on the Walkman X. 
And yes, there are dual analog sticks, and they're actually proper sticks this time instead of movable plastic circles like on the previous PSP. 
Graphically and processor wise, this thing is a monster, it's quad core, I don't know anything about the technicalities and benefits of having four cores but it's supposed to be on par with the PS3 graphics-wise which is totally BEAST! Put simply, graphic aficionados, you have absolutely nothing to worry about!
Sony also released a host of new services related to the Playstation business, including the Playstation suite which allows Playstation games and services to be used on Android mobile devices (ALL Android devices, not just Xperia handsets) more on that in another post! 


The new NGP device will revolve around five new concepts according to Sony: revolutionary user interface, social connectivity, location-based entertainment, converging real and virtual, and Playstation suite compatibility. 


1. Revolutionary user interface: The new user interface on the PSP or NGP if you must consists of several floating bubbles that obviously take advantage of the touch-screen, the tagline for the new UI is touch, grab, trace, push, pull which obviously takes advantages of the dual touch panels of the device. Aesthetically I think the old XMB interface was preferable and would have maintained the unity of experience and interface across Sony's devices but I don't blame them for changing it to take advantage of the new hardware changes.

2. Social connectivity: The new LiveArea function is probably the biggest of the new social connectivity innovations. It allows you to see what your friends are doing in particular games and check scores and stuff like that.


3. Location-based entertainment: Entertainment that is location-based. People can find out titles being played in the area. PSP2 (NGP) stalks you (tracks your location) and creates a map of all the places you've been to. It can show most popular game in the area, useful for game discovery.


4. Converging real and virtual: Sony are trying to suck you into the world of games and virtual reality completely eradicating any social life or any life you initially had. (That's a lie, I don't know what this is). It probably means that games are going to be extremely realistic, and with things like dual multi touch screens and motion sensing that are going to help.


5. Playstation Suite: THIS WILL BE DISCUSSED IN A LATER POST.


Also, many games were announced like Call of Duty, Killzone, Wipeout, Uncharted, Little big Planet, Metal Gear Solid and Lost Planet.


More pictures after the break

Why did all the Sony CES guys look like chefs?

Photography credit: Sony Australia

Would it have killed them to ever slightly alter the attire of the Sony reps.

Thoughts on PSP2, and Nintendo 3DS

It is becoming abundantly clear that 2011 is the year of mobile gadgets. Tablets and smartphones are taking the world by storm, the iPhone and Android smartphones are selling like flowing water and consumers are starting to lose interest in less mobile products like televisions and things like home theater systems.

Just a mock-up design, not the real thing

To the larger issue at hand, Sony is set to release both the PSP2 and Playstation Phone, both will serve pretty much the same target consumer, people who are looking for solid gaming performance in a portable form factor. Many years ago when the iPhone started to become considered as a capable gaming device people were craving Sony to build a Playstation Phone, and for years that was ignored and now they've finally answered when the iPhone and Android have become runaway successes and catching up would require a phenomenal effort. Why they didn't develop one when the market was open and free and the iPhone was still in its early stages of infancy is beyond me. It seems just like another bad case of underestimating the competition in my opinion, a little bit like the Google/Yahoo story, Yahoo was offered to purchase the Google search engine technology for only a million or so dollars but denied, well, look at Google now.

Many people are saying that the PSP2 is dead on arrival, that before it will even have a chance it will be completely destroyed by the upcoming Nintendo 3DS.

First off, lets get system specs out of the way, we know that Nintendo's next generation handheld is going to have dual CPUs, a 133MHz GPU and 64MB RAM and of course 3D.

The PSP2 on the other hand we know little about but it does indeed exist and is in the hands of developers right now. Interestingly, the PSP2 probably won't have 3D, which is interesting given Sony's extensive focus on 3D, and 3D on the PSP would have been an easy glasses-free implementation. Secondly, yes PSP fans your prayers have been answered and there are dual analog sticks and there is a touch sensitive panel on the back. The display is HD and the device has twice the RAM of the Xbox 360. Sony claims the overall power of the device is supposedly as powerful as the PS3 which is phenomenal for a portable device. Based on what we know I believe it is fair to say that despite the Nintendo's 3D capabilities, the PSP2 is still the more powerful device. It's great that Sony is really pushing the boundaries for portable gaming, because in the eyes of most consumers the Playstation brand will always be about bringing high-end gaming and Sony have to build that reputation further as opposed to selling out like what Microsoft did with the Kinect.

From my perspective, one big issue that Sony have to deal with on release of both devices, is product confusion, not between products, but rather what the product really is. This is something that Apple has done very well with the marketing for the iPod Touch, people know the iPod Touch isn't just a music player, but a portable entertainment monster. What does Sony want the product to be? Well, if I were Sony I would go for the same approach as Apple has gone, a do-it-all one stop entertainment device, and not simply a primarily gaming focused device though that certainly has to be a selling point given the target consumer. The devices entertainment capabilities beyond gaming like music, videos and network services have to be strongly marketed. Also seeing as Sony have probably given up on producing high-end Walkman MP3 players, I would be disappointed if there was not a Walkman presence, or at least a fully capable music and video player on-board.

The crap browser on the Walkman X

Scepticism aside, the PSP2 like many people say, is definitely not doomed though I do believe that the market for one purpose gaming handhelds is small and continually shrinking due to Apple and Google's presence in the mobile gaming field. The main reason I believe why the PSP hasn't sold strongly is because high-end gaming isn't required on the move as such and at the price the PSP is sold at people prefer to leave the Playstation at home.

A definite change is needed for the PSP2 to be able to succeed in a fast growing portable device market. Apple has proven, one purpose devices are no longer good enough which is why Sony can't market the PSP2 as just a gaming device, but a media device more than anything. The PSP brand has always been known for gaming, but Sony must change how people view the device but also maintain the PSP's strong gaming focus. In a sentence, Sony needs to let people know that the PSP is a media device that does music, video, gaming and network services, whilst offering a vast array of these services, they aren't compromising on anything. Sony have a huge advantage when it comes to this, they have superior Walkman technology that they could bring over to make the device a very capable music and video player, the expertise from Playstation and network services to make the device highly capable of gaming and expanding media too. In making the PSP2 a soully gaming device, given the superior hardware, there is a lot of wasted potential.

I always knew that the Playstation Portable and Walkman were supposed to be united into one device, the simple fact is the PSP is a Walkman with more capabilities including gaming, constant software updates, combining the two makes sense, it would be easier to support one device as opposed to two, and it would create a more focused product line-up which is one thing Sony needs. I believe the reason they didn't go with this approach earlier is because they didn't know which brand to give up, the Playstation brand and the Walkman brand both have extreme value to Sony, however it is becoming increasingly clear that the Walkman is too far behind to warrant salvaging (mainly in the high-end segment) and the Playstation brand has significant brand equity so is the logical approach.

More than anything, this device needs to be connected. In the ever growing world of network and connectivity Sony need to show that they're adapting given that Sony has been rather slow in adapting to the digital age. Not only would it do good things for the brand but it would be able to compete heavily with Apple devices. A good web browser is essential, the browsers on the Walkman X and previous PSP's are unacceptable, and kind of makes you wonder how little Sony cared about networking in the past, hopefully the mindset has changed. People want to buy games and media content straight off the device so this service is required and should already be implemented with the Qriocity store and Playstation Network.
There are a lot of lessons from the Walkman X that Sony have learnt that they should have improved on with the PSP2, support for more video formats so as not to waste the HD display, limited video support on the Walkman X wasted the potential of the OLED display. Lag issues on the Walkman X (album scroll etc...) should already be solved given that the PSP2 is extremely powerful and of course the browser problem which should obviously be a lesson learnt from previous PSP's as well.

Like I mentioned in an old post about the Playstation Phone, Sony can't screw this one up. The PSP Go screwed up, if they screw up twice in a row that would represent a huge problem in the confidence and value of the Playstation brand. I have extreme confidence that the PSP2 will win over the 3DS, in actual fact I am almost certain that the PSP2 will defeat the 3DS since the 3DS's extra features are evidently lacking, particular internet related features. Also, to be honest, though 3D is a welcome addition it shouldn't be a selling point simply because the 3D effect on a mini display and given the 3DS's limited graphic capabilities (compared to the PSP2) would not be 'wow' worthy.

The most difficult thing though is to break and defeat the Apple ecosystem, that I believe will stand to be one of Sony's biggest challenges in its history in my opinion.

CES 2011 Round–Up. Time to shift 3D focus

It’s already  been two days since CES ended and I haven’t had the time to post until now. I think it’s fair to say that all Sony fans were disappointed by Sony’s showing at CES. The biggest news incidentally wasn’t what Sony unveiled at CES, but what they didn’t unveil. The most anticipated, the Sony tablet and Playstation Phone were nowhere to be seen, but were only mentioned from a note from Kaz Hirai that a line of tablets was in the works and maybe a hint of a smartphone that would incorporate certain services from the ‘Playstation Business’.
It is extremely evident that Sony is strongly focused on the delivery of 3D products and services, with almost every product announced at the press conference having 3D technology. However sometimes I get the feeling that in the midst of providing everything in 3D, Sony is forgetting other areas of their product range, particularly mobile products, which was disappointing because mobile products were all the rage at CES this year. Companies like Motorola and others who didn’t have much of a presence at CES in previous years came back storming this year and stole the show. The reason why Motorola and others shone was because of the introduction of new tablets and smartphones that consumers are primarily interested in nowadays. Our lives are becoming more mobile than ever and we expect to be able to access, all our content and entertainment everywhere we go.

WORLD'S FIRST PHOTOS OF VAIO SA (LOL JK)

UPDATE: The VAIO SA is actually a VAIO design concept and this is actually not the finished product. That is why there has not been any press news on pricing or release date for this model. I guess that also means that we'll have to wait for a new Z another time. 


I came across this and went literally into a fit of excitement which is why this post is slightly delayed. But here are the world's first pics of the VAIO SA (the Z successor) from CES leaked by a Japanese website. And all skepticism aside now, this thing is HOT!






The only downside is that it is definitely a tad bigger than the previous Z which makes it a little less portable. It is also a tiny bit heavier.
I'm sure when this device is released it will come in many different colour options so don't be disappointed by the current selection.

The specs are as was anticipated: http://thesonypony.blogspot.com/2011/01/doesnt-appear-to-be-new-z-series-vaio.html

Doesn't appear to be a new Z series VAIO. New VAIOs introduced.

It may indeed be that this SA series VAIO is set to replace the VAIO Z as it appears that there has been no update to the Z series at CES. It is very dissapointing that they haven't done anything with the VAIO Z but have instead unveiled the SA series which although is still very beefy in its spec list, doesn't have the same high-end feel to it as the Z did.
However here is a list of the new Vaio's presented to us at CES today:
Sony seem to have done away with the whole netbook category altogether, claiming that the market is changing and they have no intention of building netbooks anymore. Sony is rolling out the VAIO YB series which like the current VAIO Y series, has an 11.6 inch screen and is powered by AMD fusion processors. Brian Nowlin, product manager for Sony's networked technology and services division, says they went with AMD because they were outperforming Intel's Atom.

The Vaio YB (Credits: Engadget)

The VAIO YB will start $549 US, which for a VAIO computer, is a very affordable price and one that can deliver a full functioning notebook experience at the size and price according to Nowlin.

Of course, the VAIO SA is up next and I'm still unsure as to whether this is the VAIO Z replacement or not. Nevertheless, it has an aluminium and carbon fiber chassis just like the current Z series and offers Core i5 and Core i7 processors, discrete graphics and a 1.3 megapixel webcam. The info from my previous post about the SA series are all correct, it comes with a USB 3.0 port and a new cooling system. One new enhancement though is an innovative sheet battery, which snaps on to the bottom of the chassis and charges the primary integrated battery giving the system an extra 6.5 hours of endurance meaning 13 hours of productivity all up, a most welcome addition. Though this additional battery will cost you $200. It will have an ATI 6630 graphics card, which is superior to the NVIDIA GT 330M in the Z. The pricing will start at $1250 for a hard drive version and $1800 for the SSD version. I am still unable to find any pictures of this 'SA' series which is concerning and also suspicious.

Xperia X12 teased in banner and unofficially unveiled!

As witnessed on a banner spotted at CES 2011, Sony is giving us a sneak preview of their next big multimedia handset, the Xperia X12, codenamed 'Anzu' .

The Anzu has also been unofficially unveiled and is now officially named the Xperia Arc obviously due to its arched back. The device is said to have an astonishing 4.2 inch Bravia mobile display which is run by Sony's Mobile Bravia engine. The Sony Mobile Bravia engine will ensure a smoother picture and incorporates noise reduction, sharpness control, color management and contrast enhancement functionality on the move! Given these nifty enhancements I think it would be correct to deduce that is a primarily multimedia focused phone which is also suggested by the text on the banner. 

It features a back-illuminated proprietary Sony EXMOR R CMOS sensor for astonishing noise reduction and picture quality in low light situations. It has an 8.1 megapixel camer and is able to record 720p HD video. There is also a mini-HDMI port for direct one cable connectivity to HDTV's.

Given that it is a multimedia oriented phone, I'm sure it will have support for the Qriocity range of services which offer streaming of music and movies and TV shows.

Obviously, since it hasn't been announced yet, this is all the information that has been obtained but we look forward to the official unveiling where we will obviously be informed of more of the devices specifications. 

Below is a promo video of the Xperia Arc

And below is some raw footage shot on the Xperia Arc and also displaying the works of the Bravia engine.



This phone looks marvellous indeed!

VAIO SA the next VAIO Z?

Update: It appears that the source has been taken down, so this may not be legitimate news or Sony has asked for it to be removed. Nevertheless, this 'SA' series is most likely to be an S series successor as I'm sure they wouldn't change the name from 'Z' to a much more unwieldy 'SA'. If anything, the next Z will probably be a 'ZA '. Will be keeping an eye out on Sony's press conference later tonight.

Although CES hasn't actually officially started apparently, Sony gave us a glimpse of its next big Vaio by the series 'SA', it appears that it could be the next Z series with some pretty beefy specs in a light and stylish carbon fiber form.

 Unfortunately I have not been able to obtain any pictures of the new laptop however it supposedly sports a nice 1600 X 900 13.3 inch display just like the Z series. The carbon fiber lid has a faint checkered pattern. The vent that is on the left on the Z series has been moved to the back of the notebook, the computer also maintains the backlit chiclet keyboard as found on the Z.
The SA series has the usual ports including a VGA, HDMI and SD and memory stick slots. There are three USB sports, one coloured in blue suggesting USB 3.0 support (YAY!).
The notebook will use Intel's Sandy Bridge and Huron River processors, and will also have a discrete graphics card which is deduced by the graphics switch above the keyboard. The battery is also no longer latch-removable, which obviously means no required room for battery removal infrastructure therefore a larger battery in which case I am expecting a longer battery life which is a much desired enhancement.
Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2375136,00.asp
Discussion: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/545391-sa-next-generation-vaio-z.html

Perhaps Android not the way to go?

A lot of people have been eagerly anticipating more Android devices from Sony, particularly a tablet and the eagerly awaited rumoured Playstation Phone. With torrents of Android tablets and devices flooding the market though, I'm left wondering whether Android is still the way to go for Sony.

I'm a long time Sony fan and have always respected Sony as an innovator, never letting themselves fall into the spiral of imitation and generic products, it is the innovating spirit that birthed the Trinitron television and brought Sony out of post-war Japan into the international market.

If Sony enters the now crowded tablet market with an Android powered device, there would be almost nothing to differentiate it with its competition especially with more Android tablets expected to come in droves at CES 2011. Of course a Sony Android tablet would carry brand name prowess and superior design and build quality, but in the digital age, like I mentioned in my previous post, it is the software that matters, and all in all, the software would be fundamentally the same with only a custom skin of some description to differentiate.

If I were Sony right now, I would focus more on the OS used on the Playstation Portable or PS3, though I'm sure that they've already developed an Android tablet.

Utilising an optimised version of the Playstation OS (I don’t know the specific name of the operating system used on Playstation systems so that’s what I’m going to call it from now on) on an upcoming PSPhone, Tablet and other portable devices would serve several useful purposes.

What the XMB Interface will look like on a tablet display

Most importantly it would be exclusive, just like Apple devices and means that only Sony products will utilise the OS. This would of course maintain Sony's gradually disintegrating reputation of innovation and uniqueness and increase Sony's brand value. Also given that Sony is the builder of the Playstation OS, it would be easier for them to update and provide services relevant to consumers demands, rather than relying on Google updating their Android Platform in ways that might not match up to what Sony is wanting.

Also, very importantly it would help create a unified experience (XMB Interface) across all of Sony’s products, which like Apple, will keep consumers coming back for more and also establish a certain experience synonymous with the Sony name.

The Playstation platform is extremely popular, with millions of users worldwide, so gaining a loyal consumer base shouldn’t be a problem, particularly if the device is able to connect to Playstation Network and other Playstation devices.

A crucial thing that needs to be done though, is possibly to make the device compatible with Playstation Portable titles, if that isn’t possible then open up the Playstation Platform more widely to developers which I had suggested long ago in one of my earlier posts: http://thesonypony.blogspot.com/2010/11/thinking-what-im-thinking-apps-on.html. Given the popularity of the Playstation, third party developers will be coming in droves and in no time we will see a wealth of Apps and mini-games available on the platform.

Of course it will be quite costly, in optimising a button based OS into an intuitive touch screen interface and obviously opening up an app store and hopefully integrating PSP title compatibility (download only obviously). However this is a solution for the long term and I see incredible potential in it, rather than taking the easy short term solution of adopting Android and just being another ‘me too’ device. If Sony can do this, and nail it, then not only are they taking the right step into unifying and networking all their devices but they’ve found themselves a legitimate and capable iOS and Android competitor. And most importantly, it will be Sony exclusive.

2011, the year of Network Entertainment.

Being the second day of the New Year, it would only be appropriate to state what I'm expecting from Sony this year, and what else could it be, but Sony's entrance into the world of online entertainment.

Sony in recent years, have struggled to keep up with the digital age, it is safe to say that this is what has lead to Sony's downfall in the last decade. 2011 though, is what in my eyes appears to be a turn for the better for Sony, with the PS3 well on track, and a wealth of online services through the Qriocity store, PS3, Bravia Internet Video and more it appears that 2011 is going to be a big year in network entertainment for Sony, something the company has been searching unsuccessfully for years.

This year, it looks as if Sony will be able to finally realise Akio Morita's dream of convergence and unity of both hardware and software/content, which Sony had tried with the acquisition of CBS and Columbia Pictures. Morita knew that hardware is nothing without complementing software and content. Sony seemed to lose that idea when the 21st century came around and it was particularly evident with the PS3's initial release, an expensive and brilliant piece of hardware with a limited and uninspiring software selection at launch. Sony has always valued itself as primarily a hardware company, creating groundbreaking hardware at premium prices, however in the digital age, software provides the experience and expandability and is arguably the more important of the pair. It has been told that during the development stage of the PS3, Sony hardware developers simply made the PS3 and gave it to the software guys and said 'do something with it.'

This is an area where Sony's change is evident, Sony's current online solutions are providing the right services to the right products, rather than just throwing services at products and seeing what will catch on, which inevitably dilutes the brand value.

The only logical way for Sony now is to expand, continue to add more useful services to Sony devices and unite the services into one easy to access store. Imagine switching on your Bravia Television or your Walkman player and having a wealth of content including ebooks, movies, music, games right at your fingertips, this is the kind of experience Sony should be striving for in 2011.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Happy New Year! I wish you all a prosperous and happy 2011