Sony’s New Experia Smartphone Range

Kazuo Hirai is due to formally take over as Sony CEO on April 1, replacing Howard Stringer. Hirai said that while some management changes had already been identified there was still a long way to go to “explain to everybody who’s doing what.” Sony has declared a return to the smartphone business, unveiling its first smartphones under the Sony brand, but warned the group’s painful transition would not be as fast as rebranding.

“People have these lofty expectations that we’re going to have all the answers to all the problems that plague the world on April 1,” Hirai said in an interview at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress. “We’re not going to have that.”

The once-stellar consumer electronics brand is heading for what it has warned would be a much bigger-than-expected $2.9 billion annual loss, its fourth in a row. The surge of red ink has put Hirai under intense pressure from investors and ratings agencies to quickly staunch losses at the sprawling electronics group. Read the full article »»»»

Sony’s New Experia Smartphone Range

Kazuo Hirai is due to formally take over as Sony CEO on April 1, replacing Howard Stringer. Hirai said that while some management changes had already been identified there was still a long way to go to “explain to everybody who’s doing what.” Sony has declared a return to the smartphone business, unveiling its first smartphones under the Sony brand, but warned the group’s painful transition would not be as fast as rebranding.

“People have these lofty expectations that we’re going to have all the answers to all the problems that plague the world on April 1,” Hirai said in an interview at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress. “We’re not going to have that.”

The once-stellar consumer electronics brand is heading for what it has warned would be a much bigger-than-expected $2.9 billion annual loss, its fourth in a row. The surge of red ink has put Hirai under intense pressure from investors and ratings agencies to quickly staunch losses at the sprawling electronics group. Read the full article »»»»

The WipeOut Quantum Levitation Hoax, Wipe Out 2048 And How It All Leads Back To The PSP Vita Worldwide Release

Levitation, the ability to appear to defy gravities bonds, has long fascinated humanity. From flying carpets to flying nuns it has long been part of our culture. Quantum Levitation is such an attention grabber that even the latest marketing push by Sony has made use of Quantum Levitation.

The latest viral video to highlight quantum levitation it turns out is a fake, a brilliantly executed rendering of WipeOut 2048 in real life. The video uses computer generated graphics to render what is a simulated real life WipeOut 2048 slot car set.

Not intended as a demonstration of toys in the year 2048, which it actually achieves effortlessly but instead intended to be a part of the build-up to the world wide release of WipeOut 2048 and the PS Vita, all on February 22nd and 23rd. There are many other examples of this build up too, little snippets around the web that all point to the end of February release. With the cogs of the Sony machine slowly gaining speed finally the rest of the world will get a chance to test the PS Vita waters.

Sony's Incoming CEO Kazua Harai to Extend PlayStation Strategey

Incoming Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai aims to re-shape Sony by linking hardware and software through online networks – a model he frequented while heading Sony’s PlayStation unit - dismissing any suggestion the battered brand would revert to a gadget-centric strategy under his management. In the meantime, he said, he would focus on paring costs at its TV unit and look to squeeze expenses elsewhere to return Sony to profit.

The Sony Computer Entertainment model “is a bigger concept we can grow into a bigger space,” Hirai, 51, said in a group interview at the company’s Tokyo headquarters. “Hardware drives software and software drives hardware,” he added, referring to online sales of games and other content PlayStation owners.

Hirai oversaw the phenomenal rise of the PlayStation gaming system in the United States and since last March headed Sony’s consumer products and services business. He didn’t say what changes the wider application of that strategy would have on Sony, which unlike its consumer electronics rivals such as Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc, owns significant content in movies, music and games software. Read the full article »»»»

Sony's Incoming CEO Kazua Harai to Extend PlayStation Strategey

Incoming Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai aims to re-shape Sony by linking hardware and software through online networks – a model he frequented while heading Sony’s PlayStation unit - dismissing any suggestion the battered brand would revert to a gadget-centric strategy under his management. In the meantime, he said, he would focus on paring costs at its TV unit and look to squeeze expenses elsewhere to return Sony to profit.

The Sony Computer Entertainment model “is a bigger concept we can grow into a bigger space,” Hirai, 51, said in a group interview at the company’s Tokyo headquarters. “Hardware drives software and software drives hardware,” he added, referring to online sales of games and other content PlayStation owners.

Hirai oversaw the phenomenal rise of the PlayStation gaming system in the United States and since last March headed Sony’s consumer products and services business. He didn’t say what changes the wider application of that strategy would have on Sony, which unlike its consumer electronics rivals such as Samsung Electronics and Apple Inc, owns significant content in movies, music and games software. Read the full article »»»»

SONY Denies PlayStation Vita Issues

Just 5 days out from Sony’s much lauded PlayStation Vita launch, a strangely opaque picture is emerging of embattled Sony and it’s new übergadget. Sony is yet to release official sales figures, gaming sites are suggesting sales of around 320,000 units in the first 2 days after release, not too shabby!  Sony has got to be nervous over sales figures for the first weeks of PS Vita, can they sort out Vita’s teething problems before they numb sales? Eager to make amends for the past 12 months of bad press, as well as some serious technical difficulties with their latest generation of handheld games console, including dead touch-screens and frequent system crashes. Sony seems to be doing what Sony does best, simply deny that there’s a problem? To add to the confusion, Sony has posted a Q&A – rather than just A – on their PlayStation Vita site. No Power? System Freeze? PSN Account Registration Issues? GPS/WiFi/3G Positioning Not Working? Some Games/Titles Won’t Work? The latter, and perhaps most important – ‘Some Games/Titles Won’t Work’ – is easily resolved. Sony suggests you follow these steps: M★D