As sincere as Sony can apparently be, the console maker has an issued an apology to gamers worldwide who might be upset at the removal of the "Install Other OS" option from their PlayStation 3. For a select few, the touted ability to install an alternative OS was a huge selling point in the PS3's favor, so we can...Read more...
Out of the 365 days that make up our calendar year, Sony has chosen to release its next system software update for the PlayStation platform on April 1, otherwise known as April Fool's Day. Install it, however, and the joke's on you, at least if you're planning to roll with an alternate OS. That's because the optional update will disable the...Read more...
The hardware specifications for the components in the XBox 360 or Playstation 3 may not have changed since launch day, but semiconductor manufacturing has advanced significantly. Supposedly leaked photos of a new XBox 360 motherboard indicate that Microsoft could be poised to take advantage of that fact. If the image is real (and it might...Read more...
It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Back when all three consoles were just spec sheets and demo units it was Microsoft vs. Sony and Blu-ray vs. HD DVD. Even the pundits who thought the Wii's motion control interface could win it market share weren't predicting that the modest device would prove as popular as the XBox and PS3 combined. Both...Read more...
Sony's PS3 is getting an upgrade in the form of HD movie content from all six of the major movie studios. Walt Disney Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Warner Bros. will offer HD movies for purchase and rental on the PlayStation Network video delivery service in the United...Read more...
The specs and capabilities of modern smartphones/handheld devices have been increasing rapidly for several years and according to the GPU developers of Imagination Technologies, the sky's the limit. The company owns and develops the PowerVR 3D architecture that dominates the mobile 3D segment; company reps at GDC this week have told journalists...Read more...
Nintendo has their Wii remote, Microsoft will soon have their Project Natal, and now, Sony has their PlayStation Move. At the GDC '10 conference in San Francisco, the maker of the PS3 decided to cut loose and unveil the "next generation" in console control, though it's really just a sophisticated improvement upon the...Read more...
Forget about unlocking achievements and collecting in-game items, you can score some serious real-world cash just for playing Major League Baseball 2K10. And not just a little bit of loot, but $1 million! That's the largest ever for this kind of contest.So what's the catch? Just be the first to pitch a perfect game (no hits, no walks, and...Read more...
Man, this took long enough, did it not? After literally years of rumoring, Nintendo's Wii is finally going to stream Netflix movies. The Wii joins the PS3 and Xbox 360, both of which have been able to tune into Netflix Watch Instantly queues for months upon months now, and while it may be last, we get the idea that...Read more...
Netflix is taking the world by storm. Blockbuster stores are shaking at the thought of being dominated by by-mail DVD outlets, and with "Watch Instantly" bringing Netflix titles to users on-demand over broadband, one really does have to wonder if there's any limit to just how popular this company will become.For the longest while, Netflix...Read more...
There's no denying the significance of Netflix these days. The once tiny startup is now a monolith in the industry, and it has practically put the likes of Blockbuster on the ropes. What's interesting, however, is that the DVD-by-mail nature of its business isn't getting most of the attention these days. What is? The...Read more...
You know us--we'll never turn a blind eye to a good megacorp vs. megacorp battle. Be in Intel vs. NVIDIA, AMD vs. Intel or Dell vs. HP, we love to watch the shots from the sidelines. And folks, this is a good one. Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg, director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, recently sat down...Read more...
Sony's PlayStation 3 "Slim" has only been on sale for a few months now, and while Sony has stated that sales are way, way up, we still didn't expect a 'round 2' to be available this soon. For those not content with the single "Slim" offering on the shelf (a 120GB model for $299), Sony will soon deliver a higher capacity model to US consumers...Read more...
Sony and Amazon have an interesting relationship. On one hand, they're enemies. The Kindle rivals the Sony Reader, and vice-versa. On the other, they're best of friends, with Sony now being able to sell digital downloads codes for its PlayStation wares through the online mega-retailer's website. A newly formed...Read more...
There's little doubt that Nintendo changed the gaming world forever with its Wii remote (or Wiimote, if you please). Before the Wii, gamers were stuck using control pads, joysticks, keyboards and mice to interact with digital realms, but Nintendo made it possible for actual human movements to control gameplay. Now, Sony is under pressure to...Read more...
One million. That's a pretty large number. In fact, that's a really hefty sum. And it's even larger when you hit that figure from 0 in three weeks. That's exactly what Sony has accomplished, as its newest PlayStation 3, hailed by many as the "PS3 slim," has sold one million units since debuting three weeks ago in...Read more...
The Cell Broadband Engine Architecture (typically referred to as the Cell or Cell BE) processor used in Sony's PS3 was actually a joint venture between IBM, Sony, and Toshiba, but IBM and Sony have commercialized the architecture far more than their partner. That could change within a year or two; the electronics manufacturer has announced Read more...
It's unavoidable: 3D is the next big thing in television, whether you believe it or not. With 1080p panels losing their luster in terms of novelty, there's hardly any other feature that TV makers can add to entice you to upgrade. Besides, our current cable and fiber systems can't even deliver content en masse at a resolution above 1080p, so...Read more...
More details have arisen about the Sony Ericsson Aino cell phone that will have some PS3 integration embedded in it. It's not the "PSP phone" that people keep talking about and hoping for, and to be honest, it seems to lack a lot of what people might have been hoping for. In a Q&A with the Euro PS blog, Sony Ericsson's Lisa Canning dished...Read more...
It's not the first time an e-tailer has outed a product early. It won't be the last. It appears that Amazon.com's German site has listed a 250GB version of the Xbox 360 Elite. It's a good time to be a gamer, eh? First the PS3 "Slim" and a $100 price reduction, then the corresponding $100 price drop for the Xbox 360 Elite, and now a 250GB Xbox...Read more...
The move made almost mandatory by the recent announcement of the PS3 Slim as well as a $100 price cut by Sony made this an expected move. On Thursday, Microsoft announced that the price of the Xbox 360 Elite will be dropped by $100 to $299. Yes, that's the high-end model with a 120GB hard drive, There might be some bad news, however. ...Read more...
Sony hasn't sold a PS3 that offered a hardware-level backwards compatibility mode in several years, but with the announcement of the PS3 Slim, fans of the feature were hopeful it might reappear in the new, slimmed-down version. Ars Technica recently had the chance to sit down and talk with Sony's director of hardware...Read more...