Items tagged with Sony
Sony today announced a new promotion that gives PlayStation 5 owners six months free of the Apple TV+ streaming service. Apple is really pushing its service and expanding its availability to more platforms as it seeks to compete with popular entrenched players like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+. If you currently own a PlayStation 5, you have from now until July 22nd, 2022 to redeem the Sony offer. The trial lasts for six months, after which the plan renews at the cost of $4.99 per month (until you decide to cancel it). Unlike typical offers, this "extended trial" is also available for those currently taking part in a free trial for Apple TV+. In that case, this new offer will tack...
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Could you imagine finally getting your hands on one of the hottest selling consoles that is incredibly difficult to find in stock, only for the manufacturer to release a revised version shortly after? That would stink for sure. It also just happened, with a revised version of the PlayStation 5 Digital Edition popping up online. Good news though—if you already purchased a PS5, there's no need to have buyer's remorse. It looks like there are only minor changes to the new CFI-1100B01 model. For one, Sony managed to make it lighter by around 300 grams (~0.66 pounds). Given how difficult it is to procure a PlayStation 5 of any kind, it is conceivable that some lucky owners might lug it around...
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Earlier this week, we learned that Netflix is planning to take on Microsoft xCloud, Amazon Luna, and Google Stadia with a game streaming service of its own. According to a credible report, Netflix plans to launch the service in 2022, and it would be available at no additional cost to subscribers (although last tidbit sounds a little hard to believe). Netflix added veteran gaming exec Mike Verdu from Electronic Art to its roster to advance its game streaming efforts. Today, we’re learning more about the service, thanks to some incredible datamining by Steve Moser. Moser dug into the source code for the Netflix app and found some clues for the upcoming gaming service, including artwork for...
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The console war between Microsoft and Sony is currently in a new generation, with the Xbox Series X/Xbox Series S battling it out against the PlayStation 5/PlayStation 5 Digital Edition. However, the consoles are broadly similar concerning internal hardware, with each sporting an AMD Zen 2-based Ryzen processor coupled with an RDNA 2 GPU. But there's one PlayStation 5 hardware accessory that Xbox chief Phil Spencer seemingly wants for the Xbox family: DualSense. The DualSense controller uses haptic feedback instead of rumble for a more realistic "tactile" sensation while gaming. In addition, the adaptive triggers can have varying resistance based on actions taking place on-screen. Unfortunately,...
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Cyberpunk 2077 is notorious for game-breaking bugs and poor performance. These issues have caused the game to be unavailable to PlayStation 4 owners until recently. However, these problems do not seem to have deterred eager consumers. Cyberpunk 2077 was the most downloaded game on the PlayStation 4 during June 2021 in the United States and Europe. Cyberpunk 2077 was pulled from the PlayStation store this past December. The game played decently on the latest consoles and on PC, but was simply a mess on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. CD Projekt Red (CPDR), Sony, and Microsoft all offered refunds to disgruntled consumers. CDPR admitted that they had not spent as much time focusing on the quality...
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Sony first gave us a glimpse at its upcoming Xperia 1 III flagship phone back in mid-April, and quite frankly, it's a beast. Although Sony provided all the smartphone's specs, it was reticent to clue us in on its price until now. According to the Japanese electronics giant, the Xperia 1 III will launch in the United States on August 19th with a price tag of $1,299. That's quite a princely sum for a flagship smartphone, even in the face of devices like the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max and the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. The former starts at $1,099, while the latter is priced at $1,249 (currently $999 on Amazon). For that price, you'll get a flagship-worthy Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor with 12GB...
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In early June, Xbox chief Phil Spencer sneered at Sony over its PlayStation to PC porting strategy, explaining that “Others [Sony] bring console games to PC years later, not only making people buy their hardware upfront but then charging them a second time to play on PC.” It seems that Sony is working on this problem, however, as the company is bringing Nixxes Software into the fold. Announced today, Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has completed the acquisition of Nixxes Software, “an industry-leading Dutch studio with more than 20 years of experience in game development and optimization.” Effective immediately, the company will be a part of PlayStation Studios Technology,...
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We first noticed last week that Sony would lift its PlayStation Store ban on Cyberpunk 2077. The game was booted from the PlayStation Store shortly after its release in December 2020 due to a litany of performance/gameplay issues and a plethora of bugs that made running the game on PlayStation hardware unbearable. Today, the game reemerged on the PlayStation Store, following months of significant updates and smaller hotfixes from developer CD Projekt Red. The last big update, Patch 1.23, landed on June 17th and brought some much-needed fixes (and polish) for missions, gameplay, and overall performance. Users may continue to experience some performance issues with the PS4 edition while we continue...
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If you're one of the lucky gamers out there with a PlayStation 5 hooked up to your big-screen TV, we've got even more good news for you. Sony just announced that it would launch its first-ever beta program for PlayStation 5 software updates. Microsoft has long offered its Xbox Insider Program for console gamers, so we're surprised that it took Sony this long to jump on the bandwagon. Such programs give gamers early access to upcoming software features and companies like Microsoft and Sony a larger pool of "test subjects" to pinpoint potential bugs and incompatibilities. According to Sony, PlayStation 5 gamers selected for the beta can "test new console features before the next major system update...
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With mobile phone displays switching over to OLED panels, companies like Japan Display Inc., specializing in LCD screens, face the consequences. However, OLED panels are not perfect, nor can they do everything, such as displays in virtual and augmented reality headsets. The pixel density of LCDs simply cannot be matched with present technology or price, so that is what JDI is now focusing on in the fledgling VR and AR marketplace. Following the downturn in LCD sales to smartphone manufacturers, the Tokyo-based JDI believes that its display technology will become the standard for VR/AR as “it can achieve higher resolution than OLED while keeping costs reasonable,” as reported by Bloomberg....
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The PlayStation 5 came out last autumn but many consumers have still found it frustratingly difficult to get their hands on the console. It has been out of stock at many major retailers. However, there seems to be one opportunity coming up that may allow you to finally get the console. Here is how you could potentially purchase a Playstation 5 through Sony Direct this Thursday. Sony Direct will host an invite-only event on Thursday, June 17th at 3pm ET for consumers to purchase the PS5. Consumers can sign-up for a Sony Direct account and opt-in to receive notifications about news and offers. Users can choose to receive these notifications by clicking on the “Notification” section...
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The Cyberpunk 2077 launch for PC and consoles left much to be desired after many bugs and glitches ruined the play experiences. However, the company behind the game, CD Projekt Red, has been working hard to recover from the nightmare, and it seems things are now going in its favor. Cyberpunk 2077, which was once removed from the PlayStation store, has seemingly reappeared in what could be a return to grace. On December 17th, Sony decided to pull the plug on Cyberpunk 2077 after game-breaking bugs hampered the initial launch. It is now six months later, and we are several patches deep, like Patch 1.2, which fixed several problems but brought in new ones. Regardless of the new issues, it was thought...
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A bunch of record labels including Sony Music, Capitol Records, and Warner Music have filed a joint lawsuit against Frontier Communications for not disconnecting internet subscribers who "repeatedly infringe" on copyrights by illegally downloading and sharing music. The lawsuit also suggests Frontier allegedly encourages such behavior by advertising the ability to "download 10 songs in 3.5 seconds" on its high-speed tiers. Frontier is an internet service provide (ISP) that serves more than 3 million broadband subscribers, including both residential and business customers, in at least 25 states. That's a drop in the bucket compared to ISPs like Comcast and Spectrum, but it still ranks as one of...
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There's no love lost between Sony and Microsoft on the console front. The companies are fierce competitors, and things are heating up now that the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 have been battling it out on the market for the past six months. One point of friction between the two comes concerning games and how they're delivered to consumers. Given that Microsoft has its Windows PC and Xbox platforms to distribute games, it has the ability -- so far, with great success -- to release first-party games simultaneously only on both platforms. In addition, through Xbox Game Pass, gamers can play new releases on day one with their subscription -- not just old games from its existing PlayStation-exclusive...
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Amazon has a spotty track record of delivering electronics in perfect condition to customers, such as the destruction of AMD CPUs earlier this year. Most recently, a farming and photography couple in Colorado ordered a brand-new Sony Alpha 1 camera from Amazon, but only found empty boxes. When you spend $7,000 on a product, you would expect a certain level of care and protection to ensure that it arrives in good, working condition. In an interview with The Denver Channel, Bill and Kelly Chiles explained that they ordered a new camera only to open it and find two empty camera boxes inside the ironically smiling Amazon box that left them anything but happy. "We've bought several cameras from Amazon,...
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For some time, the International Olympic Committee has been considering adding esports games to its portfolio of games played during the Olympics. Now, esports has finally made it as the first-ever qualifier for the “Olympic Virtual Series Motor Sport Event” is complete, and 16 players will be virtually racing on Olympic Day, June 23rd. In April, the Olympic Virtual Series is a new endeavor from the IOC in partnership with “five international sports federations and corresponding games publishers to create virtual events in Baseball, Cycling, Rowing, Sailing, and Motor Sport.” The motorsport portion of the virtual events series is run by the Fédération Internationale...
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The PlayStation 5 has barely been on the market for six months, but Sony is already projecting a considerable milestone for its hot-selling game console. The company shared a presentation with investors this week in which it talked about the sales performance of the PlayStation 5 compared to its predecessor, among other things. However, the most exciting revelation is that Sony forecasts that the standard edition of the PlayStation (the $499 version with a Blu-ray drive) will reach the break-even point next month. That's an incredibly short time on the market for Sony to break even with such a high-performance console. The PlayStation 5 packs in an AMD Zen 2/RDNA 2 APU, 16GB of GDDR6 memory,...
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Sony is selling PlayStation 5 consoles faster than it can manufacturer them, which is a combination of rabid demand (truly next-gen game systems don't come out super often) and a global shortage of silicon. But as successful as the PS5 has been so far, it is not Sony's sole focus. It plans on bolstering its presence in the mobile gaming sector, and is hoping to significantly grow its PlayStation Now service. As part of its strategy to grow different segments, Sony said it plans to spend 2 trillion Japanese yen (equivalent to nearly $18.4 billion in US currency) over the next three years on strategic investments. A major part of the goal is to massive increase the number of customers connected...
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During the pandemic, many people have had nothing better to do than play video games in their downtime, and the market is showing that trend. Console sales are up tremendously, and even though there has been a lasting chip shortage affecting production for all brands, the Nintendo Switch is outpacing both the PlayStation 5 family and the Xbox Series X|S. For Q1 2021, Ampere Analysis reports that Nintendo Switch’s sell-through volume has hit 5.86 million units which is up roughly 12% compared to this time last year. However, this momentum may stagnate when Q2 comes around. This is because of how sales were affected during the pandemic and the massive launch of Animal Crossing: New Horizons,...
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Sony introduced its WF-1000XM3 wireless headphones in 2019, which were praised for their audio performance and noise cancellation abilities. Now that we're coming up on the second anniversary of its launch, Sony is on the verge of releasing its successor: the WF-1000XM4. Thankfully for us, serial leaker Evan Blass posted what appears to be official press renders of the WF-1000XM4 wireless earbuds. Compared to the XM3's, the XM4's have a completely new design. Whereas the previous generation featured an oblong, pill-shed design for the earbuds, the XM4's have a more circular shape. It also appears that the charging case is also a bit smaller due to the reduced dimension of the earbuds. The leak...
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Back in February, Sony shared the first details of its next-generation virtual reality system that is headed to the PlayStation 5, but stopped far short of serving up any juicy nuggets. Sony said the next-gen model will enhance the resolution, tracking, and input, and connect with a single cable. Fast forward to today and some interesting details have emerged from the rumor mill. As the PSVR 2 gets closer to launch, Sony has reportedly shared a few specifics with its partners. It is said the PSVR 2 will get a resolution upgrade to 4000x2040 pixels, or 2000x2040 per eyeball. That would give it one of the highest resolutions among consumer VR headsets. Here's how it compares to some other models......
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Here we are six months after the initial launch of Sony's PlayStation 5, and there's still no relief in sight for supply woes. The consoles have been a mega-hit with gamers and are instant sellouts whenever stock is available at online retailers. This demand has driven up the prices of the consoles on third-party marketplaces. For those hopeful that Sony would get a firm grasp on supply issues leading into the second half of 2021, we have some disappointing news for you. In guidance to analysts, Sony confirmed that the PlayStation 5 would be in short supply for the remainder of 2021 and possibly even through 2022. "I don't think demand is calming down this year, and even if we secure a lot more...
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