sony

Sony now has a new enemy: God. Well, sort of. The Church of England has accused the company of using Manchester Cathedral in its first-person-shooter (FPS) video game, "Resistance: Fall of Man." Sony, of course, denies the charges. The Church has ... requested a formal apology and removal of the game from store shelves. Is Sony likely to comply? Probably not. "It is game-created footage, it is not video or photography," Sony spokesman David Wilson said to The London Times. "It is entertainment, like Doctor Who or any other science fiction. It is not based on reality at all. Throughout the whole ... (view more)

With Sony confirming it will now be laying off workers in both Europe and the United States (while "restructuring" Japanese operations), the company appears to have little choice but to reduce the price of its PlayStation 3. Sony's console is ... responsible for the gaming division job cuts, largely because, although extremely powerful, the PlayStation 3 has simply been too expensive. It seems Sony may be creeping ever closer to that much-needed price slash, with its president calling such a move "a possibility". For those that can afford it, the $599 PlayStation 3 includes a Blu-ray high ... (view more)

Although most gamers are aware that Sony has, for the time being at least, been stripped of its console crown, few realize just how bad times are for the Japanese company. Although speculation has run rampant for months that Sony might lay off some ... of its workforce in the wake of the PlayStation 3's early troubles, only recently is the company officially announcing plans to do just that stateside. It seems Sony's American workers will be worst hit, with plans for Japanese operations to remain mere "restructuring". When the PlayStation 3 launched in November, few could have predicted Sony ... (view more)

Another patent infringement occurs in the world of technology. This time, Sony may be the guilty party. Certicom, a Toronto-based development company, is suing the Sony Corporation for patent infringement. The equipment in question includes Sony's ... Playstation 3, DVD players, personal computers, and various high definition televisions and audio products. Sony is accused of breaching Certicom's patents by manufacturing, using, importing, distributing, and selling their products in the United States without Certicom's permission. The violated Certicom patents, employed in content protection ... (view more)

The Sony PlayStation 3, thus far, has been a failure. Outsold five to one in Japan by the Nintendo Wii and trailing the Xbox 360 in North America, the big black console has largely lost the gaming throne it inherited from its ancestor, the ... PlayStation 2. Much of the PS3's current condition is a result of Sony's high price point, with consumers forced to bone up $599 for the feature-laden system. Hopes, however, are now rising, ever so faintly. That's because Sony has recently dropped the price of its Blu-ray player, and it could mean similar reductions to the PlayStation 3. (Source: dailytech ... (view more)

Some tech writers, including myself, have compared the upcoming Apple iPhone to the Sony PlayStation 3. Both boast a plethora of extras and an equally awe-inspiring cost, factors that could doom the iPhone's June release (and future). It certainly ... hasn't proven to be a successful tactic for Sony, whose PlayStation 3 is routinely outsold in mass numbers by the Microsoft Xbox 360 and especially the beloved Nintendo Wii, which also launched in November of last year. Recent sales statistics are even more depressing for PS3 owners, as the Japanese market continues to ignore Sony's big black ... (view more)

When Blu-ray and HD-DVD players launched into the home market last year, most consumers balked at the technology. Why? Despite some very impressive image resolutions, both the players and movies were far more expensive than the average DVD player. ... Those that could afford one of the two preferred Toshiba's HD-DVD lineup, however, since it retailed for about $400, or less than half the cost of the cheapest Blu-ray device. That's all changing now, as Blu-ray continues to drop in price. (Source: monstersandcritics.com ) During the latter half of 2007, Toshiba certainly owned the advantage over ... (view more)

Target Technology (TT), a Californian company is taking legal action against Sony due to claims of patent infringement. The tension was sparked by Sony's use of Blu-ray technology in its PlayStation 3 games console. The angered party contends that ... the technology Sony used to produce Blu-ray discs violates one of its patents. The copyright, which was granted to Sony in 2006, "describes the use of silver-based alloys, which have the advantages of gold in the production of the discs, but at a lower cost." (Source: channelregister.co.uk ) In terms of demands, Target Technology wants three Sony- ... (view more)

Digital Rights Management (DRM) has been gaining some negative attention, especially with Apple's Steve Jobs pushing towards a DRM-free music industry. Sony seems to have magnified people's annoyance with DRM, and taken frustrations to a whole new ... level. The company recently released DVDs with DRM protection that makes the DVDs unplayable in various DVD players -- including at least one Sony DVD player. (Source: dvorak.com ) The aggravation can be attributed to Sony's ARccOS DRM technique. ARccOS works by scrambling sectors on the disc to prevent users from copying the disc. Most older ... (view more)

When Sony's Chief Executive Sir Howard Stringer recently sat down for an interview, one common theme kept coming up: Apple. Stringer revealed that his company blew it on the digital media front and lost out to the Apple's iPod, but swore that he ... would not repeat the same mistake when going head to head with the iPhone. When Stringer took over as head of Sony in 2005, he says that every branch of the company was a silo -- operating independently and sheltered from one another. This compartmentalized structure, he says, let to some serious delays in the company's digital music efforts. Stringer ... (view more)