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Filed under: Gaming

Well, color us surprised! Here we have yet another “limited edition” PlayStation 3 bundle, this time with Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune packed in alongside a PlayStation Network voucher for PAIN, a DualShock 3 wireless controller and… a 160GB PS3 console? Yep, Sony’s formally introducing us to the new king, which will start shipping to North America this November in the aforementioned kit for $499.99. Curiously, there’s no word as to whether it’ll be released separate from the bundle (we’re guessing yes), and there’s no mention of PS2 backwards compatibility (so don’t count on it). In related news, the “new” $399.99 80GB version is finally shipping to retailers, so you should be able to snap one up in the very, very near future.

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: HDTV, Home Entertainment

Yeah, you read that correctly — the obsessive audiophiles / videophiles at the Criterion Collection use Sony’s PlayStation 3 as its reference Blu-ray player. In all honesty, we can’t say we’re too surprised. Time and again, Sony’s latest console has been rated very highly as a dedicated BD deck, and the plentiful firmware updates ensure that it’s always at the forefront of whatever interactive functionality is next. This snippet of factual goodness was extracted from a recent writeup that took an in-depth look at how the CC would be revamping its home theater, and even famed calibration guru Joe Kane gave his approval at using the console for playing back Blu-ray Discs. The real kicker? They also settled upon a DVIGear HDMI cable over one of those obscenely overpriced Ogre cables — and that was after running clean out of coat hangers.

[Via CNET]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Gaming

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/playstation/Sony_busts_Out_Metallic_Blue_Madden_09_PSP_Entertainment_Pak’; If dreams of a possibly redesigned PSP don’t have you waiting, you’re a sucker for the Madden football, and the color blue gets you going, Sony has the package for you. The Madden NFL 09 PSP Entertainment Pack includes a metallic-blue PSP, Madden NFL 09, 1GB Memory Stick Duo, In Just One Play movie on UMD (apparently they’re still pressing movies on UMD), and a voucher for a free download of Beats from the PSN. It runs $199 like other PSP packs, and is available…now. Question is: who’s the Jets’ starting quarterback?

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Source: Joshua Fruhlinger

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Filed under: Portable Audio, Portable Video

Sony’s China-only PMPs have always been a little more interesting than the gear we see Stateside, and the new PMX-M80 is no exception. The 4.3-inch touchscreen player packs 16GB of storage and decent codec support into a sleek white box, as well as a new mapping application that’s apparently a novelty in China. Too bad this thing won’t ever make it over here — although at 2,260 yuan ($331), it probably wouldn’t shake things up too much.

[Via PMP Today]

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Source: Nilay Patel

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Filed under: Cellphones

An undeterred Sony Ericsson appears to have a handsome new slider on its way out in the near future — according to a slew of pictures leaked to the se4m forums — meant to sit beside the previously spied (and supposedly forthcoming) Remi. The device — dubbed the G705 — will feature GPS, WiFi, a 2.4-inch display, a 3.2 megapixel camera with flash, 128MB of internal memory, and will run atop the A2 software platform. There’s not a ton of info to go around right now, but if you hit the read link you can feast your eyes on a wide array of succulent photos. We’re including another shot after the break, just in case you don’t like traveling.

[Via Navigadget]Continue reading Sony Ericsson’s G705 slider leaks onto internet, shows hope for the future

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Source: Joshua Topolsky

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Filed under: Displays

We Americans have had the opportunity to pick up Sony’s Reader for what seems like eons, but you poor bookworms holed up in the UK have been neglected unjustly. No more, as Sony has just opened up the phone lines for folks eager to claim their spot in line the queue. No need in rehashing the specifications you already know — it’s still the same ole PRS-505, just way more expensive in US dollars.

[Via MobileRead, thanks Alex]

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Source: Darren Murph

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Filed under: Gaming

We got a chance to sit down with Sony Computer Entertainment of America’s CEO Jack Tretton, who gave us the lowdown about a few things we’ve had on our minds.

PS3
On backwards compatibility: Jack explained that Sony looked at how to “not take a greater hit on production cost, without losing PlayStation’s heritage … Hardware / software for backwards compat wasn’t all that expensive. … but we’re selling PS2 software to PS2 customers, and selling PS3 software to PS3 consumers.” Still, Jack seems to feel like it may have been the wrong move. “I would like to have had it in there, but Sony’s collective strategy determined we could afford to lose it. We’ve now gone down that road, and we’re not going back.”

On DRM and the video store: As of right now, Tretton is a firm supporter of the need to DRM content on the PlayStation platforms, and Sony believes that “the drm for a song maybe isn’t as important for a movie and a game… this is way too hard a business to make money in to allow people to own multiple copies for the price of one.” (That’s what they all say!) “I’m all for allowing an individual consumer having the freedom to do with their content what they want,” but Sony has no intention of opening its video up any more than it has to.

PSP
On drive or flash storage: Sony has “definitely thought about storage on the PSP,” and understands the inevitable “march towards digital content delivery device.” But in terms of a drive-based PSP, they have “nothing that’s imminent.” (Read: don’t hold your breath.)

On how downloadable video affects the already sad state of UMD: UMD “has struggled, and it wasn’t handled effectively from the beginning. … I firmly believe in a digital model” as they’re rolling out, but Sony is “still going to support UMD” as a device for movies.

What’s preventing PSP software sales: Three things. Title ports from PS2 games (people don’t want to buy the same title twice), and the PSP’s media functions. But Jack put the most emphasis on “piracy in the hundreds of thousands of units are preventing software sales. it’s a problem that affects our software sales right now.”Continue reading SCEA CEO Jack Tretton dishes: DRM is in, backwards compatibility is out, and video UMD lives on

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Source: Ryan Block

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Filed under: Portable Audio

No, it’s not all Playstation news for Sony today — the company also announced the new NWZ-B130F Walkman, a slender little stick of a player available in several colors. The latest entry in the B series of Walkmans sports a 3-line LCD, MP3 and PlaysForSure WMA support, 90 minutes of playback on a 3-minute charge, an FM tuner, and voice recorder in both 1GB and 2GB capacities. We’re hearing pricing will come at least $20 below that of the iPod Shuffle, but it’s a little moot — it’s scheduled for an Asia-only arrival in August at the moment.

[Via SonyInsider]

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Source: Nilay Patel

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