Sony is known for its Cybershot line of digital cameras. They tend to be priced high and offer fantastic image quality and usability. One thing that’s still odd though is how Sony is still using memory cards for storage. With the price of solid state memory going down and increased storage capacity, the age of the memory card is slowly coming to an end. Enter the Cybershot T700.

It’s super thin at only 16.4mm thick and features a big 3.5-inch LCD. It comes in pink and graphite and each camera packs a bunch of features like face detection, etc. The coup de grace? A whopping 4GB of internal storage so you never need to “lose” a memory card again. On the other hand, if you lose the transfer cable, you’re shit out of luck. Expect the T700 to launch in September.

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Just when you thought that the 400GB Blu-ray discs announced in early July couldn’t get any sweeter sounding, Pioneer renders it obsolete less than two months after. The standard size of a Blu-ray disc is 25 GB on a single layer and 50GB with a dual layer. Well, the fat cats at pioneer were not satisfied with even 16 layers of storage. It needed to go bigger. So, they crammed 25 layers on to the disc, with each layer containing 25GB of memory, totaling up to a whopping 500GB of storage space. Even with Buffalo’s 8x Blu-ray recorder, it’d be a difficult task to fill up 500GB.

Brendan Sheridan, Product Manager of Pioneer Europe NV, Multimedia Division: “With its strong support among the gaming, movie and PC industries, Blu-ray has become the de facto next generation storage system. …we envision the need for a technology that can support far greater capacities as HD streaming in particular becomes commonplace and users build larger files of digital content.”

With Blu-ray getting bigger and bigger, you’re going to need a player for all your friends to know how hip you are. What better than a Playstation 3 for all your media needs at a fraction of the price of other Blu-ray players.

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The main reason you bought a Playstation 3 was probably due to Killzone 2 or Playstation Home, Sony’s new online service that’s supposed to be something like Xbox Live meets Second Life. You and your friends can meet up with your avatars, talk, chat, shoot the shit and so on. Oh, and more importantly, you can play games together too.

As of today, Sony is accepting applications for the closed beta test of the Home service. Right now it only looks like Japan is lucking out but the US market could soon follow:

Applications are initially being accepted from Thursday until Aug. 11 from users in Japan only. Sony expects to offer access to about 10,000 gamers during the beta, which will begin in late August.

During the beta stage users will be able to play the games that make up Bandai Namco’s “Namco Museum” package, which include PacMan, in the service’s “Game Space.”

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Sony announced Tuesday that it will cut the price of the 80GB version of the PlayStation 3 from $500 to $400 for this fall in an effort to compete with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and to attract “millions of PlayStation 2 users who are on the cusp of upgrading,” Tretton said. However, if you’re one of those said PlayStation 2 users and all you do is play classic game compilations or 2D fighting games, then making the upgrade now holds little favor for your calloused thumbs.

While dropping the 80GB down to the 40’s price, Sony will be discontinuing the 40GB model, forcing would-be customers into a $400 dollar affair. Now, if Sony had kept the 40GB model and dropped its price tag down to $300, that would’ve really showed Microsoft that its got balls. Maybe next year.

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Japanese electronics giant Sony is set to unveil a mysterious new product Monday night at 9 p.m. sharp. No one has any idea what type of device Sony is going to reveal, but on their web site they released a picture of a glowing green power button and promised something that will “redefine” performance, mobility, and style.

Based on those descriptions, odds are Sony’s new product is a laptop. On the other hand, the last time Sony did a mystery marketing campaign, it was for a dancing, light up MP3 player so there’s no point speculating about what might be behind the curtain at this latest top secret product launch. We’ll just have to stay tuned.

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In an effort to stem losses from console sales (because the PS3 is a steal), Sony announced Friday that it is in desperate need of cash. Well, that wasn’t verbatim but it was something along the lines of an offer for advertising space in their upcoming games.

“Various game titles are played by fans who like certain things, which can offer opportunities for targeted ads,” said a Sony spokesman.

Wait, doesn’t everyone like certain things? Prepare yourself for a mindfuck of corporate pollution in your video games. The ’shopped picture says it all.
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Sony’s new HT-IS100 home theater system has the smallest speakers of any home theater system I’ve seen to date. With 450-watts of power, these miniature speakers pack a punch that rivals many standard sized speakers. An optional wireless kit allows the two rear speakers to be hooked up without the need to run wires, keeping your setup free of cluttered wires.

The entire system goes for around $700 and includes three HDMI ports on the head unit, making it an ideal system for any Blu-ray player. Building that impressive home stereo system couldn’t come at a better price or smaller size.
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Sony’s latest prototype speaker, the Sountina, has finally arrived on store shelves. Besides its awkward shape and size, the main selling-point is the transparent organic glass tube which vibrates and expands sound to 360-degrees. In the guise of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s bong, this speaker has a larger price tag than any glass piece used for tobacco purposes only. If you can afford $10k for the single speaker, you’d know it’s the only speaker you’d ever need. After all, it generates sound in every direction and it’ll get you high.

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I’d be lying if I said I never expressed interest in “Rent”, the rock musical that changed this and that and everything in between on Broadway. As you may or may not know, “Rent” is about to end its run on Broadway after 12 years. Sony Pictures is looking to cash in huge on the final performance, so it’s decided it will simulcast it to various movie theaters throughout the US.

Exact dates for the screenings haven’t been set yet, so you’ll just have to wait for now unless you feel like shelling out lots and lots of money for an actual ticket to the show. Could we a trend of other plays and performances being broadcast to movie theaters in the future? Absolutely. Next up is “Delerium” from Cirque du Soleil.

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I’ve written many an opinion column on why the Playstation 3 is the best console out there. After HD DVD died, my argument was strengthened further. Ryan then put the nail in the coffin by confirming that the only BD Live-enabled player on the market right now is the PS3.

A lot of talk has gone on revolving around the price of Blu-Ray players on the market. Some argue that prices have increased since HD DVD died out. Others state that prices are going down on specific players. While each side has some truth to it, the Playstation 3 remains at $399 and gives you both the best Blu-Ray player available and the most powerful gaming console on the market. Either way, consumers shouldn’t have any second thoughts about picking up a PS3 if they’re considering an HD solution for movies.

I’m glad we had this little talk. In the end, I’m just trying to keep you informed.