We’ve officially entered the silly season of pre-CES rumors, so take this with a grain of salt, but the Wall Street Journal reports Sony has approached “several big media companies” about distributing their channels over the internet. This comes on the heels of its report on comments by CEO Howard Stringer about significant R&D efforts going into a “different kind of TV”, and the four screen strategy Sony would like to implement. According to the report, Sony’s idea is to offer small bundles of channels over the internet to its TVs, Blu-ray players, and the PS3. Still, cutting deals with companies like CBS, that doesn’t want to jeopardize its cable and satellite TV-based revenue, could be difficult. As for the competition, similar rumors about Microsoft turned into an effort that mostly works with partners like Comcast, U-verse, and FiOS, while Google is also pursuing a route of adding to, but not necessarily replacing, cable TV. Sony has positioned itself well, adding IPTV services including sports to the PS3 and live TV tuning capability, and its tested the waters of going over the top before, but so far whether it will actually pursue this new plan is unknown.

SOURCE via Wall Street Journal

We first got wind of Sony’s PlayStation Suite SDK back at the Tokyo Game Show in September, but the company just opened up the application process for a closed beta test, letting Windows XP and Windows 7 users in the US, UK and Japan submit their credentials for early access. Those getting the nod from Sony will be able to develops apps for use on the PS Vita, which is set to hit in February, along with the PS Suite — that “hardware-neutral” framework that’ll allow access from non-PlayStation branded products, including the Xperia Play, Tablet S and Tablet P, with the potential for third-party devices to come as well. The SDK uses the C# programming language, and doesn’t require devs to have access to actual Sony hardware — so don’t expect a Vita to show up at your door anytime this year. Think you have what it takes to be a Sony dev? Hit up the source link to send ‘em the word.

SOURCE via Playstation

Normally when the giants of the entertainment industry team up, it’s to record “We Are The World”– but not this time. Sony, Panasonic, X6D and Samsung are forming a supergroup that makes the Traveling Wilburys seem small-time. They’re forming the “Full HD 3D Glasses initiative,” a project to standardize 3D glasses. Currently, we have wholly incompatible active-shutter models based on different technologies, which the consortium wants to replace with a unified standard that will let you use the same pair of spectacles on any display or at any theatre that uses the Xpand 3D standard. The doors open on the joint testing centre later this month, which will check and approve products to the program, gaining the logo you see before you as a badge of honor.

SOURCE via Full HD 3D Glasses

Twitter fanatic that has a gamer in heart, keep your eyes open, because the upcoming Sony PS Vita will arrive with an integrated Twitter app! Say what? Yes, Twitter app is being worked on right now in Sony’s lab, and although the app is still incomplete, it will most certainly ship with the console solidly.

The overall design feels very much in line with Twitter’s standard ID: the same shade of blue, the usual tabs on the left column, slick elastic scrolling in the timelines, and support for geotagging, hash tags plus photo attachment while tweeting.

The app wasn’t quite finished yet, and Sony still couldn’t confirm whether this — along with the other dedicated apps like Skype, Foursquare and Facebook — will be ready for download by the time the Vita launches in Hong Kong on December 23rd (just a tad later than Japan’s launch on the 17th).

In case you’re wondering, the Vita there will cost HK$2,280 (US$290) for the WiFi version and HK$2,780 (US$360) for the 3G flavor, both unsubsidized but cheaper than their Japanese counterparts. Of course, given that the console isn’t region-locked, feel free to go for some shopping in Hong Kong then – and good luck getting your hands on one though.

SOURCE via Engadget

Full HD is so yesteryear, now everything’s going the 4K resolution. Sony has announced at the CEATEC event last week that the PS3 will get a firmware update around the beginning of 2012 that will allow it to natively output 4K stills, you know, those 4096×2160 pictures. There’s a PlayView “visual magazine” already available on the PlayStation store in Japan that supports 4K and 3D, but this update will bring super high res viewing of your vacation pics, or any other high res image files you can snag, to the living room. While your friends will no doubt be impressed by the museum-quality art gala you’re now capable of hosting this coming New Year, they’ll still be disappointed at that poor quality Full HD movie of yours.

SOURCE via Engadget

Sony is getting tired of sitting idly in sixth place in the battle for cellphone supremacy. Sure, there have been a few noteworthy devices from the company’s joint venture with Ericsson (i.e. the Arc), but for the most part it has struggled since its inception in 2001 to run with the alpha dogs. The Japanese manufacturer’s new strategy involves buying out Ericsson’s stake in the company and having its tablet, smartphone and handheld gaming units work closely together to develop future products.

According to the Wall Street Journal, a deal for the Stockholm company’s half of the venture is nearing completion. Some difficulties remain, such as properly valuing the company and settling on a price for Ericsson’s roughly $1.3 to $1.7 billion worth of mobile technology patents, but a deal is expected to be reached sooner rather than later. And maybe, just maybe, the new found flexibility will allow Sony handsets to keep pace with the Samsungs and Apples of the world.

SOURCE via Wall Street Journal

With the Tablet S on sale, it was really only a matter of time before its inevitable teardown, and here to fill our need for splayed circuity is one from TechRepublic. Seeing as most Honeycomb tablets have similar internals, there aren’t too many surprises to be had, but the outfit did curiously find a hole for a cellular modem, as well as an easy to replace battery and an internal plastic frame that adds rigidity (pictured above). If you’re ready for 74 photos of the slate being torn asunder from every possible angle, a source link awaits you below.

SOURCE via TechRepublic

Check out this tasty morsel of PS Vita info making the rounds: you’ll be able to face your PSP-totin’ friends via ad-hoc mode with games you’ve snagged from the PS Store (so long as the title supports it). Sure, it doesn’t kill the sting of its three to five hour battery life, but hey, we’ll just consider it another justification for picking up the hot little number once it hits shelves, and oh yeah, let’s not forget that the PS Vita is region free!

SOURCE via Playstation.com

Sony’s just announced in SCEJ press conference, Tokyo that the PlayStation Vita will debut in Japan on December 17th, and it’ll partner with NTT DoCoMo for the console’s prepaid 3G service in Japan. Customers will have two choices of connection here: 980 yen ($13) for 20 hours, and 4,980 yen ($65) for 100 hours. The first 500 units sold will come with 100 hours of prepaid 3G connectivity. Pre-orders open on October 15th. Alas, the rest of the world will still have to wait until 2012.

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To the joy and delight of babysitters everywhere, Sony announced a boatload of new noise-cancelling headphones and earbuds to keep you sane in loud situations. Leading the pack is the $200, on-ear active / passive MDR-NC200D headphones, which have a 40mm driver in each ear, a built-in 22-hour battery and has a unique folding design.

For $150, users wanting portability can cop the smaller in-ear MDR-NC100Ds, which have a lower price tag and 13.5mm drivers. Both headphones feature Sony’s “Artificial Intelligence Noise-Cancelling” technology, which claims to automatically reduce ambient noise by around 98.2 percent — because you know, precision matters.

Also launching today are two new smartphone headsets — the $40 in-ear DR-EX14VP and the $60 DR-XB23VP earbuds — with connectivity to Android, iPhone and BlackBerry phones, as well as Sony Ericsson, Nokia and other phones thanks to an included compatibility cord. Pulling up the rear are the new iPhone control headsets — the $60 DR-XB22iP in-ear silicone hybrids, the $40 DR-EX61iP earbuds and the $150 “over-the-head” DR-ZX701iP.

Currently accepting pre-orders, the headphones will be available for purchase sometime in October — just in time to tune out the doorbell this Halloween.

SOURCE via Sony