Articles about Sony

Sony's original PlayStation is an iconic console, right up there with Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Sega Genesis. The CD-based gaming system was wildly popular, thanks to a fantastic game library and impressive graphics (for the time). Tragically, I never owned one, as I instead opted for the Sega Saturn. Thankfully, I was able to play Sony's console when visiting friends and family, but I digress.

Following the success of Nintendo's mini NES and SNES consoles, Sony is looking to capitalize on the trend with the all-new PlayStation Classic. Just as with Nintendo's offerings, Sony has shrunken the PlayStation to a diminutive state and embedded several games -- you are limited to the included titles.

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When you think of SD cards, your mind probably goes to brands such as SanDisk and Kingston. While both of those companies make great storage products, they aren't the only game in town. In fact, Sony actually sells both storage cards and USB flash drives that are quite good.

Sony's latest SD card is very intriguing. Called "SF-G TOUGH," it is designed to be extremely rugged -- it is IPX8 waterproof, IP6X dust-proof, and will survive drops from up to 5 meters. By design, it has no write-protection switch, as that part that can be prone to failure. In addition, Sony says these TOUGH cards are "X-ray proof, magnet proof, anti-static, temperature proof and feature UV Guard." Its durability is only half of the equation, however.

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I love my Apple TV -- it is great. Well, mostly great, I should say. You see, the remote that it comes with is rather terrible. It is not at all ergonomic -- it fits terribly in any human hand. Not to mention, its reliance on a trackpad is an exercise in frustration. In theory, the idea of sliding your finger to navigate makes a lot of sense. In practice, however, it isn't reliable -- I often over-scroll or under-scroll, and as a result, I select the wrong things. I wish Apple would release a more traditional remote for its box. Ultimately, using a Harmony remote with Apple TV saved my sanity.

Also bad? Navigating media with a video game console controller. Yeah, it is passable, but if you have a PS4 or Xbox One, and you stream a lot of music, TV, and movies, a true remote is a wise investment. Today, Sony announces a new officially licensed remote from a company called PDP. The "Cloud Remote for PS4," as it is called, looks like a joy to hold and use. Believe it or not, you can even program it to your TV using the cloud! Best of all, you can sort of get the Bluetooth remote for free!

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Back in May, Sony launched a drop-dead gorgeous special edition PlayStation 4. Called "Days of Play," it featured a beautiful blue body, which was emblazoned with gold PlayStation button labels. I was quite smitten with the design, but there was one huge problem -- it wasn't a PS4 Pro. In other words, the special design was wasted on a console that wasn't Sony's most powerful.

Today, Sony unveils a new limited edition console that puts the aforementioned "Days of Play" variant to shame. And yes, this time it is a PS4 Pro! The "Limited Edition Marvel's Spider-Man PS4 Pro Bundle," as it is called, features a PS4 Pro with a red body and massive white Spider-Man logo on the top. The "Amazing Red" color, which Sony is calling it, is also on the DualShock 4 wireless controller. Rounding out the bundle is the "Marvel’s Spider-Man" video game disc.

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Earlier today, Sony announced the return of its "Days of Play" sales promotion. If you aren't familiar, this is where PlayStation fans can score deals on games, accessories, and PS4 systems too. If you like both console gaming and saving money, you should be excited.

With all of that said, the real star of the announcement is the all-new limited edition "Days of Play" PlayStation 4 system. Both the console and controller are blue and adorned with the iconic PlayStation symbols in a beautiful gold -- stunning. If you don't already have a PS4, this is definitely one to target -- if you don't want or need a PS4 Pro.

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Cast your mind back to when Sony released the original PlayStation 3, and you may well remember claims that the console was also a "computer". The claims were such that Sony suggested that owners could install Linux -- which, technically speaking, they could.

However, installing Linux on a PS3 also posed something of a security issue, and Sony backtracked on the "Other OS" feature, killing it will a firmware update. Unsurprisingly, a lawsuit followed, and the result of this is that you could in line for a pay-out.

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There are lots of announcements coming out of MWC 2018 at the moment, all vying for attention and competing to take money from eager customers. To stand out from the crowd a little, Sony has just revealed its new Xperia XZ2 and Xperia XZ2 Compact smartphones, both of which feature HDR Full HD+ 18:9 displays.

The Sony Xperia XZ2 is the first smartphone to offer 4K HDR recording, and it also boasts a full HD 960FPS super slow-motion mode. There's a revamped, curvier design for both phones, which Sony is calling Ambient Flow, and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 is on hand to keep things scratch-free.

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Nowadays, it isn't uncommon for young children to have parents that are into playing video games. Since many kids like to imitate their parents, they will undoubtedly want to get it on the action. Unfortunately, modern controllers are quite large and complicated. For instance, back in the 1980s, an NES controller was quite small, and just had a directional pad, 2 action buttons, plus "select" and "start." In comparison, a Microsoft Xbox One controller or Sony DualShock 4 can be intimidating.

Thankfully, there is a new officially licensed PlayStation 4 controller -- made by a company called "Hori" -- that aims to simplify the controller experience for young kids. The "Mini Wired Gamepad," as it is called, ditches the trackpad and some other features of the expensive DualShock 4 making it more approachable. It is even significantly smaller than the official controller -- perfect for the small hands of children. Best of all, since it has a cable, there is no need to worry about charging it.

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It's been a while since Sony came up with a flagship smartphone I wanted to talk about. The new Xperia XZ1 is an interesting proposition in the high-end segment, mainly because it comes with the latest and greatest version of Android out of the box, less than two weeks after Google announced Oreo.

I expected Sony to be late to the party, but this time around it managed to get ahead of the likes of LG and Samsung, which is impressive. What is not is the fact that the Xperia XZ1, just like its smaller Xperia XZ1 Compact brother, looks very similar to the Xperia Z1 from four years ago.

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Sony announced today that it will be launching the first special edition version of the PlayStation 4 Pro in September, to coincide with the release of the anticipated action game sequel Destiny 2.

Announced on the official PlayStation Blog, the new version of the PS4 Pro comes in a "Glacier White" color instead of Sony's traditional black motif. The bundle also comes with a Glacier White PS4 controller, a physical copy of the game, and a "digital content pack."

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Sony's subscription-based game streaming service received a massive update today -- not entirely because of the number of new titles available, but because of the fact that the new titles are from the PS4 library. Until now, the service only offered streaming PS3 games.

The addition of PS4 games to the platform has been discussed since it was introduced back in 2014. However, no firm plans to do so were ever confirmed until now. Surely not coincidentally, it just so happens to have arrived just one month after Microsoft launched its competing Xbox Game Pass platform, which offers streaming Xbox One titles.

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Sony is seeking submissions from filmmakers across the country to help develop a new TV series that will be distributed primarily through its various PlayStation-branded channels.

In a partnership announced today with a group called Ideas United, Sony is opening up submissions for anyone to submit their best ideas for a new TV show with the eventual winners seeing their idea come to life in a professionally produced pilot.

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After nearly 11 years of continuous production, Sony has taken the final step in curtailing the number of PlayStation 3 consoles in the market; manufacturing of all iterations of the system has ended, and as of today, its final shipment has been funneled through its distribution network in Japan.

Production of all PS3 units has already halted in other countries, making this the official sign that Sony no longer has an active hand in PS3 console inventory.

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While YouTube can be a great platform for viewing quality family-friendly content, there are a lot of offensive videos on there too. No, I am not just talking about PewDiePie, although some of his content is arguably questionable. Actually, I am talking about videos from other creators that show blatant racism, sexism, and actual pornography -- it is shocking to see some of the content that gets through.

Luckily, Google developed the YouTube Kids app for mobile devices, which tries to block offensive content. This app helps parents to be more confident that their children will only see family-friendly videos. Today, the search giant brings the app to LG, Samsung, and Sony smart TVs.

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SATA Solid state drives are pretty much all the same nowadays from a speed standpoint. They are as fast as they are going to be, as the SATA interface is saturated and maxed out. With that said, there are ways to improve on these SSDs, such as the type of memory used, the controller, and durability of materials.

Today, Sony unveils the G Series Professional SATA SSD. Designed for video content creators, it comes in two capacities -- 960GB (SV-GS96) and 480GB (SV-GS48). It is meant to be connected directly to certain video cameras, and then connected to a PC. The company claims the drives can last for an impressive 10 years of regular use, and for added durability, the SATA connectors are rated for 3000 insertions and removals. This is apparently six time stronger than the typical SATA connector, which can be rather delicate, actually -- I have cracked a few in my experience.

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