Sony Japan have unveiled their latest range of Blu-ray recorders, and since there’s no such thing as too much storage they’ve also thrown hard-drives inside the five new models too. Capacity of the BDZ-series ranges from 320GB all the way up to a whopping 2TB in the flagship BDZ-EX200, which is apparently good for up to 253 hours of high-definition TV.
With Sony’s PS3 Slim showing up for sale all over, and word from the company themselves that retailers have been given the green light to begin swapping cash for consoles, it’s only right and fair that the trusty teardown teams begin their dismantling. Both iFixit and Rapid Repair have had their screwdrivers on standby in the run up to the new PS3 Slim’s release, and along with the warning that a teardown “should not be used as disassembly instructions” have set to work stripping the console to its component parts.
Video of teardown process after the cut
So, we’ll admit that that title may be a bit misleading. Why? Because it looks like people aren’t having to look that hard at all to find a few random (or perhaps not too random) pieces of Sony’s new hardware floating around in retail stores. If you’ll remember right, Sony said that the Slim wouldn’t be sold until September 1st, but it’s beginning to look like that release date might not have been as set in stone as originally thought. Well, let’s hope that’s the case, or there’s a lot of stores out there breaking that one cardinal rule.
Sony have announced their third new ebook reader, the Sony Reader Daily Edition, and as has long been expected it includes wireless 3G connectivity. The new $399 device comes with a new version of their eBook Library software, 3.0, now Mac and PC compatible and which can also be used to organize notes made on touchscreen Sony ebook devices. Sony have also revealed Library Finder, an electronic “ebook borrowing” system.
Sony have officially whipped the wraps off of their latest two Walkman PMP models, the stereo-speaker-packing S-Series that you can see here, and the entry-level E-Series shown after the cut. The S-Series – first spotted earlier this month – has a 2.4-inch QVGA LCD display supporting 30fps video playback, together with offering up to 17hrs of audio playback via the speakers.
Sony Computer Entertainment boss Kazuo “Kaz” Hirai has confirmed that the company will continue to lose money on each of the $299 PS3 Slim consoles they sell, together with revealing that Sony’s motion-controller has been pencilled in for a release in spring 2010. Meanwhile he also denied that, with the advent of the UMD-free PSP Go, we are seeing “the death of physical media”, pointing to the large percentage of the 100 countries Sony sells gaming products in that don’t have access to high-speed internet connections for downloads.
Sony’s PRS-600 ebook reader has seemingly made its way to Canadian retailers, with two confirmed sightings of the 6-inch touchscreen slate. Feedback seems mixed, with some of Sony’s boasts about the new E Ink device – faster page turns, more flexible font sizes – turning out to be either unnoticeable or pretty much useless in these demo units.
Demo video after the cut
Here we go again with another week in review for your perusal. A mystery Android-powered MID tipped up this week looking very much like those renderings of the Apple tablet to my eyes. It’s cool to see android showing up on so many devices. Logitech unveiled an update to the coolest racing wheel ever, the G25, called simply enough the G27. The new wheel promises more accurate force feedback effects and keeps with the slick clutch and gated shifter we loved from the G25.
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Sony have confirmed that the PS3 Slim will never get PlayStation 2 backward compatibility. According to Sony's director of hardware marketing, John Koller, PS2 compatibility is "not coming back, so let me put that on the table", as well as suggesting that "it's not as big as a purchase intent driver as you may be hearing."
So, the Chumby came out awhile ago. It’s this little box-like device that pulls information off the internet, like weather, news, and sports updates, and then displays them in Flash format in real-time. It was a pretty original idea, and while it may not have been the sharpest looking thing on the block, its functionality was close to making it worth it. Especially if you don’t like alarm clocks, and can’t afford the alternative. But, apparently the hardware wasn’t the top of the pick for many, and so Chumby is moving over onto the software front, hoping to make a name for itself.
SlashGear Japan
