Cranking out news for the geeks, music buffs and gossip junkies, my way. -Greg

Sony is preparing to release a new firmware upgrade in June which will bring 3D to the PS3. Apparently the first update will only work on PSN (PlayStation Network) titles. Following that will be an update for Blu-ray, which would allow games and movies alike the 3D option. Folks who purchase Sony’s HX803 3D TV will get a bundle of PS3 3D games with it. You’ll still have to fork out for the 3D glasses, so maybe you should have your friends bring their own.  On a side note, don’t expect anything like this on your Xbox, ever. -Greg

So here is the first (English) video showing off the soon to be released Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. Looks very sleek and fast, if you read my early post you’ll know its because of that 1GHz processor. These phone are moving to faster and sleeker looks with each new Android running phone. The X10 is running Android 2.0 (Eclair) and seems to be making good use of it with the stock config. I’m pretty stoked about them and look forward to getting my hand on one. -Greg

So there’s a new bad boy entering the Android market. The Sony Ericsson Xperia™ X10 and it could blow away Motorola’s Droid. Starting with 1GB internal memory, a 1GHz processor, and 8 mega pixel camera this thing is sure to be the next champion in this ever growing list of challengers of the iPhone. Sony Ericsson’s website is pre-registering for the phone and says they are releasing the phone in the UK first, sometime in February. Haven’t seen anything about the US just yet or what network it maybe on, but something tells me it won’t be AT&T. I’ve been noticing a continual drop in quality on my AT&T phone which is only helping me to make that jump off of AT&T’s network elsewhere. Android 2.0, here I come! – Greg

I’ve been telling my girlfriend that we NEED a Playstation 3 to complete our home entertainment system. I’ve given plenty of reasons, the most obvious, Blu-ray, the next being we can share media (pictures, music, and video) across our home network via UPnP, and finally can you guess, GAMES. Well of course non of these mean to her that this is something we need. Well now I have a new reason to add to the list, Netflix! Netflix and Sony are finally teaming up to bring Netflix to the Playstation 3. I will admit that I had already researched a bit on how to get Netflix streamed through the PS3, which there are alternative ways to do so, but I never really threw that out there. Now, this has to be an excellent reason?! Nevertheless I have completed building my Windows Home Server, so the addition of a Playstation 3 is now imperative to complete our home entertainment system. I want, rather need to have the power of pictures, mp3′s, videos, games, blu-ray, netflix, and internet routed out of my beautiful plasma, I must and will have it! Resistance is futile! -Greg

Light Peak sounds to me like the next logical step.  Predictions of going to IEEE and becoming a 10-terabit link is insane, not that it can’t be done, but imagine that, it’s very exciting. We could very well be about to travel at light-speed, with our media anyway. -Greg 

September 28, 2009 4:00 AM PDT

by Stephen Shankland

SAN FRANCISCO–You’ve probably heard about fiber optics for years–some kind of exotic technology used to carry gargantuan quantities of data across continents. But in the not-too-distant future, you might be plugging these tiny glass strands straight into your computer.

That’s if Intel gets its way. At its Intel Developer Forum last week, the chipmaker demonstrated fiber-optic technology called Light Peak for connecting many devices to PCs with fiber optic lines. Intel secured major Light Peak endorsement from Sony and now it’s has begun trying to make it into an industry standard.

But bringing optical technology to the masses will require more than Intel Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner taking the stage to connect a thin white Light Peak cable into the back of a prototype PC. According to sources familiar with the situation, the most likely mechanism to carry Light Peak out of the R&D lab to the edge of your laptop will be the venerable Universal Serial Bus, and Intel has begun pounding the pavement to try to make that happen.

“Now all the pieces are in place,” Rattner said. “We need to get a standard established to turn on the entire ecosystem to Light Peak.”

Even technophobes are familiar with USB. The plug-and-play technology started its journey in PCs and has spread to handsets, consumer electronics devices, digital cameras, and more. And new developments from the group behind the standard, the USB Implementers Forum, could expand adoption more, with a new faster, more power-efficient version and with technology to make it better for charging devices plugged into a computer or power outlet.

 

Read full story at CNET 

by Ross Miller posted Aug 18th 2009 at 6:23PM

Yes, we can hardly believe it ourselves, but Sony came a-knockin’ at our door today, and we were more than willing to answer. The PlayStation 3 Slim is now official in-house, and it’s a matte-laden beaut. Enough chitchat — live vicariously through our unboxing and hands-on pics below!

Update: Some details for clarification. The buttons in the front are now physical and actually “click” in to function. The PS logo above the disc drive does not rotate for vertical use, and yes, the hard drive is swappable — as you can see from the pictures, there’s a screw on the bottom, hidden by a panel, that lets you take off part of the front for access. We’ve also lined it up against our standard, fatty PS3, and we gotta say, it’s noticeably lighter.

Update 2: Here’s a more thorough comparison between the slim, the original, and the Xbox 360. Some people were asking about the texture of the matte finish, and compared to Microsoft’s console, it’s just a teensy bit rougher (and on that note, about the same weight, too). It’s still just as glossy as the original on the sides, however. We still gotta compare the noise of the slim, stay tuned!

Update 3: While our tests were far from thorough, the initial results from our quick-and-dirty decibel ratings show some promise. At a baseline average of 49 db, the Slim averages between 53 and 56 db when in use / playing a game / installing data (in this case, Metal Gear Solid 4), compared to the 55 to 57 db of the original. Blu-ray movie playback is where it becomes noticeable, as the slim peaked for us at 60 db when the original was doing 70 db running the same disc.