Recently in Sony Category

Several years ago I was told by a university tutor that the novel was dead.  Well, Mr Smartypants, I've read two dozen novels this year, new and old - and authors are still churning them out.  The book, on the other hand; that's on shaky legs.

The ultra-popular Kindle - still only available by import here - has reported record sales in the run up to Christmas, while Barnes and Noble in the US have put back the release date of their new e-reader due to "overwhelming demand".

This makes Sony's entries into the market something of a curiosity - in that you can actual walk into UK shops and buy them. 

I've been playing with a Sony Reader Pocket Edition - the diminutive PRS-300 - this week.  It's the first bona fide e-reader I've had my mitts on. As an avid consumer of the printed word, I'm having a ball with it.

The PRS-300 is slightly smaller than the flagship Touch Edition and - lacking some advanced features - is a bit cheaper; about £149.01 compared to £249.99 for the PRS-600. It weighs a little less than your average paperback and is a third of the thickness, making it easy to slip into your bag or briefcase. Sony's blurb says you can fit 350 books on one device - and one charge gives you two weeks of battery life.

Like the Kindle, you can connect to online stores to buy books or download freebies - and there's support for PDF as well as the industry standard ePub format. Unlike the wirelessly equipped Kindle, you have to connect to your computer by USB to buy or download books.

The quality of the screen using E-Ink "Vizplex" technology is the key issue here though.  I found it natural and easy to read, with clear type and minimum eye strain - though the background could have been brighter for my eyes. It felt comfortable in my hands, the right weight and a good size.

There were one or two niggles. At times the device seemed slow, with a delay between click and response my iPod never prepared me for.  And the review version we were sent was hot pink. Brilliant if you're a fan of Katie Price or Maeve Binchy, but not a suitable home for Chuck Palahniuk or Cormac McCarthy. Fortunately, it's also available in navy blue and silver.

The Sony Reader range is currently available in Sony Centre stores and Waterstones.

Sony Ericsson have taken a real beating of late, and despite the Satio looking like a powerful piece of kit, it's just not very clever. They seem to have made a note of this and ditched Symbian for Android. The video below will add a wow factor I can't put in words.


As long as the hardware matches the slick software then I can't see this going wrong. As with all Sony Ericsson's it will have a killer camera so I think I'm sold... as long as it doesn't look ugly. I once dated a Rachael and if this phone looks anything like her then I hope it comes with a massive stylus ;)

Sony is at the forefront of 3D tech and this prototype is an example of their ambition.

3D has been restricted to flat screens but we all know that 3D should be something you can walk around etc. a bit like real life but without the touching.

If you ask me it looks like a soft toy trapped in time. Don't get me wrong, I like it but just look at his little face.




It's got 24-bit colour imagery and you can look at it from any angle without those cool glasses.Sony sees this as being something that can be used as a TV, in digital signage, 3D photo frame or something to help you shop online with.

Over the past couple of years, Fifa has stolen a march on PES and in 2009 it looked to have completely overtaken them. But in 2010, Konami looked to have turned it around.

Menu

The menu has got a complete overhaul and needed some getting used to. It's a lot more creative than 2009 and really jumps out at you. It's edgy and clean. It's not extremely intuitive but not bad enough to put you off.

Playability

This is where the romance started. Slick, realistic and beautiful. I struggled with 2009 and it took a while for me to enjoy it properly but 2010 has got me jumping like mad when I score a goal. The realism is incredible and things like the intelligence of my full backs overlapping is a joy to behold. You can see attacks unfolding when you get possession.

I love the way the players seem to be proactive as well as reactive. You can see players anticipating what will happen before it happens.

I was playing with Arsenal and, it might not sound like a big deal but, the way the players broke when Liverpool's attack came apart was majestic.


Graphics

The graphics are much improved. Face detail and expressions are extremely accurate. On the whole, a lot better. On a huge HD TV it's a feast for the eyes.

Sound

The music is about a million miles better as they have finally got bands that we've actually heard of. This isn't such a big deal as I create playlists anyway but still good to have some names I recognise out of the box.

The crowd has also been improved vastly. The crowd reactions to the on-field action are now more varied, with new chants and cheers. They react spontaneously to specific situations in a game, showing their disdain or pleasure as fouls are committed and goals scored.

The commentary is a bit better but still not there. Don't get me wrong I like their choice of commentators but it's just a bit repetitive. This is something Fifa has mastered.

Animations

Animations now dovetail into each other seamlessly, with dribbling and shots on goals worked into dribbling animations. More individual skills are also on show, including new flicks and tricks that have a definite showing on the way a game flows. Several elements have been completely reworked, with the dribbling, turning and kicking animations greatly enhanced.

Verdict:

Pro Evo has built it's following on the gameplay. If you go down to your local park you'll see two types of players. One that is decked out in all the latest football gear, shin pads, most expensive football boots and the full Man Utd kit (brand new). He can do loads of kick ups but can't play football to save his life. That's FIFA.

Then there's another kid who looks like he's just crawled out of bed with a scruffy t-shirt, wrecked footy trainers and some jogging bottoms that look like he stole them from a tramp. But when he plays, the boy can play and is a match winner. That's Pro.

If you want flashy menus, nice music and all the glitz then by all means buy FIFA 10. But if you just want to play and marvel at the best football simulation game to date? Then Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 is what you've been looking for all your life.

I've been quite confused by some of the Sony ads of late. Watching the Champions League you always get that huge electronic heart which is a bit too arty and doesn't really have a wow factor.

Well, they must have realised they needed a wow factor because here it is. What would it look like to throw a PS3 slim into a Bravia TV in slow motion? Here's the answer.

Last night I got to see a demo of the new Sony Satio. Now, I have been looking forward to this handset for a while as I have had some great experiences with Sony mobiles.

Holding it, it felt surprisingly light even though it's relatively quite big. The first thing that catches your attention is the jaw-dropping 12mp camera. Not only is it 12mp but it has all the Cybershot qualities you'd expect from Sony, amazing.
But that's where the romance stopped. It runs on Symbian which is disappointing, I believe Sony will run on Android in the near future. There aren't many or any apps to spice things up and the UI did nothing for me.

The touch sensitivity was also a let down as I found I had to apply quite a bit of pressure to get it to do what I want BUT the screen is slick and vibrant. A good picture really comes to life on the screen. The music quality was very good too but the interface made me want it to be an iPod and want it to have iTunes. As you may have guessed it wasn't either.


There are some nice touches with the 'panel' display where you have five screens lined up (pics, video, contacts etc.). You switch between them by swiping over which is neat but I was sad to see that there was no active homescreen like the N97, one of the few features I enjoy about that phone.

These things are good but not great. Had this phone been released a year ago and I would've been drooling. But at the tail end of this year, to say that Sony's flagship touchscreen phone only has a great camera to offer over the iPhone is a little bit of a let down as it feels like donkeys since the iPhone was released.

The iPhone is still king and the fact that it has been opened up to other networks gives it more strength. Its closest contender is the Palm Pre and I'd say that the next level is where you'd find the Satio

I think this is a good phone, it has an unbelievably good camera, good screen, good music capabilities and Symbian is ok. That's what bugged me, I think if it were on Android then Apple and Palm would've been worried but as it stands this is a good phone with an excellent camera while the iPhone is an excellent phone with a camera (not sure I can call it good).

Sony's Reader Touch Edition PRS-600 almost has everything... almost!

So what does it have?

Well, let's start with the fact that it looks great and has a slick six inch touch screen, memory expansion (SD or MS Pro), decent battery life, nice search functionality and a built-in dictionary.

All good so far and shapes up well against the Kindle.


So what doesn't it have?

It doesn't have 3G or wifi. Quite annoying as you have to rely heavily on your PC as all files must be dragged and dropped from a PC and the only way to charge it is by USB through the PC (the battery is not removable too).

Otherwise there are some nice features and it ticks most boxes. Little things like having five font sizes, displays Word and PDF files (with zoom), shows most image files, and plays MP3 and AAC audio.

Sony's eBook Library software is compatible with both Windows and Macs with best sellers costing around $9.99 (like Amazon). ePub file compatibility gives you access to thousands of free classic Google Books as well as being able to display Word and PDF files. On the whole, it's got a hefty library of books behind it to get you page turning.

Verdict:

I would be happy with this given it has most features and is quite easy to use, but the fact that it came close with no cigar suggests that there's other readers that would have the full package for the same price.

Specifications:

• Display: 6 inches
• Gray scale: 8-levels gray scale
• Expanded Memory: Support for Sony Memory Stick Pro DUO and SDHC
• Font Size: 5 adjustable font sizes
• Battery: Sealed internal, up to two weeks of reading on a single charge
• Files supported: Adobe PDF (with reflow capability), Microsoft Word, BBeB, EPUB

Sony have tried to muscle their way into the e-reader market and this is their Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-300. My first question was... does it fit in your front pocket? The answer is not really. Well not mine anyway, but it's at home in my back pocket.

At first glance you'll feel it has a Gameboy look, nice sharp five inch screen, compact and is something you'd be happy to carry around. The E-Ink is as good as the Kindle which is surprising for a 'budget' reader.

It has no touch capabilities which is something that would have been a nice extra (especially as nowadays I'm touching everything lol) but it's not essential in a pocket reader.
 


Further inspection shows an adjustable font size and some quite slow and kind of clunky user interface. I'm not sure what I expected from this low-end model, but if you watch the video I struggled with doing some basic functions. This'll wear off but out the box it's uncomfortable.

One of the first things that I wanted to find out was whether it had expandable memory and if it can play mp3s, sadly it can't. I feel these things should be standard in ANY device. That might sound harsh but these are things that a crappy fake eReader has the ability to do and yet you fork out a chunk of money on a Sony and these features are missing. You can't remove the battery either but that's not so common in gadgets at the mo.

Sony's eBook Library software is compatible with both Windows and Macs with best sellers costing around $9.99 (like Amazon). ePub file compatibility gives you access to thousands of free classic Google Books as well as being able to display Word and PDF files. On the whole, it's got a hefty library of books behind it to get you page turning.

Verdict: The Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-300 is basic. It will do what you need and nothing more, this isn't a bad thing at all. For the price and build quality it's well worth being your first e-Reader.

But if you want more from it like a dictionary, expandable memory, removable battery, touch screen etc. then look elsewhere.



Specifications:

• Memory: Can store up to 350 eBooks
• Battery: Will last up to two weeks on a single battery charge
• Price: £179.99
• Screen size: 5 inches

It was only a matter of time before Sony came out with an MP3 player to rival the iPod Touch but I am little disappointed with what they've come up with.

If this was just about music then this is an exellent gadget, but life is not just about music anymore.

Music

Sound quality is amazing and crisp. The UI is nice and easy to use and the OLED screen is beautiful for flicking through album covers. Honestly, when it came to using this as a basic MP3 player I was drawn to how strong the sound was and the fact that I could hear little details in the songs I never recognised before was particularly ear opening.



The noise cancellation is unbelievably good. If you switch between an iPod Touch and the X Series listening to teh same song, the difference is so apparent that you start to wonder just how bad the Touch is.

Its also possible to adjust manually what sort of busy environment you're in (bus, train, airplane).

Design

I'm not sure about the graphite sides and back. It looks cool but it's not something that's nice to hold. That'll probably not be an issue after a week so I'm going to let it slide.

It's a great size, the device is small but the screen doesn't suffer. It's very comfortable and in relation to the iPod Touch I think it's a better size for pockets and stuff.

I love the all black look. It looks cool and understated. They even made the YouTube app with a black frame so nothing ever looks out of place. Along with the graphite, it's a sexy piece of kit.

The OLED screen is, as I said before, so clear and it's truly a feast for the eyes. The menu, pictures and video all really benefit from such a good screen.

The screen is extremely responsive to touch and

Apps

This is where things start to go down hill, while the YouTube is great... that's about it. The YouTube app is built in and solid but, let's be honest, you want more than just YouTube and it's just, well empty.

Web browser

In one word: Awful. It doesn't do what you want it to do. All I wanted to do was to get onto my blog but it was so incredibly difficult.

I even asked the PR guy who had been 'using it for weeks' to show me th browser and the fact it took him a while just to get on to Google made me realise that it was rubbish.

How can Sony get this wrong? It's not like I'm asking for somethign complicated. It should be a standard feature on all gadgets. The screenpad is also too difficult.

Conclusion

All round really good but I can't help but feel Sony were 'close but no cigar'. if you just want music then this is your best bet but as a package it's still a bit behind.

A number of weeks ago I recieved a Zeemote controller. I dismissed it initially saying that I didn't see the point of a controller for mobile games as you can use the d-pad, accelerometer and keypad. But how wrong was I? Very.

I basically didn't get it.


The Zeemote is not for every game. I wouldn't bother with it for things like Deal or no Deal but it's for serious games like Street Fighter and Sonic. Once you get used to it, you find it hard to play these games without it.

Yes it has restrictions BUT it makes playing games a fair amount more enjoyable and removes a lot of the frustrations that come with mobile gaming.

I'm not sure if the Zeemote is the future of gaming but the ease of use definately indicates that if it isn't, the technology behind the controller will be used for something else (possibly a media remote which it can already do).

The Zeemote is the first of it's kind and I expect to see many more similar products to follow. Depending on price, I am looking to buy one of these for my one and a half hour journey to work. I know this might sound a bit like an advert but this has seriously grown on me especially now I have an N97 that doesn't have a d-pad or keypad. I hate the buttons on teh screen method because it takes up part of the screen and isn't as responsive as actual buttons.

It's currently only bundled with phones, you can get it on T-Mobile with the Sony Ericsson W705 I'm guessing to test the market, so it's difficult to say if it's really going to fly. But Zeemote have said that it'll be available towards the end of the year with a free game for around £45.

So in conclusion, I think the Zeemote will find it's place in the world as long as it knows that not everyone is that serious about mobile gaming (I mean most of us just do it so we don't have to look at the guy in front of us on the train). But as long as it compliments games, especially as games get more advanced, it'll be useful for mobile gamers.