KitKat rollouts begin for the Sony Xperia M2 and M2 Dual
Ten days ago Sony announced that an Android 4.4, KitKat, update was available fro the Sony Xperia E1 and E1 dual. Pending location and carrier pushes, of course. At the end of that announcement they said that KitKat was on the way for the Sony Xperia M2 and Xperia M2 dual next. While they were all slated for a July release, a month late ins’t all that terrible.
The changelog for what the update will bring looks pretty good, and very similar to previous Sony device updates.
- Google’s Android 4.4; KitKat as standard – bringing performance & UI optimisation…
- We’ve added our tweaked Status Bar and Quick Settings… now more intuitive and customisable (and pretty easy on the eye)… cleaned up to ensure you only get the notifications you really need
- If you’ve got a Sony PlayStation 4, you might recognize our new user interface – we’ve added the same sleek launch animation and live wallpaper across the lock and home screens
- Better storage choice – you now have the option to easily move applications from internal memory to SD card – we recognised the need to have more control over your content… as something particularly useful for devices with slightly less space
- We’re also uplifting Sony’s entire native app portfolio to the latest versions – bringing tweaked / improved / current experiences for (to name but a few): Messaging, Smart Connect, TrackID, What’s New, and Battery STAMINA Mode, Sony’s Media apps: WALKMAN, Album and Movies
- And proving pretty popular, now totalling over 2 million downloads (!) – our unique custom interface experience: “Xperia Themes”, with downloadable UI packs from Sony Select – skin up to 280 assets across your Xperia smartphone with a variety of styles…
- Compatibility with our SmartWear Experience; SmartBand SWR10 and Lifelog app – enabling you to record social, physical and entertainment activities and have them all visualised in a beautiful interface… reminisce at that past, make the best of the present and plan for the future
As with any update like this, specific market timing and availability will be released independently. Unlike the previous announcement, Sony didn’t toss out any device names that are next up. If you happen to own a Xperia M2 or M2 Dual, eel free to check for the update on your device and/or through the Sony Companion app. Let us know if you see it and where you are located.
Source: Sony Blog
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Sony Alpha 5100 is the smallest APS-C camera with a built-in flash
If you’ve been holding out on purchasing an Alpha 6000 because you don’t need an electronic viewfinder, Sony’s got a mirrorless camera just for you. Internally, the Alpha 5100, which replaces the NEX-5T, is nearly identical to its pricier counterpart, with a 24.3-megapixel sensor and a BIONZ X processor. You also get a 16-50mm f/3.5-5.6 power-zoom lens, bundled with the camera for $700 ($550 for the body only), and the same hybrid focusing system, letting you acquire a subject in as little as 0.07 seconds. It excludes an EVF, but the A5100 does have a 921k-dot display (with touch functionality this time) that flips forward 180 degrees for self-portraits. There’s also built-in WiFi, XAVC S video capture and a top sensitivity of ISO 25,600. It ships next month in black and white.
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The Sony SmartWatch 3 may not have Android Wear, likely announced at IFA 2014
We’re expecting Sony to announce its annual smartwatch release, presumably called the Sony SmartWatch 3, however while other manufacturers have scrambled to get out hardware that is running the new Android Wear operating system, there is a rumour that the Sony SmartWatch 3 may not have Android Wear at all, instead opting for it’s homebrewed Android system which will now be in its third iteration. That of course isn’t to say that Sony is shunning Android Wear or would not consider it for future device, it’s likely that Sony had already developed a follow-up and doesn’t want to change it for this year. It’s expected that Sony will announce the SmartWatch 3 at IFA 2014 next month.
That certainly puts the SmartWatch 3 at somewhat of a disadvantage, even if it is a purely superficial disadvantage, however it will be packing some neat functionality. Digi-wo is reporting that the Smartwatch 3 will have a transflective display (for more optimal viewing in sunlight), can be wirelessly charged, and may even have its own Wi-Fi module. What this may do to the battery life isn’t known, but the outgoing SmartWatch 2 had a battery life of 3-4 days, so that’s already better than most of the Android Wear devices. Of course, like most of Sony’s other devices, the SmartWatch 3 is also expected to be waterproof.
What do you think about Sony not adopting Android Wear for the SmartWatch 3? Let us know your opinion in the comments.
Source: Digi-wo via Phone Arena
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PlayStation 4’s new digital game-sharing trick sounds simple
Okay, we know that the PlayStation 4′s Share Play feature is coming, but how does letting a friend on an entirely different console (possibly around the globe) play one of your games work? A lot like how PS4′s remote play with the PS Vita does, apparently. In an interview with Famitsu Weekly, Sony’s head of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida said that game developers don’t have to do anything special to enable the feature, and that barring a game requiring the PlayStation Camera, any title should be compatible. Once firmware 2.0 launches, all a friend has to do is send you a Share Play invite and voila you can start playing their copy of Destiny on your TV. If it sounds like we’re living in the future, that’s because we pretty much are.
Don’t, however, go thinking that this is a loophole you can exploit to sidestep ever buying another game: Sony clarified to Kotaku that the guest’s progress would not be saved to their account, but to the host’s. It’s going to be interesting seeing how the feature deals with lag and just what the image quality’s going to look like once it launches. Given our hands-on time with Sony’s PlayStation Now streaming service, though, we’re cautiously optimistic.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, HD, Sony
Via: Kotaku
Source: Famitsu
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The gaming industry is booming and Sony’s lead is growing
Earlier this week Sony announced that it’d sold over 10 million PlayStation 4s to date, but that isn’t the half of it: the company’s latest gaming console is once again dominating the sales charts overall. As Sony tells it, July marks the seventh consecutive month that the PS4 outsold Microsoft’s Xbox One. Hardware isn’t the only area Sony is trumping its rival either, as The Last of Us: Remastered led software sales last month by a “considerable” margin ahead of number-two-seller Minecraft on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The gaming sector as a whole is incredibly healthy, too. The NPD Group reports that even though software sales are down overall for July (something it attributes directly to the lack of an NCAA Football release this year), hardware is picking up the slack. Comparing life-to-date numbers of the PS4 and Xbox One to their predecessors, the new consoles are outselling the PS3 and Xbox 360 by almost a whopping 80 percent. That puts this July ahead of last by 13 percent in terms of total money spent in the area, according to NPD.
Nintendo seems to be doing pretty well, too, despite that massive $97 million loss. The outfit says that Mario Kart 8 has now sold over a million copies in the US alone, and the Wii U has increased year-to-date sales by 60 percent compared to 2013.
What about Microsoft? Well, Redmond’s lack of a formal announcement should speak for itself. When we reached out for a comment, a company spokesperson reminded us that the Xbox One sales numbers more-than doubled in June (still no word on what they doubled from) and that “this momentum” continued into July. And, well, that’s about it. When you look at how many Xbox One software-bundled systems that Microsoft is releasing this fall, just how far behind the company is to its main competition (Sony) should be pretty apparent — the firm’s desperate and essentially giving away some of its biggest games in the hopes that people will buy an Xbox One.
Filed under: Cameras, Gaming, HD, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo
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PlayStation’s push for indie games is epitomized by ‘The Tomorrow Children’
“It’s important to me to be able to express what I want to express.” These words come from Dylan Cuthbert, “Game Designer/Programmer/Anything” at Q Games, as he explains how his team came up with the back story for The Tomorrow Children. The forthcoming title is — by Cuthbert’s own admission — a little bit “out there;” a mix of Minecraft-esque collaborative building, social economics and a Soviet Union-themed post-apocalyptic dystopia. It’s definitely a little on the fringe. Multiplayer shooters and herculean protagonists have their place, but, as Cutbert alludes to in his gambit above, it’s probably not here. Indie doesn’t mean small though, and The Tomorrow Children, I learn, is an example of how companies like Q Games can keep to their own script (or lack of), and still benefit from the considerable support afforded by a partnership with Sony.
Earlier, during a preview session for The Tomorrow Children, the game is described as a “Marxism simulator.” The backstory? An experiment to unite all human consciousness went terribly wrong, destroying society. Over the following decades the few survivors try to rebuild humanity. Your role is to venture out into “the void” (the empty space left by the experiment,) and build a new world. Oh, there are also giant creatures to contend with that you kill and mine for materials. Y’know, all that usual stuff.
The off-beat storyline is accompanied by equally expressive artwork. Cuthbert tells me it’s inspired by sources as diverse as (among other things) old Czech puppetry, and the 1960s British drama The Prisoner. The result is cinematic, in a vintage French art house kind of way. Cuthbert is keen to point out that a lot of these decisions weren’t planned up front (as would be required by a AAA studio,) and that one of the main privileges of being independent is being able to, basically, do what you want.
But there’s a paradox. The Tomorrow Children is an indie title in spirit, but Sony is financially involved with the project. So, how does this reconcile with Q Games’ approach to game making? According to Cuthbert, it’s not only not a problem, it’s for the greater benefit of (his company’s) indie games.
“I think it doesn’t matter what size the game is [financially], as long as it’s an expression of the creator… and it hasn’t been meddled with… We just really enjoyed creating the technology [for the game], and obviously to create that technology we needed a bigger project to kinda buoy it up.”
“From the start, Sony was positive, said start experimenting and they were hands off. They just let us do anything we wanted basically.” And the result speaks for itself. How many other blockbuster titles have you opening Matryoshka dolls to collect DNA to rebuild your population? “In this game we’ve explored more ‘different’ ideas than we ever have before” says Cuthbert. Suggesting that despite dealing with suits doesn’t have to mean compromises. So, perhaps money and indie spirit aren’t so mutually exclusive after all?
The Tomorrow Children will be available in the coming months on PlayStation 4.
Filed under: Gaming, Software, Sony
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Activision’s dipping its toe into indie gaming with ‘Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions’
Activision creates and publishes a small group of blockbuster video games aimed at mainstream consumers. The world’s largest game publishing company handles some of gaming’s most culturally impactful titles: the Call of Duty franchise, this year’s Destiny, and the entire Blizzard catalog. This week at Gamescom 2014, Activision announced its first smaller effort in many years with Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions. As the name implies, Dimensions is the third entry in the Geometry Wars franchise — a beloved series that debuted as a minigame within the first Xbox console’s Project Gotham Racing 2. People like it so much in that completely unrelated game that it spawned into its own series.
Sadly, the studio behind the originals (Bizarre Creations) was shuttered after a commercial flop with the critically-lauded racer Blur. Some of the folks from Bizarre are back on Dimensions, now part of a new studio named Lucid. But this isn’t the return of Activision’s expanded portfolio, says Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg.
“I wouldn’t read too much into it in terms of a sea change in our business strategy,” Hirshberg told us in an interview. “It’s a passion project, a skunkworks project that we’re excited about, but it doesn’t signal an overall shift in our approach to the business.”
So, no, the move to re-launch Sierra as a label within Activision — while neato — is not part of a bigger push into the burgeoning indie game movement. Hirshberg also pointed out that some of his company’s tentpole franchises, such as the mega-popular kid’s series Skylanders, started out as “small, scrappy” projects rather than intended from the jump as the monsters they’ve become.
Activision’s taking a cautious approach with the new initiative, even. Hirshberg stressed that his company isn’t “taking our eye off the ball” of the prize: blockbuster games aimed at mainstream folks. For now, Hirshberg said Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions is “a cool passion project to hopefully make some gamers happy and do something we think is cool.” As far as we’re concerned, as long as there’s more Geometry Wars to play, everyone wins.
Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, Sony, Microsoft
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Michael Jackson’s next posthumous act: The music video as tweet
Sony has used all kinds of technological tricks to sell you Michael Jackson’s posthumous Xscape album, ranging from streaming music offers to life-size holograms. Its next move is something you’re more likely to experience first-hand, however. The company’s Epic Records label will premiere MJ’s latest music video, “A Place with No Name,” in a Twitter post; visit @MichaelJackson at 10PM Eastern tonight (August 13th) and you’ll see the late King of Pop’s promo attached to a tweet. Yes, it’s ultimately a publicity grab for a music legend that doesn’t need any stunts to capture the world’s attention. With that said, there hasn’t been a major music video launch on Twitter before — it’ll be interesting to see if Jackson can lure people away from the cat photos and social updates in their timelines, if just for a few minutes.
A Place With No Name is the first music video to launch on Twitter. Read more here: http://t.co/cbNWoJArNj #MJXSCAPE pic.twitter.com/uE96QHG502
– Michael Jackson (@michaeljackson) August 11, 2014
Via: Forbes
Source: Michael Jackson
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Why Activision is spending $500 million on Destiny
Yes, it’s true: Activision is spending half a billion dollars on Bungie’s Destiny. Yes, that’s true despite Bungie’s statement that, “the budget for Destiny, including associated marketing costs and pizza Wednesdays, is nowhere near 500 million dollars.” And that’s because, when Activision head Bobby Kotick revealed that gargantuan number earlier this year, he was speaking to the entire franchise, not just this September’s game.
“That number has been widely misinterpreted as a production number for the first game,” Activision CEO Eric Hirshberg explained in an interview today at Gamescom. “That number is an all-inclusive number that’s several years worth of investment, including marketing and several games, and a lot of up front investment in things like engines and tools that will be able to be used for years to come.”
This should come as no surprise to anyone closely following the tale of Destiny and Bungie working with Activision. The two companies signed a 10-year contract to produce a series of games under the Destiny moniker; the partnership was announced in April 2010, putting us just over four years into that 10-year deal. Despite being nearly halfway finished, Hirshberg said the $500 million includes more than just marketing, production and “pizza Wednesdays.” It includes additional entries in the franchise, even.
“When you see it play out, it’ll be fairly familiar: we’ll have packaged games, follow on content,” Hirshberg told us. All that is to say that Activision (and presumably Bungie as well) don’t see Destiny as the MMO-like game (think World of Warcraft) that the beta led many to believe: there’s no monthly subscription, no servers to manage, etc.. “I think that people are ascribing more mystery to the business model of Destiny than they need to,” he said.
So, yes, Destiny costs $500 million. But not this fall’s game — that’s the beginning of a much larger plan to make Destiny into the next blockbuster franchise. The next Halo. The next Call of Duty. Or even something bigger.
“Even with all that context, no one should be surprised that Destiny is a huge undertaking,” Hirshberg said, “An ambitious vision takes an ambitious investment. We wouldn’t be making it if we didn’t believe in the potential of the game.”
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Engadget Daily: the price of cable TV, inside Sky Sports News HQ and more!
Today, we investigated the rising prices of cable TV, toured the Sky Sports News HQ, learned about Sony’s 2.0 PS4 update and more! Read on for Engadget’s news highlights from the last 24 hours.
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AIVAnet 