Sony hikes PS5 prices in some markets, US consumers spared

TOKYO - Sony's PlayStation 5 is already notoriously difficult to find, and on Thursday the popular console's manufacturer said that it will also become more expensive for gamers in many parts of the world.

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) has recommended raising the console's retail price in Europe, the United Kingdom, Japan, China, Australia, Mexico and Canada, the company's top official Jim Ryan said.

US consumers will be spared from the hikes, Ryan said, without providing further explanation.

The price rises will see a PS5 Digital Edition retail in Europe for 449.99 euros ($450), up from 399.99 euros.

The same console will be sold in the UK for 389.99 pounds ($462), up from 359.99 pounds, and in Japan for 49,478 yen ($363), up from 43,978 yen.

Sony blamed "high global inflation rates as well as adverse currency trends" for the price increases.

"Based on these challenging economic conditions, SIE has made the difficult decision to increase the recommended retail price of PlayStation 5 in select markets," Ryan said in a statement.

Sony's current top priority is to address a supply crunch that has made PS5s difficult to buy, he said.

Earlier, console competitor Nintendo said it was not considering raising prices for the moment. 

"In order to offer unique entertainment to a wide range of customers, we want to avoid pricing people out," President Shuntaro Furukawa told the Nikkei business daily in an article published earlier this month.

"Our competition is the variety of entertainment in the world, and we always think about pricing in terms of the value of the fun we offer," he said.

Agence France-Presse

New Xbox hits stores, launching holiday season console war

TOKYO— Microsoft's new Xbox console hit stores worldwide Tuesday, kicking off a holiday season battle with Sony's latest PlayStation model, as the coronavirus pandemic creates unprecedented gaming demand around the world.

The Xbox Series X launches just two days before Sony's next generation PlayStation 5, in a head-to-head likely to dominate the gaming sector this shopping season.

The launches are well-placed to capitalize on a massive spike in demand for gaming. Rising numbers of people around the world are seeking distraction during a pandemic that has killed 1.25 million people and left at least 3 billion more in some form of lockdown since the virus appeared in late December.

But while lockdowns and restrictions may have boosted sales, they have also forced companies to move their launch events online.

Xbox, famous for games such as Halo, Gears of War and Forza Horizon, held an online countdown to midnight for Australia and New Zealand.

Phil Spencer, executive vice-president of gaming at Microsoft, told gamers on a Facebook live event that they were taking "the first step into the next generation of gaming."

"And you will be the first in the world to experience it."

The pandemic also means no long lines of customers camped outside stores, with the pre-orders snapped up online instead more likely to be delivered to gamers' homes.

But demand has been brisk, and is expected to stay that way, Morris Garrard, analyst at specialist financial consultancy FutureSource, told AFP ahead of the launch.

"As soon as any stock is available, it is going to be bought out, within a few minutes even," he said.

He said some of that activity would be people attempting to buy up stock for resale, but that he expects "a high level of excess demand for these consoles, at least in the short term."

"So talking sort of three to six months, I think we'll see that a lot of people who want to get a console are unable to get a console."

SWAN SONG FOR PHYSICAL CONSOLES

Microsoft is hoping its next-generation offering will help close the gap with Sony, whose PlayStation 4 sold twice as well as the Xbox One since they both were released in 2013.

Unlike the PlayStation 5, whose release will be staggered in different countries from Thursday, the Xbox Series X hit the shelves worldwide on Tuesday.

Both Sony and Microsoft have lined up a roster of eagerly awaited games -- headlined by the latest edition of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed, an open-world Viking epic -- to launch with the consoles, which will offer much more powerful central and graphics processors than their predecessors.

In a competitive industry where focus is shifting to online play, this could be a swan song for physical consoles, with both firms betting on cloud servers to do the heavy processing lifting in the future.

But for now, the Xbox design team boasts that their product, which looks much like a PC, is "the fastest most powerful ever" console.

The kit, which has potential 8K video capabilities, has a faster graphics processor than the PS5, and superior data-crunching power.

The "premium" Xbox Series X costs $499 -- the same price as the PlayStation 5 -- but both companies are also offering cheaper, digital-only "mini" versions of the new machines. On these smaller consoles, gamers will be able to play titles as downloads only, not on disk.

Microsoft's slimmed-down console, the Xbox Series S, costs $299, $100 less than the digital-only PlayStation, a move analysts say Sony can afford as the market leader.

Agence France-Presse

Clash of consoles: New PlayStation and Xbox enter $150 billion games arena

TOKYO/CHICAGO/STOCKHOLM - Think Michelangelo vs Da Vinci. Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Batman v Superman. Another epic rivalry is rejoined next week when Sony and Microsoft go head-to-head with the next generation of their blockbuster video-game consoles.

Sony, whose PlayStation 5 (PS5) takes on Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Series S, is widely viewed as being in pole position to capitalize on a pandemic-driven boom in consumer spending that has buoyed the $150 billion video game industry.

The Japanese company's deep bench of games and broader fan base - it has sold over 100 million PS4s, winning the battle of the previous generation - should see it retain its edge over it American archrival, according to industry experts.

"People who own Xbox tend to buy the new Xbox, while people who own PlayStation tend to buy the new PlayStation," said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.

Yet the industry is changing and cloud gaming is on the rise, allowing games to be streamed without bulky hardware. This could curb console sales in coming years, analysts say, a shift that could benefit Microsoft.

The two consoles - the first to be released by the two companies for seven years - are eagerly awaited; the Xbox will go on sale on Tuesday, and the PS5 two days later in core markets, costing about $300 to $500 apiece.

The race to order the devices in advance actually began weeks ago, though blink and you might have missed it. Pre-orders of Sony's PS5 sold out within minutes on many retail sites, for example, frustrating fans.

Julian Mercado, 17, managed to reserve a PS5 from Walmart.com just minutes after pre-orders started on Sept. 16, knowing he'd be up against a legion of gamers.

"It's exactly like shopping on Black Friday," said the high school student from Dallas, who has been playing video games with his dad since he was five. "You show up early, you walk away with something good. You show up too late, you'll walk away with nothing." PLAYING IN A PANDEMIC Sony might have the edge, but the stakes are high for the Japanese company. Its gaming business is its biggest cash cow; in its fiscal 2019 the division, which includes hardware, software and services, brought in close to a quarter of its roughly $77 billion group sales and nearly 30% of its $7.9 billion operating profit.

Microsoft does not break out the results of gaming, though it's a smaller part of its business than for Sony. It also does not disclose hardware sales but the current Xbox One is estimated by analysts to have sold 50 million units.

For the other big hardware player, Japan's Nintendo , sticking to consoles is paying off with it hiking forecasts last week following elevated demand for its Switch.

The PS5 will retail at $499.99 or $399.99 for a digital-only version, while the Xbox Series X will sell for $499.99 and the lower-spec Series S for $299.99.

About 5 million PS5s are forecast to be sold this year, versus 3.9 million of the new Xboxes, according to media research firm Ampere, with combined sales expected to be higher than the previous generation.

"The pandemic is expected to transform the U.S. holiday shopping season," said Jason Benowitz, a senior portfolio manager at Roosevelt Investment Group. "Playing from home has become a way for some to safely socialize."

Sony's games depth is supported by in-house studios behind exclusives such as "Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales". By contrast the new Xbox, say games experts, will lack killer launch titles, with the latest in its flagship "Halo" series pushed back to next year as the pandemic hits development.

Cloud gaming growth could hand the US software giant an advantage in coming years, though. Although both companies have moved to offer services, Microsoft has been more aggressive.

Its Xbox Game Pass subscription service has grown rapidly; it offers more than 100 titles including brand-new games and has over 15 million users. Sony has been reluctant to make its hottest titles available on services like PlayStation Now, fearing this could cannibalise sales of big-budget games.

'DEMAND OUTSTRIPS SUPPLY'

The pandemic, while fueling some demand, has also constrained Sony and Microsoft's production, according to industry experts, who see shortages stretching into 2021.

"Demand will outstrip supply so there's going to be some people who won't get ahold of the console when they want to," said Piers Harding-Rolls, director of Ampere's games research.

Sony has announced that retailers like Walmart, Best Buy and Target will sell the PS5 exclusively online when it launches on Nov. 12, to prevent people from camping outside stores during a pandemic.

Walmart stands to sell as much as $1.1 billion worth of new consoles by the end of January, according to Wedbush. It dominates the U.S. market along with GameStop, each with a roughly 30% share, while sales of consoles at Target and Best Buy comprise about 15% apiece, the research firm said.

Target said it was working closely with its vendors to secure enough inventory. Some shoppers who had reserved consoles told Reuters that Target had said they may receive them days after the launch date.

Walmart said it would start selling the new consoles at launch but declined to comment on whether it would have enough stock to meet demand. Best Buy also declined to comment on whether it would be able to meet demand, while GameStop did not respond to requests for comment.

For DeAnthony Thicklin, a casino attendant who reserved his PS5 on Target.com in September, the priority is to get their hands on a console on the launch day itself.

The 25-year-old offered some advice.

"Have all your card information set up so the only thing you have to do is click," he said. "Don't hesitate. Be quick."

-reuters-

With PlayStation 5 launch, Sony needs a high score

TOKYO - Sony launches its PlayStation 5 console next week angling for a mega-hit, and with the Japanese firm increasingly dependent on the lucrative gaming sector there is little room for error.

The PlayStation 5 will enter a head-to-head battle with rival Microsoft's new Xbox, released two days earlier, with both hoping to capture the market in the run-up to Christmas.

But the showdown has significantly higher stakes for Sony.

Since the PS1 launched in 1994, gaming has become the biggest segment of Sony's business, generating the lion's share of profit and about a third of sales -- more than electronics products or music.

By comparison, gaming made up less than 10 percent of Microsoft's sales for the year ending in June 2020.

Sony sold twice as many PS4s as Microsoft did Xbox Ones, and analysts say it has learned lessons from the disappointing roll-out of the PS3.

"We have seen in previous generations that at launch there are two major factors that will impact a generation's success -- the first to launch and the cheapest," said Morris Garrard, an analyst at Futuresource Consulting.

He cited the "relative failure" of the PS3, which went on sale a year after the Xbox 360 and at a higher price.

The PS5 is priced at $500, like the Xbox Series X, while a version without a disk reader costs $400.

That's more than the $300 price tag for Microsoft's less powerful Xbox Series S, which also has no disk reader.

Sony's margin on the consoles will be slim -- possibly even loss-making -- analysts say, and the firm is counting on sales of games, services and online subscriptions to turn a profit.

GAMES 'MAKE OR BREAK' FOR PS5

So far, demand looks strong, and Sony has reportedly boosted production targets.

But meeting those will depend on suppliers, particularly TSMC, the Taiwanese firm that manufactures the PS5's processor and graphics-processing unit.

It is already under pressure as a key producer of chips for 5G-compatible smartphones.

"Whatever Sony produces, it will sell," said Yasuo Imanaka, an analyst at Rakuten Securities, who thinks PS5 could exceed the record 157 million PS2 units sold since the 2000 launch.

But "everything depends on what TSMC can supply", he told AFP.

To stand out against the Xbox, Sony will be counting on its games line-up, including exclusive titles that Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan says will "make or break" PS5.

Among its trump cards is "Spider-Man: Miles Morales", which will be released with the new console. Its predecessor is among the best selling PS4 titles.

The game was developed by the American studio Insomniac Games, which Sony bought last year for $229 million.

The purchase brought the number of studios Sony owns to 14, and represents a popular strategy of bringing increasingly expensive game development in-house.

Microsoft has made its own forays, buying ZeniMax in September for a record $7.5 billion.

'SHORT-TERM FOCUSED'

Despite the costs, Amir Anvarzadeh, a strategist at Asymmetric Advisors, said the trend makes sense given the risk of diminishing returns for console manufacturers on games produced by third-party developers.

Platform manufacturers charge games publishers a cut for each game sold for use on their device -- and nearly 70 percent of games sold for the PlayStation come from third-party developers.

But Sony and others are under pressure from publishers to slash that fee.

"If the royalty fees go down, they're in a lot of trouble because then they would have to sell twice as much hardware" to avoid a hit to their bottom line, Anvarzadeh said.

There are also fewer incentives now for studios to develop exclusive games, especially given the growing popularity of "cross-play", where gamers play one game together on different devices.

On top of bringing game development in-house, Microsoft has a subscription service that is broader than Sony's and gives users access to hundreds of Xbox and PC games.

Garrard said Sony continues to have several strong cards up its sleeve when it comes to PS5, and its "content portfolio, strength of consumer social networks and development of immersive tech... will all aid in encouraging consumer uptake of the hardware".

But he warned its focus on consoles risks being too fixated on short-term goals.

As well as its subscription model, Microsoft is investing heavily in streaming, also known as cloud gaming -- a strategy Garrard said "appears to be aimed at long-term dominance".

Agence France-Presse

LOOK: Sony unveils new DualSense controller for PlayStation 5

MANILA -- Sony has unveiled the controller for its forthcoming PlayStation 5 console, marking a departure from its previous DualShock pads.

Called DualSense, the new wireless controller complements PS5's Tempest 3D AudioTech engine with its haptic feedback feature and adaptive triggers in delivering "a new feeling of immersion" to players.

Hideaki Nishino, PlayStation's senior vice president for platform planning and management, said they have decided to "keep much of what gamers love about DualShock 4 intact, while also adding new functionality and refining the design."

"Based on our discussions with developers, we concluded that the sense of touch within gameplay, much like audio, hasn't been a big focus for many games. We had a great opportunity with PS5 to innovate by offering game creators the ability to explore how they can heighten that feeling of immersion through our new controller," he said in a post on the PlayStation blog.

"This is why we adopted haptic feedback, which adds a variety of powerful sensations you'll feel when you play, such as the slow grittiness of driving a car through mud," Nishino added. "We also incorporated adaptive triggers into the L2 and R2 buttons of DualSense so you can truly feel the tension of your actions, like when drawing a bow to shoot an arrow."

Sony adjusted the controller's grip and the angle of its hand triggers to make the DualSense "feel smaller than it looks."

Replacing the DualShock 4's "share" button is a "create" button which, Nishino said, will provide "new ways for players to create epic gameplay content to share with the world."

There is also an integrated microphone, and what appears to be a USB-C connector.

The DualShock 4's other features remain, but with light tweaks -- the PlayStation button is now cut in the actual shape of the PS logo, and the light bar has been moved to the sides of the touch pad.

Sony also went for a two-tone design for the DualSense, departing from its single-color base controllers.

The PlayStation 5 is slated for a Holiday 2020 launch, as confirmed by Sony Interactive Entertainment president and chief executive officer Jim Ryan.

"We look forward to sharing more information about PS5, including the console design, in the coming months," he said in a message posted by Nishino in his blog post.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

PlayStation 5: What we know so far

Sony has unveiled the technical specifications of its PlayStation 5, with the next-generation console to include 3D audio and backwards compatibility of at least 100 PS4 titles.

PS5 lead system architect Mark Cerny gave a presentation which was streamed live on YouTube on Thursday (Manila time). It was originally intended for the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, which was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"We had a dream of what might be possible five years from now," said Cerny about 3D audio, which will make virtual raindrops sound like they are hitting different surfaces around the player.

"This is a journey we'll all be taking together over the next few years. Ultimately, we're committed to enabling everyone to experience that next level of realism," he added.

Watch it 


Hideaki Nishino, PlayStation's senior vice president for platform planning and management, said in a blog post that PS5's new features "will allow developers to maximize their creativity, build expansive worlds and new play experiences in the games they design."

As for backwards compatibility, he wrote: "We recently took a look at the Top 100 PS4 titles as ranked by play time, and we're expecting almost all of them to be playable at launch on PS5. With more than 4,000 games published on PS4, we will continue the testing process and expand backwards compatibility coverage over time."

Despite the deep dive, Sony has yet to unveil images of the new console. 

For now, here are the official specs of the PS5:

CPU
- x86-64-AMD Ryzen™ “Zen 2”
- 8 Cores / 16 Threads
- Variable frequency, up to 3.5 GHz

GPU
- AMD Radeon™ RDNA 2-based graphics engine
- Ray Tracing Acceleration
- Variable frequency, up to 2.23 GHz (10.3 TFLOPS)

SYSTEM MEMORY
- GDDR6 16GB
- 448GB/s Bandwidth

SSD
- 825GB
- 5.5GB/s Read Bandwidth (Raw)

PS5 GAME DISC
- Ultra HD Blu-ray™, up to 100GB/disc

VIDEO OUT
- Support of 4K 120Hz TVs, 8K TVs, VRR (specified by HDMI ver.2.1)

AUDIO
- “Tempest” 3D AudioTech

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Amazon, Sony skipping mobile congress owing to virus

MADRID - Amazon and Sony said Monday they will steer clear of the world's biggest mobile tech fair in Barcelona at the end of this month owing to concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The US and Japanese heavyweights joined a list of companies that includes Swedish telecoms equipment maker Ericsson and South Korean giant LG that will forego attending the annual gathering that is to take place on February 24-27 this year.

"Due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020," a Spanish-language statement said.

A Sony statement said: "As we place the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona."

The Japanese group has maintained an internet news conference on February 24 however to present its new products.

The MWC is a major date on tech company calendars and normally draws more than 109,000 people from all over the world to see the latest innovations and gadgets from 2,800 exhibitors.

The mobile trade association GSMA that organizes the congress said Sunday it was taking drastic precautions this year to ease concerns that it could become a hub for the virus to spread.

To date, more than 40,000 people have been infected and more than 900 have died.

The Barcelona congress will be off-limits to anyone from the Chinese province of Hubei, where the virus first broke out, and visitors from other parts of China will have to show they have been outside the country for two weeks before arriving in Spain.

Chinese tech groups ZTE and Huawei still plan to attend but their representatives are to be carefully vetted.

ZTE's exhibition stand and equipment will be disinfected daily and all of its booth exhibition staff will come from countries outside of China, mainly from Europe, it said.

Meanwhile, personnel will be on hand to take visitors' temperatures.

Spain has not declared a health emergency and only two cases of coronavirus have been detected in the country so far, one in the Canary Islands and one on the Mediterranean island of Majorca.

"Everything will be done to ensure the participant's peace of mind," Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni told Antena 3 television.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sony's PlayStation recognized as world's best-selling game console

TOKYO - Sony Corp.'s PlayStation has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's best-selling home video game console, having sold 450.19 million units over 25 years, its game business unit said Tuesday.

The first PlayStation device was launched in December 1994, when Nintendo Co.'s Super Nintendo console was dominant in the home video game market, and quickly gained popularity due to its 3-D graphics and lineup of software titles.

Its producer Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC introduced the PlayStation 2 in March 2000 and sold more than 150 million units of the second-generation console worldwide, followed by the PlayStation 3 released in November 2006 which adopted the Blu-ray disc format.

With the latest PlayStation 4 console, the Japanese entertainment conglomerate established a subscription business model for video games, providing online games at a fixed charge for 36.9 million registered users.

The company plans to introduce the next-generation PlayStation 5 console in the year-end shopping season of 2020.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Robochef: Sony cooks up new AI unit for food revolution

TOKYO - Cooking robots and tastier recipes: Japanese electronics giant Sony on Wednesday launched a new artificial intelligence unit they hope will change the way we cook and eat.

The new research arm, Sony AI, will operate in Japan, Europe and the United States and also focus on the traditional areas of gaming, imaging and sensor equipment, as well as "gastronomy".

The firm that produced the PlayStation franchise and the "Spider-man" movie series is the latest multinational tech company wanting a piece of the pie in the food business, where data are increasingly driving new dishes to pique the palate.

"AI and robotics will not replace chefs. We are aiming to offer new tools to expand their creativity with AI and robotics," Sony spokesman Shinichi Tobe told AFP.

"The field of food requires a study of molecular structures. By using AI and its analytical capacity, we can create new things," Tobe said.

"It involves taste, but also aroma. Through sensing technologies, we can perhaps create new dishes that will please the human sense of taste," he said.

The Tokyo-based gadget-and-entertainment conglomerate is not the only tech company tapping into this seam.

IBM earlier this year teamed up with seasoning maker McCormick to use artificial intelligence in flavor and food product development.

In the future, Sony foresees the creation of a robotic kitchen to help elderly people make meals at home, but without the use of open flames.

It may also result in the creation of a restaurant where robots cook in front of guests.

"There might be ways of cooking that can only be done by robotics. It might be about temperature control. Maybe about precise timings of when or where to apply heat," Tobe said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Sony's PlayStation 5 launch set for late 2020

SAN FRANCISCO - Sony said Tuesday its next-generation PlayStation 5 console, with new immersive features giving players the tactile experience of virtual worlds, would launch for the 2020 holiday season.

The Japanese electronics firm, which had teased its new console earlier this year, said a major new feature of the updated console would be its immersive controller.

"One of our goals with the next generation is to deepen the feeling of immersion when you play games, and we had the opportunity with our new controller to reimagine how the sense of touch can add to that immersion," said Jim Ryan, president and chief executive of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

The new controller will offer "haptic feedback" that brings players closer to the action of games.

"With haptics, you truly feel a broader range of feedback, so crashing into a wall in a race car feels much different than making a tackle on the football field," Ryan said.

"You can even get a sense for a variety of textures when running through fields of grass or plodding through mud."

Another feature will be "adaptive triggers" incorporated into controls "so that you feel the tactile sensation of drawing a bow and arrow or accelerating an off-road vehicle through rocky terrain," he added.

Sony, which leads the console segment, announced the move as more gamers move away from these boxes to streaming games powered by the internet cloud on a variety of devices.

Google, Apple and others have launched game subscriptions which compete with Sony's PlayStation Now cloud video game service.

According to NPD Group, a market research firm, 73 percent of Americans ages two and older play video games, an increase of six percentage points since June 2018.

Mobile remains the most popular gaming platform, with mobile gaming appealing to gamers across all consumer segments, the NPD survey showed. 

source: news.abs-cbn.com

In high-tech Japan, cash is still king

TOKYO - Once a pioneer in cashless transactions, Japan is now lagging behind as the world's biggest economies increasingly embrace electronic payments -- because its ageing population still prefers physical money.

Four out of 5 purchases are still made with cash in Japan, despite its reputation as a futuristic and innovative nation. In South Korea, some 90 percent of transactions are digital, while Sweden aims to be a cashless society as early as 2023.

But in Japan, where crime and counterfeiting is virtually non-existent so people feel more comfortable carrying cash, consumer response has been sluggish.

At Katsuyuki Hasegawa's bike repair shop customers are invited to settle their bills using PayPay -- a tie-up between Softbank and Yahoo -- using a QR code via their smartphones.

But only "two or three" people a week are using the service, Hasegawa tells AFP.

"In a place like this, everything is very slow. We get lots of old people who like to chat while getting out their money. They don't need quick transactions," says the 40-year-old shopkeeper.

"Personally, I prefer cash. With PayPay, you don't keep track of your money," he adds. 

With Japan becoming the first "super-aged" society with more than 28 percent of people 65 or over, it is harder to persuade consumers to take up new technology, according to Yuki Fukumoto, an analyst at the NLI Research Institute.

"The challenge from now on is how to motivate people" to change their habits, said Fukumoto.

This is a serious challenge in a country with more than 200,000 ATMs and where most small shops will only take cash to avoid high transaction costs.

Many were also put off when retail giant Seven & I Holdings suffered a hacking attack immediately after launching a new QR-code payment system and was forced to scrap the scheme.

 'Outdated and collectable'

Yet it was way back in the 1990s that Japanese firm Denso Wave developed the first QR codes now frequently used in cashless payments, while Sony has offered a chip used on public transport and for payments since the 2000s.

Payment cards for transport systems in Tokyo and other cities are also often used for small purchases from vending machines or convenience stores, but cash remains preferred for other transactions.

The Japanese government is hoping to seize on a wave of tourists expected to flood in for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to double the amount of electronic payments to 40 percent by 2025.

It also plans to introduce a points system to partially reward customers paying by cashless means as a way to mitigate a controversial hike in consumption tax from 8 percent to 10 percent from October.

Tokyo perhaps has an eye on the costs of such a dependence on cash, estimated by a Boston Consulting Group survey at 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) to maintain ATMs and transport money around securely.

Companies, too, are doing their best to promote a cashless society. Earlier in the year, mobile company Rakuten started "100-percent cashless" stadia for its baseball and football teams.

Akiko Yamanaka, who runs a chic restaurant called "Koguma" ("bear"), said a 10-percent discount introduced by PayPay for diners who settle the bill using their system had attracted several people.

"The more campaigns there are like this, the more people will convert to cashless," said the 54-year-old.

And Rakuten boss Hiroshi Mikitani is convinced that the future is cashless, even in Japan.

"One day soon, money as we know it -- notes and coins that we carry with us -- will be as outdated and collectable as vinyl discs are now," he said in a recent blog.

Nevertheless, he admitted that "security has to be improved" for this to happen, especially in the wake of the QR hack.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Hit rewind: Sony Walkman triggers nostalgia on 40th birthday

TOKYO -- Must-have 80s gadget and one-time icon of Japan electronics cool, Sony's Walkman turned 40 this year and like its now middle-aged fans, is clinging to its youth with high-tech updates.

On July 1, 1979, as the global economy suffered through the second oil shock, Sony unleashed on the world a dark-blue brick of a machine with chunky silver buttons, the Walkman TPS-L2.

Priced at a hefty 33,000 yen --$300 in today's money -- the first generation Walkman could not record but its stereo music playback function quickly captured hearts in Japan and then the world.

It had two headset jacks -- labelled "guys" and "dolls" -- to allow two people to listen simultaneously. A bright orange "hotline" button could be pressed to lower the volume while the couple chatted.

After a disappointing first month when only 3,000 units were sold, sales exploded to eventually hit 1.5 million worldwide for the first model. The second model, the WM-2, which came in red, black and silver, chalked up sales of 2.58 million.

Over the following four decades, Sony sold more than 420 million "Walkmen" and stopped counting the number of models it had produced when it hit the 1,000 mark -- about 15 years ago.

The Japanese electronics giant chose the name partly because of the popularity of Superman at the time and the fact it was based on an existing audio recorder called the "Pressman."

The word "Walkman" has since entered everyday language but the device was initially called "Soundabout", "Stowaway" or "Freestyle" in some parts of the world.

"The Walkman is my youth," said Katsuya Kumagai, now 51, as he browsed an exhibition to mark the 40th anniversary of the first edition.

"It was always in my life," he added, scanning some of the 230 varieties of Walkman on show, which also offers nostalgic visitors the chance to play with some of the older models.

As an 11 year old, Kumagai could never afford a Walkman and envied older children as they whizzed by on roller skates plugged into the latest sounds.

"I'm quite emotional. Memories from those days are flooding back," he said, echoing the thoughts of many a middle-aged fan for whom the Walkman provided the soundtrack to their youth.

'PLAY AND PAUSE'

Sony continued production of the cassette-tape Walkman until 2010, long after the technology had been overtaken first by the Compact Disc in the 1980s and the MiniDisc Walkman in 1992.

Like many in the industry, the Japanese firm was shaken by the emergence of Apple's iPod when suddenly a listener's entire music collection was available on the move.

But Sony has scrambled to keep up and the latest high-end versions cost well over $2,000 and look more like a smartphone with flash memory and high-res audio -- a far cry from the early generations.

Scott Fung, a 17-year-old also attending the exhibition, has never known a time when people could not listen to music on the move and said he had "only heard" about the Walkman and was keen to satisfy his curiosity.

"Ever since I grew up, devices have always had screens and they don't have physical buttons," he said clutching his smartphone and gazing at the early Walkmen on display.

"When I was born, Sony Walkman was already not as relevant... (it) was not really a big part of my life," said the student from Hong Kong who listens to music via his smartphone.

But perhaps surprisingly, he revealed himself to be a fan of the older tech.

"I think this older design is really intelligent where you can just play and pause, go back and forth in a song, which is very interesting to me," he said.

'IT'S SO COOL'

Fung is apparently not alone in his penchant for the old-school technology: a first edition Walkman presented as new and never used sold recently for 1.3 million yen, a mere 40 times its initial price.

Sony engineer Hiroaki Sato, who worked on the early Walkman editions, even said it would be "quite difficult" to replicate the technology now, as it would involve painstakingly reproducing high-precision components.

He said the current versions would likely not exist in 40 years as the recording formats and rechargeable batteries would undoubtedly have changed beyond recognition.

But the old Walkman has stood the test of time.

"Repairing this, I realized this is an excellent machine. If we replace the damaged rubber belt, it works normally. It's so cool," he said.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Qualcomm shares slide after US antitrust ruling

WASHINGTON - Smartphone chip giant Qualcomm suffered a fresh blow in its antitrust battle with a US federal judge's ruling that it "strangled competition" for years at the expense of consumers and device makers.

Shares in Qualcomm sank some eight percent in opening trading Wednesday after the ruling that the company violated antitrust law, in a case with major implications for the smartphone market.

Judge Lucy H. Koh of the northern district of California ordered Qualcomm to change its pricing and sales practices, after finding it "engaged in anticompetitive conduct" towards customers like Sony, Samsung and China's Huawei.

"Qualcomm's licensing practices have strangled competition" in the chip market for years, "and harmed rivals," she said in the ruling Tuesday in the lawsuit brought by the US Federal Trade Commission.

She added that Qualcomm's abusive tactics have been continuing and that it "is likely to replicate its market dominance during the transition to 5G, the next generation of modem chips."

The California-based company's shares had soared after reaching a settlement with Apple last month over royalty payments for chips used in smartphones, which was expected to generate a windfall of $4.5 billion.

But the 230-page ruling showed the company violated the law by using "unfair methods of competition."

The company said it will seek an expedited appeal of the ruling.

"We strongly disagree with the judge's conclusions, her interpretation of the facts and her application of the law," Don Rosenberg, Qualcomm executive vice president and general counsel, said in a statement.

Koh cited statements from company executives that showed the "unlawful practices are 'ongoing' or likely to recur" since they were part of the firm's strategy and it maintains a dominant position in the market.

The judge ruled that Qualcomm must negotiate terms for its patents on fair and reasonable terms without using threats or discriminatory tactics.

"Qualcomm must not condition the supply of modem chips on a customer's patent license status and Qualcomm must negotiate or renegotiate license terms with customers in good faith under conditions free from the threat of lack of access," the judge wrote.

John Bergmayer of the consumer group Public Knowledge said of the decision: "We congratulate the FTC on this important victory. Judge Koh's ruling shows that the FTC has the ability to bring, and win, important cases that protect American consumers."

The ruling marked the latest setback for Qualcomm which has faced antitrust litigation in Europe, South Korea and China.

Qualcomm's woes appeared to ease earlier this month when it agreed with Apple to settle all worldwide litigation in what had been a sprawling battle over royalty payments.

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Japanese electronics firms look to re-engineer their design mojo

TOKYO, Japan -- Akihiro Adachi, a 31-year-old audiovisual equipment designer at Panasonic Corp, longed for some personal space during his lengthy train rides from Osaka to Tokyo. So when his company set out to encourage innovation, he joined with some colleagues and came up with “Wear Space,” a headset that limits noise and peripheral vision.

Many at Panasonic were puzzled.

“Someone said the office full of people wearing this would look weird,” said Kang Hwayoung, another member of the 10-person design team.

But the prototype unexpectedly won a global design award and received positive feedback from unexpected quarters, such as sake tasters who wanted to limit sensory input.

The project is among a range of efforts in the Japanese electronics industry to reinvigorate industrial design. After years of losing ground to design-first rivals such as Apple and Dyson, Japanese companies are now trying to recover the processes and creative flair that produced iconic products such as the Walkman.

Panasonic, Sony and Mitsubishi Electric are among those implementing practices that have been routine at many US and European companies, such as engaging designers at every step and treating packaging as part of the product.

“We used to have designers involved only in final stages of our product development process, just for an aesthetic fix,” Yoshiyuki Miyabe, Panasonic’s technology and manufacturing chief, told reporters. “We are revamping the process so that designers can join us from the planning phase.”

The Japanese government is promoting the efforts: a report in May urged corporate executives to pursue “design-driven management, whereby a company leverages design as a primary driver of competitiveness.”

It also called for tax incentives for design-related investments and new laws to better protect intellectual property. The government is set to revise such laws next year.

“Of course, we had an argument over how much the government can do and should do with private-sector issues like this,” said Daisuke Kubota, director at the government’s design registration system planning office, who was involved in the panel.

“But a lot of design experts asked us for government initiatives, saying that this is really the last chance and Japan would never be able to catch up with global rivals if this opportunity is missed.”

Another member of the panel, Kinya Tagawa, visiting professor at the Royal College of Art and co-founder of design firm Takram, says there has been a sharp increase in major companies’ requesting design lectures for their executives.

“I’m seeing a sign of change,” he said.

THE ROAD AHEAD

All agree there is a long way to go. C-suite designers remain a rarity at most electronics companies while technologists reign supreme, company officials and industrial designers say.

Japan last year received 31,961 applications for design registrations, only a fraction of China’s 628,658 and half of South Korea’s 67,374. In the heyday of the Japanese electronics industry in the early 1980s, Japan had nearly 60,000 applications every year.

Tagawa said the root of today’s problems was the failure of Japanese firms to absorb lessons from the software revolution, which showed the importance of user-centered design principles and easy-to-use products such as Apple’s iPhone. Instead, they remained fixated on engineering.

Ryuichi Oya, who retired as design chief of Sharp Corp last month, says he saw that attitude up close when he moved to Sharp four years ago after a long stint at automaker Mazda Motor.

“Designers at home electronics companies have little say compared to engineers,” he said. “When engineers dismiss design proposals as too costly or difficult from an engineering point of view, designers easily succumb.”

Oya said he found it particularly hard to convince management of the need for a design vision.

“It’s not about whether you like this color or that shape,” he said. “There have to be design principles unique to Sharp and consistent across its product line.”

COMPETITION

Japanese designers cite the contrast with South Korea’s Samsung Group, where its patriarch, Lee Kun-hee, said in 1996 that design was a core management resource “imperative for a company’s survival in the 21st century.” He sharply boosted both the number and status of designers.

At Sony, insiders say design began its return to the forefront after chairman Kaz Hirai took over in 2012. Change has been slow as the company went through a painful restructuring, but the results can be seen its approach to the revival of Aibo, a robot dog.

Designers worked to craft a holistic user experience, starting from the moment a customer opened the box, tapping into a community of Aibo owners, Sony design chief Yutaka Hasegawa said.

“We had intense discussions over how Aibo should be packaged, to make it look closer to a living creature. It’s important because opening the container box marks the customer’s first encounter with the dog.”

They decided to lay Aibo sideways with its head tilting to the left, a more expensive option than placing it face down because the interior packaging must be asymmetrical.

The result was a buzz among Aibo owners, with some posting on the Internet videos showing a “ceremony for opening the Aibo container.”

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Sony to release AI-infused robotic puppies in the US

SAN FRANCISCO -- Sony on Thursday announced that its Aibo robotic dogs infused with artificial intelligence will be unleashed on the US market by the year-end holiday season, with a price tag of $2,899.

The sixth-generation mechanical pup combines robotics with image sensors and artificial intelligence, enabling it to learn behaviors and recognize faces, according to the Japanese consumer electronics giant.

Aibo robot personalities develop based on interactions with people, giving each a unique character depending on its human companions, Sony said.

"This is truly a one-of-a-kind product designed to connect with its owners on an emotional level," Sony Electronics North America president Mike Fasulo said in a release.

Similar to real-life dogs, Aibo can learn tricks and will seek out owners, reacting to words of praise or scratches on the head, according to Sony. Aibo will also play with toys, which Sony will sell you.

Unlike real-life dogs, Aibo has an application owners can use to adjust system settings or add new tricks, and can connect to the internet cloud to store memories.

Aibo owners will also be able to check on internet-linked canine companions while away from home, glimpsing life through their robotic eyes, according to Sony.

Sony will begin taking US orders for "First Litter Edition" Aibo next month, with deliveries promised by the holiday season.

Aibo became available in Japan early this year, more than a decade after it culled earlier models from its product line.

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Old dog, new tricks: Sony unleashes 'intelligent' robot pet

TOKYO - As Japan celebrates the year of the dog, electronics giant Sony on Thursday unleashed its new robot canine companion, packed with artificial intelligence and internet connectivity.

The sleek ivory-white puppy-sized "aibo" robot shook its head and wagged its tail as if waking from a nap when it was taken out of a cocoon-shaped case at a "birthday ceremony" held in Tokyo.

Seven-year-old boy Naohiro Sugimoto from Tokyo was among the first to get his hands on the shiny new toy, which he described as "heavy but cute".

"The dog we had previously died... We bought this robot dog as we wanted a (new) family," he said.

The 30-centimeter (one-foot) long hound-like machine comes complete with flapping ears and its eyes, made of a cutting-edge light-emitting display, can show various emotions.

Aibo is also fitted with an array of sensors, cameras and microphones and boasts internet connectivity.

The owner can play with the pet remotely via smartphone and even teach it tricks from the office for the faithful hound to perform when its "master" gets home.

It builds up a "character" by interacting with people and while not always submissive, it is friendly towards those who are kind to it.

What the machine "learns" is stored in the cloud so its "character" can be preserved even in the event of hardware damage.

Photos it takes can also be shared.

But such cutting-edge canine technology does not come cheap, with the aibo costing nearly $3,000 for a three-year package, including software services such as data storage.

TOUCHES A CHORD  

Aibo is not the Japanese electronic giant's first foray into the animal robot entertainment world.

Its earlier robot dog was put to sleep more a decade ago -- a victim of business restructuring -- shocking fans.

Sony rolled out the first-generation dog in June 1999, with the initial batch of 3,000 selling out in just 20 minutes, despite a hefty price tag of 250,000 yen ($2,200 at current rates).

Over the following years, more than 150,000 units were sold, with numerous models ranging from gleaming metallic-silver versions to round-faced cub-like models.

But by 2006, Sony was in trouble. Its business model was under pressure and it was facing fierce competition from rivals in all fields.

The robot dog, an expensive and somewhat frivolous luxury, had to go.

Yasuyuki Nakamura, another owner of the new generation Aibo -- his third robot pet -- said he was happy to see the dog back in Sony's catalog.

"I had been waiting (for a new aibo). I ordered one as I was happy to see this kind of business was revived," the 46-year-old said.

A middle-aged couple said they bought the robot for their 25th anniversary this year.

Sony plans to release the new aibo overseas as well but no details are set yet.

The dog does not speak human languages or perform tasks such as turning a light on.

But that is not the point of the product, according to Sony's Izumi Kawanishi who is in charge of the project.

"You don't think about what the dog can do when you want to get a dog, do you?," he asked reporters.

"The point is that it touches a chord (with people)," he said.

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Apple poaches top two Sony TV execs to boost video content

Apple Inc said on Friday it has hired the co-presidents of Sony Pictures Television, Jamie Erlicht and Zack Van Amburg, to lead the iPhone maker's foray into television-style programming.

The duo, responsible for shows such as "Breaking Bad," "Better Call Saul," "The Crown" and "The Blacklist," have been Sony Pictures presidents since 2005.

"Jamie and Zack are two of the most talented TV executives in the world and have been instrumental in making this the golden age of television," said Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services.

Van Amburg and Erlicht’s departure from Sony Pictures was announced on Thursday in a memo from Sony Pictures Entertainment Chief Executive Tony Vinciquerra, according to the entertainment magazine Variety, which said their contracts were set to expire in August.

Hollywood has been awaiting the entry of deep-pocketed Apple into the field of original television, which is studded with award-winning dramas and comedies from outlets such as Netflix and Time Warner Inc's HBO.

Apple began its move into the field last week, with a reality program called "Planet of the Apps," an unscripted show about developers trying to interest celebrity mentors with a 60-second pitch on an escalator.

The company's future programming plans include an adaptation of comedian James Corden's "Carpool Karaoke" segment from his CBS show that will begin airing in August, a documentary about Sean Combs in June, and another about Clive Davis in a few months.

Apple shares fell slightly in early trading on Friday, shedding 28 cents to $144.01 per share.

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Microsoft challenges Sony with powerful new Xbox One X

WASHINGTON - Microsoft on Sunday unveiled Xbox One X -- billing it as the most powerful video console ever made, and escalating a battle with market king PlayStation.

The $499 product was built with the muscle for seamless play on ultra-high definition 4K televisions and will be available worldwide on November 7, according to Xbox team leader Phil Spencer.

He introduced the much anticipated Xbox One X, called Scorpio during development, at a Microsoft event ahead of the official opening of the major Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles.

Aiming at the hearts of gamers, Microsoft also showed off 42 coming games, with 22 titles being tailored for exclusive play on Xbox One consoles.

Independent publishers tend to make blockbuster titles available for play on Xbox, PlayStation and personal computer hardware in an effort to sell creations to as broad an audience as possible.

Keenly-anticipated new games shown off here include a new installment of "Assassin's Creed" from France-based Ubisoft, intended to reboot the long-running franchise by taking players back to the "origins" of the storyline in ancient Egypt.

Game play on 4K screens, whether they be televisions or personal computer monitors, is expected to be among themes at E3 this week. Enabling ultra-rich visuals also tunes into the budding trend toward virtual reality games.

SWITCH SUPPLIES TIGHT

Sony PlayStation 4 has dominated the latest generation of consoles, outselling Xbox One by 2-to-1, according to industry trackers.

PS4 consoles from the outset could power virtual reality, and Sony sells head gear for those experiences.

PlayStation has also become the prime driver of revenue and profit at Japan-based entertainment giant Sony, according to executives.

“We are selling every single one we can make,” Sony Interactive Entertainment worldwide studios chairman Shawn Layden said of PS4.

Nintendo's recently-launched Switch has been a winner, with fans snapping up the console and a "Legend of Zelda" game that has become a must-play title for fans.

Demand for Switch consoles has been so intense since its launch early this year that the consoles are tough to find in stores and Nintendo has reportedly doubled production.

Switch launched at the start of March and some 2.74 million were sold by the end of that month, according to Nintendo.

Hot Switch sales also boosted shares of the Japanese company, which ran into a tough patch after it failed to build on the popularity of the first generation of Wii consoles.

PS4 and Xbox One are both performing better in the market that their respective predecessors, and Nintendo “is back in a big way” with Switch, according to NPD analyst Mat Piscatella.

Sony has sold close to 60 million PS4 consoles and will reveal its latest innovations and offerings at a press event on Monday, according to executives.
"We are in the 4K world already," Layden told AFP. "That is what the future of gaming is going to look like."

OLD GAMES MADE NEW

Microsoft is also courting players by working to make more popular games from earlier Xbox console versions playable on its latest hardware.

Microsoft also just launched a subscription service for Xbox, letting players pay a monthly fee for access to a videogames library for its console.

Sony makes a library of videogames available as part of a subscription service for PlayStation consoles.

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Paul McCartney sues to take back Beatles catalog

Paul McCartney on Wednesday filed a lawsuit to secure the copyright to the Beatles back catalog in a case that could have wide ramifications for the music industry.

The complicated dispute centers around the US Copyright Act of 1976 which aimed to address pop music's checkered history with artists by ensuring long-term rights for songwriters and their heirs.

Under the law, artists could reclaim copyright for songs 35 years after they gave them away -- or 56 years for tracks from before 1978.

But in a startling win for publishers, a British court in December refused to grant Duran Duran the US rights to the pop group's early hits -- such as "Rio" and the James Bond theme "A View to a Kill" -- on the grounds that the US act did not apply in Britain.

McCartney filed the lawsuit in a federal court in New York against Sony ATV Music Publishing, which was also involved in the Duran Duran case, in a bid to guarantee the transfer of copyright.

Next year will mark 56 years, the timeframe spelled out in the US Copyright Act, since the Beatles released their first single, "Love Me Do," in 1962.

The lawsuit said that the CEO of Sony ATV encountered McCartney's lawyer at a concert shortly before the Duran Duran decision and hinted that the publisher would fight harder in light of the British case.

The lawsuit said that McCartney had asked Sony ATV to make clear that it recognized the former Beatle's notices that he planned to terminate publishing contracts under the US law.

"Defendants have refused to provide such confirmation," the lawsuit said, voicing worry that Sony ATV would instead declare McCartney -- who wrote much of the Beatles catalog with the late John Lennon -- to be in breach of contract.

The case could have wide effects on the future of payments in the music industry. Publishers collect and distribute royalties to songwriters -- an especially lucrative area for classic tunes.

Sony ATV has rights to millions of songs including those by other top names in rock history including Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye and Bob Dylan.

Ironically, Jackson bought rights to Beatles songs after a leisurely chat with McCartney who explained the importance of music publishing.

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Future Perfect: Sony's 4K HDR TV

Sony introduced X9000-C 4K Bravia TV in 2015, and they are now offering their Filipino fans the latest in 4K television--the 4K HDR Bravia series.

CJ de Acosta of Sony Philippines said one of the feedbacks they received regarding last year's model was that users wanted better brightness and contrast.

“Our human eyes can actually process the level of brightness of 10 to the power of 5, which is on [the sun]light," said de Acosta.

Last year's model which had standard dynamic range, she said, produces brightness of 10 to the power of 3.

"But because of high dynamic range (HDR), we can now process or reproduce 10 to the power of 5, which can satisfy the human eye condition."

They were also able to improve the contrast in the X9300-D, which she brought to the Future Perfect set, by putting together two Edge LED panels together.

"It precisely focuses the light depending on which has to be highlighted on the screen," said de Acosta.

Like the other 4K TVs, the X9300-D operates on an Android system and has 16GB of onboard storage.

The TV can be controlled by a remote commander or through Android smartphone apps.

Games, apps, and movies can be bought in the Google Play Store and played via the GoogleCast function and third-party wireless controller.

The X9300-D is available in 55" and 65" while the X8500 D is available in 75”.

X9300-D (65") retails at P 229,999

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