Japan quakes disrupt Sony production of image sensors used in Apple iPhones

TOKYO, Japan - Electronics giant Sony Corp. said a factory producing image sensors for smartphone makers will remain closed while it assesses the damage from two deadly earthquakes which hit southern Japan. One of its major customers is Apple, which uses the sensors in its iPhones.

Sony said it will extend the closure of its image sensor plant in Kumamoto, which is in the southern island of Kyushu, after major tremblors on Thursday and Saturday rocked the key manufacturing region.

The PlayStation maker said operations at its image sensor plant in Nagasaki, also in Kyushu, will be partially suspended and it does not yet have a timeline for full resumption of operations.

Sony controls about 40 percent of the market for complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors, a type of integrated circuit that converts light into electrical signals. In smartphones they are used to convert images into digital data.

“We are not expecting any immediate supply disruption as we have some inventories right now," a Sony spokesman told Reuters on Saturday. "We will make an announcement promptly if any supply issues emerge.”

He said the company was hoping to resume operations as soon as aftershocks end, and would probably provide an update on late Monday afternoon. "We are still checking for potential damage to the plants, which usually operate on a 24-hour basis," he said.

Apple could not be immediately reached for comment.

Sony has two other CMOS image sensor plants in Japan.

Samsung Electronics says it has diversified its sources for image sensors used in its smartphones and the quakes will have no impact on its flagship products.

A devastating earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan in March 2011 temporarily knocked out part of Japan's auto supply chain. Some companies have since adjusted the industry's "Just in Time" production philosophy to limit any repeat of that costly disruption.

Other electronics makers were also forced to stop production in Kyushu, which has grown as a manufacturing hub over the past two decades. Kyushu accounts for roughly 25 percent of semiconductor output in Japan by some estimates.

Renesas Electronics Corp closed its Kumamoto plant, which produces microcontroller chips for automobiles. It will not resume production until it completes its damage assessment.

Mitsubishi Electric Corp halted production at its two Kumamoto plants which produce liquid crystal display modules used in display panels for car navigation systems and semiconductor chips used in power inverters for various electrical products, including air conditioners and hybrid or electric vehicles. It uses some of the products itself and provides others to customers.

“We are still assessing the situation as we continue to have aftershocks," said a Mitsubishi spokesman.

AUTOMAKERS HALT PRODUCTION

Saturday's natural disaster also impacted major automakers, which had just stopped their production lines to inspect for any damage from Thursday's earthquake.

Honda Motor Co Ltd halted production at its Kumamoto motorcycle plant, which has annual production capacity of 250,000. It said it will keep production on hold through Monday.

Toyota Motor Corp halted production at three plants producing vehicles, engines and trans axles in Fukuoka. Toyota said there was no damage at its plants, but it was checking the status of its suppliers. It will decide on Sunday whether to resume production.

Nissan Motor Co Ltd stopped production at its Fukuoka plant which produces vehicles including the Serena, Teana, Murano and Note.

Kumamoto prefecture accounts for about 1.1 percent of Japanese GDP, compared to the combined 6.2 percent of the four prefectures which suffered the heaviest damage from the 2011 natural disaster, according to strategists at Barclays.

"A relatively higher proportion of Kyushu's economic activity takes place within the region itself. Therefore economic impact on the rest of Japan stemming from any damages to Kyushu's manufacturing activity will be limited," Barclays wrote in a note to clients.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Sony to further boost production of imaging sensors

TOKYO - Sony Corp. said it would spend an extra 45 billion yen ($376 million) in the fiscal year that started this month to further boost output of imaging sensors, increasing its focus on a business that has become one of its strongest as its TV and mobile operations struggle.

Sony said it plans to expand production capacity for image sensors to 87,000 wafers per month by the end of September 2016 to meet growing demand from smartphone makers, compared with current levels of around 60,000 wafers per month.

The company had said in February that it would spend 105 billion yen to boost output capacity at its three plants in Japan to 80,000 wafers per month by the end of June 2016.

Sony is targeting a 25-fold increase in operating profit within three years, by focusing its spending on profitable areas such as sensors and videogames while retreating from commoditized products such as TVs.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Sony virtual reality head gear set for 2016 release

SAN FRANCISCO - Sony was at a major game developers' gathering Wednesday showing off a prototype of "Morpheus" virtual reality head gear set for release next year.

The Japanese consumer electronics titan did not disclose how much it planned to charge for the virtual reality (VR) system synced to work with its popular PlayStation 4 video game consoles.

"With the technical specs achieved on the new prototype, we are one step closer to realizing our vision for making amazing VR experiences on PS4, and ultimately to deliver a real sense of presence to players," said Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida.

"We believe that the near-final technology of Morpheus, combined with the power of PS4, will provide a standard for game developers to target as they build on their creative ideas and turn them into VR games and experiences."

Sony is among several companies developing VR head gear and pitching their technology at a Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week.

Facebook-owned Oculus VR and Sony were each headlining Wednesday sessions likely to be packed with game makers.

A crowd was also expected at a session Wednesday featuring the head of the Xbox team at Microsoft, who is likely to tout gaming potential of HoloLens augmented reality visors that the US technology titan is developing.

Future of gaming

Sony billed VR as the future of gaming while introducing the latest prototype from Project Morpheus, which was unveiled in March of last year.

Sony said that, since then, it has been listening to feedback and making enhancements "that will further the capability of Morpheus to deliver a sense of presence and push the boundaries of play."

Prototype improvements included a screen with a larger field of view to remove blur and flicker, along with faster frame rates for smoother visuals, according to Sony.

Sony said it has sold more than 20.2 million PS4 consoles since they hit the market in late 2013.

As GDC got under way this week, Valve and Taiwan-based smartphone maker HTC announced they are working together on Vive virtual reality head gear on track for release by the end of this year.

"Vive creates an exciting opportunity for all developers and content creators, to help us bring virtual reality into the mainstream with an end-to-end solution that completely redefines how we entertain ourselves, communicate with each other, learn and, eventually, how we become more productive," HTC chairwoman Cher Wang said in a release.

"HTC Vive is real, it's here and it'll be ready to go before the start of 2016."

Targeting billions

Oculus chief technology officer John Carmack told a packed room of developers at GDC that the company is working with South Korean consumer electronics colossus Samsung on a next-generation Gear VR device likely to be released late this year.

"We've got a plan now; we've got a date," Carmack said while encouraging game makers to hop of the virtual reality band wagon.

"Oculus is going forward as hard as we can, trying to sell as many units as we can with the next Gear VR."

Carmack said he is most excited about the future of virtual reality that lets users unplug from personal computers and go mobile. He envisioned the future of virtual reality as running on mobile technology, but said the "headset of our dreams" remained years away.

Being acquired by Facebook last year in a $2 billion deal is turning out to be a good thing for the Oculus platform, bringing with it talent, resources and expertise at building infrastructure capable of serving people around the world, according to Carmack.

"I want to see a billion people in virtual reality; Zuck wants to see a billion people in virtual reality," Carmack said, referring to Facebook chief and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.

"There is not a step-by-step plan," he told the game makers. "But, we plan to sell enough units to make it worth your while."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Sony works to restore PlayStation after attack

BOSTON -- Sony Corp worked for a third day on Saturday to restore services to its PlayStation network as the FBI said it was looking into the disruption, which began on Christmas Day.

"We are aware of the reports and are investigating the Sony PlayStation matter," Federal Bureau of Investigation spokeswoman Jenny Shearer said via email. She did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, Sony said on Saturday that the attack had prevented some people who received consoles for Christmas from using their new machines on the PlayStation network, which lets gamers compete with people around the world via the Internet.

"If you received a PlayStation console over the holidays and have been unable to log onto the network, know that this problem is temporary and is not caused by your game console," Sony executive Catherine Jensen said on the company's U.S. PlayStation blog.

Some customers posted complaints about the outage on the blog. "Three days without PSN. That's absurd," said one of them.

"We understand your frustration," Jensen responded early Saturday afternoon. "Our engineers are working to restore service as quickly as possible!"

Later in the day she said the company had restored access for some users and would keep bringing more back online. Sony declined to say how many of PSN's 56 millions users had been affected by the attack.

The blog said the problems were the result of "high levels of traffic designed to disrupt connectivity and online game play," which is widely known as a distributed denial-of-service attack.

It was Sony's second recent high-profile encounter with hackers after an unprecedented attack on its Hollywood studio, which the U.S. government attributed to North Korea and linked to the release of the low-brow comedy "The Interview."

A hacker activist group known as Lizard Squad said it was responsible for the PSN outage as well as delays on Microsoft's Corp's Xbox network; Microsoft quickly fixed the problem.

The group has claimed responsibility for previous attacks, including ones on PSN in early December and August.

The August attack coincided with a bomb scare in which Lizard Squad tweeted to American Airlines that it heard explosives were on board a Dallas-to-San Diego flight carrying an executive with Sony Online Entertainment.

Sony has been the victim of some of the most notorious cyberattacks in history. Besides the breach at its Hollywood studio, hackers stole data belonging to 77 million PlayStation Network users in 2011.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

YouTube shows 'The Interview' before theaters

LOS ANGELES -- Sony Pictures made "The Interview" available online on Wednesday, a day before its theatrical release, after reversing a decision made a week ago to cancel the movie's release following a massive cyberattack.

The film was available for rental on Google Inc's YouTube site as of early Wednesday afternoon. Microsoft Corp and Sony itself are also showing the comedy, a day before its scheduled premiere at some 320 independent theaters.

"We chose the path of digital distribution first so as to reach as many people as possible on opening day, and we continue to seek other partners and platforms to further expand the release," Sony Entertainment chief executive Michael Lynton said in a statement.

He added that Sony had first reached out to Google, Microsoft "and other partners" on Dec. 17, the day the studio said it was canceling the movie's Christmas Day release.

The movie, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco and is about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, triggered the most destructive cyberattack ever to target a U.S. company, resulting in the release of hundreds of embarrassing emails and confidential data.

U.S. President Barack Obama last week blamed the cyberattacks on North Korea and added to a chorus of criticism by politicians and Hollywood actors, screenwriters and directors accusing Sony of caving to the hackers' demands by censoring itself.

In addition to YouTube Movies, Google Play, Microsoft's Xbox Video, the comedy will be available on a dedicated website, www.seetheinterview.com, to rent for $5.99 or buy for $14.99. No cable or satellite TV operator has yet agreed to make "The Interview" available through video on demand (VOD).

The showing is a chance for Google and Microsoft, which have been bit players in a VOD market dominated by Apple Inc , Amazon.com Inc and cable and satellite operators, to raise their profile.

It was unclear the extent to which the online release would dampen moviegoers' appetite to see the comedy in the independent theaters that announced on Tuesday they planned to show it.

Many Christmas Day screenings were sold out, including one that begins right after midnight at the 184-seat Silent Movie Theatre in Los Angeles.

"I need to say that a comedy is best viewed in a theater full of people, so if you can, I'd watch it like that," Rogen tweeted. "Or call some friends over."

Google said it had weighed the security implications of screening the movie - described by reviewers as "profane" and "raunchy" - after Sony contacted the company about making it available online.

'Imposing censorship'

"But after discussing all the issues, Sony and Google agreed that we could not sit on the sidelines and allow a handful of people to determine the limits of free speech in another country (however silly the content might be)," Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, wrote in a blog post.

Google has an "enormous" infrastructure that is well tested in fighting off denial of service and other attacks, said Barrett Lyon, principal strategist with F5 Networks and an expert in Internet network security. "I wouldn't imagine seeing 'lights-out' at YouTube," he said, adding that Microsoft could be more vulnerable

Sony pulled the movie after major theater chains refused to show it. That followed threats of September 11, 2001 style attacks from Guardians of Peace, the group that claimed responsibility for the cyberattacks against Sony.

The White House on Wednesday praised the decision to release the film.

"As the president made clear on Friday, we do not live in a country where a foreign dictator can start imposing censorship here in the United States," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said in a statement. "With today's announcements, people can now make their own choices about the film, and that's how it should be."

A national security official said on Tuesday that U.S. authorities did not take the hackers' threats against theatergoers seriously.

CNN, which first reported that Sony was in talks with Google's YouTube on releasing the movie, said the studio also had held talks with Apple about making the comedy available on its iTunes store but that the negotiations broke down.

Obama vowed in a news conference on Friday to respond to the cyberattack "in a place and timing and manner that we choose."

Japan, meanwhile, has begun working to ensure basic infrastructure is safe and to formulate its diplomatic response, officials said, fearing it could be a soft target for possible North Korean cyberattacks in the escalating row over the Sony Pictures hack.

And South Korea is seeking the cooperation of Chinese authorities in a probe into a cyberattack on its nuclear power plant operator after tracing multiple Internet addresses involved to a northeastern Chinese city near North Korea, a prosecution official said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

This 4K home projector costs $50,000

NEW YORK - Sony Corp. began selling Tuesday in the United States a family-use "4K" projector capable of casting images of up to 147 inches onto a wall.

The 4K Ultra Short Throw Projector, utilizing 4K technology which displays images four times sharper than current high-definition resolutions, is priced at $50,000, or 5.48 million yen.

The 2.7-meter wide, 26.5-centimeter tall set including a projector, speakers and cabinets replays videos from personal computer or other electronic devices.

Sony Electronics President Mike Fasulo said at an event in New York that consumers could enjoy viewing 4K movies and displaying favorite art at home.

The company began sales in New York and will expand the market to Los Angeles in a few weeks, then to Europe by next summer. It is also considering sales in Japan.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Sony crafts strategy around PlayStation console

TOKYO -- Japan's Sony Corp. is hammering out plans to rise from the ashes of nearly $10 billion lost in six years by building a future around its last consumer electronics blockbuster -- the PlayStation.

Sony plans to reposition the video console warhorse as a hub for a network of streamed services, according to three senior officials, offering social media, movies and music as well as games. The executives spoke to Reuters on condition they not be named because the matters are still in early stages of discussion.

The plans to coax more revenue from the PlayStation's network of users are being developed by a new breed of managers brought in by chief executive Kazuo Hirai. Analysts say if Sony gets it right, the game and network business could earn about $1 billion in the fiscal year from April 2016 -- making it the most profitable part of the company bar a financial services unit.

"Network services have been a long-running issue for Sony," said Atsushi Osanai, associate professor at Waseda University's business school. It's a field Apple Inc has dominated with iTunes, while established movie and music services like Netflix Inc and Spotify are expanding fast.

"In the past there was a time when they (Sony) were all over the place and went after everything, but zeroing in first on game users is effective," said Osanai. The company's next progress report will come with its first-quarter earnings on July 31.

At 200 billion yen ($1.96 billion) last fiscal year, some 90 percent of it from games, Sony Entertainment Network's revenue is small compared with the 5 trillion yen at the company's broader electronics business. The division lost 10 billion yen last year and more losses are expected this year as it spends on servers and systems for a surge in users, but the executives -- and analysts -- expect it to ramp up quickly after that to double-digit margins.

The new thinking is far from Sony's first effort to kickstart a revival. Yet the company that was once the symbol of Japan's technology prowess has often failed in attempts to deliver innovative hits to match successes of old, like the Walkman music player.

The managers lining up Sony's new strategy know a PlayStation network won't fix mainstream loss-making businesses, like its TV division -- "a grim electronics portfolio," according to brokerage Jefferies. It's also not the first time Sony has tried to develop networked content services.

But under plain-speaking Kenichiro Yoshida, a former head of Sony's Internet services unit now leading the charge as chief financial officer since April, managers believe focusing on PlayStation to develop a network is potentially Sony's best chance of securing a money-making springboard for revival.

"These are crucial assets that offer the greatest potential upside," said one of the senior officials.

Game on

The network's base of 52 million active users is dwarfed by Apple's iTunes with over 800 million, and now just about the same size as fast-growing Netflix. But Sony Entertainment Network's peg to a hit piece of hardware with a potentially captive audience can give the service a future edge, executives say.

Yoshida, 54, knows networks so far have been a black spot for Sony. A PlayStation security breach in 2011 was a major setback to its plans at the time for a looser network that was designed to allow a range of Sony devices to be connected.

The CFO's message to executives is that things must change. "What's made it tough for Sony in electronics is that we were never able to take the lead role in the networking era," Yoshida told a gathering of about 500 managers earlier this year, according to a person who attended the meeting.

While the network plans take shape, this year Yoshida is also overseeing restructuring across the company. Sony is axing thousands of white-collar jobs, has ditched the Vaio personal computer brand, and has placed the TV business in a separate subsidiary -- to fend for itself.

High-tech components such as image sensors and batteries for smartphones, and next-generation consumer gadgets such as wearables, have been identified by Sony managers as key potential areas of hardware growth.

"Game and network services are a core part of Sony's electronics and we are currently strengthening our network services by expanding sales of the PlayStation 4 in a bid to raise revenue," said Mami Imada, Sony's general manager of public relations, asked to comment on future strategy for this article.

The latest iteration of the now 20-year-old console has outsold rivals easily, attracting committed gamers rather than the casual game playing audience that is migrating to smartphones and other mobile devices.

Even as Sony plans to extend the PlayStation's role, games are still driving the network services division forward, accounting for 90 percent of revenue. From July 31, Sony is launching a streaming game service, PS Now, the first ever for a console game maker, in the United States.

Sony has sold 8.7 million PlayStation 4s against 5 million Microsoft Corp. Xbox Ones as of July 19, according to market research firm VGChartz. Nintendo Ltd.'s Wii U console, released a year earlier than its rivals, also trails with sales of 6.7 million.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Why Sony is lagging behind rivals

TOKYO - Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. has been lagging behind its rivals with huge losses as it struggles to restructure its money-losing electronics business, which has faced fierce international competition.

Analysts warn the prospects for the current business year remain dim as its sales forecast for electronics appliances seems too optimistic, raising doubt about its business plans.

The Tokyo-based manufacturer of the PlayStation 4 home gaming console and Bravia TVs, reported last week a group net loss of 128.37 billion yen in fiscal 2013 ended in March, mainly due to the huge costs to withdraw from its flagging Vaio personal computer business.

Its performance also deteriorated due to an impairment loss for its overseas disc manufacturing business as demand for blu-ray discs and DVDs contracted quicker than it had anticipated amid an increase in webcast contents.

For the current year through March 2015, it forecasts it will remain in the red for the second consecutive year, the sixth annual loss in seven years, raising concern among investors and leading its shares to lose more than 10 percent in five trading days following the announcement.

While Sony has had poor earnings, performances for peers Panasonic Corp. and Sharp Corp. are recovering due to the effects of their restructuring efforts and the yen's depreciation versus other major currencies.

Both Panasonic and Sharp returned to the black for the first time in three years in the year ended in March with a consolidated net profit of 120.44 billion yen and 11.56 billion yen respectively. They expect to post a group net profit of 140 billion yen and 30 billion yen in the current year.

One of the reasons that made Sony a distinct loser among Japanese electronics makers has been its failure to drastically and quickly reform its businesses by ending unprofitable operations, according to the analysts.

Chief Financial Officer Kenichiro Yoshida admitted that in a recent press conference in Tokyo, saying, "The measures to adjust our cost structure in line with the changes in the business environment were either insufficient or slow."

As part of such measures, the company finally decided in February to sell its PC business to Tokyo-based investment fund Japan Industrial Partners Inc. in July and spin off the television operation into a wholly owned unit, while cutting 5,000 jobs both at home and abroad by next March.

The restructuring-related costs totaled 177 billion yen in the past business year and are expected to mount to 135 billion yen in the current year. As a result, 100 billion yen costs per year are expected to be cut from fiscal 2015.

With such measures, Sony President Kazuo Hirai vowed Thursday to complete structural reform of the electronics business this year, saying, "We can aim at an operating profit of about 400 billion yen in fiscal 2015," with the combined effects of cost cuts from the restructuring and stable profits from its entertainment and financial businesses.

However, after three rounds of downward revision in its earnings forecasts for the past year, market participants and consumers are skeptical about whether the company can actually start seeing solid profits, especially in the electronics business such as the TV operation.

The TV business remained in the red for the 10th straight year in fiscal 2013 with accumulated loss of about 790 billion yen.

Yasuo Nakane, senior analyst at Deutsche Securities Inc., said he recognizes as positive Sony's restructuring efforts to end the PC business and sales of some assets, but added, "The problem is that their main businesses are not generating profits as expected. And their response as well as sales plans are too optimistic."

For instance, Sony expects to sell 50 million smartphones in fiscal 2014, up about 28 percent from a year earlier, and 16 million liquid crystal televisions, up some 19 percent.

Nakane said the sales targets are higher than anticipated market growth. "There's a big risk the company will fail to achieve the goals," he said, noting it is possible that the firm will slash the sales projections.

To turn around its overall performance, Hirai said the company will continue to focus on the game, imaging, mobile, entertainment and financial sectors, which have seen relatively solid earnings.

As part of such efforts, Sony aims to further increase sales of its PlayStation 4 game consoles and retain the No. 1 position in the home console market this year as well as introduce its new flagship Xperia handsets models in a timely manner.

But it remains uncertain to what extent the earnings will improve without an absolute big hit product that can boost the performance of the whole company, according to some analysts.

Hirai and about 40 top executives will return bonuses related to the business performance for fiscal 2013, but if the company fails to improve earnings, it could cast doubt over the leadership of Hirai, who took the helm about two years ago, the analysts said.

"If the problem lies in the unrealistic plans of the operational divisions, that needs to be changed. But if management isn't able to make proper decisions, it should be replaced (to improve the performance)," said Nakane.

"More drastic structural reform such as organizational change would also be necessary (to further reduce costs) unlike stopgap measures they have taken before," he said.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Global sales of Sony PlayStation 4 top 6 million units

TOKYO - Global sales of the PlayStation 4 home gaming console have topped 6 million units in less than four months since its launch, Sony Corp.'s gaming unit said Tuesday.

The figure eclipses the company's original sales target of 5 million units in fiscal 2013 through March 2014 and the pace of PS4 sales has been faster than that of its predecessor PS3, which sold 3.55 million units from its launch in November 2006 through March 2007.

The PS4, which features enhanced connectivity with social networks and mobile phones, is now available in 57 countries in North America, Europe, Asia and Latin America, according to Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

The latest game console hit the Japanese market on Feb. 22 and sold 370,000 units in the country as of March 2.

"I am absolutely delighted that PS4 is off to such a great start in Japan," Sony Computer Entertainment President Andrew House said in a statement. "The responses we have received for the PS4 system's integrated social capabilities have been phenomenal, and I could not be more thrilled that gamers are utilizing these unique features to engage, share, play and connect with users around the world."

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Sony sells 1-M PlayStation 4 units in first 24 hours

Sony Corp said on Sunday it had sold 1 million units of its new PlayStation 4 gaming console in the first 24 hours that it was available in the United States and Canada.

The console, which Sony is counting on to kick-start a revival of its consumer electronics business, went on sale on Nov. 15.

Andrew House, the head of Sony Computer Entertainment, the unit of Sony that oversees PlayStation, said in a statement that "sales remain very strong in North America."

"We expect continued enthusiasm as we launch the PlayStation 4 in Europe and Latin America on November 29," House said.

Sony Corp had previously announced it had received more than 1 million advance orders for the console. Still, the initial sales figures are Sony's first salvo in a battle brewing with Microsoft Corp's Xbox One console, which goes on sale Nov 22. Sony is also hoping its console can help build a platform for recovery at the Japanese company's money-losing consumer electronics operations.

Sony is aiming to sell 5 million PS4 units by the end of its fiscal year that ends on March 31. Robert W. Baird & Co analyst Colin Sebastian has said he expects 2.5 million to 3 million PS4 shipments in the fourth quarter in North America.

Both the PS4, priced at $399 in the United States, and the Xbox One, with a price tag of $499, offer improved graphics for realistic effects, processors that allow faster game play and a slew of exclusive video games.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Pinoys wait in line for Sony PS4 in Las Vegas

NEVADA - The world of gaming technology has an exciting view of the much anticipated launching of Sony Playstation 4 (PS4) for gamers, and among them are Pinoys in Las Vegas.

There's a long queue of people patiently waiting for hours all for one goal: to get the Playstation 4 first hand Thursday when the clock strikes midnight.

PS4 game enthusiasts camped out just outside this store.

"I've seen people line up since yesterday,” said Pinoy gamer, Mark Nuguid.

Nuguid added that pre-orders for PS4 have been sold out for months.

PS4 gamers said that they are expecting a new generation close-to-real life experience kind of game since it took the Sony company seven years before they launched a new home gaming system.

"I'm expecting something a lot better from PS3. Hopefully, it's a better upgrade. Hopefully, it's a lot faster. We are just waiting for something that's like new generation gaming. Something that's really new, probably like 3D graphics like detailed gaming close to real life," said Steven Lee.

Another PS4 gamer Roger Sanchez added, "It's a new generation of gaming so people are trying to see what's the new console, just the new consoles like the game systems if there's a drastic change to it.“

Jorge Garcia, 56, patiently waited and brought his own chair to sit outside the store. He said that it's worth the wait and the price of $399.

"Para siyang real time talaga. Para siyang katabi mo lang. I think this is the best one na talaga," he said.

"I'm expecting something big because we've been waiting here, so I just want it really nice," said Josh Garcia.

According to Sony, the 300 MB update has several features, which include: remote play, second-screen screenshots, and gameplay recording.

PS4 constantly records the last 15 minutes of gameplay, which can be shared on twitter and Facebook by just hitting the share button on the Dualshock 4 controller. Spectating and live streaming gameplay play as you download are some of the other features.

While techies and gaming trades are buzzing about the next generation consoles, the Playstation 4 will be launched in the Southeast Asian countries in December of this year.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Sony's PlayStation 4 goes on sale in US

NEW YORK - The gaming unit of Sony Corp. on Friday launched its PlayStation 4 home gaming console in the United States and Canada ahead of other global markets, aiming to expand sales during the year-end shopping season amid fierce competition with rival consoles like Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox One.

The PS4, which features enhanced connectivity with social networks and mobile phones, is the successor of the PlayStation 3 console launched in 2006.

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. will launch the PS4, priced at $399 in the United States, in Latin America and Europe later this month. It will hit the Japanese market on Feb. 22 priced at 41,979 yen.

The launch of the new gaming device is expected to further intensify competition among console manufacturers like Nintendo Co., which rolled out its Wii U console last year. Microsoft is set to release the successor to its Xbox360 console on Nov. 22.

In the April to September period, Sony incurred an operating loss of 15.6 billion yen in the gaming business. Placing the business as one of the pillars of its operations, the company is aiming to sell 5 million units of the new console this business year through March.

The PS4 is equipped with enhanced processing capability and graphics. The device allows users to upload videos of their game play to social networks in the midst of their games.

The console can also be used to download music and videos, according to Sony.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Sony to charge fees for multiplayer games on PS4

Sony Corp plans to charge a monthly fee of $9.99 in the United States and 6.99 euros ($9.40) in Europe for playing multiplayer online games on its PlayStation 4 (PS4) console scheduled to debut this month, the Nikkei business daily reported without citing sources.

Multiplayer games can be played for free on PlayStation 3.

Sony plans to charge 500 yen ($5.00) a month for multiplayer games in Japan when the new console debuts in February, the Nikkei said.

Sony plans to make PS4 more attractive by including more social networking functions, such as the ability to chat with fellow players, the business daily reported.

Microsoft Corp's Xbox One will also launch this month.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

A look at Sony's new Xperia Z1

BERLIN - Sony Corp. on Wednesday revealed its new Xperia Z1 smartphone, featuring an improved lens to boost camera performance.

"We will continue renovating smartphone functions," Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Hirai told a press conference. Sony's chief competitors in the market are Apple Inc. of the United States and South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co.

While Sony declined to announce when it will launch the new smartphone in Japan, carriers NTT Docomo Inc. and KDDI Corp. are expected to introduce it in winter. Its price has not yet been set.

Sony is stressing the camera functions of its smartphones as more people use them to take photographs to post on social networking sites.

The announcement was made prior to a trade fair of home electronics from Friday in Berlin.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Sony recalls 1.6 million LCD TVs worldwide

TOKYO (AP) - Sony Corp. says it is recalling 1.6 million LCD televisions globally because of a defect that can trigger overheating, smoke and melting parts.

Sony says has received 11 such reports in Japan, though none involved injuries or damage beyond the TVs. The models subject to the recall in Japan are the Bravia KDL-40X5000, KDL-40X5050, KDL-40W5000, KDL-40V5000 and KDL-40V3000.

The defective part — an inverter transformer used for LCD backlights — is also used in models sold overseas. But Sony says it has not received reports of similar problems.

The company will release local recall information for customers in each affected market.

Source: philstar.com