I'm going to let you guys in on a secret that I snuck out of the Sony marketing playbook. Shh, don't tell anybody, OK? Here it is: people are stupid, and if you lie to their faces they will believe it. If you're in the middle of a disaster, tell people your company has never been better. If the biggest product launch in your company's history is tanking, tell people it's selling like hotcakes. If you say it enough times, it'll become the truth!
You don't have to look far for an example of this type of Dubyaesque behavior in action. Here, let me lay a nice quote down on you, courtesy of Jack Tretton, the CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America, shouting some horseshit:"April or May is when we feel like we're going to catch up to demand and have product fully in stock across North America and stay there."Wait a second, are you trying to claim that there are shortages of PS3s out there? That somewhere in this vast country there is a kid who really wants to drop $600 on a PS3, i...

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Sony got totally wasted last night in Vegas and accidentally launched all these new products all over the sidewalk on LVB -- but after taking some Hangover Helper Sony put on a still-drunk smile and called the whole thing Open House at the Paris Hotel & Casino. They definitely didn't slouch, either, launching products across most of the known categories of the gadget universe. (Notably absent: new Network Walkmans.) Sorry about the news deluge, though, we'll do our best to make sure Sony makes it to the very next AA meeting and steers clear of this madness in the future.

Digital cameras
Sony fesses up, Cybershot W series gets official Sony's DSC-H7 / DSC-H9 CyberShots get official, pack 15x optical zoom New Sony Cybershot DSC-T20 and T100 targeted towards party crowd HDTV and home theater
Sony slims down its BRAVIA 3LCD micro-display line Sony fleshes out details and pricing for Internet V...

The Sony line show began with the company boasting about the 164 Blu-ray titles now on the market, comprising 19 of the top 20 box office hits. Sony officials tried to impress with their own stat, telling us that Blu-ray is outselling HD DVD by three to one. But it wasn't all bluster and braggadocio. See a few items that caught our eyes at the show; let's walk and talk in the gallery. – Charlie White
galleryPost('sonyline2007', 9, 'Sony Line Show 2007 Highlights');

This has to be the best deal ever on a Sony PS3. $10! Could you believe that? Imagine all those Blu-ray movies we're going to watch and Resistance we're going to play when we get this home. Oh look, it's even got wired controllers and is styled like my old Famicom from the early '80s. Waaaaaaiit a second... – Jason Chen
PlayStation 3 for $10! [Destructoid]

Filed under: Peripherals, Portable Audio

No, Sony naturally wasn't content to merely deluge us with cameras, TVs and every other home entertainment device under they sun today, they had to push it one step further with some new PictureStation printers and a bunch of voice recorders. The new DPP-FP70 and DPP-FP90 might not spin a Blu-ray disc, but at least they're no slouches in the display department, with the FP90 sporting a 3.6-inch LCD, and the FP70 not far behind at 2.5-inches. You can administer all manner of digital effects on your photos using the LCD, or just go right ahead and print the photo -- it'll take about 45 seconds for a 4 x 6 print when working with a Memory Stick. Of course, SD and CF work too. Photos will about 29 cents per print with both printers, and the FP90 and FP70 will be out in March for $200 and $150, respectively. As for voice recorders, there's nothing much to get excited about. Sony has six new models, all with up to 256MB of flash memory and...

Even though it was introduced at CES, we're still fascinated by Sony's unusually-designed PC in the round, the TP1. Sony designers say they created this media center PC to fit in with the decor of a living room rather than an office, although we're not sure whose living room they had in mind. We got our hands on this baby at the Sony line show, and liked what we saw, but found it to pale by comparison with its more-capable XA-3 big brother. What is it lacking ?


For one, it doesn't have CableCard support like the more than twice-as-expensive XA-3. The Core 2 Duo-packing PC does, however, have an HDMI port that we noticed around the back, making it easier to hook up to your TV and use it with its included Windows Vista Home Premium. But then, it doesn't have a Blu-ray burner.

We'll be seeing it shipping next month for $1600. Experiencing this unusually-shaped PC up close and personal made us like its looks, but wish it had more up-to-date features. We'...

That sound you just heard? It was silence -- the silence of thousands of BDP-S1 Blu-ray players sitting unsold on warehouse shelves, gathering dust and wondering why they did to deserve the wrath of the dreaded Osborne Effect. Because unless retailers do some serious price shaving off of the first-gen machines, Sony's official promise today of a cheaper, smaller, and more functional box landing this summer will likely convince all but the most impatient consumers to drop the S1 right off their radar. On the plus side, those of us who haven't yet picked sides in the "format war" will be treated to a much more attractive product in the BDP-S300, from its CD friendliness and Bravia Theater Sync to bonuses like AVC-HD support for playback of conent that employs x.v.Color (Sony's version of the wide color space xvYCC technology). Keep reading to check out the remote that comes paired with the S300, then forward this post to your buddies who blew $1000 on its lonely predecessor.
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Filed under: Home Entertainment
Sony looks to be bringing its HD-ready A/V receivers into slightly more affordable territory, today introducing four new models that all come in under the $500 mark. The top-end of the lot is the 7.1 channel STR-DG910 receiver, which will give you 110 watts of power per channel and HDMI pass-through with full 1080p resolution. Moving down the line, the $400 STR-DG810 and $300 STR-DG710 (pictured here) also support full 1080p HDMI pass-through, but take things back to 6.1 channels and 110 watts and 105 watts per channel, respectively. Otherwise, the three receivers pack many of the same features, including Sony's new Digital Media Port, support for XM Connect-and-Play, and Sony's BRAVIA Theater Sync, which'll ensure that they play nice with compatible Sony TVs and Blu-ray players. Rounding out the lineup, the low-end STR-DG510 offers 6.1 channels with 100 watts apiece and will only pass-through HDMI signals at 1080i resolution, although it'll also onl...

This is the Sony VGX-XL3, a horizontal form factor PC designed for the living room that Sony said will ship in April. It has a Blu-ray burner inside, and the big story is its CableCard TV tuner. We looked around back and there was only one CableCard slot, but at least it's a start. There's also HDMI and 1394 connectivity, as well as a wireless keyboard and a 500GB disk.
Sony executives called its video "HD 1080," which means it's not 1080p or else they would have said so. But then, broadcast TV isn't 1080p, either. – Charlie White
galleryPost('sony_htpc', 4, 'Sony VGX-XL3 Home Theater PC');

Sony's latest Blu-ray player, the BDP-S300, will have the "same capabilities" as the current $999 BDP-S1, but cost only $599. In comparison, the cheapest HD DVD player (the Toshiba HD-A1) is about $399 to $499 depending on where you look.
With the price difference just $100 or so, it seems like Sony's bridged the gap in such a way that only movie selection will determine what the average consumer buys. As for the discs themselves, if you've seen our Frankenfight, gives the slight edge to Blu-ray and HD DVD depending on whether you like audio or extras. Otherwise, Superman's super bulge looks just as big on Blu-ray as it does on HD DVD. – Jason Chen
Sony announces cheaper Blu-ray Player [Yahoo News via Blu-ray Freak]