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hardware
Former PC World chief: Macs no more expensive than PCs
"A MacBook is in the same ballpark as a roughly similar Dell or HP, and less than a Sony." That's the conclusion of Technologizer editor Harry McCracken, after running the numbers several different ways on competing notebooks. The MacBook didn't win most hardware categories, but it came out well-rounded, with superior warranty service and media software. McCracken, until recently the editor in chief of PC World, was infamous among local tech journalists for toting Apple laptops to work.
format wars
Earth to Blu-ray: Come back next decade
A new survey found that more than half of 1,000 consumers polled have no plans to buy a Blu-ray player. About one in four claimed they'll probably buy one in 2009, but you know how that goes. It's not hard to spot what stops them: $300 or more for a player and more than $20 per disc for most popular movies. Manufacturers and studios that backed the cheaper HD-DVD format can say it now: We told you so.
intervention
Sony hopes L.A. geographic will cure Crackle.com's addiction to losing money
Michael Lynton, can we talk? You may hope that you can manage your online-video issues by relocating the staff of Crackle.com, the money-losing startup you acquired for Sony in 2006, from Sausalito to Culver City. I'm sure with your experience at AOL and at Hollywood, you're confident enough to believe it's a business you can handle. But the real first step is admitting that you have a problem. We know all the cool kids were doing it when you purchased the site, then known as Grouper, for $65 million, but the $100 million you are rumored to have spent on satisfying your bandwidth cravings and making new employee and content-producer "friends" just shows how far you've sunk toward rock bottom. I can't imagine mainlining another 10-gigabit connection at a new San Diego datacenter will help. The good news, Michael, is that you're not alone. Eric Schmidt's YouTube habit has proven unmanageable as well. The note from a laid-off employee after the jump may feel like tough love, Michael, but think of it as an intervention from someone who cares. More »
confirmed
Rocketboom, which still exists, signs distribution deal with Sony
Rocketboom founder Andrew Baron, who didn't invent the Internet, video, or Internet video, but did prove back in 2006 that its possible to become Internet famous with quick, quirky edits and a pretty girl's face, has announced a "seven-figure" distribution deal with Sony, TechCrunch reports, confirming a rumor we floated earlier this summer. Sony will distribute Baron's show over its PS3 videogame consoles, PlayStation Portables, and Bravia I-Link TVs.
Sony, Toshiba not so hot -- slack sales lead to weak Q2 results
Sony missed expectations for the second quarter of 2008, posting a 47 percent fall in net profit to $326 million. Sony execs blamed weak phone sales. Toshiba reported a loss of $108 million, blaming a downturn in semiconductor sales.
format wars
Mankind's destiny fulfilled: Wireless home HDTV in 2009
Sony, Samsung, Motorola and Hitachi have banded together to adopt Amimon's ready-and-shipping wireless HDTV chips for next year's products. Because the products will have no cable jacks, the new gear will sport a conspicuous logo that indicates it will connect to other devices with the same logo. If you want to play pundit, predict a format war between Amimon's WHDI and SiBeam's WirelessHD, which other manufacturers are tinkering with. But if you want to know who will win, Amimon's technology is already shipping and SiBeam's isn't.
feature
Dell and Sony discover gold in the old
A relentless neophilia is Silicon Valley's signature characteristic. One must have a new iPhone, a new Twitter, a new electric car. You're either in beta or in the grave. That's why I'm intrigued by two decisions by Dell and Sony. Dell has figured out a way to wriggle around Microsoft's licensing rules and still sell its discontinued Windows XP operating system. Sony, meanwhile, is profitably selling its nine-year-old PlayStation 2 videogame console in markets like India. This just isn't done. More »
1:00 PM on Thu Jul 3 2008
By Owen Thomas
799 views,
1 comment
Latest by Shadowlayer: "That's exactly what Nintendo has done with the Wii" Yeah yeah, except that the Gamecube was $99 in 2004!, while the more »
online video
Veronica Belmont hosting new Sony PlayStation advertorial
The other gig Veronica Belmont alluded to after leaving Mahalo and signing up as a cohost on Revision3's Tekzilla? It's Qore, a new show for Sony's PlayStation Network that PlayStation 3 owners can purchase and download for $2.99 each or $24.99 for a baker's dozen of episodes over the season. More »
Like your PlayStation 3? You're going to love the ads
Sony will open its PlayStation 3 console to to in-game ads from outside agencies, starting with IGA Worldwide. If you want to play on the Xbox, though, you'll still have to go through Microsoft subsidiary Massive. As for Google's in-games ad unit, it's doing really well — at least when you compare it to, say, Google's television and radio advertising projects. [Forbes]
Sony will open its PlayStation 3 console to to in-game ads from outside agencies, starting with IGA Worldwide. If you want to play on the Xbox, though, you'll still have to go through Microsoft subsidiary Massive. As for Google's in-games ad unit, it's doing really well — at least when you compare it to, say, Google's television and radio advertising projects. [Forbes]
