sony

At least 80 employees in Sony Computer Entertainment of America's Foster City, California PlayStation unit have been laid off, according to a report in the popular video game blog, Kotaku.

But Kotaku quoted SCEA spokesman Dave Karraker as saying, "In an effort to accurately align the company to meet the changing needs of our consumers and our industry, (SCEA) has found it necessary to...restructure the company as necessary to continue our standing as the market leader."

And in an email to CNET News.com, Karraker confirmed the report Wednesday morning.

Given Sony's troubles--the much-hyped PlayStation … Read more

Dell will stop selling liquid crystal display TVs under its own brand name, according to Bloomberg.

Citing anonymous sources, the report says Dell will cease selling its own TVs this month to focus more on the PC business, but will continue to offer other brands of televisions.

Dell was dismissive of the Bloomberg report. "We don't speculate on what we're doing down the road," said company spokesman Bob Pearson. He added that nothing had changed since Dell announced in February that it would be selling Sony LCDs in 40- to 46-inch sizes on its Web site, … Read more

Yes, it's another one. Given the sheer number of alarm clocks on the market, you'd think that narcolepsy was a global pandemic. It's at least mildly interesting to note that this latest example comes from Sony, which managed to make considerable hay (and money) out of reinventing the clock radio with its "Dream Machine" decades ago.

But Sony today is very different from its 1987 self, of course, and this product reflects that change in station. The clock plays the radio and CDs, but not MP3s. And Newlaunches says the alarm is just a buzz, … Read more

Sony's PSP has long been a favorite topic among rumor mongers, the latest nugget coming from the BBC about a British Telecom version that would function as a phone among other new features. Nothing has been confirmed, but reports are circulating about some patent filings by Sony for just such a device.

According to the schematic diagrams in its proposal, at least one version of a PSP phone would have a rotating screen not unlike other handsets now on the market. Depending on how the display is positioned, MobileWhack says the device can be used as a PSP, phone … Read more

Well that was quick.

Back in February, Sony said the Blu-ray player to be released this summer would sell for $599. On Monday, Sony said the BDP-S300, which is now shipping, will actually sell for $499 instead. The latest version is slimmer than the original, but with many of the same features.

Considering that the original Sony Blu-ray player, the BDP-S1, was released just six months ago for $1,000, that's a pretty swift price drop. Though Sony attributed the price cut to lower production costs and higher demand for the Blu-ray technology, it's also an indication that … Read more

Experts may take years to examine and analyze the latest purported video of the Loch Ness Monster, henceforth known as "Nessie." But our crack analytic team, to wit CNET editor Lori Grunin, has identified the camcorder used to take that footage.

Lori took a look at the Scottish TV video of the cameraman and his sighting. After examining the video of the camcorder, she tells us it's an antique Sony DCR-TRV130E (an old Digital 8 model). At any rate, the camcorder is far more modern than the legends of Nessie, which go back more than 2,500 … Read more

Speaking of convergence, the last place we thought we'd see a combo trend is the mouse and phone. That hardware mashup had initially been confined to some smaller brands like Taiwan-based Genius, whose mad scientists have produced such unholy marriages as combo camera-speakers.

But now Sony has come up with its own mouse phone (phone mouse?) for the Japanese market, an optical rodent that can be opened up for use as a Skype handset or propped up to become a VoIP speakerphone, according to Technabob. The Genius model still has one more function--it triples as an instant-message device--but Sony … Read more

Nintendo said Wednesday that its Wi-Fi Connection service--which allows Nintendo DS users to play wirelessly against each other--has surpassed 5 million users.

All told, the video game giant said, users have initiated more than 200 million sessions, playing games like Animal Crossing: Wild World, Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime Hunters and others wirelessly.

And despite the attention paid to next-generation video game systems like the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360, the DS is currently the best-selling system of all, having moved 470,000 units in April, according to NPD Group.

Before yesterday's firmware update, the PlayStation 3 couldn't upscale standard-definition DVDs to high-def resolutions--a once high-end feature that's now built-in to nearly all DVD players with HDMI outputs. But what's the real benefit of upscaling (or upconverting, as it's also known)? Despite some of the marketing hype claiming that upscaling will make your DVDs appear in true high-def quality, the increase in picture quality will never come close to matching that of native HD material (HDTV broadcasts, HD DVD, and Blu-ray). Moreover, the video quality improvement is completely dependent on how good the upscaling and … Read more