MetaFilter posts tagged with sony

Voddler riding the hype as the Spotify for Video-On-Demand

filthy light thief — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:34:11 -0800

Last year, Spotify made news as a revelation in music availability, by providing ad-supported free access or paid subscriptions to more than 6 million streaming songs. This year, Sweden is the home to another streaming media landmark, with Voddler. Currently limited to Sweden but with goals of reaching the world, the streaming video-on-demand provider was well-received, but initial movie selection did not impress all. That should change, as Voddler recently expanded the potential list of movies when they signed The Walt Disney Company Ltd and Paramount Pictures, netting access to the Disney assets and the Paramount library. A deal with Sony may be forthcoming. Videos are accessed with stand-alone software, which is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The company released a new interface screenshot recently, and older screenshots and details have been compiled for people without access to the system.

Asaf Avidan and the Mojos

alona — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:59:14 -0800

He was born in Israel, spent four years in Jamaica, studied cinema and worked as a voice actor. Now, at 29, he sings like Janis Joplin and is the first Israeli musician to sign a four-record label with Sony Columbia. Ladies and gentelmen, presenting Asaf Avidan[youtube]. His site is still under construction, but you can check his music out on myspace or last.fm.

WHY HULK-MARG MAD (AND THEREFORE SMASH)

filthy light thief — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:35:17 -0800

Hulk-Margaret smash stupid Sony. Girls not stupid lilac people. Girls strong and awesome! AAAAARRRRR! Hulk-Marg like gems. Hulk-Marg like gem sweaters (previously). But Hulk-Marg no like pandering only to gem interests. Hulk-Marg well-rounded, has many interests and layers. Hulk-Marg give example: SMASHING. Let Hulk-Marg find PowerPoint and laser pointer. Hulk-Marg has PowerPoint here somewhere. Ahem. Hulk-Marg found PowerPoint. Made slides. [via mefi projects] Sony's PSP product marketing joins more than Miss Bimbo in the ranks of shallow portrayals of the interests of women. Dell created the "female focused" sub-site "Della" with softer colors, and Even LEGO has their girl-centric sets, focusing on pinks, purples, and ponies. While the number of female gamers increases, Sony is limiting the games they push with the OMG Lilac PSP marketing scheme to Patapon 2, Locoroco 2, Hannah Montana, Petz, Pangya Fantasy Golf, and Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs, to the concern of some female gamers ("I can't help but feel as if young female gamers are being smothered into a niche where they have little chance to be open to trying different types of video games"). On the GameGirl blog, a top 7 list for upcoming PSP games is a much different world from golf and ponies, as suggested by Sony.

Walkmans eat tapes. And they were delicious.

starzero — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:39:09 -0800

Meet Scott Campbell, a 13 year old swapping his MP3 player for a Sony Walkman cassette player for a week. Since Sony released the Walkman 30 years ago, there have been several new generations of the player for many different types of media: CDs, MiniDiscs, harddisks, flashdrives and today there's even Walkman mobile phones. But for most people the iPod of the 80s plays tapes only.

"It's a Secret to Everybody"

empath — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:26:00 -0800

"It's a secret to everybody" -- an unbelievably comprehensive blog post about the etymologies of the names of famous (and not-so-famous) video game characters.

If I wanted to download Journey, I would have gone to iTunes

mazola — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:51:10 -0800

eMusic lands Sony! Growing up or selling out?

Dead men walking

caddis — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:18:23 -0800

“You can’t roll a joint on an iPod” or how the iPod killed the music industry. First the music biz overlooked the computer CD rom when they put copy control on cd burners. Then they eliminated the single. Shortly after that "mp3" replaced "sex" as the most popular search term. Apple has become the largest music seller largely against the wishes of the music biz, but 99 cents beats free. Yesterday Apple announced they were eliminating DRM. The questions remains, who needs Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, and EMI, does Apple? When is Apple just going to replace them? There were rumors a year ago that they would launch a record label with Jay-Z but that does not appear to have come to fruition.

Master the Art of the Quincy

Effigy2000 — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 18:31:10 -0800

HOME is out for the Playstation 3, and as Penny Arcade has observed, it really is "nothing more than a cumbersome menu, a rampart over which you must hoist yourself to accomplish the most basic tasks." But it's not a complete waste of time. Where else can you have the joy of observing someone being Quincyed? Here's a video of Quincying in action. Observe the quick change, the expedient retreat of the male suitors, the provocative pelvic motion. Here's how to master the art of the Quincy, should you be so inclined.

You Know, For Kids

chuckdarwin — Wed, 21 May 2008 05:37:22 -0800

Playing Dirty: Greenpeace vs Nintendo, Microsoft, et al. "The Greenpeace scientific report Playing Dirty states that video games consoles have tested positive for hazardous chemicals and materials such as polyvinyl chloride, phthalates, beryllium and bromine." "The use of hazardous chemicals and materials in electronic products is widespread. Despite some recent improvements – a result of a combination of legal restrictions in some parts of the world, and voluntary action by companies – many devices still contain a variety of hazardous substances."

"Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone"

mek — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 07:25:54 -0800

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has refused to rate Manhunt 2, Rockstar Games' latest controversial offering, effectively banning it from sale in the United Kingdom. This surprising decision comes only weeks before the game's July 10th release date. The last game to be blocked from sale in the UK was the 1997 classic Carmageddon. Appeal remains a possibility for Rockstar, “although it sometimes takes up to two months to get this happening.”

Minigame Burnout

SansPoint — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 09:09:16 -0800

An Open Letter to Devs: "Minigame compilations. How many of these games can we possibly be expected to buy? On my Wii alone, I've already gone through Rayman Raving Rabbids, Super Monkey Ball, Warioware and Sonic, with Mario Party and who knows what else on the horizon. As for the DS, just about every other game I own has some kind of mini-game compilation."

La Blu-ray Girl

XMLicious — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 11:07:40 -0800

Sony says no to porn on Blu-ray Disc

On the Eve of the Big Release

PreacherTom — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 07:21:04 -0800

On the Eve of the Big Release Just in case you haven't drowned in the flood of stories about the new consoles, Businessweek is offering a few more. For the PS3, we have a summary article giving information on Sony's current situation, along with a 4 (out of 5) star review. In the Wii's corner, we have an interview with two of Nintendo's developers, who discuss the rationale behind the controller redesign, pricing, and keeping their gamers happy. Call it a little light reading before you hit the lines tonight.

Lik-Sang.com out of business

Dr-Baa — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 08:01:23 -0800

A sad day for import video gamers- online retailer Lik-Sang has closed its doors due to multiple lawsuits from Sony.

PepsiBlue? Nah - SonyColourLikeNoOther.

dash_slot- — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 07:27:42 -0800

Wanna blow up a tower block? We all do. But some people wanna do it differently.

e-Reading Rainbow

Alex404 — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 08:42:00 -0800

The Sony Reader is finally available for purchase. Those of us who cared enough to be annoyed by the over-hyped non-event that was the 'E-book revolution' have been waiting with baited breath for consumer level products featuring electronic paper. The Sony Reader isn't the only kid on the block though. At more then $800 versus the Reader's $350, the iRex iLiad can recieve Wifi, has a touch sensitive screen for note taking and marginalia, and is built around the linux kernal, allowing some pretty amazing hacks, making the whole thing rather irresistable. Many of us having been waiting to sell ourselves to the dark god of Electronic Paper + Project Gutenberg. This time seems to have arrived.

Dude, you're getting a lame joke about the Dell battery recall!

kyleg — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 10:30:27 -0800

Due to recent fires, Dell is recalling over four million laptop batteries manufactured by Sony and sold worldwide in the past two years. Pictures of computers on fire (as well as their charred remains) circulated widely online, not allowing the company to easily dismiss the problem as an isolated incident. Other companies claim their products aren't affected by the same issues, but the nightmare might not be limited to Dell. The future of laptops on airplanes is not looking so good.

Paint splash towerblock!

ClanvidHorse — Wed, 26 Jul 2006 10:01:01 -0800

A splash of urban colour! A dilapidated tower block in Glasgow was the setting for a riotous splash of colour this week as Sony followed up their previous Bravia tv campaign of the bouncing balls down the streets of San Francisco with a new advert using a disused towerblock in Glasgow. Some beautiful urban explosion pics here, here, here, here and here.

stupid and offensive.

seanyboy — Wed, 05 Jul 2006 04:51:47 -0800

The new Sony PSP adverts are stupid and offensive. Welcome to yet another chapter in sony's self inflicted annus horribilis. (More: 1, 2)

watch out for flying watermelons

christy — Thu, 25 May 2006 15:28:08 -0800

TANGO'D! remember that awesome sony advert with all the bouncy balls in san francisco? well british drink firm tango have made an great parody of it. however, the residents of swansea north, where the ad was filmed, are not too happy. beautiful music provided by josé gonzalez (review) . [via]

Delaystation

grahamwell — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 05:08:26 -0800

to my left is a youngish software developer from Yokohama, incandescent with rage. To my right is the finance officer of a major games publisher. Worryingly, he is tapping sums into a pocket calculator and shaking his head...

It shouldn't have been a surprise (...) but yesterday's announcement (pdf) from Sony has crushed 14 year-olds of all ages. The Playstation 3 is shaping up as a great IT Disaster. The 'Times' man in Tokyo - Leo Lewis - elaborates, muses on being a games geek in Akihabara (with cash and a proper job) and explains the delights of "beer flavored alcohol", just what we need to drown our sorrows.

Get the word out about Sony

signal — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 09:36:19 -0800

Sony BMG won't be held accountable for its dangerous DRM if music fans don't have an easy way to learn about the flawed software, the settlement, and how to submit claims. By posting a banner on your website or blog, you can help music fans protect themselves and get what they deserve. _{[via A Copyfighter's Musings]}

Sony uses interns to promote its artists on blogs

NailsTheCat — Wed, 15 Feb 2006 07:26:11 -0800

Out of touch with today's 'yoof'? Fire your marketing team and get interns to do it for free. Sony's cynicism knows no bounds as they pollute the blogosphere with intern-generated progaganda for their artists, hot on the tails of launching their gay record label, to better plunder the pink pound. It's a shame they couldn't take the lead from the other parties burnt in the rootkit scandal and promise more transparency.

Make Your Own DRM CD

FeldBum — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 09:19:50 -0800

Make your own DRM CD! Nothing says "Merry Christmas" (or Happy Chanukah, et al) like a homemade CD with the same crippling DRM technology that Sony and BMG use. Let a friend or relative you know that you care enough to prevent them from stealing music you've already stolen, even at the expense of enjoying the CD at all. It's what the holidays are really about.

sony tries counter culture to sell playstations - and gets beat down

specialk420 — Thu, 08 Dec 2005 08:02:58 -0800

sony tries counter culture to sell playstations - and gets beat down
or was it all part of the plan?