HMV refuses PS3 pre-orders unless consumers agree to buy PSP too

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HMV’s online store is now taking pre-orders for PlayStation 3 - providing consumers are also willing to purchase a 4GB PSP pack for a total price of GBP 675.

An email sent out to customers today says the deal will enable them to become one of the “lucky few” who will be able to pick up a PS3 at launch. It reads: “At HMV.co.uk, we’ve been working with Sony to offer up to 5000 customers an incredible deal when you buy the new Sony 4GB PSP.

“Anyone who takes advantage of this offer will get priority over other HMV.co.uk customers for the PlayStation 3.” The deal also includes two PSP games - Killzone Liberation and Gangs of London - and the price for the bundle is listed as GBP 674.99.

According to the terms and conditions of the promotion, all consumers who buy the bundle “will take precedence over any other online HMV customers”.

However, it’s difficult to see who these other customers might be as a paragraph at the end of the email states, “PlayStation 3 solus console is currently unavailable to order from HMV.co.uk by itself, and we kindly ask customers not to contact us with regards to this.” HMV’s high street stores are not currently accepting PS3 pre-orders either.

There’s no assurance that customers who sign up for the bundle will get their PS3 when the console launches on March 23. The terms and conditions of the offer state: “Delivery of any PS3 is subject to Sony s delivery to HMV Guernsey. Accordingly, HMV cannot guarantee that registration on the Priority List means that you will receive your PS3 on the estimated release date, nor that your order will be fulfilled within any given time frame.”

The offer is not likely to be well received by those consumers who feel that the price of the PlayStation 3 alone is already too high at GBP 425 - or by those who want to purchase a PS3, but already own a PSP.

A Sony spokesperson told GamesIndustry.biz, “This is just one of a number of value added incentives that retailers will be offering to mark the launch of PS3.

“Consumers are free to shop around to find a package that best suits their own needs, and offers the greatest value for money.”

Windows Vista’s signature edition - Indeed real

Posted by multippt

Way back earlier, we reported that the Windows Vista signature edition was being auctioned or sold at amazon. Of course, we never thought that Microsoft is really that enthusiastic on giving “special editions” of their products (with Microsoft’s star - Bill Gates, signature on them).

This rumor, is indeed true. In Singapore, during the Funan DigitalLife mall Windows Vista event, one lucky early-bird buyer of Windows Vista (Ultimate) managed to get her hands on a copy of it. These copies were given out for FREE (for purchasing of a copy of Windows Vista). Of course, there is a limited amount of them (20000 per country which sells Windows Vista Ultimate).

It’s interesting to note, that this picture from way back (in this post) looks exactly like the actual copy (of course, there is no copies of these labelled ”00000 / 20000″).

Windows Vista for the general public

Posted by multippt

Microsoft is about to celebrate its release of Windows Vista, in just a few more hours. The event will be held on 12 midnight Tuesday, 29 of January, 2007. Of course, most of the visitors don’t just come there for Windows Vista (okay… maybe some do wait in line for it). There are some Microsoft officials scattered throughout USA, free for interview.

Now back to Windows Vista. Windows Vista is the new generation of Windows, with Windows XP being its predecessor. Windows Vista took 5 years to develop, the most significantly longest time between the 2 major revisions of Windows. Of course, with any new generation, there is always new significant features. Windows Vista now sprouts better security, much more better than the one in Windows XP (do anyone like the user account control [a.k.a. the computer nanny] feature?), as well as some eye-candy designed for enriching the experience and productivity of the user of Windows Vista.

This launch event is designed to be worldwide. In addition, PC makers are already pre-loading (or installing) their computers with Windows Vista.

By the way, Windows Vista is already launch, since it is the 31st of January, today.

Killzone™: Liberation Game Demo – Download it now!

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After a few days of it’s released online, many people had trouble playing it because of the corrupted or missing file. So now they updated the PSP section greater. New PSP Software, New demo update on Killzone: Liberation.
Get it now at:
http://www.us.playstation.com/Media?id=15742

3.10 Software Update:
http://www.us.playstation.com/psp/downloads/SystemUpdate

The PSP® system software version 3.10 update includes the following:

• Game
  • Support for PLAYSTATION®Network titles has been expanded.
• Network
  • You can now play MPEG-4 AVC format video files under [LocationFree™ Player].
    * A LocationFree™ Base Station (a Sony product sold separately) with model number LF-B20 or LF-B10 is required.
    *For details on the LocationFree™ Player, visit http://www.sony.net/Products/LocationFree/psp/.
  • [Conserve Memory] has been added as an option in [View Settings] under [Internet Browser].
• Settings
  • [Dynamic Normalizer] has been added as a feature under [Sound Settings].

Sony Reports 5 Percent Net Profit Drop

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Just when Sony appears to have turned around its electronics business, another part of its sprawling empire, video games, is dragging down profits.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment company on Tuesday blamed the launching costs of its PlayStation 3 game console for much of the 5 percent drop in group net profit for the last three months of 2006 to 159.9 billion yen ($1.3 billion).

The PS3 launched in the United States and Japan in November, plagued with production problems that resulted in shortages and will keep the machines out of Europe entirely until March. The next-generation game player also faces immense competition with Nintendo Co.’s Wii and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360.

Sony Corp. raised its earnings forecast for the fiscal year through March by 38 percent, however, citing a recovery in its core electronics division amid booming Christmas sales in digital cameras and flat-panel TVs.

It now expects an annual net profit of 110 billion yen ($903 million), up from an earlier 80 billion yen ($657 million). That’s still below the 123 billion yen Sony earned last fiscal year _ and under the 130 billion yen annual profit it had forecast earlier last year.

The gaming unit, meanwhile, posted a 54 billion yen ($443 million) operating loss during the quarter, though Sony promised business will improve by the latter half of next fiscal year.

“Startup costs are high, and the losses (in the gaming division) will continue for some time,” Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda told reporters.

For the past several years, Sony’s biggest problem was its core electronics business, where it fell behind Apple Inc. and its iPod portable music player and Samsung Electronics Co.’s flat-panel TV business.

Sony was also dealt a blow last year when it announced a massive global recall of about 10 million lithium-ion batteries used in not only its own laptops but also those from Apple, Dell Inc., Lenovo Group Ltd. and others.

The company has been engaged in a massive turnaround effort since 2005, when Welsh-born American Howard Stringer took the chief executive job. Sony has dropped unprofitable businesses, sold off assets, cut jobs and closed plants.

Those actions appear to be paying off, somewhat. Sony’s core electronics division reported record sales for the quarter, thanks to strong demand for its flat TVs and digital cameras, helping to lift Sony’s overall sales for the quarter 9.8 percent to 2.61 trillion yen ($21.4 billion).

The company’s weak spot now appears to be its gaming division.

Sony blamed its own price-slashing strategy for the PS3 for cutting into profits. Game machines usually come down in price over time, but faced with competition, Sony made an unusual move in lowering the PS3 price in Japan by about 20 percent even before sales started.

Sony shipped 1.84 million PS3 machines worldwide during the quarter, the company said. The machine has already gone on sale in the United States, Japan and some other countries, but its sale has been delayed to March 23 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Australia.

Sony stuck to its earlier target of shipping 6 million PS3 consoles by March 31. Earlier, it said it shipped 2 million PS3 machines worldwide by mid-January, falling about two weeks behind its initial shipment targets in Japan.

Declining sales during the October-December period of Sony’s predecessor console, PlayStation 2, and of the handheld PlayStation Portable, including PSP game software, also pushed down profits at its gaming unit, Sony said.

Sony also got a 40 billion yen ($328 million) boost toward quarterly profits from a weak yen, and 33.6 billion yen ($276 million) from its investment in London-based Sony Ericsson, a mobile phone joint venture with Sweden’s LM Ericsson, it said.

Separately on Tuesday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Sony’s joint venture with Bertelsmann AG, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, agreed to reimburse consumers up to $150 for damage to their computers from CDs with hidden anti-piracy software.

The software was designed to restrict the number of copies that could be made from a CD, but the FTC said it also “exposed consumers to significant security risks and was unreasonably difficult to uninstall.”

Sales were up 47 percent at Sony’s movie division, where it returned into the black from losses the same period a year earlier, on healthy DVD sales for hit movies such as “The Da Vinci Code.” Among the box office hits for the quarter was “Casino Royale,” it said.

Sony also has an insurance sector, where both its sales and profits slipped during the quarter.

For the first nine months of the fiscal year, Sony recorded a 193.9 billion yen ($1.6 billion) profit, up 2 percent from 190 billion yen a year earlier, on 6.2 trillion yen ($50.9 billion) sales, up 9.7 percent from 5.7 trillion yen.

Shares in Sony fell 70 cents, or 1.49 percent, to close at $46.30 on the New York Stock Exchange

http://www.smh.com.au/notebn/apdigital.html

Sony Releases PSP Firmware 3.10 And Killzone Demo

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Sony Computer Entertainment America today announced a new firmware update for the PSP, as well as new downloadable demos.  Downloads are now ready at the official PSP site (http://psp.us.playstation.com) and the PlayStation Web site (http://us.playstation.com/PSP).

The first PSP demo available is for Killzone: Liberation. Demos can either be installed directly from the PSP, or via PC to PSP. Additional first- and third-party demos will be offered on an ongoing basis, with Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 2 hitting in the coming weeks.

PSP Firmware 3.10 allows for the PSP to conserve memory as an optional setting for your Internet browser. This allows users to view a Web page that contains a larger amount of data, because less memory is used to display the page. Finally, the new firmware includes a Dynamic Normalizer as a feature under Sound Settings, allowing for automatic volume adjustment for playback of music tracks or other audio sources with varying output levels.

A new Vista but it may be a costly prospect for PC users

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Microsoft has after two years of delays launched its latest operating system, Windows Vista. Amid the fanfare of the global launch, however, users keen to embrace the “evolution” are already coming to terms with the promise of yet another upheaval to their home PC.

Six years in the making, Vista has 50 million lines of code, and despite a testing programme involving five million volunteers, bugs will inevitably be found and ironed out in the coming months.

Software compatibility is not all there is to worry about with the new system. The main concern of any would-be upgrader will be whether Vista will work with current hardware: a question that Apple, Microsoft’s rival, has made great play of in a series of adverts this week.

The new operating system may boast a revamped “aero” user interface, but graphical niceties such as three-dimensional menus come at a price: the need for a more powerful graphics card, more memory and a faster processor.

The layout will be familiar to Windows users, but the Vista desktop with 3D menus now presents menus in a 3D format, making it easier to navigate. The feature has already won positive reviews.

Vista’s improved search tool is key. Echoing Apple’s “Spotlight” search feature and then building on it, the system allows users to search the web and the computer for files at the touch of a button, rather than going to an internet browser.

The feature is designed to lure users away from Google, Microsoft’s rival and the leader in the lucrative search market.

Microsoft has also included what it is calling Windows Defender to tackle viruses and “malware”. Previous court cases and EU involvement could cause this to be a big bone of contention for Microsoft in the coming months, with companies such as Symantec already starting to argue that Microsoft is trying to put them out of business.

Overall, commentators are so far coming out in support of the new operating system, but because every new PC is now sold with the new system, it is more a case of seeing the inevitability of it rather than actually having a viable alternative unless you switch to using Apple’s Mac computers.

There will be some gripes about the price in Britain, where Vista costs about twice as much as in the US. Prices here will range from about £100 for a basic version, designed for home use, to £249 for the top-end “ultimate” package, aimed at business users. In the US, prices range from £52 to £127.

Those keen to wait could opt for Apple’s new operating system due out later this year and many of Microsoft’s critics say that Bill Gates, the chairman, has merely taken Apple’s best ideas. Experts say that buying Vista depends on circumstances. Those who need a new machine, will have little choice but to buy a machine pre-installed with Vista. Those who are satisfied with their computers should hold on until all the first batch of bugs and problems are ironed out.