Category: Sony

Sony Qx10 and Qx100 Lens Cameras Pair With Any Smartphone/Tablet

Sony is rumored to launch a set of new camera lenses, called the QX10 and QX100. According to SonyAlphaRumors they have built-in sensors, Bionz processors, Wifi/NFC wireless connection and a SD card slots. These lenses have no LCD screen and no usual camera controls. According to the website one will be able to control them through any smart phone or tablet (via WiFi or NFC). The lenses can be magnetically attached on your smartphone and they work on both Android and iOS devices.

QX10 and QX100

The price and launch dates are still not out, but the lenses could be shown off on the 4th of September during IFA. Also as per Sonyalpharumors the phone showed in the images is the much rumored i1. So expect both the devices to be announced if not launched at IFA which is around the corner.

Another leaked image showing how the lens look like with a phone.

[via]

August 13, 2013
Sony Xperia i1 Teaser Image Shows A Razor Thin Phone

A picture that appeared on Chinese site Digi-wo and XperiaBlog, shows a splash of purple across a black background,but if you look closely, that’s actually a phone. This can be, Sony’s rumoured next addition to the Xperia line, previously going under the codename of Honami – and now referred to as the Sony Xperia i1.

As we can see, the image teases a September 4 date on the bottom with “Berlin” written below it. This means that Sony might have this device ready for us this year at IFA 2013 (Berlin).

The picture shows a teasing glimpse of the right side of the phone where you can see the power button, a flap and volume rocker. This purple-coloured Honami seems to show that the frame will be of a different material – perhaps aluminium ?

As per the rumors this device supports a 20 MP camera capable of shooting a 4K video, and phone is supposed to be powered by a quad-core processor.

Just for your reference here is an closer look for the device:

A closer look showing the power button of the device.

A closer look that shows the volume rockers.

We can’t take this rumor as legit until Sony declares the handset globally and officially, hopefully at IFA 2013 next month.

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August 10, 2013
Sony Launches RX100 II in India for Rs. 42,990 (PR)

Sony has launched the RX100 MK II in India for a price of Rs. 42,990 while the RX 100 is still available upwards of the Rs. 32000 price mark. The RX100 was deemed the best portable point and shoot and the next revision the RX100 II adds to it by bringing some much needed features to the mix.

For starters there is a whole new hot shoe mount that even lets you add external audio inputs, a new 20.2 MP sensor, Wifi and NFC is also built into the camera. There is also full HD video at 24/25p and a tilting vari-angle 3 inch display which sadly has no touch inputs. For more details on the camera, read the press release below.

[youtube id=”xNFeO2IoGxw” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

[toggle title=”Press Release”]Sony launches Cyber-shot™ RX100 II in India featuring
1.0-type Exmor R™ CMOS sensor and NFC technology

• Enhances the hugely popular RX100 with great picture quality and convenient new features
• New 20.2 effective megapixel back-illuminated Exmor RTM 1.0-type CMOS sensor boosts sensitivity for better low-light images
• Wi-Fi and easy One-touch smartphone connection with NFC
• Add accessories with Multi Interface Shoe and Multi Terminal
• 3.0-type White Magic™ LCD tilts up or down
• Full HD 24p/25p movie for rich, cinematic video footage
• TRILUMINOS™ Colour for richer, more natural colours

New Delhi; 8thAugust 2013: With tremendous response from RX100, Sony India today launched its successor, Cyber-shot™ RX100 II, the first ever camera from Sony with NFC (Near Field Communication) Technology. The new Cyber-shot™ RX100 II from Sony puts even more shooting power in your pocket with added features like the NFC, Exmor R™ CMOS sensor and Multi Interface Shoe. Sleekly styled in strong, light aluminium, it’s a perfect travel partner for quality-conscious photographers who seek DSLR-style images from a pocket camera with generous control options.

Building on the superb picture quality of the multi-award winning RX100, the new camera now delivers even better results whether you’re shooting indoors or at dusk without a flash. The newly developed back-illuminated Exmor R™ 1.0-type CMOS sensor increases sensitivity while reducing picture noise in tricky low-light scenes. Combined with the exceptional f1.8 Carl Zeiss Vario-Sonnar T* lens, you’ll see the difference with exceptionally crisp, natural stills and Full HD video in any shooting situation – from parties to night-time landscapes.

Wi-Fi makes it easy to connect the camera wirelessly with your smartphone and transfer photos or videos for easy sharing. It’s also the first ever camera from Sony with NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, giving the extra convenience of One-touch connection with Android smartphones and tablets. There’s no set-up needed – simply touch your mobile device against the RX100 II and a wireless connection is made instantly. One-touch Remote even lets you trigger shutter release from your smartphone — great for group shots when you don’t want to be left out of the action.

The camera’s enthusiast appeal is further enhanced by a new Multi Interface Shoe and Multi Terminal. Expand your photographic capabilities by attaching optional accessories – including an electronic viewfinder, powerful external flash and stereo microphone – via the versatile Multi Interface Shoe. The Multi Terminal also allows the addition of other options such as a shutter-release remote controller.

The bright, detail-packed 3.0-type White Magic™ LCD now tilts up and down[1], giving greater freedom to compose shots in comfort. Hold the camera high up to reach over crowds, or get down low and see things from the perspective of pets and children.

Compatibility with TRILUMINOS™ Colour technology ensures even richer, more natural colour reproduction with the new generation of BRAVIA televisions featuring TRILUMINOS™ Display.

Full HD video modes are expanded with the addition of 24p/25p shooting for smooth, cinematic movies. Other refinements include a step zoom function that’s accessible via the camera’s customisation menu. Instantly choose from five popular focal lengths using the control ring – 28mm, 35mm, 50mm, 70mm or 100mm: it’s an intuitive alternative to zooming in and out when you’re in a hurry.

The PlayMemories Mobile app has been updated to enable the One-touch capabilities of the RX100 II, and also now features an enhanced user interface. It is available now for free from the Google Play store for all Android smartphones.

Introduced in June 2012, the Cyber-shot™ DSC-RX100 is world’s first compact fixed-lens camera with a 1.0-type 20.2 effective megapixel sensor.

The new Cyber-shot™ RX100 II digital compact camera from Sony will be available across all Sony Centers and major electronic stores across India from 8th August, 2013.

Model
MRP
Colour
Availability
DSC-RX100 II

Rs. 42,990

Black

8th August, 2013

About Sony India Pvt. Ltd.

Sony India is one of the most recognized consumer electronics brand in the country, with a reputation for new age technology, digital concepts and excellent after sales service. In India, Sony has its footprint across all major towns and cities in the country through a distribution network comprising of over 18,000 dealers and distributors, more than 300 exclusive Sony outlets and 25 branch locations. Sony India also has a strong service presence across the country with 356 service outlets. Manned by customer friendly and informed sales persons, Sony’s exclusive stores ‘Sony Center’ are fast becoming the most visible face of the company in India. A distinctive feature of Sony’s service is its highly motivated and well-trained staff that provides the kind of attentive and sensitive service that is rare today.

For more details, please visit:www.sony.co.in[/toggle]

August 9, 2013
Report : Sony Xperia Tablet Z Receiving Android 4.2.2 Update

Even though the Sony Xperia Tablet Z was released in early July in India, it came preloaded with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, retaining some of the legacy Android tablet features that Google did away with in Android 4.2 and the Nexus 10.

It appears that some variants of the Tablet Z are already being updated to Android 4.2.2, though it seems that the Indian version is currently not among them.

The most immediately obvious change in Android 4.2.2 is the relocation of the onscreen navigation buttons to the centre middle on the Xperia Tablet Z, mimicking the Nexus 10. The notification bar has been moved to where phone users would expect it: the top of the screen. While this isn’t stock Android 4.2, it’s the closest you’ll find in a non-Nexus tablet.

It’s not clear what else Sony added to the new version, but one can expect standard features found in 4.2 like lockscreen widgets, performance improvements and a number of bug fixes.

August 5, 2013
Sony Launches the XPERIA Z Ultra in India Rs. 46990, 6.4 inch Full HD, Waterproof and Dust Resistant (Hands On)

Sony today launched the new Xperia Z Ultra in India, the phone is a bigger (really) sized variant of the Xperia Z and in theory really builds on the design and the features of the Xperia Z. The Xperia Z Ultra features a 6.4 inch Full HD 1920 x 1080p display with 344 ppi pixel density which is powered by the Triluminous and X-reality engines of the Mobile Bravia embed. The Xperia Z Ultra also features a MSM8974 Snapdragon 800 chipset which is more than capable of powering the device, with Quad-core 2.2 GHz Krait 400 CPU and Adreno 330 the phone is really a mammoth creation in both size and hardware power. The Xperia Z Ultra just like the Z before it, is IP58 certified – dust and water proof which means the the Xperia Z Ultra is Water resistant up to 1 meter and 30 minutes.

For Cameras you have an 8 MP rear snapper and a 2 MP front camera both sans a LED Flash and capable of 1080p video at 30fps. The Xperia Z Ultra comes with a 3050 mAh battery which is embedded into the device and is non removable, the profile of the handset is truly fantastic where it is only 6.5mm thick and weighs only 212g considering the size. Sony have also rounded off the sides so that it does not bite your hands when you attempt to grip this passport sized handset. The phone will be available in Black, White and Purple and boasts lots of freebies from the get go, including Asphalt 7 which is pre installed, Sony Live Content from Indian Idol Etc. and free 3months subscription to Big Flix.

The Xperia Z Ultra has 16 GB inbuilt storage and 2 GB of RAm and you can expand the storage with upto a 64 GB microSD card, class 10 recommended.

Buy Now

July 30, 2013
Sony And Panasonic Will Team Up To Create 300GB Optical Discs

The highest capacity optical disc on the consumer market today is Blu-ray. In standard form it can hold 25GB of data or 50GB if dual layer. There’s also been the recent roll out of the BDXL format, which increases that capacity to 128GB. But such levels of storage are fast becoming too small, and both Sony and Panasonic have realized this and decided to do something about it.

It has been announced today that both Sony and Panasonic are joining forces to create the next generation standard for optical discs. The objective with these discs is to expand their potential for long term data storage. Both companies hope to improve their development efficiency through technologies held by each company, their plan is to release optical discs touting a recording capability of at least 300GB by 2015. Sony and Panasonic will continue to hold discussions regarding the specifications related to the development of this new standard.

In a joint release, the companies said: “Optical discs have excellent properties to protect them against the environment… they also allow inter-generational compatibility between different formats, ensuring that data can continue to be read even as formats evolve.”

Much larger volumes of storage are expected to be required in the future both amongst broadcast and motion picture industries but also cloud data centers.

Of course a new optical disc capable of storing much larger amounts of data could ultimately make its way on to the consumer market, with 4K Ultra HD video the most obvious material, if indeed 4K ever gets a disc format.

July 29, 2013
Sony Announces Android 4.3 Update For Select Xperia Devices

Sony Mobile officially confirmed the upcoming availability of the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system for some of its latest Xperia smartphones out there, including the Xperia Z and Xperia Z Ultra.

A post on the company’s blog says it is “already getting stuck in” and is working to develop updates for the Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia ZR, Xperia Tablet Z, Xperia SP and Xperia Z Ultra.

Some older Xperia phones running Android 4.1 are still under examination. There’s a possibility that at least some of them will be updated straight to Android 4.3, but no names have been confirmed yet.

Sony, however, is not known for being quick with Android rollouts so customers will probably need to be patient once again. Back in December 2012, the company promised Android 4.2 updates for 10 of its 2012 Xperia range, and that process was only completed last month.

It admits that the Android 4.1 upgrade “process hasn’t been as succinct or as timely as you might’ve expected”, which leads us to believe that this may happen once again with the roll-out of the third Jelly Bean iteration.

With Android 4.3, many of the updates appear to be under the hood. Among the front-end changes is the addition of a Multi-User Restricted Profiles feature.

Sony posted a video of the Xperia Tablet Z already running the AOSP version of Android 4.3, as they previously did with 4.2.

[youtube id=”c8sVrFVXUTc” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

July 25, 2013
Report : Sony Making Gran Turismo Movie

Sony has decided that it wants a piece of the fast car pie, and it’s pressing ahead with a movie based on its massively successful Gran Turismo series of videogames. What angle it’s going to take is unclear at this stage, but producers Dana Brunetti and Mike De Luca have the job of working some of that out. They’re also producing Fifty Shades Of Grey, incidentally.

In addition to De Luca and Brunetti, Elizabeth Cantillon, DeVon Franklin, and Hannah Minghella will oversee the project for Sony. No director, writer, or stars have been announced at this time. The games have no real plot to speak of — they’re racing simulations, pure and simple — so we’ll have to wait and see what the filmmakers cook up. The lack of an in-game narrative should allow them plenty of freedom to work with.

Developed by Kazunori Yamauchi and Polyphony Studios, Gran Turismo is one of the biggest franchises from the Playstation. The series has sold over 70 million copies worldwide. However, it remains to be seen if the game’s popularity will translate into box office success.

The success of Fast and Furious 6 has prompted a number of studios to move forward with their own car-oriented action flicks. DreamWorks Pictures is presently putting together an adaptation of Need for Speed starring Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul, Michael Keaton, Dominic Cooper, and Imogen Poots.

The latest game in the long-running PlayStation-exclusive franchise, Gran Turismo 6, is currently slated to ship on the PS3 some time during 2013.

[Via]

July 24, 2013
New Leak Reveals Upcoming Sony Honami Will Have 20.7 MP Camera With 1/2.3-inch sensor

Sony is going to release a new 5-inch flagship device at IFA this year, a sequel to the Xperia Z and now a leak from the Taiwanese site ePrice says the device has a 20.7-megapixel ExmorRS sensor that’s the same size as the one in the Galaxy Camera and other point-and-shoots.

Originally, rumours spread that the Honami’s image sensor was going to have an impressive 1/1.6-inch sensor. However, this leak indicates that the Honami may only have a 1/2.3-inch sensor. But to compensate for that, the Sony Honami will have a f/2.0 with 5mm focal length and utilize the BIONZ processing engine, which effectively allows the camera to take photos with a resolution of up to 5248 x 3936 pixels.

This will help the Sony Honami to take on the recently-announced Nokia Lumia 1020 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 Zoom. The 1020 comes with an impressive 41MP camera that aims to revolutionize smartphone cameras, and while we still have yet to try the phone’s camera out for ourselves, Sony will mostly likely have to out something big in order to overthrow the 1020.

As previous rumours have indicated the Sony Honami will reportedly be capable of capturing video at 4K resolution, or 4000×2000 pixels. This insanely high video resolution is going to work synergistically with Sony’s big 4K TV push at the end of the year, but until then will mainly be little more than a sideshow act.

The battery is reportedly built into the device, suggesting it won’t be user replaceable, with a large capacity of 3,000 mAh battery. In addition to the reported camera specifications, there’s also said to be a 5-inch full HD display, as well as a 2.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor, as well as 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory. In addition, there’s said to be a microSD expansion slot, with the maximum supported capacity not being specified.

[Via]

July 16, 2013
Sony To Pay £250k Fine For 2011 UK Data Breach

Sony has admitted it won’t carry on its appeal against a £250,000 fine handed to the firm in Britain following serious breaches of its PlayStation networks in 2011.

ICO fined the firm back in January, after finding that the breach was “preventable” and that Sony, as a business, “should have known better” as the occurrence fell under the Data Protection Act.

A Sony spokesperson said. “After careful consideration we are withdrawing our appeal. This decision reflects our commitment to protect the confidentiality of our network security from disclosures in the course of the proceeding. We continue to disagree with the decision on the merits.”

The fine was handed to Sony by the Information Commissioner’s Office after its PlayStation Network was breached and data on 77 million users exposed. Further breaches of SCEE-related infrastructure led to data of millions more being compromised.

Despite it’s decision not to appeal the fine, Sony said it continues to “disagree with the decision on the merits.”

Unsurprisingly, ICO said that it was delighted with the change of heart. “We welcome Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited’s decision not to appeal our penalty notice following a serious breach of the Data Protection Act,” a representative said.

[Via]

July 15, 2013
The Last Of US For PS3 Review

While Sony may be busy announcing its next generation console, their present iteration is still doing strong. The Last of Us is a Sony exclusive title developed by company’s Naughty Dog studios, for the PS3. The game plays on the zombie apocalyptic post world era, that we all have come to love and expect, yet there are some exciting new additions to the overall storyline and gameplay experience.

Joel and Ellie

Storyline

The Game begins with the normal life of main character Joel, and how it suddenly gets affected an outbreak that causes the Zombie Fungus Cordyceps to start spreading like wild bushfire. The gameplay is set in the United states and shows how everywhere, post this outbreak, there is utter pain and chaos. The character, like any hero is destined to help end the problems of the world by delivering a solution, where he needs to travel across the badlands of the United States.

Unlike any other Zombie game the Last of Us is designed in a different manner, and you simply cant expect instant hardcore action from the game. The game storyline is slow and progresses as the character fights various kinds of zombies, human enemies known as hunters and the government which basically controls everything. The story as it progresses reminds you from time to time the hopeless situation of the world and how the Joel fights on despite that. The game essentially takes off from the typical end of humanity scenario, but chooses to tell a story about the two people that travel across the pain stricken world in an attempt to revive humanity.

The gameplay is full of beautiful backdrops, amazing sceneries of the untouched wilderness and the post fungus cities which are destroyed and collapsing. The game developer has ensured that each scenery and backdrop shows the status of the world and each new backdrop tells a brand new story about what has happened.

As the game progresses the secondary character Ellie starts to take limelight as she becomes closer and closer to Joel. Their relationship is strengthened by Ellie’s constant need to oppose the exacting situation and Joel constant efforts to keep things under control. Ellie has been born into this world and has no idea what the real world is like, her constant need and discussions to find out what the world was, make for some of the best ingame scenarios.

The story line is beautifully presented and ensures that you build a relationship with the characters as the game progresses. The game defines what possibly is the best ever story written for the Playstation.

Post World Cities

Gameplay

What the storyline builds, the gameplay delivers! With a vast variety of interesting elements that make it a truly exciting and entertaining experience. Despite the fact that the game has many enemies throughout the story, the major focus remains on the infected. Cordyceps infested humans become rage hungry monsters that don’t eat or kill, they simply bite and infest others. The main elements of the infected are the runners that are basically the pawns of the enemies, the clickers are the bishops, blind yet brutal and many other higher ups that define the bosses of the infested chains.

Infected Clicker

Gameplay becomes intense and inflicts a sense of fear in the gamer as the infected arrive, while Joel has a vast majority of mainstream weapons to his disposal including pistols, automatic guns and even crossbows, the most interesting element of the gameplay is the characters ability to forge destructive weapons from the post world scavenging. While ammo is mostly scarce, hard to find and carried in a limited quantity, the handcrafted grenades, smoke bombs and throat slitting shivs are manufactured from items found on the map, including broken scissors, alcohol and pieces of cloth. All this crafting happens real time and the gamer is in constant stress especially when the threat is nearby.

Nearby Hunter

While the gameplay is close to perfection it may lack the certain finesse and responsiveness that users may expect from a actions scenario game like the Last of Us. The progress is slow and the expansive storyline, mixed in between intense gameplay, tends to take from the mood of the excitement. There are also stages where the characters are simply walking while figuring out their path, which may truly frustrate some.

Multiplayer

Although the Last of Us was not designed to be a multiplayer, the game does a wonderful job of that as well. Making you the leader of a group of survivors, scavenging and fending off enemies, you have to constantly explore the map and ensure that you are on top of the situation and in control of your team that often finds itself surrounded by problems. The multiplayer may not be the main concept but is a well appreciated addition to the overall experience of the Last of Us.

Conclusion

There is no doubt that the Last of Us is possibly the most beautiful game on Playstation 3, and the extensive work behind the tile truly shows from the start to the finish. The story is involving and creates a sense of relation and there comes a point where you actually start to feel bad for the state of the situation. The gameplay adds a lot of action and thrill, and literally keeps your heart pounding, especially when the higher-up infected are around. There is really nothing more you could ask for from a game.

If you own a Playstation 3 and are looking for a game that will keep you busy for hours and days, while making your heart pound and your thumbs smashing the controller, look no further.

Video Review

(Coming Soon)

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July 12, 2013
Sony’s ‘My Xperia’ Security Service To Roll Out Globally

Sony has announced that its ‘My Xperia’ service will roll out globally after a successful pilot project in the Nordic regions. The service, which uses a user’s Google login to link phone and web browser, allows users to remotely locate or wipe a device, or sound an alarm to find a lost device when close at hand.

‘My Xperia’ will be available for select 2012 and 2013 devices such as the Xperia S, Xperia ion, Xperia T, and Xperia ZL, and the app will roll out via an over-the-air update, not through the Play Store.

The full feature set is as follows:

– Sound an alert to get someone’s attention –it’ll also override silent mode and wake the display
– Map location via myxperia.sonymobile.com
– Lock the phone to keep info private, and ping a message with contact details
– Erase both internal and external SD card info / data if required

Obviously it’d be nice if Xperia owners didn’t ever need to use a tool like this, but because smartphones are small and expensive, they can easily be lost or fall prey to a thief. That’s where a tool like my Xperia would come in, helping a person to locate their lost phone or wipe all of the personal data stored on it if necessary. It sounds like a pretty useful little app, and it’d probably be wise for owners of eligible Xperia hardware to install the my Xperia app onto their handsets just to be safe. If you’ve got a recent Xperia phone laying around, be sure to keep an eye out for the arrival of the my Xperia app in the coming weeks.

The service will be available on Sony’s website in the coming weeks.

[Via]

July 5, 2013
Sony C906 Honami Screenshots Leaked, Reveal New UI

Sony is going to release a new 5-inch flagship device in the coming months, a sequel to the Xperia Z. This smartphone, codenamed Honami, will reportedly come with a 5-inch 1080p display and a 20MP camera sensor capable of capturing video at 4K resolution, or 4000×2000 pixels. This insanely high video resolution is going to work synergistically with Sony’s big 4K TV push at the end of the year, but until then will mainly be little more than a sideshow act.

A system dump of the device has surfaced, which reveals some details about the hardware and showcase some of the new UI changes.

More impressive, however, is Sony’s subtle design improvements to its Android skin. Expected to ship with Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, Honami takes what worked so well about earlier versions and tweaks the launcher and various first-party apps to look more uniform, attractive and minimalist.

One major addition to this newer software, which will probably trickle down to older devices when they are updated, is integration with Sony’s Music Unlimited streaming service in the main Music app.

Elements of the OS, like the keyboard, appear to have been spruced up as well, with new colour schemes and improved functionality. Sony’s integrated keyboard is already one of the best in the business, so it’s nice to see they’re still working on it.

Sony’s Small Apps, which overlay minimal HTML5-based utilities like a tiny web browser or camera lens, have been updated to allow more than one at a time.

Since the Xperia Z is only six months old, we likely won’t see Honami until later this year, but it’s shaping up to be a pretty fantastic device.

[Via]

July 2, 2013
Sony Xperia ZR Unboxing

The Sony Xperia ZR is a small brother of the Xperia Z with a major differences in design and hardware. The one thing that remains common is the water resistance and dust proof nature of the phone.

Inside the box of the Xperia ZR you will get the standard set of accessories, including a wall charger, the USB to micro USB cable and in ear headset along with documentation.

Xperia ZR Initial Impressions

The Xperia ZR is water resistant to the point where you can go swimming with it, but the build is slightly different than the Xperia Z. The back panel is made up of a rubber coating vs a glass back on the Xperia Z. The Xperia ZR has a 4.55 inch 1280 x 720p display which makes it 323 ppi .

The back of the Xperia ZR has a 13 MP camera, but it appears that the company held back with the front camera which is a VGA camera. The phone is also slightly thicker at 10.5 mm and also shorter thanks to the size of the display, which makes the overall device more compact and slightly more portable.

Sony has really gained popularity with its Xperia series thanks to the right mix of Hardware design and build quality and the Xperia ZR is not behind in this trend. Based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064 1.5 GHz Quad core Krait chipset the phone also has the might Adreno 320 GPU. The whole mix is powered by a 2300 mAh battery and has 8 GB of storage along with 2GB of RAM.

You do have storage expandability in the Xperia ZR but only to 32GB vs the 64GB offered by many. Sony has also shipped this handset with Android 4.1.2 while many companies are now offering Android 4.2.2 out of the box.

Check out our images and video and stay tuned for the followup, iGyaan style.

Buy Now

June 30, 2013
PlayStation 3 Firmware 4.46 Now Available, Fixes Bricking Issue
If you were one of the few unfortunates affected by firmware 4.45?s perfidy (you’ll know, because your console won’t load the XMB) don’t despair; a fix is here.

Firmware 4.46 is now available for download and can be applied on PlayStation 3 units that were soft-bricked by the earlier update using a special technique.

If you’re trapped on the “ribbon” screen, you’re going to need a USB stick with at least 168MB free space, and to download the new 4.46 firmware using a PC.

Over on the official PlayStation support website, Sony explains how to enter the PlayStation 3 Safe Mode to initialize the updating process without XMB access. We’ve republished the instructions below:

Step 1: Manually Download System Software
1. You will need a USB Mass Storage device such as a USB flash drive with at least 168 MB of free space. If your PlayStation 3 is either CECHA00/CECHB00 series model, you can also use Memory Stick™, SD Memory Card, and CompactFlash®.
2. Create a folder named “PS3” on the storage media or USB device.
3. Within the PlayStation 3 folder, create a folder named “UPDATE”.
4. Using your computer, click the following hyperlink to begin downloading system software 4.46
5. Download the update data from the webpage and save it in the “UPDATE” folder.
  - Location: Save in the “PS3” folder > “UPDATE” folder
  - File name: Save as file name “PS3UPDAT.PUP”
Note: If the data is not saved in the correct way, the PS3 will not recognize the update data. The folder name must be in all uppercase letters.

Step 2: Activate Safe Mode
1. With the PlayStation 3 off (power light should be red), touch and hold the Power button, you will hear the 1st beep indicating that the PS3 is powering on.
2. Continue to hold the power button, and after approximately 5 seconds you will hear a 2nd beep.
3. Continue to hold the power button and after 5 more seconds you’ll hear a 3rd beep, and system will power off (Power light goes red).
4. Release power button.
5. Touch and hold the Power button, you will hear the 1st beep, again for PS3 power on.
6. Continue to hold and after approximately 5 seconds you will hear the 2nd beep for video reset.
7. Continue to hold and after 5 seconds you will hear a quick double beep. At that point release power button.
8. If you succeeded in activating Safe Mode, you will see a message on screen saying, “Connect the controller using a USB cable and then press the PS button”.
9. Connect a controller to the PlayStation 3 with a USB cable.
If you were not able to get into Safe Mode, your system may need service. Please contact us for further assistance.

Step 3: Manually Update PS3 Software
1. Connect the storage media to PS3 system.
2. Select [6 – System Update] and Press X.
  - Please note: Data and settings may be deleted if you choose any of the first (5) options. Please make sure to only choose option [6 – System Update].
3. Press Start and Select at the same time.
4. The PS3 system will restart and recognizes the update file in the storage media.
5. Press right on the d-pad to scroll through the update description and user agreement.
6. Press X to confirm the update.
7. The system will now install the new system software and restart automatically upon completion.
[Via]
June 27, 2013