So i’m a Sony fanboy if you havent already noticed in my previous entries. I’m a little angered at Sony right about now and here is why.

I’ve been waiting for the Sony Walkman X 1000 since the CES 2009 tradeshow. I was actively promoting it to all my other friends and colleagues and telling them it would replace my current Walkman and would be a threat to the iPhone.

I was hoping that Sony would add support for the Playstation store so you could sync movies and TV shows you buy to the Walkman. Well to my surprise, I finally heard that it would support playback of .wmv (drm as well) files, MPeg 4, and some other movie formats.

While this is great, I think they could have added support for their own movie format so I could actually, i dont know, maybe take them with me!?!?!?

Obviously, Sony didnt listen to me and neither did Sony Insider. I even started a rumor on the internet saying Walkman X series would get Playstation store support so it would gain steam and they would hear and listen. However, that never happened. I wrote a blog about it which you can see here.

Oh Sony you have angered very much. I have revised my digital life strategy and its not just to get back at you for not listening to me. I revised it cause it makes sense. Here was my digital strategy before you screwed me over:

2. Playstation 3 as gaming device
3. Playstation 3 as media device/organizer
3. Playstation 3 as Blu Ray Player
4. PS Store for movies and tv shows
5. Synce movies and TV shows to my portable walkman. (My current walkman doesnt have this capability. I thought with their newer X 1000 series, they would add support)

As you can see, I was ready to let Sony be the company of choice for my entertainment needs. One stop for everything.

My NEW digital life strategy is as follows:

1. Download movies and TV shows off Amazon Video on Demand
2. Watch the movies and TV shows in Media Center (Sorry. Playstation 3 isnt compatible with DRM .wmv files, yet the Walkman X1000 is. Currently scratching my head)
3. Sync them to my Zune HD and take them with me on the go

No software revenue from Sony in there. I’ll just use the Playstation 3 for games and blu ray. I will buy a media center extender I guess so I can stream the movies onto the TV in living room even though I just wanted one box (ps3) in the living room. The media extender can after all play DRM .wmv files while Sony’s Playstation 3 cant… Ooops. I think Sony should now shift their focus to quality games only cause their digital media strategy just isnt working. It’s totally disorganized.

Yea i’m just gonna get the Zune HD… That is after all compatible with basically everything including their own Console, their own movie service (Xbox live) and Amazon Video on Demand!! Looks like Microsoft knows what their doing when it comes to the digital world.

Umm Howard Stringer and Kaz Hirai, whats up? You say you want to expand the Playstation store to other devices. You cant even extend it to your new flagship, so called ipod threat walkman!?!?!? Get it together!!!

I do have a PSP 2000 but the organization for media sucks!

I normally use Google for my searching needs because I get what I when I want it. They are super fast and the first link I click on is usually what i’m looking for. That’s how good they are. But the other day I was at Yahoo!’s website.

I noticed how Yahoo’s website is super clean and everything is organized in a way to where you can just get what you need and leave. After browsing Yahoo!’s website, it got me to thinking just how those two companies websites differ from each other when it comes to appearance.

Googles igoogle page (which I use) is full of widgets that you just throw around to your hearts content. While it is cool to do that, it starts to look sloppy after adding more than five widgets. You cant change the colors on your widgets. They all have to go based on the theme you select. It is also just a bunch of text which makes it look dull and boring.

Yahoo!’s website is just neat. I really enjoy going there because they have these interesting articles in the news that I cant resist not clicking on. It always catches my attention and I find myself opening up about three to four tabs all the time. The website is well organized and laid out beautiful for the eye.

Its almost like shopping at Target and Walmart. I only need one thing when I go to those two stores but end up walking out with about 20 different things. But when I shop at Walmart I dont like their atmosphere because everything is just thrown around and it looks sloppy and that grey color/ brown color is just ugly. Targets atmosphere is nice and beautiful. It’s also red like Yahoo!’s logo. Googles page is blue and white just like Walmart.

Microsofts Live Search is like Kmart because, well nobody shops at Kmart anymore these days and nobody uses Live Search except maybe Xbox Fanboys. According to news around the internet. Google dominates (Walmart) Yahoo second(Target) and Live Search third by a significant margin (Kmart)

Chris

So it seems that everywhere I read, Office Live doesnt get positive reviews from anyone. They are to obsessed with how Google Apps is going to overcome them and that Microsoft needs to take their office products to the web to compete.

Well sad to say, Google Apps isnt ready for primetime. They failed to convert me to use their online service by failing two simple tests of mine. Their email rocks though. They have the best spam filter ever and well… Google is just awesome when it comes to Gmail.

I use Microsoft Office Live almost everyday for school. Why you ask? Because everywhere I go, Microsoft Office is the installed productivity suite. Since I store all my documents through office live anyway, its really convenient if I leave a paper at home. I can just go to the library, log in to Office Live and download the document from their and wallah. A fresh new print.

Google just isnt ready for primtime with Google apps yet while Office Live is. Plus with Microsoft Office 14 coming up, you get to use Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel online. Now that’s good reason to make the switch now!

Sony will be allowing you to download movies and TV shows from Playstation Store to your Walkman in an effort to expand its service beyond the Playstation family. The way to sync your movies would be to obviously connect your walkman to your Playstation 3 or by accessing the Playstatin store off your PC.

What do you think this sounds like to you? To me, It sounds like Howard Stringers Sony United plan is really in action.

This sounds great and it seems like it would help them stage a comeback in the portable music market. They do have a better interface when it comes to downloading movies and TV shows anyway. Plus, most users who own a playstation access the service through the PS3 instead of a computer. It would be a good way to get more users and Playstation owners to buy the Walkman to.

The Walkman X1000 is one of the gadgets I cant wait to get my hands on this summer.

Chris

We’re all familiar with Sonys current campaign HDNA. “Hi definition, its in our DNA”. Well the campaign is fine and dandy in all but I think its time that get a new one. Their market share has slid down in TVs. Although they are still number two, it looks like LG may take that spot either this year or in early 2010.

What Sony needs is an ad campaign similar to AT&T’s old campaign. One that markets all their current offerings. Remember how AT&T’s TV ad said this at the end of each ad:

“TV, Broadband, Wireless, and home phone. AT&T, your world delivered.”

 Sony could pull something similar especially with their new upcoming Walkman X1000 (which I hope they market well so it wont fail). When it’s released they can release an ad specifially for the walkman and an ad about all their offerings that digitalizes your life with an image of each product above the brand.

“Bravia, Playstation, Cybershot, and Walkman. SONY, digital life awaits you”

Wouldnt that be a big seller? That educates everyone about their newest offerings and their core brands.

While i’m not a marketer, i’m sure thinking of something like that couldnt be to hard. Plus they can release invidivual ads for each of their products. Even with the economy in a recession, it would give Sony more firepower againts their competitors and help lower that $2.9 billion loss they are execting this fiscal year.

Chris

Back in early January before the CES 2009 show started The financial times reported that Sony was on the brink of upheaval. It was told that Sony CEO Howard Stringer was going to abolish major divisions and deal with resistant executive managers who refused to do what he said. 

Well now the story is popping up again and the gaming community and some of the media such as Reuters are getting in. Sony is expected to announce its restructuring plan today or tomorrow.

Ok so I can understand why this is getting alot of attention and hype. We’ve already heard the previous announcement of the 16,000 job cuts to save $1.1 billion a year. But what can the upheaval of divisions mean? Hopefully the gaming division will be spared since the Playstation brand is their strongest brand.  How will the japanese react if Howard Stringer fires some Japanese executives other than Ken Kutaragi. Do you ever wonder why Sony suffers financially too much? I think it’s the japanese culture of having a job for life. No matter how bad a japanese company may be financially they dont get laid off no matter what. That has to change. Sony’s going through the exact same thing they went through in the 90’s and early 2000’s.

I’m counting on Howard Stringer to do his job. Whats the point of being a CEO if you dont have any power over the company? He needs to save Sony and fast.

Sony could easily win back their dominance in the portable media market and the game space if they did a bundle.  The Walkman X1000 bundled with the Playstation 3 would give better reason for them to position their playstation as an entertainment/gaming device. 

On top of that, everyone who bought a Playstation 3 would get the Walkman and it would make them more likely to use that since they spent the extra money on the bundle. It will be a resurgence of the Walkman brand. It would also

 eliminate the need to connect your Walkman to the PC. Connect it to the Playstation to sync your movies, music, and photos. 

PSP can do this but as we are all aware the PSP isnt doing as well as Sony would like it to. The PSP also doesnt have the

 tools for music organization like the Walkman X1000 will have. It also isnt as portable. Sometimes I wonder if Sony has secretly negelected the PSP. The PSP 3000 failed to impress me as I mentioned in my previous entry.

While i’m sure this wont happen soon since Sony loses money on every Playstation 3 sold, i’m sure this idea wont be ruled out when they turn a profit. I think it would give Apple a run for their money and put a significant dent in their

 market share.

Sony has really transformed itself in three years thanks to Howard Stringer. They have been the first to release the newest technology in TVs, the most powerful gaming system, and set the standard for next generation DVD (Blu Ray)

Their newest televesion sets, the XBR7 and XBR8, and the XLM40 series go on sale this December.

I’ll give you a preview of the 52in XBR7. The XBR7 features a 240Hz refresh rate. That’s double the regular 120hz refresh rates that are in todays televisions. There was always negative reviews about 120hz refresh rates saying that motion blur was so smooth that some movies looked fake. Perhaps they may have fixed this with the higher refresh rates. It also looks as if it has a floating speaker. This will be great choice for those looking to get a Playstation 3. The Bravia XBR7 also has a high glossy finish, 4 HDMI inputs, and an input for wired and wireless Bravia Internet Link. This TV is also DLNA compatible so you can stream your music, and view pictures and movies. Pricing is yet to be announced but i’m predicting it will be about $4,499.99.I guessed this price because knowing Sony from their previous pricing they always started their XBR series at $3,899 and up

What do you think of the TV and do you think it’s worth $4,500 dollars?

Chris

I was one of the first people to download Google Chrome. I had been waiting all day. Literally. I was at uzees Wordpress blog (which is a good blog) and I refreshed the page every 10 minutes waiting for him to post the download link. It sounds fanboyish but I think i’m becoming a Google fanboy. It seems that everything they create, I find useful for everything I do on the web.

My favorite feature in this browser is the application feature. Now Google can dominate the desktop and the Online world. It works like this. Find a service (something like Gmail, or Hotmail) and then click create application. It will put an icon on the desktop so when you click it ur taken there instantly. No more having to open the web browser and type in the link. This definitely comes in handy for Google Docs. I have put together a group of products I use offline below:

Google Docs App= Microsoft Works
Gmail, Calendar, Contacts, App = Microsoft Outlook
Google RSS App = The built in Microsoft RSS in Vista
Google Photos App = Windows Photo Gallery 
Google Notes = Microsoft One Note 

Call me a Microsoft finatic but I rely on them for a lot of stuff. Now of course there are its limitations.

1. You still need  an active internet connection to use the apps feature.
2. A quick print button would be useful

That’s all I can find so far. I have one suggestion for Google when they release the next update and that is,

Direct us to Google RSS when we click on an RSS link. I’m not sure if that’s possible but if it is i’d like it.

To download Google Chrome, go to www.google.com/chrome

Uzees blog is http://uzeeinc.wordpress.com

Chris