Hasta La Gadget!

Unlike the messy controller situation in iOS, Android users have the benefit of workarounds for using controllers with their mobile device. One such solution is the Sixaxis Controller app, which pairs PS3 controllers with compatible Android devices. If you’re using the app, you might want to get the GameKlip as well.

Made by Ryan French, the GameKlip is simply a plastic mount that lets you connect a PS3 controller with an Android smartphone. The result is a semi-permanent, poor man’s portable gaming device.

The idea of carrying a PS3 controller around might seem odd at first, but if you frequently game on your Android device you might fall in love with this combo:

Wow. Now I’m envious of Android users. Again, the GameKlip is only a piece of plastic; you need an app and some tweaking to make the PS3 controller work with your phone, if it’s even compatible with the app. Still, it’s better than nothing.

As for the GameKlip, you can order it from its official website for $15 (USD). There’s also a $23 variant that comes with cables in case your smartphone can’t pair wirelessly with PS3 controllers. The GameKlip only works with the latest Galaxy phones and a couple of HTC models. Check out the official website to see the full list.

[via TechEBlog]

The first four models of the PS3 were backwards compatible with PlayStation 2 games. For reasons unknown, but most likely not related to its customer’s best interests, Sony later removed this feature. Now, the inevitable has occurred: tinkerers have brought the feature back via a software hack.

While there have been gray market USB dongles that gave jailbroken PS3s this ability, this hack only requires software. This method supposedly works with all models of the PS3 (although it hasn’t been tested with all PS2 games), the sources below did mention that it requires users to replace some of the console’s system files.

Seems to me that this hack implies two things: a) this could very well ruin your console, and b) it would be easy for Sony to bring backwards compatibility back. It would also be nice if everyone had pet unicorns, but we don’t. So that’s that.

[via PS3 Developer Wiki via PSX Scene via QuickJump]

Image by Evan Amos via Wikipedia

Sony has confirmed its rearranged launch plans for the nasne networked media recorder, having been forced to postpone sales last month after hard-drive faults were discovered in the first batch. The PS3-lookalike PVR will arrive in Japanese store shelves on August 30, alongside the similarly-delayed PS3 update and a new VAIO TV with nasne app for Sony laptops.

There’ll also be new software for Sony Tablet users, plus those with a PSP or PSP Vita ; they, along with their VAIO PC counterparts, will be able to remotely access the nasne and stream live and recorded digital terrestrial and satellite content across their network. Sony’s gadget also supports standard DLNA streaming for non-Sony devices, such as Microsoft’s Xbox 360 or Smart TVs.

nasne packs both a terrestrial tuner and a satellite tuner, along with a 500GB hard-drive and a B-CAS card slot for paid broadcast access. It allows for live streaming and recording, as well as remote access from outside of the home network, pausing live TV, and sharing photos and music as with a regular NAS.

Originally, nasne was intended to go on sale on July 19 in Japan, but at the last moment Sony identified an issue with the SATA drives believed to be down to issues in how they had been transported. The PVR box is priced at 16,800 yen ($214), and Sony is yet to announce any international launch plans.

Sony nasne delayed PS3 PVR ships August 30 is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Sony has revealed its latest financial results for Q1 2012, and the news is dire: operating income down 77.2-percent compared to last year, and losses of 24.6bn yen ($356m) for the three month period. A surprise boost in performance from Sony Mobile , brought in-house to the Mobile Products and Communications Division, saw overall sales reach $19.2bn, Sony says [pdf link], but the price of actually combining those teams disproportionally chewed through income.

Operating income sank to $79bn, which Sony blames on the MP&C division’s sales and restructuring costs, the latter of which alone amounted to $143m. On the flip side, insurance payouts post-Thailand flooding and some unexpected Blu-ray patent royalties helped fill Sony’s cup a little.

There remain some significantly underperforming divisions, however. Poor PS3 and PSP sales were “partially offset” by the PS Vita, but still overall declined 14.5-percent year-on-year to $1.5bn. Home Entertainment & Sound sank 26.2-percent, to $3.2bn, with sales of LCD TVs ditching in Japan, North America and Europe; similarly, LCD production underperformed.

One of the only bright points was Sony’s interchangeable lens cameras, which helped buoy the Imaging Products & Solutions division to a 7.6-percent increase compared to the same period last year, and sales of $2.5bn. Sony also managed to straighten out its supply chain for broadcast cameras and companion products, which boosted the division as well.

Sony has now cut its whole fiscal year estimates by 27.8-percent compared to May’s forecast. The company expects continued falls in key products and an ongoing negative impact from the strength of the yen versus other currencies.

Sony Q1 2012: Income down 77% as gaming, mobile and TVs dive is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s not available to all, but if you’re running the latest version (2.08) of the Netflix app on your PlayStation 3 you may see a prompt for a new item called Netflix Max, spotted by one of our readers. Described by a PR rep we contacted as a “new user experience” the company is testing, the assistant talks to users directly and asks them to rate a few movies on the spot before providing new suggestions. The Noisecast was among the first to try out the new experience and even has a few tips on how to get it for yourself, although it didn’t work on our PS3, even after uninstalling and reinstalling the app to get the latest version. The blog mentioned it does more than simply rating movies also, as it sometimes asked users to select movies based on specific criteria, like the starring actors. It can be brought up by pressing the square button on your PS3 controller, although how much you enjoy the gameified experience may vary.

Pulling gems out of a catalog filled with older and lower profile movies is a complaint of many Netflix subscribers though, so any attempt to help is welcome, but we’re not immediately sure this is the way. According to Netflix, it’s waiting to see if the tool leads to “increased interaction” (read: more viewing hours / less likely to cancel, on average) before deciding whether or not to roll the tool out widely, so if you have it and like it, vote with your remotes.

[Thanks, Sean aka Prophet Beal]

Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment

Netflix testing ‘Max’ assistant on some PS3 users to improve movie recommendations originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Aug 2012 18:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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