Hasta La Gadget!

Despite one of its execs pegging this spring’s lengthy PSN outage as a “great experience” the folks at Sony have been pounding the pavement to drum up consumer morale. Back at IFA, the outfit unveiled its new all-in-one Sony Entertainment Network, and its already giving the VOD wing, Video Unlimited, a facelift. Starting today, PS3 owners holding a PlayStation Plus subscription can download the creatively titled “Video Unlimited-preview” app from the PlayStation Store. According to Sony, the new user interface is all about giving the people what they want, and in this case that means a streamlined UI, with big bright graphics and understated, glowing blue text. It also means Gracenote integration, opening up the possibility of endless rabbit-holes of related content searches. We had a few minutes with the new setup, and found ourselves searching content related to Danny McBride’s Your Highness under categories like “Bumbling Buffoons” and “Mythical Beasts,” although we could just as easily have called up titles featuring the film’s director or any of its stars.

If that’s not enough of a departure from the conventional video on demand arrangement, the new UI also features “tumbler search technology,” which abandons regular keyboard-style input for PS3 controls — click the right button to select a letter as you scroll vertically through the alphabet. This “patented technology” also autocompletes your query and similarly takes advantage of Gracenote’s database, allowing you to search by title, actor, director or tag. The new UI is specific to the company’s video service and is currently only available via the PS3, but we’re told it will roll out to the entire network and supported devices sometime in the future. All PlayStation Network users will be able to download the preview app starting October 11th, check out a video preview embedded after the break.

Continue reading Sony Video Unlimited-preview brings Gracenote metadata to SEN

Sony Video Unlimited-preview brings Gracenote metadata to SEN originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Over on Netflix’s official blog, company head Reed Hastings has announced in a surprisingly humble blog post and video (embedded after the break) that it’s splitting the DVD-by-mail business away into a new venture dubbed Qwikster. While the recent price changes already split the cost for each service, when this takes effect in a few weeks it will result in two different websites, two different sets of movie ratings and queues, and two different charges on customer’s bills. He admits two separate sites may make it more difficult to manage a presence on both, but says dropping the need for compatibility between the two will enable new features to balance that out. Another change? Netflix Qwikster (is there anything good about that name?) is getting into video game rentals, available for an extra charge similar to the existing Blu-ray disc option.

While the blog post blames a lack of communication for much of the backlash (and obviously cancellations), it’s about to become very clear that Netflix is “primarily a streaming company.” Also mentioned is “substantial” additional streaming content coming in the next few months. Whatever the company calls itself, charges, or changes on its website, if Netflix wants to talk its way back into subscriber’s good graces, starting with something new to watch is the way to do it.

Continue reading Netflix spins DVD-by-mail service off into Qwikster, says it’s ‘done’ with price changes (video)

Netflix spins DVD-by-mail service off into Qwikster, says it’s ‘done’ with price changes (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How do you keep selling a five-year old system? You slap a new coat of paint on it and call it a “limited edition,” that’s how. Which is precisely what Sony’s gotten up to with three newly colored versions of its PlayStation 3. Hitting the electronics giant’s homeland this November 17th are a duo of 320GB consoles, offered up in either Splash Blue or Scarlet Red, that come paired with a similarly hued DualShock controller and ¥29980 ($390) asking price. The prettiest of the bunch, however, won’t be released until December 15th in Japan, and that’s the Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning Edition Ver.2. Timed to coincide with the retail debut of the Square Enix-made sequel, that console (pictured above) also boasts a 320GB HDD, bundled copy of the game and a plain old black controller — all for ¥37960 ($494). If you need to add a little spice back into your gaming life, it might be time to get your import on.

Sony outs trio of limited edition PlayStation 3 consoles, keeps it fresh with a few paint jobs originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s nothing a like an (almost) fresh and exciting color variant to make us totally forget about the PS4. Besides, this little dazzler will come with a 320GB HDD and two equally white Dualshock controllers, which means you’ll only have to spray-paint your PS3 Move, headset, external drive, wheel and eyebrows to match. Look out for it at GameStop in the UK, Germany and possibly other Euro nations too, as well as at Electronic Boutique in Australia from November 1st — or just pre-order via the source links below.

White PS3 coming to Europe and Australia in November originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Challenging Sony’s PlayStation 3D display, LG’s new LW980T “Dual Play” TV lets Xbox users see two different views on the same screen — ditching the standard split gaming view. Spotted this week at IFA, the technology requires a pair of snazzy all-right / all-left passive specs and a compatible 3D Xbox game to get two different 2D perspectives on one TV. Compared to Sony’s $499, 24-inch active-shutter offering, the 47-inch and 55-inch passive ‘tubes are significantly larger and more expensive, rumored to retail for £1799 (or $2915) and £2499 (or $4050), respectively. According to sources, this feature will join LG’s lineup of Cinema 3D displays sometime in September — offering gaming as well as LG’s SmartTV and 3D movie support. Hey gamers, since we’re not splitting up anymore, is it safe to say we can stay “in a relationship” on Facebook?

LG’s ‘Dual Play’ TVs let gamers share a single screen, different perspective originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 04 Sep 2011 16:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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