Jan 02

More VAIO P specs leak out

Posted in: breaking news, BreakingNews, sony, Today's Chili, vaio

Sony’s not playing it too coy with the upcoming VAIO P — some more detailed specs on the widescreen netbook have leaked out, and they’re just about what we expected: a 1.33GHz Atom Z520, 2GB of RAM, standard HDD with optional SSD, GPS, and a 3G WWAN card, all for about €700 ($974). No word on that crazy rumored 1600 x 768 display resolution, but apparently that sexy Photoshopped VAIO TT pic we saw is close to the real thing, trackstick and all. We’ll see — for close to $1000, this guy had better run Vista a hell of a lot better than the similarly-spec’d ASUS R50A UMPC Portal just trashed in a review.

[Via UMPC Portal, image from Pocketables]

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More VAIO P specs leak out originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:38:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jan 01

Book details how Sony paid for Xbox 360 dev, let Microsoft borrow its car, acted like a doormat

Posted in: Microsoft, playstation, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sony, Today's Chili, Toshiba, xbox, xbox 360, Xbox360

This year we’ve seen the PS3’s Cell processor pitch in and help break the petaflop barrier, exploit a major security hole in SSL encryption and enable adolescent hijinks on PlayStation Home. Obviously, this is one serious piece of kit. According to The Race For A New Game Machine, written by two of the folks responsible for designing the thing, the Cell (a partnership between Toshiba, Sony and IBM) was the product of a deal that opened the door to IBM selling key parts of the chip to Microsoft before they had even finished building it — even though this was clearly not part of the plan. Essentially, Sony’s R&D money was spent creating a component for their rival, helping the Xbox 360 make its launch date of November 2005, while the PlayStation 3 was pushed back a full year. It seems somewhat fitting that the troubled game system should have such dysfunctional origins, no?

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

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Book details how Sony paid for Xbox 360 dev, let Microsoft borrow its car, acted like a doormat originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Jan 2009 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 30

PlayStation 3 used to hack SSL, Xbox used to play Boogie Bunnies

Posted in: hack, hacking, playstation, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, security, sony, Today's Chili

Between the juvenile delinquent hordes of PlayStation Home and some lackluster holiday figures, the PlayStation has been sort of a bummer lately, for reasons that have nothing to do with its raison d’etre — gaming. That doesn’t mean that the machine is anything less than a powerhouse — as was made clear today when a group of hackers announced that they’d beaten SSL, using a cluster of 200 PS3s. By exploiting a flaw in the MD5 cryptographic algorithm (used in certain digital signatures and certificates), the group managed to create a rogue Certification Authority (CA) which allows them to create their own SSL certificates — meaning those authenticated web sites you’re visiting could be counterfeit, and you’d have no way of knowing. Sure, this is all pretty obscure stuff, and the kids who managed the hack said it would take others at least six months to replicate the procedure, but eventually vendors are going to have to upgrade all their CAs to use a more robust algorithm. It is assumed that the Wii could perform the operation just as well, if the hackers had enough room to spread out all their Balance Boards.

[Via ZD Net]

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PlayStation 3 used to hack SSL, Xbox used to play Boogie Bunnies originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 30

PlayStation Home full of immature jokers, unlike other virtual communities

Posted in: playstation, ps3, sony, Today's Chili

It’s not been a good month for Sony. Layoffs, poor holiday sales for the PS3 and a wee bit of hacking over at PlayStation Home surely have the electronics giant hungry for some good press, which has made the newest PR kerfuffle over at the nascent online service quite unfortunate. According to Ars Technica, Home has become something akin to the nightmare futurescape of The Warriors, a service “incredibly unwelcoming to women, with female players quickly mobbed as players dance around them or type sexual come-ons… a disturbing look at the worst part of human nature.” This is heady stuff, but as the company is quick to point out, the thing is still in Beta, and it’s still evolving — hopefully, as it becomes more popular the free service will move itself out of the adolescent ghetto. In the mean time, they’ve been rocking a bit of good old fashioned censorship, banning words like “gay,” “Jew,” and “Hell” — perfectly understandishable if you’ve ever spent a minute on any online gaming service, but highly uncool if you’re trying to build any sort of inclusive social network. In the meantime, what’s a homosexual Jewish Satanist to do? There’s always Second Life…

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PlayStation Home full of immature jokers, unlike other virtual communities originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 29

Sony teases the VAIO P’s keyboard and tracking nub

Posted in: rumor, rumors, sony, Today's Chili, vaio

Sure, that Photoshopped image of the VAIO P we got on Sunday wasn’t the real deal, but it looks like it might have some relation to reality — Sony’s got a teaser up for a “VAIO New Mobile” that includes some brief shots of a very swank-looking keyboard and tracking nub. We’ll be honest — we’re totally stoked to check this thing out at CES. Counting the days! One more shot after the break.

[Via Pocketables]

Continue reading Sony teases the VAIO P’s keyboard and tracking nub

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Sony teases the VAIO P’s keyboard and tracking nub originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 29

PS3 unable to hold its own against Wii, Xbox 360 this holiday season

Posted in: Microsoft, nintendo, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sales, sony, Today's Chili, wii, xbox 360, Xbox360

Considering the way that the Wii flew off shelves last month, this next item probably won’t come as a shock to anyone. According to the Wall Street Journal, both Nintendo’s console and the Xbox 360 trounced the PS3 in holiday sales, with U.S. sales falling nine percent from this month last year. During this same period, sales doubled for the Wii and rose eight percent for the Xbox 360. Perhaps none of this should be a surprise, as Sony declined to cut prices on their system, while a lack of exclusive game titles and a number of inexpensive Blu-ray players went a long way towards making the PS3 the least attractive option in an already difficult retail climate. If anything, it looks like Sony won’t be able to rely on the console to help prop up a flagging electronics division that just announced it will be cutting thousands of jobs in a bid to boost profitability going into 2009. Happy New Year, indeed.

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PS3 unable to hold its own against Wii, Xbox 360 this holiday season originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 28

Is this the VAIO P?

Posted in: netbook, rumor, rumors, sony, Today's Chili, vaio

Sony isn’t being too coy with the VAIO P, is it? In addition to that teaser image, oh-so-beautiful FCC shot, and mistakenly-posted specs page, CNET’s uncovered this pic of the rectangular netbook with its lid open. We can’t really tell if the machine pictured has that crazy 8-inch 1600 x 768 display we’d heard about, but there’s a lot of the VAIO TT in those lines — so much so we’re wondering if it’s a ‘shop, albeit a super-hot one. Of course, there’s no word on pricing, but we’re hoping it’s somewhere close to reasonable — we’ll find out in just a couple weeks at CES.

Update: We knew it looked a little too much like the TT — it’s a ‘shop. Oh well, at least we can dream.

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Is this the VAIO P? originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 28 Dec 2008 11:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dec 26

Keepin’ it real fake, part CLXXIII: 8-bit Xbox 360 / PS3 consoles only serve to dash dreams

Posted in: console, kirf, Microsoft, playstation 3, Playstation3, ps3, sony, Today's Chili, xbox 360, Xbox360

We’ve seen some pretty low tricks when it comes to giving what appears to be a gaming console to a junior, but we’re pleading — nay, insisting — that you don’t ever buy in on either of these in an attempt to pull the wool over a kiddo’s eyes. Straight from a shady warehouse in China comes Rodisson Technologies’ totally ridiculous Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 clones, both of which can only play 8-bit titles. The worst part, however, isn’t the complete lack of effort in knocking these systems off with any level of pride; rather, it’s the 10,000 item minimum order quantity. Thanks, but no thanks.

[Via technabob]

Read – RDC Xbox 360
Read – RDC PlayStation 3

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Keepin’ it real fake, part CLXXIII: 8-bit Xbox 360 / PS3 consoles only serve to dash dreams originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 26 Dec 2008 04:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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