Recently Three lent us a Sony Ericsson Xperia Play to review, which ironically isn’t even available on Three anymore, but anyway we decided to review it as the phone is excellently priced at around £150 – £200 sim free at the moment.

When his was this was released Sony were asking for iPhone-esque prices so for such a big price drop is fantastic for the end user (unless you paid full price in the first place).

The phone itself is a decent size with a 4-inch capacitive multi-touch LCD touch screen with a 480×854 pixel resolution and 16.7 million colours, and a 5.1-megapixel camera recorder with autofocus, flash, image stabilizer and geotagging. It is obviously rather chubby due to the built in controller (119 x 62 x 16mm) and it weighs 175 grams.

It currently runs Gingerbread 2.3.4 and we found it to be very snappy with no obvious lag at all. There is 400MB of internal memory, but an 8GB microSD card is included and this can be expanded up to 32GB. The internal space is an issue if you want to install a lot of games/applications, but with the microSD you have plenty of space for media.

Obviously the major selling point of this phone is the fact it is the “PlayStation Phone” and comes with a slide out controller, and there is no question about it, this is the best way to control games. It is by no means perfect, but comparing it to controlling games via the screen it is infinitely better.

Where the Xperia truely shines, and makes it well worth the investment, in my opinion, is gaming emulation. Sony have released a few games themselves, which have been good, but they are few and far between. However there is a full range of emulators for most old games systems giving you thousands of games to choose from and a phone that can be used to play them properly!

I was also quite surprised with the battery life of the Xperia. I currently use a Galaxy S2 as my main phone, and the battery has been well reviewed, but I have found it hit and miss, however I found the Xperia would often outlast my S2 on daily tasks. Thinking about it, it is not surprising really the S2 has a 1650mAh batter and the Xperia has a 1500mAh batter, but the Xperia has a smaller screen, and a single core processor. It is still nice for your phone to last a good day though!

Overall I found the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play to be a great phone (at its current pricing) and would make a wonderful Christmas present for someone. It is no iPhone, and 3 don’t even do it anymore with the only Sony on 3 at the moment being the Sony Xperia arc S.

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Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Review

Sony have announced the full specification of the PS Vita at the Tokyo Gaming Show.

One of the important specifications they listed that wont please many is that the PS Vita will have just 3 to five hours gaming time per charge!

Sony have confirmed that the e system would be released by the end of 2011 in Japan but not until "early 2012" in North American and European regions. It is believed to cost £229 when launched and 26 games will be available at launch including "Ridge Racer," "Uncharted: Golden Abyss," and something called "Army Corps of Hell."

Model number: PCH-1000 series
CPU: ARM® Cortex™-A9 core (4 core)
GPU: SGX543MP4+
Main memory: 512MB
VRAM: 128MB
External Dimensions: Approx. 182.0 x 18.6 x 83.5mm (width x height x depth) (tentative, excludes largest projection)
Weight Approx: 279g (3G/Wi-Fi model), 260g (Wi-Fi model)
Screen: 5 inches (16:9), 960 x 544, Approx. 16 million colors, OLED, Multi touch screen (capacitive type)
Rear touch pad: Multi touch pad (capacitive type)
Cameras: Front camera, Rear camera; Frame rate: 120fps@320×240(QVGA), 60fps@640×480(VGA); Resolution: Up to 640×480(VGA)
Sound: Built-in stereo speakers, built-in microphone
Sensors: Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer), Threeaxis electronic compass
Location: Built-in GPS (3G/Wi-Fi model only), Wi-Fi location service support
Keys/Switches: PS button, power button, directional buttons (Up/Down/Right/Left), action buttons (Triangle, Circle, Cross, Square), shoulder buttons (Right/Left), right stick, left stick, START button, SELECT button, volume buttons (+/-)
Wireless communications: Mobile network connectivity (3G/Wi-Fi model only), 3G modem (data communication): HSDPA/HSUPA *specification for Japanese region, IEEE 802.11b/g/n (n = 1×1)(Wi-Fi) (Infrastructure mode/Ad-hoc mode), Bluetooth® 2.1+EDR （A2DP/AVRCP/HSP）
Slots/Ports: PlayStation®Vita card slot, memory card slot, SIM card slot (3G/Wi-Fi model only), multi-use port (for USB data communication, DC IN, Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In], Serial data communication), headset jack (Stereo mini jack) (for Audio [Stereo Out / Mono In]), accessory port
Power: Built-In Lithium-ion Battery: DC3.7V 2200mA, AC adaptor: DC 5V
Operating environment temperature: 5℃～35℃
Supported AV content format: Music – MP3 MPEG-1/2 Audio Layer 3, MP4 (MPEG-4 AAC), WAVE (Linear PCM). Videos – MPEG-4 Simple Profile (AAC), H.264/MPEG-4 AVC High/Main/Baseline Profile (AAC). Photos – JPEG (Exif 2.2.1), TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG

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Sony PS Vita Specifications Revealed

American blog site This is my next has reported that they have access to documents confirming that the Sony S1 will be available for pre-order in the UK exclusively at Sony Centre stores and that the Sony stores may have something of an exclusive on the product. Alas, the documents were not specific as to a price and an exact release date, but it does appear that Sony is on track to keep its promise to be the first Android Honeycomb tablet to market.

In addition to the pre-order date leak, several tech bloggers were invited to a Sony round-table event held in conjunction with the announcement that S1’s sister tablet, codenamed the S2 oddly enough, will be released as a carrier-exclusive to the American wireless provider AT&T. The round-table included a hands on demonstration with both the S2 and the S1.

From the various early impression reports from Engadget, Gizmodo, and Tech Crunch , we can glean the following about the S1. First, the shape is a wedge, something different from all the other tablets out there. This makes the S1 far easier to hold in ones hand for reading (Gizmodo goes as far as claiming that the S1’s weight distribution is optimized for being held with one hand) and is far easier to read while the tablet is laid on a table. Viewing-angles are also excellent as well. Sony did not disclose many specific hardware specs on the S1 other than Wi-Fi. The S1 is PlayStation certified and plays video clips smoothly, so there has to be some horsepower there.

Sony looks to be making ease-of-use a centerpiece of its play with the S1 through the use of Quick View and Quick Touch Panel. Quick View is really just loading web photos before any java script. Quick Touch Panel seems to be an algorithm somewhat like predictive text except it tracks gestures. The reviewers were mixed on whether there was any particular speed-up verses other Android tablets. No one seemed to want to go into a lot of detail on the software side, which probably means that the unit was running some beta-build not close to being ready for release, or Sony wanted to keep the majority of the software features under its NDA, or both.

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Sony S1 Set for September 1st Release

KDL-22PX300, not the most catchy of models is Sony’s brand new 22” LCD TV in the Bravia range to come out in time for Christmas and to entice a bit of what is essentially “retro gaming”. Thought the PS2 was dead. You’re wrong. Sony has built one into this new TV so that fans of what was once the biggest console in the world can go back to playing their old games due to the fact the PS3(which had backwards compatability taken away from it) can’t play all those classic PS2 games(unless you download them from the PSNetwork).

The 22” TV capable of 720p output can play PS2 games in standard definition and also playback DVDs. It has multiple HDMI slots(four in total) comes with inbuilt FreeView tuner, 3 USB ports, Scart, VGA and component video inputs. The KDL-22PX300 also has an ethernet port too for all your internet based, on-demand content that seems to be the latest desire in the market for your TV.

Available now for just under £200, Sony TVs never disappoint and also with this baby you can plug in your old PS2 pads and enjoy some of those classics. Who needs Gran Turismo 5 or Call of Duty.

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PS2 isn’t dead!! It’s just built into your telly instead

As asked in the previous post, where next for Sony and its PSP. With the rise of the mobile phone and certainly how quickly the tech has developed within them to produce good games and applications is that the market Sony should take on with its PSP. Obviously Sony are a big player already in the mobile phone market since its acquisition of Ericsson mobile some years ago but now with the decline of Nokia and the rise of Apple and the iPhone, Sony has to come up with something else to compete. The main draw of the iPhone is obviously the AppStore and it’s ability to handle 3D graphics for gaming. Sony make good phones but also they make the PSP, put the two together and hopefully you could see a real iPhone rival. click on for more images and info

Usually when you see images of concept phones you can be left wondering how real they are. Well Engadget posted these fresh images of what appears to be the PSP Phone and due to the quality of the images you could say these look pretty genuine. As you can see yourself it has the a PSP GO like slide out screen/PSP style control pad and buttons. However it appears top have ditched the analogue sticks and has some sort of trackpad instead.

The operating system looks a lot like it’s Android based which certainly would be great. The rear of the phone has a camera with LED flash but also has a front facing camera, either for video calling or perhaps in game video chatting.

How real it all is, isn’t confirmed but it certainly looks genuine. Any more details we can get hold of in the future will be posted up for sure

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PSP Phone

The PSP had all the makings to be the best handheld ever but fell to the simpleness of the Nintendo DS. When Nintendo made it’s DS the DS Lite sales shot up around the world. Sony answered by making the slow selling PSP smaller and thinner to match, did it work? Well a little but certainly nowhere near the sales of the DS. The DS Lite then becomes the DSi. PSP’s answer is to become the PSP Go, a driveless, cartridgeless affair where downloads were your format of choice. Well that was a flop too. Thing is the PSP isn’t actually that bad a machine firstly I think they were a little pricey to start with, secondly although it had a lot of exclusive games none seemed to have the draw or originality of the DS’s New Super Mario Brothers, Brain Training or Professor Layton and the PSP always seemed to be a bit late with it’s answer.

What it all boils down to is would a new super powerful PSP make a difference. Can Sony get a bigger hold on the handheld market it’s struggled with so far. Nintendo hasn’t made any leaps and bounds with it’s tech, I mean the 3DS is obviously the next evolution but in terms of graphics and what it can actually do it’s still a bit old school and with Mobile Phone gaming improving in ability and sales could the market already be too saturated. Well all this aside rumours a rife with Sony’s next offering the PSP2.

Again opting for the power rather than the novelty factor like Nintendo’s products it is believed from several sources at the Tokyo Game Show that the PSP2 will have a whopping 1GB of RAM. The current PSPs only have 64MB so you can see the difference there but also an Xbox 360 only sports 512MB of RAM. Could it be more powerful than an Xbox?? Secondly it’s also believed to be sticking with the download to memory stick format of games so no more UMD.

The concept image of the PSP2 currently doing the rounds shows it to have dual analog sticks aswell as the standard D-Pad and Playstation controller buttons. The display is larger than current PSPs, more than likely going to be HD quality.

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PSP2 : What next for Sony

Sony is never one to disappoint when it comes to making new tech products and now it’s come up with the LiveVuew, a remote control for your Android powered phone. Now you may wonder why one would need a remote control for your phone, which at first baffled me, but after I read further on it makes a little bit of sense.

The LiveView is a miniature touchscreen remote which connects to your Android phone (whether it be an Xperia X10, X10 Mini or X10 Mini Pro or even Samsung’s Galaxy S or HTC Desire) via Bluetooth. It can then display information such as messages, whose calling you and most importantly your social life in the form of Facebook and Twitter with those all important status updates.

Now you may just think you can stop being lazy and pull your phone out of your pocket/bag to look at these for yourself but Sony suggests it’s for those moments you can’t like in a meeting, in your car or at the gym. “Sony Ericsson LiveView can be clipped anywhere. Attached to a watch strap, on a keychain to a laptop, the micro display allows the user to incorporate the product into their lifestyle and always stay connected.”

No price as of yet but the LiveView will be available sometime in this last quarter of the year.

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Sony Ericsson : LiveView Remote control

Digital photography seems to be the in thing at the moment, I’ve got several friends who are would be photographers and a couple who are actually doing quite well out of it seeing as it started as a hobby and is now their full time job (Tez Mercer Photography), but the main thing I’ve noticed is although it’s started as a hobby, they all have top spec gear from the off, more than one camera, various lenses etc Like most hobbies I guess you have to have the best equipment and I’m not totally clued up on photography myself, but enough to make an educated guess on what’s good and what’s not.

Now Sony the name we all know and it’s well reviewed Alpha series have brought out two new DSLRs with all the latest goodies for the top end of the home photography market. So what have they got? Firstly Sony has introduced to both the A55 and A33 a new “Translucent Mirror Technology”. A technology Sony says has until now been “unattainable with traditional DSLRs”. So what’s it mean? Basically it means the camera can shoot continuous shots and focus, whether it be stills or 1080p video.

The lower spec A33 stands at 14.2MP and the A55 a slightly higher 16.2MP. Both have a new 15point auto-focus system, the A55 can shoot at a continuous 15fps and the A33 a slightly less impressive 7fps(still impressive though) Another feature likely to interest some of our readers is it packs Sony’s 3D Sweep Panorama mode. Like some of Sony’s other cameras it allows one to take 3D wide-angle shots that can be played back on a 3DTV

Unfortunately no release dates yet or prices but we believed the A33 will probably be around the £600-£700 mark and the A55 will probably set you back an extra 100 notes on top of that.

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Sony Alpha A55 and A33 DSLR

The console tug of war continues. Sony not that long ago released the slimmed down version of it’s PS3 and beefed up it’s hard drive capacity. Microsoft followed afterwards with it’s newer slimmer, quieter  bigger capacity hard drive console and soon to be arcade console. Sony not happy have now announced a new PS3 console to fight the new Xbox. But does anyone really care is the real question, what are consumers really gaining?

Japan already has the option of a white console, but here in Europe we’ve had to just make do with the plain black console to match our everyday cloud cover. Also on top of that Japan can also get a 160GB console and a 320GB console. Yes a whole 40GB and 70GB respectively more HDD space than what we can get. Well according to UK retail sources, the bigger HDD sizes are coming our way to replace the 120GB and 250GB currently doing the rounds. Whether we get a white console in this country though is anyone’s guess

No dates or prices yet but I imagine you’ll be looking just before Christmas for these to appear, probably at the prices the current 120GB(£249) and 250GB(£299) for the 160GB and 320GB respectively. Also expect any older stock to drop in price to sell through, much like the old Xbox Arcade and Elites have.

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PS3 Slim : 320GB White flavour??

There’s obviously a lot of mp3 players out there after the top dog spot that Apple selfishly keep with their pricier players so how can the other big players mix it up. Sony’s new Walkman E450 matches the specs of the iPod Nano but what does it do to further itself from the Cupertino music box.

Firstly it’s cheaper, always a bonus and always a good selling point. Starting from £70 it comes in three adequate sizes 4GB, 8GB and 16GB. Housing a 2” sharp QVGA screen it’s certainly on the smaller side and is only slightly thicker than the current generation Nano. Playback wise it’ll play all your usual suspects of mp3 and AAC file formats with a supposed battery life of up to 50 hours.

What makes it stand aside from the iPod though is its Karaoke mode. Providing you’re hooked up with the .lrc lyric file with your music files, the lyrics will actually appear on your screen. Not only that it takes it to the next level and the player can actually knock off the singing in the track allowing you to essentially Karaoke over it without distorting the track.

Available in an assortment of colours this PMP should be on our shores come September.

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Sony Walkman E450 : Karaoke time