IBLOG SPACE

This week  Sony  is bringing some gaming heat with no less than an announcement of attack on the mobile landscape, starting with the  HTC One X . This announcement has Sony changing the name of their PlayStation Suite to PlayStation Mobile and making it clear that not only will  HTC  be their first third-party hardware partner, they’ll be working with other Android and Windows Phone groups as well. You’ve already seen the PlayStation Suite in different forms for months, with roots in the mobile world going back years in some cases. Have a peek a recent story of ours on the release of a Sony PlayStation Suite SDK open beta and see that not only were the two  Sony tablets  involved in this program thus far, the PS Vita has been as well. Now it’s time for prime time. This program will have both the HTC One X (primarily) and the HTC One S being touted as fabulous places to play mobile-aimed PlayStation Certified games. We’ve seen such a program as well in the Sony Ericsso

This week the folks at Sony have revealed the first of many titles for a device called the Wonderbook – an accessory that works with the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation Move. This device is a blank book which, with the PlayStation Move controller, comes to life as you view yourself in the camera on your screen. Basically you’ll have your PlayStation making your television a reflection of you with this book, but this book is then brought to life with augmented reality. The first Wonderbook title revealed is the Harry Potter / J.K. Rowling title “Book of Spells.” This title will make it a whole lot easier for people to see the potential of the Wonderbook right out of the box as it turns your PlayStation Move controller into a wand and the Wonderbook into a container of magical animations. Turn the page and make the right moves with your wand and you’ll see a dragon fly out of the book on your television screen. Turn to another page and say the magic words and wi

So the official Sony pre-E3 media event just wrapped up, and one of the big pushes the company made was for the PlayStation Vita and trying to bring it back to the forefront. There were announcements for major blockbuster franchises like Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty. In addition, the company’s digital strategy is also a big part of enhancing its relevance. For example, Sony spent a good deal of time talking about PlayStation Plus. The company announced that 12 new free downloadable games will be available to Plus subscribers this month. Sony noted that 80% of PS3 and Vita users take their devices online, so a solid digital strategy is very important for it. Among the PSN announcements made were that Hulu Plus will be making its way to the PlayStation Vita, along with fellow video service Crackle. There are more than 1,500 downloadable games currently on the PSN, and an additional 200+ are planned to release over the next 12 months. [ via  PSU]

This week the folks at Sony’s gaming sect have revealed a new selection of bonuses for subscribers to the premium service including 12 game downloads for free. This update to the program comes at Sony’s set of announcements at E3 2012, adding to the lovely collection of bonuses you already get for your PlayStation 3. This new bonus program with the service was first announced back at E3 2010 and just launched in June of 2012. PlayStation Plus premium subscription services include discounted games, access to betas of games before their final release, and full game trials as well. This service is and has always been in direct competition with Microsoft’s Xbox Live service, and here at E3 it’s war. This service update was announced by Sony PlayStation President Jack Tretton who noted that in addition to the 12 free game downloads announced today, the company will be releasing more games for free each month. Amongst the games announced for free in this update are such title

So what does a company that was built around the market of film cameras do when the very basis of its founding is now completely irrelevant? In some cases (read: Kodak) you go into chapter 11 bankruptcy. But in other cases, you turn to the latest explosive trend in emerging technology – enter Fujifilm and the idea of 3D printer kiosks. The concept is reportedly being milled about the offices of Fujifilm Australia. Company spokesperson Michael Mostyn was quoted as saying, “What we’re suggesting is that utilizing existing infrastructure, instead of just limiting it to photo gifting products, what if we are able to have a number of predetermined models and provide customers with a personalized 3D gift shop.” 3D printing may still seem like a science fiction concept to the uninitiated, but to those who are willing to open their eyes, it is very apparent that it is here, it is now, and it is exploding in popularity. Everything from glasses to bikinis to coasters to artifical

Notorious furniture retailer Ikea is about to go into the electronics space with its own branded television set. The TV was announced earlier this year, and now another interesting detail about it is coming to light – it will have an integrated shopping platform that will make commercials more interactive than ever before. It could be a huge boon for advertisers. It will work like this – a commercial starts to air on TV, and if it supports the Ikea online shopping system, users can push a button on their remote during the commercial to buy an advertised product or service. And if you think about it, it’s this kind of technology that could usher in the TV commercial industry in the way that many companies have been hoping for, The platform has been developed by a German company called Connept. A lot of details remain largely unclear, such as whether or not Ikea and Connept will be actively looking for partners at this point. Likewise, some exact details of the Uppleva T

The medical director for daredevil Felix Baumgartner’s attempt at breaking the world record for highest skydive admits that when he encounters the shockwaves that will occur when he breaks the speed of sound, it’s unclear what will happen since it is a groundbreaking feat. “Until you do it, it’s still an unknown,” medical director Jonathan Clark said. A very special capsule has been created specifically for the event. The man who will inhabit it is named Felix Baumgartner, and he’ll be breaking the world record that was set by one Joe Kittinger all the way back in 1960. Yes, in more than 50 years no one has been able to (or been courageous enough) to free-fall from higher than 102,800 feet. Baumgartner, though, will shatter it if all goes according to plan. He’ll go all the way up 120,000 feet into the sky, a task that will take nearly three hours to complete. He, along with his capsule, will then dive quickly back to the Earth’s surface. The capsule is, of course, equ

Social gaming giant Zynga has decided to make yet another acquisition. The company has purchased a company called Buzz Monkey. The amount of money it paid was not reported, which means it was not excessive. Very large acquisitions need to be reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Buzz Monkey proved itself with games like Army of Two: 40th Day and Tomb Raider titles. The last Zynga acquisition was OMGPOP, the creator of Draw Something. That news made a lot of headlines, but then resulted in a lot of criticism when Draw Something’s popularity declined. Zynga was accused of being short-sighted by paying $500 million for a company that only had a one-hit wonder. Buzz Monkey, though, already has multiple proven successes, such as Rinith Island, Fluid Monkey, and Block Rogue. These are all mobile games, and Zynga has voiced a significan desire to break furhter into the mobile games space. That’s what the OMGPOP buy was all about, so this acquisition may be

This week the folks at Gameloft have revealed that they will be taking part in the run-up to the release of The Amazing Spider-Man movie premiering later this month. Gameloft will be releasing a video game for mobile devices including the iPhone, iPad, Android devices of all kinds, and – believe it or not – feature phones! How on earth they’ll be doing such an amazing feat, we do not yet know, but what we do know is that Gameloft has a history of creating fabulous superhero games, not least of all Spider-Man: Total Mayhem, a mobile classic released well before its time. You can take a peek at what we got to see from Spider-Man: Total Mayhem in the hands-on video we’ve got below, this showing the game on the EVO 3D months and months ago. What you’ll notice – aside from the strange 3D effects from that device – is that this game is already well-tuned and ready for amazing Spider-Man action. What we’re expecting from The Amazing Spider-Man is no less than an all-out kick, punch, and sw

Now that the big four mobile service providers have become the big five as far as Samsung is concerned, it’s more important than ever to differentiate one’s self from the pack – which is why AT&T is bringing a red iteration of the Galaxy S III to the table this summer. AT&T is one of the top four mobile carriers in the United States, while U.S. Cellular joins the pack this time around for one fabulous launch of Samsung’s new flagship. AT&T’s contribution is a device that’s essentially the same as the other carrier’s are presenting, only this time it’s got AT&T’s 4G LTE as well. This device will be one of the most advanced smartphones to be released with AT&T. With its 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display, 1.5GHz dual-core processor from Qualcomm, and a lovely 8.6 millimeters thin package to contain it all, the Galaxy S III is set for a big win. This device has an Exynos quad-core processor internationally, with carriers in the USA opting for the tried and true Qualco