Official Sony NGP Trailer - PSP2

Sony unveils new 'NGP' portable game console

Playstation Move Reaches 4.1 million Units Sold

   In a press release this morning, Sony marked a milestone in sales of the Playstation Move which has reached 4.1 million units sold globally since its release on September 17, 2010. With an installed base of 41.6 million Playstation 3 consoles in the world, the Move has reached nearly 10% of the userbase. It's still too early to determine if that sales figure is good enough for publishers to continue developing Move-compatible software.

   Microsoft also released sales figures for their Kinect motion-sensing device today at 2.5 million units sold since its launch on November 4, 2010. Microsoft expects to sell another 2.5 million Kinects during the 2010 holiday season.

Sony Patent Application #20100299595

   Akihabara News has been sleuthing around recent patents filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office website and they’ve found seven patents filed by Sony Computer Entertainment of America. The diagrams included with the patents appear to indicate a touch-sensitive screen of some sort, a thin clamshell design, text entry capabilities, a mini keyboard, and a mass storage port or built-in device.

   Akihabara News and other sources that have picked up on the news appear to speculate that this might be a future PSP model but the device looks more like a PDA of some sort that might be capable of playing multimedia applications such as games, music, and video. The patent application #20100299595 may be viewed at http://appft.uspto.gov.

The abstract for the patent reads as follows:

    A hand-held electronic device, method of operation and computer readable medium are disclosed. The device may include a case having one or more major surfaces. A visual display and a touch interface are disposed on at least one of the major surfaces. A processor is operably coupled to the visual display and touch screen. Instructions executable by the processor may be configured to a) present an image on the visual display containing one or more active elements; b) correlate one or more active portions of the touch interface to one or more corresponding active elements in the image on the visual display; c) operate the one or more active elements according to a first mode of operation in response to a first mode of touch on one or more of the active portions; and d) operate the one or more active elements according to a second mode of operation in response to a second mode of touch on one or more of the active portions, wherein in the second mode of operation, the second mode of touch activates an enhancement of one or more of the active elements.

Apple to acquire Netflix, Sony... and the World?!

   Apple is sitting on a cash hoard of over $50 billion dollars. That's about $5 after being converted into yen. Anywho, stories have been released lately speculating that Apple's going to be using some of that cash to make a major acquisition. This morning, the name "Sony" was mentioned and then "Netflix." What's next? IBM? Microsoft? Whirlpool? Yep, Whirlpool, the company that makes dishwashers. "That's Silly with a capital "S"," you say but no sillier than the guys who think that Apple's going to be making a play for (of all things) Sony. The Netflix possibility is a joke which I won't even consider.

   Okay, back to Sony. There is no way Apple will ever target Sony for acquisition. Apple has a corporate culture that is sort of like an closed enclave of likeminded warriors. Jobs is the messianic leader of these warriors and to attempt to integrate Sony's culture with Apple's culture is unthinkable. Repeat: unthinkable. It ain't gonna happen so I won't think about it any more. The fools who are spending time thinking about it are wasting their time. That's all. 

Gran Turismo 5 Cars

Volkswagen typ2(T1) SambaBus

   I don't have the final Gran Turismo 5 vehicle list yet but Polyphony has released a sampling of the cars that are drivable in GT5. They include:

● Aston Martin Vanquish ('04)
● Bugatti Veyron 16.4 ('09)
● Chevrolet Corvette C5-R (Le Mans, '00)
● Ferrari California ('09) Premium Download
● Ford Mustang GT Premium ('07) Premium Download
● Honda NSX Type-R (2nd Gen, '02) Premium Download
● Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 ('07)
● Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 19" Option ('09) Premium Download
● Nissan Fairlady Z Version S (Z33-gen, '07) Premium Download
● Tesla Roadster Sport ('08)
● Zele Skyline 370GT Coupe Gran Turismo Edition (V36-gen, '09)

   Needless to say, those are some sweet rides and GT5's gonna be ruling the sales charts when it ships in November of this year. There's a bunch of cars that are premium downloads but Sony's gotta make their money somehow now that the Jailbreak is going to ruin a chunk of their PS3 software sales. New features for GT5 were also announced at the Tokyo Game Show yesterday and they include:

● Interact with friends, on and off the track
● Simple Communication Via the Friend List
● Online Racing Between Friends
● Lend and Borrow AI Drivers to Gain Experience
● Experience Real-Time Weather Changes with Realistic Rain
● Popular Tracks From the Past, Rebuilt to GT5 Quality
● Brand New Cars to the Gran Turismo Lineup (Volkswagen typ2(T1) SambaBus!!!!!)

More Jailbreak sellers in Sony's sights

If you're dumb reckless enough to continue selling PS3 mods after Sony's legal victories in multiple jurisdictions around the world, then you probably deserve to get sued. Sony has started legal action against three PS3 Jailbreak vendors in Sweden - Manzzon, Rejoy, and Wechip. Sony is seeking damages of 1 million Swedish Krona (SEK) or US$137,483.50 based on this morning's forex spot. If the Jailbreak is priced at about US$30, the companies would need to sell 4,582 Jailbreaks to pay Sony.

Sony sues US-based Jailbreak seller

   Sony has filed a lawsuit in California against a US-based reseller of the PS3 Jailbreak. The defendants named in the lawsuit are Zoomba LDC and WWW.SHOPPSJAILBREAK.COM.

The filing may be viewed through the link below. 

http://dockets.justia.com/docket/california/candce/3:2010cv03909/231381

The ADR Scheduling Order, VRW Standing Order, Standing Order, and the Summons Issued related to the lawsuit may be purchased for 0.99 cents each through the following link:

http://www.rfcexpress.com/lawsuit-documents.asp?ID=64147

   Sony has accused the defendants of trademark and copyright infringement and violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Specifically, the DMCA criminalizes the distribution of devices that are designed to circumvent the security measures that protect a copyrighted work from being copied or in the case of the Jailbreak, "backed up" to hard drive. Zoomba LDC's contact address as listed on their Jailbreak sales site is located in Houston, TX which places the company within the jurisdiction of the DMCA.

Jailbreak injunction upheld

   Sony has prevailed against the Jailbreak - an Australian Federal Court has issued an order that prevents the mod resellers named in Sony's injunction from selling, distributing, or offering the Jailbreak in Australia.

The text of the court order follows below:

THE COURT ORDERS BY CONSENT BUT WITHOUT ADMISSIONS, THAT:

1. Upon the Applicants undertaking to the Court to:

(i)submit to such order (if any) as the Court may consider to be just for the payment of compensation, to be assessed by the Court or as it may direct, to any person whether or not a party, adversely affected by the operation of Orders 3 to 5 set out below or any continuation (with or without variation); and

(ii)pay the compensation referred to in (a) to the person or persons there referred to.

1.2 ORDERS that, until further order, the First, Second, Third and Fourth Respondents and each of them, whether by themselves, their servants or agents, be restrained from doing any of the following acts with respect to all and any Universal Serial Bus devices described as "PSJailbreak" in Exhibit PJC-1 of the affidavit of Peter John Chalk sworn on 26 August 2010 and filed herein, as packaged, and distributed or threatened to be distributed by the Respondents (PSJailbreak Devices):

(i)importing them into Australia with the intention of providing them to another person;

(ii)distributing them to another person;

(iii)offering them to the public;

(iv)providing them to another person; and/or

(v)otherwise dealing in them.

save that it will not be a breach of Order 2(a) for the First or Second Respondent to import all and any PSJailbreak Devices in respect of which any orders were placed prior to 27 August 2010, provided that any such importation is subject to the undertaking in paragraph 5 below.

1.3 ORDERS that, the First, Second, Third and Fourth Respondents and each of them deliver up to the solicitors for the Applicants, to be held until further order, any and all PSJailbreak Devices in those Respondents' possession custody or control.

1.4 ORDERS that, until further order, the First, Second, Third and Fourth Respondents and each of them continue to deliver up to the solicitors for the Applicants, to be held until further order, any and all PSJailbreak Devices that come into those Respondents' possession custody or control (including the sample device referred to in paragraph 7 of the Affidavit of the Second Respondent affirmed on 2 September 2010), forthwith upon them doing so.

1.5 NOTES the undertaking to the Court given by the First and Second Respondents by their counsel:

(i)forthwith to notify the supplier of PSJailbreak Devices (identified as China Sun Trading Limited of China, being the beneficiary of account number 817-374473-838 at the HSBC Hong Kong branch, 1 Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong with SWIFT Address HSBCHKHHHKH) that any goods ordered by the First and Second Respondents are to be shipped to Blake Dawson to the attention of Peter Chalk at Level 26, 181 William Street, Melbourne, VIC, 3000 and not to the First or Second Respondents; and

(ii)to deliver up in accordance with Order 4 above to the solicitors for the Applicants any PSJailbreak Devices received.

1.6 NOTES the undertaking to the Court of Blake Dawson:

(i)to hold any such goods securely subject to any further order of the Court; and

(ii)promptly to notify the solicitors for Respondents of the receipt of any such goods and to supply copies of any documentation received with them.

1.7 RESERVES LIBERTY to the parties to apply on 24 hours' notice, including for the purpose of the First and Second Respondents giving notice on or after 9 September 2010 that they wish the matter to be relisted for the resumption of the Applicants' application for interlocutory relief.

1.8 ORDERS that costs be reserved.

Australian Federal Court extends ban on PS3 Jailbreak

   Sony's injunction against sales of the PS3 Jailbreak mod has been extended by Australian Federal Court until Friday of this week. Sony is seeking a permanent ban on sales of the Jailbreak which will make the device illegal to sell in Australia.

A snippet from today's Sidney Morning Herald is pasted below:

"The judge who first heard the matter, Justice Dodds-Streeton, will again hear it this Friday. Justice Kenny heard it today and ordered that the orders that were previously made by Justice Dodds-Streeton be continued until Friday, when the case would go back before that judge."

Sony succeeds in banning PS3 Jailbreak

   Last week, Sony of Australia sought an injunction to halt the sales of the Playstation 3 Jailbreak USB device. The company succeeded in convincing the Australian Federal Court to uphold the injunction and the three Australian retailers named in the case have been blocked from selling the Jailbreak. Tomorrow, Sony will file to make the ban permanent in Australia.

   Snippets from today's article from the Sidney Morning Herald follows below:

"Judge Julie Anne Dodds-Streeton issued the temporary ban ahead of a hearing tomorrow morning where Sony will make its case for a permanent block on sales."

"This is the first time the security of the PS3 has been broken and the injunction requires the distributors to hand all of their stock of the device to Sony. The company will then have licence to analyse the chips and work on a way of blocking them, with Justice Dodds-Streeton's order allowing for even "destructive analysis"."

   Following the article, there are 54 comments as of 10:00AM this morning. Some use the premise of "freedom" and "homebrew" to justify the ability to pirate software. The comments from two mod resellers at the end of the article also explain their fight for the little guy, battling Goliath, and how the Federal Court is setting dangerous precedents.

   The injunction currently only applies to Australian jurisdictions but mod chip sellers in Canada seem to think that they're not affected by the action in Australia. Looking at previous actions in Canada, Sony has already shut down mod vendors in previous years and they effectively shut down Lik-Sang in Hong Kong by filing a lawsuit against the company which was not answered. In that case, Sony won by default judgment because Lik-Sang representatives did not appear in court.