First Look. Sony LT30p Mint

Introduction

Sony wants to make a strong effort to return to the market as a player both with strong and numerous solutions. Xperia S created a uniqure situation for the company, with only one new device available for more than a month with the rest of the same line up appearing on most markets roughly four weeks ago. This time around Sony is trying to create as many devices as possible with many or just a few differences betweebn them offered at different prices to offer one device for every consumer.

LT30p belongs to this new crop of models and along with Sony Tipo and a couple of other new handsets, which are also to be presented also tries to differentiate itself from the design philosophy that was used in Xperia S and all its junior sibblings. Lt30p aims at the high end maket to be placed as Sony's flahsgip for the third quarter of the year. While practically replacing Xperia S in that place, it has very few similarities both in terms of design and features.

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Hands-on with the Sony Mylo 2 Personal Communicator

Sony launched the Mylo 2 Personal Communicator to little fanfare recently, and Akihabara scored their very own unit for a hands-on Mylo 2 experience. That hugely beautiful 3.5 inch WVGA display is mated to a slide-out QWERTY keyboard with a 1.3 megapixel camera, WiFi (802.11 a/b/g), Skype support, 1GB on-board storage, Memory Stick Duo/PRO Duo card slot.

The Sony Mylo 2 apparently sports a perfectly sliding QWERTY keyboard, has an incredible display, responds quickly, and feels good in the hand. Unfortunately, video playback at a dismal 320 x 240 pixels puts the glorious 800 x 480 screen to shame.

Hit the hands-on video for more…



Source

Sony Mylo 2 to use On2 video decoder for YouTube compatibility

After looking at On2’s new 1080p HD-capable mobile video chipset yesterday, today there’s word that the company has licenced one of their software decoder solutions to Sony for their latest WiFi communicator. The TrueMotion VP6 video decoder will power the Flash Lite 3 functionality in the new Mylo 2, Sony’s IM, VoIP and internet device, ensuring compatibility with streaming web video such as YouTube and Google Video.

“We continue to improve the quality of our video solutions for leading handheld
device manufacturers, and the mylo communicator is one of the best examples of
mobile video products on the market today. Most of the leading user-generated
content web sites today use our Flix Engine product and VP6 compression scheme
to create and publish video, and we see the market trends moving toward mobile
video sharing and consumption” Bill Joll, president and CEO, On2 Technologies

Apparently the On2 Flix Engine is the video processing application often used to convert video files into streaming Flash-based video, with customers including Adobe, AOL, Skype, VideoEgg and Nokia.

You can read more about the Sony Mylo 2 here.

[via Phonemag]

Sony adding Skype to the PSP

Sony’s Playstation Portable handheld gaming console has been trailing in sales to the Nintendo DS since the DS’s inception, but Sony is a far cry from giving up quite yet. Last month we saw a pretty cool upgrade with the version 3.80 firmware for the PSP which brought internet radio through the systems WiFi connectivity. Now Sony is saying that they are partnering with Ebay’s Skype to bring VoIP Skype phone service to the handheld system.

The new firmware is slated to be available for download to the PSP by the end of January and will add a Skype icon and functionality to the Network portion of the PSP’s menu. When connected to the internet users will then be able to log into Skype, manage contacts, view who’s online and of course make calls through their PSP to other Skype users or other PSP owners with the Skype feature installed. Owners will even be able to create a new Skype account right on the PSP.

Sony is saying the new Skype feature is “designed” to work only with the newer PSP slim models which is bad news for all of us old-school PSP owners. But, they don’t specifically say it won’t work with the original PSP models so you can be that this PSP fan will be giving it a try anyway. I’ll be sure to let you know how it works out and when the firmware is available, as we know by now that we can usually download the upgrade before its release is announced.

Reuters

Greanpeace Guide ranks Nokia No.1 Green Company, while Sony emerges a Loser

In the latest Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics, Apple seems to have moved up a notch from being the lowest-ranked electronics manufacturer as previously reported.


In fact, with the launch of the much-awaited iPhone which is touted to become the company’s first environmentally friendly product, Apple may begin to rival other ‘Greener’ companies.

In the fourth issue of Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics, Nokia stood out in the first place, with Dell and Lenovo tying for the second place. Sony Ericsson and Samsung followed.

And here is where Apple comes in, as the company jumped from the last place last year to 10th place this year. Surprisingly, Sony emerged as the biggest loser at the bottom of the list along with LG. Both Sony and LG have been penalized for ‘double standards’ on their waste policies.

According to Iza Kruszewska, Greenpeace International Toxics Campaigner, “Clearly, companies are racing to produce greener products. Steve Job’s latest commitment to eliminate toxics materials, moved Apple up the chart and they now face a challenge, with the iPhone, to meet customer expectations to be the environmental leader Apple-lovers want.”

Nowadays, an increasing number of companies are releasing information on products that are free from the worst and most damaging chemicals. Many technology companies are trying their best to go the green way.

The Greenpeace guide demonstrates that companies are starting to act on their responsibility for taking back and recycling their own-branded waste, providing more and more extensive voluntary programmes and informing customers on what to do with discarded electronics.

Sony PSP Upgrade 3.30 W/ Free Access to T-Mobile HotSpot

The Sony Play Station Portable’s firmware update 3.30 allows users to play compatible games online, surf the web and enjoy podcasts from T-Mobile WiFi HotSpots, which inludes some Starbucks coffee shops, Hyatt Hotels, Border bookstores and 70 major aiports.
There’s also a promotional offer will give PSP users who have downloaded the latest firmware access to a T-Mobile HotSpot wherever it is available for six months beginning on your first log-in. After the six-month period, PSP owners with the 3.30 firmware upgrade will have with the T-Mobile service at a special rate.
The 3.30 firmware includes improvements on video resolution (now (720 x 480) and thumbnail file support for video and RSS feeds.
[download PSP FirmWare 3.30]