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Sony Entertainment Network has launched its Music Unlimited service in Japan. Users will be able to access over 10 million songs from the catalogs of Sony Music, EMI, Universal, Warner Music, and other independent labels through the all-you-can-eat music streaming service.
Sony Entertainment Network's COO Shawn Layden in a presentation confirmed that Music Unlimited would expand to iOS in the "next few weeks." With TechRadar attending, he argued that Sony wanted to be on "as many devices" as there might be people interested in the service. He saw no conflict of interest, noting that the PS3, PS Vita, and other devices were using services competing with Sony equivalents like Netflix.
Samsung and Sony together hoped to ratchet up attention for their primarily TV-focused rollouts at CES through unusual methods. Samsung has posted a teaser video (below) for the "future of Smart TV" it plans to introduce at the show by showing a retrospective of how TV has advanced, from black and white to color, to DVRs, and to 3D. The 2012 shot gives few clues other than the presences of phones and tablets, suggesting Android hardware might tie in next year.
Sony has announced that its Music Unlimited service has been overhauled with a number of tweaks and improvements. Users can now customize their own channels, constructed using favorite artists. The custom channel is then filled with songs from the favorite artists and content from related artists.
Sony Network Entertainment followed up its earlier announcement of the PlayStation Store coming to the Tablet S with another one that has the company's Music Unlimited streaming service launching on the device as well. The Music Unlimited 1.2 app will bring it to the Tablet S and other Android-based tablets. The new app sports a fresh interface that allows subscribers to create playlists more quickly, discover new artists and songs and navigate between album and catalog view.
Sony opened up the CEDIA home theater show with both new and newly US-bound gear. The HMZ-T1 wearable 3D viewer is now coming to the US and should be available in November for $799. The headset has a unique dual-panel OLED that outputs 720p to each eye more naturally than active shutter glasses.
Sony has often been one to pick its battles carefully: sometimes it enters first, like with the Walkman, while in others it waits until it thinks it can achieve something distinct. With the Tablet S, that's more true than ever: Sony is taking on the iPad in the hopes that an infrared remote, custom apps, and a genuinely unique design will give it an edge. Whether or not Apple or Sony's fellow Android tablet rivals have reason to worry is the core of our Sony Tablet S review.
Sony, in an aside to its IFA unveilings, has demonstrated its first dedicated Walkman running Android. Known so far as the Mobile Entertainment Player, it goes beyond regular Walkman players or their phones by getting special music controls and an emphasis on high-quality sound output through S-Master MX processing. A W.Music app provides an optimized interface for songs, and using Android gives it ready access to Music Unlimited, Sony told CNET.
Sony Ericsson used the start of IFA to bring out a rare mid-cycle revamp of a key smartphone. The Xperia arc S upgrades to a faster 1.4GHz Snapdragon processor. Although still single-core, the chip is estimated to give the slim Android 2.3 phone a 25 percent overall speed boost, including the camera start up and web rendering.
Sony quickly acted on promises of bringing music to the PSP soon by dating the US launch for Music Unlimited on its gaming handheld. Owners should have access to the Wi-Fi music streaming as of April 14. Both the $4 radio-only service and the $10 on-demand Premium version should work, including likes and dislikes.
Sony in a chat late Thursday said that Music Unlimited would come to all of its main mobile devices this year. The PSP would get it within a "matter of weeks," while the Xperia Play and other Android devices should get it sometime this year. Sony also promised Eurogamer the NGP would get the streaming service, though whether it would be ready for the late 2011 initial launch or wait until 2012 wasn't mentioned.
Sony on Thursday took quick steps to shut down worries that it might leave iTunes even as it brought a competitor to the US. Its Network Entertainment COO Brandon Layden said Sony had "no intention of withdrawing." Apple's music store was too important to leave despite the PlayStation's Australian group chief Michael Ephraim's comments, Layden told SAI.
