Tag: Sony
Irrtümer über Second Life Teil 9
by admin on Jan.19, 2008, under Second Life
Irrtum 9: Second Life gibt es nur einmal und gab es niemals zuvor
Das ist schon eine aufregende Sache: Den Computer starten, einen virtuellen Charakter gestalten und mit ihm durch dreidimensionale Welten wandern. Nur: Neu ist das nicht. Die Möglichkeit, sich eigene Avatare zu basteln, gibt es schon seit vielen Jahren. Spätestens seit den „Sims“, dem bekanntesten Simulationsgame der Welt, kennt sie jeder. Welche Frisur, welche Größe, welche Haarfarbe das Alter Ego hat, bestimmt der Spieler dort ebenfalls selbst. (continue reading…)
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Napster will sell DRM - free!
by admin on Jan.08, 2008, under Randinformationen
Napster, the brand that dragged the entire world kicking and screaming into the digital music revolution and then became a casualty of RIAA litigation, will soon be returning to its roots in the DRM-free music world. The P2P-turned-legit subscription service announced this morning that it will begin selling unprotected copies of its entire catalog in MP3 format beginning in the second quarter of 2008. Users of the service will be able to buy individual DRM-free tracks and albums, but Napster’s subscription service will remain unchanged. The company hailed the announcement as the first subscription service “featuring major label content” to announce plans to sell unprotected MP3s.
Of course, since the conversion won’t be happening for another few months, the company was very short on details. This morning’s statement revealed only that users of Napster’s online service and its mobile subscription service, Napster and Napster To Go, would be able to buy the MP3 files and use them on any number of devices that support the ubiquitous format. The announcement didn’t mention pricing, although it’s not unreasonable to expect that it will be similar to current track pricing.
Another big omission in the announcement was a list of which major labels will offer DRM-free tracks via Napster. EMI, Universal, and Warner Music Group have already begun selling DRM-free music through other outlets, and Sony BMG is rumored to be joining the party very soon. But that doesn’t mean that they’ve all signed on with Napster yet, and Napster CEO Chris Gorog admitted to the Wall Street Journal that the company is still finalizing agreements with “at least some” of the four.
Speaking of Sony BMG, the music label confirmed today that it is, indeed, planning to dip its toes into DRM-free waters, albeit via carefully-controlled experimentation. The label told USA Today that it will begin selling gift cards in select brick-and-mortar stores on January 15 for $12.99 that will be redeemable at its planned online music store, MusicPass. Through the “Platinum MusicPass” part of the service customers will be able to select from 37 albums available without DRM. Sony’s move isn’t exactly the nail in the coffin for DRM just yet (especially since users will have to go to a B&M store first before going back home to get the DRM-free content, which seems oddly backwards), but it’s only a matter of time before Sony BMG drops its experiment and joins the rest of the Big Four in a more straightforward way.
As for Napster, the move to DRM-free sales is the latest in a long line of attempts to gain a larger share of the digital music market, after trying a number of other initiatives. The service has remained one of the most popular when it comes to online music subscriptions, but is still battling against larger stores—namely, the market-leading iTunes Store. From that perspective, it comes as no surprise that going DRM-free has been popular among music retailers—iTunes still only offers DRM-free tracks from EMI artists and some independent labels. A different and wider mix of DRM-free artists could give an edge to an iTunes alternative, and that’s what Napster is going for.
“The ubiquity and cross-platform compatibility of MP3s should create a more level playing field for music services and hardware providers and result in greater ease of use and broader adoption of digital music,” Gorog said in a statement. Translation: “Down with Apple!”
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Sony BMG plans to Drop DRM
by admin on Jan.07, 2008, under Randinformationen
BusinessWeek.com is reporting that Sony is close to throwing in the DRM towel. Sources close to the company tell BusinessWeek that part of its catalog will be made available without DRM during the first quarter of 2008. First up will be a promotion in partnership with Pepsi that will involve the distribution of 1 billion tracks via the Amazon Music Store, which sells non-DRMed music. This may indicate a long-awaited change of heart towards DRM on Sony’s part—and make it trivially simple for music fans to get Sony music on to any digital media player.
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Warner macht nur noch Blu-Ray
by admin on Jan.06, 2008, under Freie Musik
Bereits für letztes Jahr war eine Entscheidung im (amerikanischen) Heimvideo-Markt um die Nachfolge der herkömmlichen DVD erwartet worden. Momentan streiten sich dort zwei High Definition (HD) Systeme, die von jeweils einigen Produktionsstudios unterstützt werden: HD-DVD und Blu-ray.
Warner Bros. - mit seinen 20% Marktanteil in diesem Segment - unterstützte bisher beide Formate, verkündete jetzt aber, in Zukunft seine Werke im HD-Fromat nur noch auf Blu-ray heraus zu bringen.
Wie in den siebziger Jahren beim Videorekorder (ältere Mitbürger werden sich noch an Video 2000 und Beatmax erinnern) und in geringerem Maße bei Einführung der DVD (DVD+, DVD- und DVD-RAM) gibt es bei der Einführung eines hochauflösenden Nachfolgers für die DVD einen Krieg der Systeme, der vor allem auf dem umsatzträchtigen Markt der USA ausgetragen wird.
Hinter Blu-ray stehen die Elektronikfirmen Hitachi, LG Electronics, Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, Samsung, Sharp, Sony und Thompson. Und die Produktionsstudios Sony, Disney und 20th Century Fox veröffentlichen ihre HD-Heimvideo-Programme auf diesem Medium.
HD DVD ist ein Standard der Firmen Hewlett Packard, IBM, Intel, NEC, Microsoft und Toshiba, der von den Produktionsstudios Universal und Paramount für High Def-Videoveröffentlichungen genutzt wird.
Dadurch, dass Warner Bros. mit seinen um die 20% Marktanteil in diesem Segment sich nun für ein Format entscheidet, wird eine Entwicklung in dessen Richtung wahrscheinlicher.
In Großbritannien und Japan hat sich Blu-ray mit Marktanteilen von 75% und mehr bereits durchgesetzt. Ein Grund dafür könnte sein, dass die populäre PlayStation 3 aus dem Hause Sony bereits ein Blu-ray-Laufwerk fest eingebaut hat. Das Konkurrenzprodukt Xbox 360 von Microsoft (und damit einem HD DVD-Unterstützer) enthält ein entsprechendes Laufwerk nicht serienmäßig.
Doch nicht nur der momentan noch unentschiedene System-Krieg sorgte bisher dafür, dass der Marktanteil des HD-Geschäfts am amerikanischen Heimvideomarkt zur Zeit nur rund ein Prozent beträgt: die DVD selbst ermöglicht bereits so gute Bilder, dass die Konsumenten bisher nur einen geringen Bedarf an einer neuen und noch teuren Technik haben.
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Make RockBand for Playstation 3 work on Playstation 2
by admin on Jan.03, 2008, under Randinformationen
With all the delays of the RockBand game for playstation 2 I decided to perform a little experiment on my own, and then bam! Success!I had herd that all the pieces for the RockBand game connected through USB ports, but online people were questioning it because the PS2 only has 2 ports and the game needs 3. USB is a standard, so it had to work and not to mention that it would be kind of stupid to build all the RockBand hardware through a USB standard and then require manufacturers to still make changes inside the instruments for the different systems. It all comes down to money, and counting on the thriftiness of the game companies it was a good gamble to make. So I went and bought everything to run the experiment.
- Rock Band Special Edition Package for Playstation 3
- Rock Band Game for Playstation 2
- USB Hub (I used a small Targus PA055U 4 Port USB 1.1 Ultra Mini Hub)
After finding out it worked there was only a one small issue I had. If you have Guitar Hero 3 and you need another Guitar for RockBand. The Guitar Hero 3 guitar will always default as the one on the left , no matter what USB configuration . Not that big of a deal though!!! I love it!
And use the Drums to unlock all songs, its so easy!
Red, Yellow, Blue, Red, Red, Blue, Blue, Red, Yellow, Blue
Rock On!!!
