Sony - page 7

Aaron Sorkin’s attempt to make Steve Jobs light up the big screen has been filled with disaster thanks to a rash of casting dropouts and production hold ups, but all the problems the movie’s facing can’t be blamed on Sorkin’s script.

Emails from Sony released by hackers this week reveal that pretty much anyone who’s read Sorkin’s Steve Jobs movie script has loved it. Steve Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson told Sony execs that he had a tear in his eye when finishing, and that the script is “totally awesome.”

Sorkin told Sony that shooting the film would be a breeze because the only locations they’d need are “two auditoriums, a restaurant and a garage.” Another email from Oscar-winning director David Fincher, who was originally signed on to direct Sorkin’s movie, gushes with positivity on the film that’s really more like a play.

Here’s what Fincher told Sony after reading the script in February:

Just as Steve Jobs had to go through some frustrating years of failure before returning to Apple to turn in around, so too is the Aaron Sorkin Jobs biopic experiencing its fair share of setbacks.

Following the recent news that Christian Bale has, err, bailed on the project, now Hollywood magazine Deadline is reporting that the movie is being put into turnaround by its studio, Sony Pictures. Turnaround refers to a deal whereby the rights to a particular movie are sold from one studio to another in exchange for the cost of development, plus interest.

Exactly why the film is supposedly being dropped by Sony isn’t known, particularly since the Sony-owned Columbia Pictures did so well both critically and commercially from Sorkin’s previous true tech drama, in 2010’s The Social Network. It may, however, have something to do with schedules.

Sony announced its plans to replace your cable box today with its new Playstation Vue cloud-based TV service, that offers live access to 75 of cable’s best channels, without a monthly contract. And it’s coming to iPad too.

The invite-only TV service that’s designed to replace cable will begin to roll out in November to beta testers on the Playstation 4 and PS3, but Sony says it plans to bring Vue to ‘non-Sony devices’ like the iPad, at some point in 2015.

Who will play Steve Jobs in Sony’s upcoming biopic? That’s been the million dollar question ever since Aaron Sorkin finished the script.

Christian Bale was originally rumored alongside director David Fincher, but talks with both men fell apart. The latest name in the hat was Leonardo DiCaprio, but now he has reportedly backed out to take a break from acting in the near future.

Sony and Slumdog Millionare director Danny Boyle are still eying Bale as a potential candidate alongside some new names like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

Bend-Gate is slowly taking over the Internet this morning as Apple fans discover the startling fact that when pressure is applied to an iPhone 6 or 6 Plus frame, it bends – just like every other smartphone ever made of metal.

The bending problem has been reported by a number of iPhone 6 owners who pocketed their big iPhone 6 only to retrieve it later with a significant curve in the frame. Some sites are deeming the new iPhones “more fragile than expected,” but the truth is we’ve seen this problem almost every year.

In fact, last year ran we an article titled “iPhone 5s Bending in People’s Pockets.” Any phone made of metal is still subject to the laws of physics, but to reiterate that this isn’t exactly a problem exclusive to the iPhone 6, here’s a look at other Android and Apple phones that have bending problems.

Sony is hoping to boost digital record sales with a new iPhone app that offers a discounted album every 24 hours. Prices are slashed by as much as 70 percent in the Album of the Day app, and all purchases are made through iTunes.

Beautiful piano music, a young protagonist, gorgeous visuals and landscapes fill the new trailer for upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusive, Rime, from TequilaWorks and Sony Computer Entertainment.

The young boy, reminiscent of other young wandering protagonists like Link (Legend of Zelda), Wander (Shadow of the Colossus), and Oliver (Ni No Kuni), finds a keyhole in a distant tower, and races across the landscape to get there.

Why is he running? What will he find when he finally attains the tower? Is this even the right tower? The just-posted trailer (linked below) has no answers, but makes us want to find out.

The European Commission today gave its approval to Apple’s $3 billion takeover of Beats Electronics and Beats Music. The regulator concluded that the two companies are not close competitors, and that the headphones they sell are “markedly different in function and design.”

The most important camera upgrade on the iPhone 6 won’t be on in the back, it’ll be the front-facing selfie-cam, and Sony says it’s ready to spend $345 million to make sure it has enough image sensors for future iPhones, iPads, and other tablets and smartphones.

Sony, Apple’s image sensor supplier for the iPhone and iPad, announced today that it is increasing its production capabilities of image sensors for smartphones and tablets by completing work on a factory it purchased from Renesas Electronics in northwestern Japan.

For many users, the iPhone has long since been their default go-to camera, and that’s unlikely to change with the upcoming iPhone 6.

As many smartphone camera aficionados will know, Apple has been using Sony’s Exmor sensors for its cameras as far back as the iPhone 4s. Both the 4s and 5 used an Exmor IMX145 unit, while the 5s updated to a newer model.

According to a new report, the iPhone 6 is set to upgrade yet again: adopting the Sony Exmor IMX220, which boasts 13 MP and a 1/2.3″ sensor, and is capable of recording 1080p videos (3840 x 1080 resolution sampling.)

Steve Jobs may have been part of some of the biggest tech revolutions of the past forty years, but he was also part of an illegal attempt to suppress employee wages by way of a massive no-poaching agreement with other tech giants.

Another of the companies accused of similar actions by former employees was Pixar, the company Jobs purchased a majority interest in after being booted out of Apple in the mid-80s. In 2011, Pixar’s John Lasseter described Jobs as “forever…part of Pixar’s DNA.”

As it happens, that may not be entirely for the best.

Seven years after the Apple TV launch, Google has announced Android TV software that will work with hardware from companies like Sony and Logitech. But how does the current Apple TV stack up to the new Android TV platform?

Today’s video shows off key features of Google’s latest attempt at ruling the living room, including some advances that might spur Apple to innovate once again when it comes to television. For those interested in watching Apple TV on Android, this shift could mean more accessibility and competition in the streaming space.

Subscribe to Cult of Mac TV on YouTube to catch all our latest videos.

“Die, fish. Die! Die, shark!”

That’s what one goggled attendee shouts near the end of Sony’s new video (below) showing people’s reaction to its not-yet-released virtual reality headset, codenamed Project Morpheus, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo a couple weeks back in Los Angeles.

He and many other gamers got the chance to try out Sony’s answer to the Oculus Rift at the expo, and boy is it weird to watch them from the outside.

It’s hard to show what VR is really all about without, you know, actually having you wear the headsets. VR rigs like Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus have an uphill battle to convince the rank and file that VR is going to be compelling enough to shell out even more money for their gaming systems.

Sony opted to show us people from the outside, and I’m not sure it’s any more compelling than a 2D video of the VR games on offer right now.

LOS ANGELES — Microsoft has faced a perception problem ever since last year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. At this year’s E3 media briefing, however, everything the company said, did or showed was aimed squarely at fixing things.

“We listened to you, the gamers,” said Xbox director Phil Spencer to the crowd gathered here Monday. “This year, we’re only focusing on games.”

The next 90 minutes brought a fast-paced, booming litany of games, games, games. The wristbands given to every attendee at the Galen Auditorium flashed with colored lights to complement the onscreen demos and video game trailers. The speakers filled the room with so much sound that the hairs on the sides of my head moved when the explosions happened. And there were a lot of explosions.

When my kids and I walked into a coffee shop one sunny day last month, we were greeted by a row of tables holding laptops with gaming demos.

My son gravitated toward the biggest display, a huge TV screen with a giant, face-obscuring set of goggles set in front of it. This was the Oculus Rift, the latest fad gaming device that places two stereoscopic images in front of your eyes to simulate virtual reality.

He slid the massive black eyewear onto his face, picked up the connected Xbox controller, and started moving his head around. The rest of us could see the game on the TV — an abstract shooting gallery in three dimensions, with my boy at the center, first-person style.

After about five minutes of waving his head around and pressing buttons on the controller, my son pushed the goggles up and off his head and said, “Dad, I think I’m going to be sick.”

Fresh photographic equipment stole the show this week, but we also got wind of some great new outdoor gear (and some stuff for desk jockeys).

First the camera news: Sony is coming on strong with the amazing R100 III camera, while Nikon’s most exciting new gadget is an underwater flash. On the outdoorsy front, San Francisco is gearing up for summer with new bags from my favorite bag makers Rickshaw and Waterfield, and if you’re out in the warm/cold spring on your bike, you might like to do it wearing the beautiful Vulpine merino wool cycling jersey. If you’re not the outdoors type, we have you covered too — you can stay home and organize your desk with a handsome wooden pen and phone holder.

Have fun!

If video killed the radio star, then the iPod helped kill the cassette tape.

Although perhaps not permanently enough.

According to new reports, Sony has developed a new magnetic tape capable of holding 148GB of data per square inch — meaning that if spooled into a cartridge, each tape would boast an astonishing 185TB worth of storage. To put that into context, it’s the equivalent of 3,700 dual-layer 50GB Blu-rays.

Now that David Fincher isn’t in the running to direct Sony’s Steve Jobs biopic, Christian Bale probably won’t star. As Sony searches for someone else to helm the project, another director and star actor combo have been added to the mix.

Oscar-winnng director Danny Boyle is reportedly in early talks to direct the movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter. And he has approached Leonardo DiCaprio to play Jobs.

David Fincher, who was previously rumored to direct Sony’s movie about Steve Jobs, is now out of the picture. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fincher and Sony have parted ways due to disagreements over “compensation and control.”

And if Fincher is out, that means his top pick to play Jobs, Christian Bale, will probably not be involved with the project either.

The new Sony A7S is a mirrorless full-frame camera which shoots 4K video and has a top ISO of 102,400, expandable to 409,600.

Remember back in 2006 when Palm CEO Ed Colligan said this, about Apple and the iPhone:

PC guys are not going to just figure this out. They’re not going to just walk in.

If you switched Apple for Sony (those gadget guys) or Fujifilm ("film guys), and Palm for Nikon and Canon, then the same thing is happening today.

Sony’s Digital Paper is so odd that if it were released tomorrow on April 1st, I’d wonder whether or not it was just a cruel prank. But apart from the absurd price, digital paper is a pretty great-looking product.

Remember back in the 1980s and some of the 1990s, when Sony made the coolest stuff around? Tiny Walkmans, awesome Hi8 video cameras and even some decent slimline (PC) laptop computers. Then it all went wrong, when Apple reinvented the Walkman as the iPad.

I’m not trying to say that the new Ultra Premium Hi-Res Bluetooth Speaker is about to turn the company around, but it is a reminder of what we used to love about Sony.

SAN FRANCISCO —  The Game Developers Conference is an odd beast, less a trade show and more a topical conference that caters to the folks actually making the games you while away the hours with on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac, plus that console under your TV.

Cult of Mac will be on the scene when a gaming tribe of 23,000 comes to town — that’s about the population of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. — and here’s what you can expect.