Sony and Sun Join Forces
Feeling the need to hook your audio system directly into a website for music files? Last week, Sony">http://www.sony.co.jp">Sony Corporation and Sun">http://www.sun.com">Sun Microsystems announced plans to further collaborate to provide digital consumer-electronics appliances with direct access to Internet-based content and services. The companies say that the first phase of this cooperation will involve the development of home gateway software, running on appliances such as set-top boxes (connected to a home entertainment system), that will support a combination of home networking and network server technologies.
Sony Announces Double-Density CD
For technophiles, DVD is the current hot ticket. The compact disc is far from dead, however. The 20-year-old format has been given a new lease on life by Sony">http://www.sony.com/">Sony Corporation, which in early July announced the development of a new technique that will double the data-storage capacity of recordable CDs.
Sony Announces New Affordable SACD Player
A year after introducinghttp://www.stereophile.com/news/10445/">introducing; the Super Audio Compact Disc player to upscale audiophiles, Sony">http://www.sony.com/sel/">Sony Corporation has decided it is time to make the technology available to a wider audience. On May 17, Sony announced that its third-generation SACD player will be launched in Japan in June at approximately $730 US (¥80,000). The company's current SACD players, which debuted last fall, list at $3200 and $5000.
Sony Announces Second Super Audio CD Player
When Sonyhttp://www.sony.com">Sony; introduced the first Super Audio CD (SACD) player, the SCD-1 (see previous">http://www.stereophile.com/news/10445/">previous report and Jonathan Scull's forthcoming review in the November 1999 Stereophile), audiophiles who heard it were impressed with its performance, but wondered if its $5000 price tag would keep it out of the market for a while. Last week, Sony announced their second SACD player, the SCD-777ES, to appear in October at the slightly more wallet-friendly price of $3500.
Sony BMG DRM Strives to Eliminate "Schoolyard Piracy"
Since March, Sony BMG has released "at least 10 commercial titles" employing XCP2 technology developed by UK-based antipiracy company first4Internethttp://www.first4internet.co.uk/">first4Internet;. Sony BMG claims that the 10 titles represent "over one million units," but the company steadfastly refuses to specify which titles have XCP2.
Sony BMG Drops DRM
On January 4, BusinessWeek.com reportedhttp://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/jan2008/tc2008013_398775…; that Sony BMG Music Entertainment was dropping digital rights management (DRM) from "at least part of its collection." Sony BMG thus becomes the last of the big four music labels to do so—following Warner">http://stereophile.com/news/123107warner/">Warner Music Group's example by less than a week. EMI and Universal Music Group began the stampede earlier in the year, pioneering DRM-free downloads with Amazon.comhttp://www.stereophile.com/news/100107amazon/">Amazon.com;, among other partners.
Sony BMG Highjacks Consumers' Computers, "Apologizes" With Shoddy Fix
On November 1, Window OS expert Mark Russinovich revealedhttp://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-righ…; that his root kit detection utility had uncovered the presence of some well-hidden, poorly written code that was clogging computer resources and could potentially crash his computer or, if removed, disable his CD drive.
Sony BMG Root Kit Settlement Approved
On Monday, May 22, federal judge Naomi Reice Buchwald granted final approval to the settlement of the class action suit brought against Sony BMG for embedding intrusive and crippling digital rights management (DRM) software into its CDs. Not only did the software load secretly onto users' computers, it opened them to malware invasions, in addition to reportedly sending Sony information about consumers' computers.
Sony BMG Settlement Grows Even Larger
Two days after reaching $1.5 million settlements with the states of Texas and California over its knuckleheaded attempt to prevent "unauthorized" use of its CDs, Sony BMG agreed to pay another $4.25 million to an additional 39 states and the District of Columbia in what has become known as "the rootkit debacle."
Sony Co-Founder Akio Morita Dies at 78
Nearly six years after suffering a debilitating stroke, Sony Corporation co-founder Akio Morita has died. One of the world's most charismatic business executives, Morita succumbed to pneumonia on Sunday, October 3, in Tokyo. He was 78.