Wondering whether Sony’s PlayStation Suite will ever really leave its nest? While the SDK won’t be out until next month, SCE Chairman Kaz Hirai just told us here at AsiaD that this Android-friendly framework’s still open to all other manufacturers, and he emphasized that it “isn’t an ecosystem where we want to keep everything within the Sony family” while pimping the three PlayStation Certified Android devices so far: Xperia Play, Tablet S and Tablet P. Kaz also confirmed that Sony’s currently “in discussions with non-Sony companies to bring them onboard,” but as to when this will come to fruition, the company will make those announcements “when it’s time to go public with it,” so we shall see.

Kaz Hirai: Sony is ‘in discussions with non-Sony companies’ over PlayStation Suite originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Getting your PlayStation-certified gaming fix on just got 50 percent cheaper. Verizon’s cut the price of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play in half on its website, selling for $100 with contract only four months after being greeted with open arms. The price cut is a result of Big Red’s “Back to School” promotion, though it’s difficult to believe this one will come out the other end of the sale any costlier than this. Was this sudden reduction made to instigate a price war with AT&T now that it’s introduced the model to its lineup? Or, is this a last-ditch effort to bolster lackluster sales before the Play is discontinued? It’s hard to say — given its meager selection of PlayStation Suite titles, we can’t imagine that the product’s flying off of shelves. Still, five Jacksons is much more reasonable for anyone who just has to have The Sims 3 on the go, right?

Verizon’s Xperia Play now on sale for $100, Crash Bandicoot spins in celebration originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 23:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve spent extensive time with our prototype Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, but how’s it feel to use the real thing? Quite a bit better, actually. The phone looks identical, to be sure, but the hinge feels much sturdier. The speaker quality has gone up, too, although in the crowded room it was much too noisy to really make a solid judgment call. The UI was snappier and the customizations obviously a lot more complete, but really, our biggest concern was the games. We got to play two titles, Star Battalion and FIFA. We found both in the applications pane, as there was nary a sign of the PlayStation Suite or PS Store on this demo unit. All in all, the former title feels a bit like a StarFox ripoff, but importantly, the main control schemes (both gamepad and optional accelerometer) were supported and worked quite well. The trackpads didn’t work in Star Battalion, but when we swapped over to FIFA, we found they performed there — the left “pad” was used for moving the player, and though effective, it wasn’t always smooth moving our thumbs about, and we very much doubt we’d be able to tell “how far” in any direction our thumbs were at any given time. We’ll need more time (and a larger variety of games) to really get a feel for the trackpads. Both titles took quite a while to load, crashing a few times in the process, but were fine once we’d get to the main menus — we’re really hoping that’s just non-final software, but we’ll find out in about a month’s time, eh? We’ll have video in a sec; meanwhile, find hands-on pictures of the phone (and dock!) in the gallery below!

Xperia Play final hardware hands-on! originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Feb 2011 14:14:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve never had a guest on The Engadget Show that inspired quite as much excitement as Steve Wozniak — the crowd was pumped and the Woz was in full effect. Josh and Woz talked for a full 40 minutes about everything from Woz’s white iPhone to the future of server storage to anecdotes about Apple, and it’s all topped off with a little creative currency manipulation, as Woz promises us his custom $2 bills can get us “arrested, but not convicted.”

Then it’s on to the roundtable, where Josh, Paul, and Nilay talk over Sony’s new NGP, PlayStation Suite, and even play with a super-secret unannounced prototype of the PlayStation Phone. This is one you absolutely should not miss. What are you waiting for? Watch it now! Hit up the video stream after the break or download the show in HD below!

Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Nilay Patel, Paul Miller
Special guests: Steve Wozniak
Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm
Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger
Edited by: Danny Madden
Music by: Zen Albatross
Visuals by: invaderbacca
Woz Intro by: Nick Criscuolo
Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec

Taped live at Cooper Union’s Rose Auditorium
Download the Show: The Engadget Show – 017 (HD) / The Engadget Show – 017 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Show – 017 (Small)

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Continue reading The Engadget Show – 017: Steve Wozniak, Sony NGP, PlayStation Phone prototype

The Engadget Show – 017: Steve Wozniak, Sony NGP, PlayStation Phone prototype originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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