News Byte
Lauren Goode in News on February 22 at 5:53 am PT
Sony’s new handheld gaming product, the PlayStation Vita, goes on sale today in Europe and the U.S. Following its initial launch in Japan in December, the device was plagued by some reported bugs, including crashes and gameplay lags, but Sony quickly issued a software update to address the issues. As The Wall Street Journal’s Katie Boehret notes in her review of the Vita, the 3G and Wi-Fi capable Vita costs $299; the Wi-Fi-only version costs $249.
News Byte
Lauren Goode in News on February 2 at 5:31 pm PT
Peek Inc. has killed its T-Mobile-supported, email-and-Twitter-friendly Peek handsets. Engadget reports that CEO Amol Sarva attributed the axing to changing network standards and protocols, and said Peek couldn’t maintain the network forever for just a few users. The Peek devices first launched in 2008 and cost up to $299, which included a promise of “lifelong service.”
Tricia Duryee in Commerce on December 23, 2011 at 12:57 pm PT
Sony’s upcoming handheld gaming device, the PlayStation Vita, was developed in part by one of the original creators of one of the most successful consumer electronics devices of all time.
News Byte
Lauren Goode in News on December 20, 2011 at 8:28 pm PT
Sony
issued an apologetic statement and posted a system update on Monday, after complaints emerged about its new handheld device, the Sony PlayStation Vita. The portable gaming system
launched in Japan this past weekend; 321,400 units were sold in two days. Some users are
reporting that the Vita has been freezing and crashing in early use of the device.
Lauren Goode in Commerce on December 16, 2011 at 11:38 am PT
Happy early holidays, gamers: Nintendo, in an attempt to drive sales of its 3-D gaming handheld device, is throwing free throwback games at early buyers of the 3DS.
Lauren Goode in Media on December 1, 2011 at 1:00 pm PT
Nintendo is hoping more Mario — and pretty colors — will help the gaming giant’s 3-D device.
John Paczkowski in News on February 10, 2011 at 3:30 am PT
Hewlett-Packard bought Palm for its technology and talent, not for its brand. So it’s hardly surprising that the Palm logo and name were nowhere to be found at HP’s big webOS event Wednesday. Not in the signage. Not in the videos or slides included in the onstage presentation and not on any of the new hardware on display. The TouchPad, Veer and Pre3 all sport silver HP logos and “HP” as a prefix, not Palm.
Voices
Daisuke Wakabayashi, Reporter, The Wall Street Journal in News on January 31, 2011 at 12:00 am PT
The children’s game “telephone” offers a valuable lesson on how a message can get warped and distorted as it passes from one person to another. For all of its positive attributes, the Internet can function at times like a giant, global game of “telephone.” Just ask Nintendo Co. President Satoru Iwata.
Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 27, 2011 at 10:08 am PT
Nintendo is surrounded. On the home console side of the business, there’s Microsoft and Sony. On the handheld side, there are dozens of smartphone makers. All of that added up to fewer sales of Nintendo’s Wii and DS platforms in the third quarter, and there’s not much relief in sight.
Tricia Duryee in Commerce on January 19, 2011 at 8:56 am PT
Nintendo announced the pricing and release date today for the 3DS, which it hopes will rejuvenate sales as its other hardware platforms start aging.
