How Much People Care About Gimmicks

Matt Brian:

Perhaps the three big features that make the new smart TVs ‘smart’ rank in the final three spots. 3D ready support, Internet web browsing and Internet video hold these spots, which “shocked” Hiroshi Sakamoto, deputy senior general manager of Sony’s home entertainment group, according to Inside CI.

The full list:

Sony internal research: Consumer needs for TV

1. Picture quality
2. Screen size
3. Sound quality
4. Price
5. Full HD 1080p resolution
6. Slim TV screen
7. Energy saving
8. Ease to use remote
9. Design
10. LCD TV
11. Brand
12. Multiple connections
13. LED TV
14. USB port
15. PC input
16. Frame refresh rate
17. Thin bezel
18. 3D ready
19. Internet web browsing
20. Internet video

That doesn’t appear to stop Sony from trying to force 3D upon us, with the company said to be planning to release 100 3D Blu-ray titles before the summer, which will “help revitalise 3D,” said Sakamoto.

Revitalize? Doesn't something need to be vitalized before it can be revitalized?

Sony and Samsung Tablets Miss the Mark

Ben Brooks:

Abdel Ibrahim and Jon Dick:

The Galaxy tab 7.7 will set you back a minimum $499, and that’s with a 2-year contract. If you say to hell with carriers, the price of the puny tablet swells to an eye-watering, deal-breaking $699.

Maybe that’s what they meant by “double down”?

I lol'd.

Gruber on Samsung and Sony Tablets

John Gruber:

The iPad is better, bigger, has more apps and better apps, and is cheaper.

Apple's gear has been better for years. But it's never had the advantage in price and developer support. Amazing.

Sony's President & CEO Out

In the light of all these financial and management reports coming out (RIM, Nintendo, Kodak, Amazon, and now Sony), Apple's blow-away quarter is even more impressive.

Cameras

John Gruber, discussing the decline in popularity of point-and-shoot cameras:

Sony should no more abandon the point-and-shoot camera market than Apple should abandon the music-playing iPod market, but Sony has to recognize that it’s a business in decline and that the future is in putting better cameras into phones.

Yup.