sony

Australia’s Competition and Consumer Commission yesterday gave Microsoft its blessing to integrate Yahoo!7 Search into its own search engine, Bing. The partnership is reportedly part of a 10-year deal between the two companies in whch Yahoo will handle advertising for both companies.

Sony’s dream of creating a fully integrated multimedia experience at home and on the road has come closer to reality with the release of the Sony Ericsson Aino, a multimedia touchscreen phone that does a few things that might turn iPhone users green with envy.

While the first 3-D television sets may start shipping as early as next year, they don't represent true three dimensional images. The televisions require 3-D glasses to work, and only present an image when viewed head on.

Computer users of all stripes—whether they usually say “I’m a PC” or “I’m a Mac”—have a few reasons to look forward to the launch of Windows 7 next Thursday. For one, this latest version of Microsoft’s operating system has a clean, easy-to-use interface and a significant structural overhaul that makes up for a lot of Vista’s mistakes. For another, it’s ushering in a new wave of finger-friendly computers. Learn why—and see the breakdown on eight brand-new multitouch machines built for Windows 7.

It's not all about singing robots in Tokyo this year. The annual CEATEC tech expo is loaded with the makings of your gadget-geek future.

Laptops keep getting thinner and lighter, but some concept laptops take portable to a new level. Orkin Design's Rolltop consists of an OLED display that can start as a rolled-up mat and deploy as a multi-touch 17-inch laptop. My beastly HP laptop just shed a tear of envy.

The Orkin laptop can also transform into a tablet PC operable with a stylus, or become a standup flat screen display. A power adapter and other features fit with the carrying canister that comes with a convenient holding strap.

Motion control technology still has quite a way to come before it reaches a more practical level for game manipulation. Nintendo has recently upgraded their motion control technology on the Wii, Microsoft is hard at work on Project Natal for the Xbox 360, which leaves only Sony without a motion control option for the PlayStation 3.

This is the week of the Internationale Funkausstellung (er, International Consumer Electronics Show) in Berlin, which is pretty much just what it sounds like. It's one whopping, European CES. The trouble with IFA for us on the State-side, though, is that a lot of companies forget one key thing: the magical Internet can cross water. Because of that, a lot of "new product announcements" are "things we have already seen," so it takes a little more effort (and flexing what's left of my undergrad German skillz) to figure out what's worth paying attention to.

Over the last two days, the IFA press preview has kicked up some real goodies -- even before the show floor opens to the public today. IFA '09 has already shown us a real taste of how our home theaters will look in the next half-decade, laptops on serious diets, and a couple cool new toys.

Over the past year, HDTVs hit their stride in the market with low-cost, high-quality screens available in resolutions up to 1080p for less than a few grand. Newer TVs have started introducing 100Hz and 200Hz refresh rates, LED backlighting, greener performance, and we’re even seeing the beginnings of OLED taking off. So it’s all onwards and upwards on the high-def front, right?

Dear Kindle: Watch your back. This morning at the New York Public Library, Sony President of Digital Reading Steve Haber announced a new member of the company's e-book reader family, the Reader Daily Edition. The 7-inch device connects to AT&T's 3G network to allow Kindle-like access to Sony's online library.

Sony’s PlayStation 3 is a gaming giant -- figuratively and literally. Figuratively, its graphics are amazing and it has been praised as the best Blu-ray player you can buy. Literally, the 80GB system weighs more than 11 pounds and sucks five times as much energy as a fridge when running, according to a 2008 study. The just-announced PS3 Slim kicks those beastly qualities to the curb.

Very funny, Sony. We get that Microsoft's Project Natal has grabbed a lot of attention with the full-body motion control concept. But you had to take it a step further and tap into our emotions as video game controllers, didn't you?

Sony can now add a feather to their cap; their new e-reader, the Touch Edition (PRS-600), does something Amazon’s Kindle can’t. The Touch’s 6-inch screen can capture handwritten notes, which are exportable and saveable.

Old books are collected in libraries. Old art in art galleries. Old music on commercial FM radio. But what are we doing to hang onto our old games?

According to IGN AU, the depressing answer is… not much.

While there may be a bare handful of institutions around the world doing their bit to preserve the games of the past, there’s little in the way of a concerted, industry-wide effort.

Worse, writes IGN reporter and friend of Kotaku Tracey Lien, there’s absolutely nothing being done in Australia to preserve the almost-forgotten gems of our own development history.

After Microsoft's announcement at the E3 conference of Project Natal, Sony unveiled its own version of motion-capture gaming, both playing catch-up to Nintendo's Wii. Using the Playstation Eye camera and a colorfully globe-tipped controller, the new hardware claims to allow true 1:1 motion response.