It’s hard to imagine a company with a greater influence on consumer electronics than Sony. You can trace a direct line from the Walkman -- the first portable media player -- to the smartphone. Today Sony is a massive force in gaming, making the PlayStation and publishing games for it and other platforms. Sony image sensors are in iPhones as well as its own mirrorless cameras. Not to mention the OLED TVs; smartphones; noise-canceling headphones; music, tv, and film publishing; and, yes, robot dogs.
The new DualSense controllers will launch alongside GTA VI on November 19th. They come in black and white with a sparkly blue-purple sheen surrounding the thumbsticks and extending into the grips, as well as a “VI” logo stamped on the touchpad.
You can preorder the new controllers for $84.99 starting September 10th at 10AM ET.
Lego is officially teaming up with Sony to release a near 1:1 replica of the original PlayStation console. The set includes Ape Escape and Gran Turismo dioramas inside that have customizable parts, as well as functional power and open buttons, and a controller that plugs into the console. The Lego PlayStation will be available on October 1st, priced at $179.99.
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PlayStation dropped a new trailer for the upcoming roguelike mode, which allows you to accept bounties, hunt down enemies, earn rewards, and unlock new characters — including Jin Sakai. It’s launching on October 1st as part of the Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition upgrade.
With PlayStation Vue long gone, Sony added a new FAST package today for PlayStation 5 owners in the US and soon in Canada, available under the Media section.
You will need an adult PlayStation account and to set up a Sony Pictures Core account (according to Variety, the same package is coming to Bravia TVs) for channels like The Ringer, Hot Ones, NHL, Sony’s own Crunchyroll, and others with a mix of live and on-demand videos.
The new midrange Android phone has almost exactly the exact same design and internals as last year’s Xperia 10 VII apart from two meager upgrades: a brighter display and louder speakers. Oh, and at €599 / £549 (around $700-750), it’ll also be € / £150 more expensive when it launches in Europe in “mid-to-late September.” Thanks, RAMageddon.
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Verge Score
Sony’s spec monster let me shoot 67-megapixel images fast, silently, and without any blackout.
Sony’s quest to bring good cybersecurity practices to its headphone names continues with the rumored WH-1000XM4C.
Zack Simpson:
My biggest gripe with the WH-1000XM4 was that it didn’t have enough letters and numbers in its name. Big fan of this change!
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Sony sold 1.6 million PlayStation 5 consoles, about a third fewer than last year at this time, and says it has plenty of memory for the foreseeable future:
Regarding the impact of memory market conditions on PlayStation 5 hardware, we have secured the quantity of memory necessary to meet our projected sales volume for FY26, and there is no change to our plan for hardware profitability for FY26 to remain similar to FY25.
In other words, there shouldn’t be any major PS5 restock panics or severe manufacturing shutdowns leading into big game launches (like GTA VI), but price increases are always on the table to maintain profitability.
Game preservation group Does It Play? is encouraging console owners to give Sony “a small taste of their own medicine,” announcing a one-week PSBlackout starting on Sunday, August 23rd. Protest participants are being asked to avoid logging into, playing, or purchasing any content on PlayStation-related platforms during this period.
The new Sony FX5 has a huge list of features for cinematographers. To name a few: a full-frame fully-stacked 5K sensor with open gate recording, three base ISO settings, dual gain shooting, and up to 120fps recording. And instead of just a typical add-on handle for XLR connections, you can instead slap on a $698 tiltable OLED viewfinder.
I wish every EVF-less camera had an EVF option.
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Verge Score
The Bravia 9 II is the best RGB LED TV available with game-changing features, but I’d still buy an OLED.
The Sony Alpha Instagram account shared a short and vague teaser for a new Sony RX10 camera that will be announced on July 9th at 10AM ET. The last version was 2017’s RX10 IV that launched with a 24-600mm 25x optical zoom lens, a 20.1-megapixel 1-inch sensor, and up to 24fps capture capabilities with autofocus and tracking.
A new firmware update for the Sony WH-1000XM6 and 1000X The Collexion headphones is now available through the Sony Sound Connect mobile app. In addition to performance improvements the update adds support for the low-latency Bluetooth Gaming Audio Profile, but keep in mind the device you’re pairing with needs to support GMAP, too.
In an interview with French media outlet PSI, former SIE Worldwide Studios chairman Shawn Layden said bringing Sony exclusives to PC was always about expanding title visability beyond PlayStation consoles, and wasn’t a money-making strategy:
I think if someone’s waiting 18 months for something to come on PC, we didn’t lose a sale to them. They weren’t going to buy the hardware anyway. If it’s a way to cover costs or the burden of making a port, there is some money attached to that, or the distraction or whatever. I don’t know what they’re thinking.”
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Verge Score
A new look and an upgraded telephoto aren’t enough to make this a mainstream contender.
Ace Combat’s been a lovely mix of anime plot and dogfighting action for a long time now, and it looks like we’re getting even more of the former with installment eight. So many pretty cutscenes, where we generally get comparatively static exposition.
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Verge Score
While the tech is still new, Sony’s Bravia 7 II proves that RGB LED TVs are capable of serious performance.
As long as you don’t expect it to do anything more than just store a stack of UMDs you won’t be disappointed by Zara’s new $35.90 PSP crossbody bag that features a silicone recreation of Sony’s handheld on the front and a matching Playstation-themed shoulder strap.
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When it announced price hikes this week, Sony focused on the cheapest Essential tier. As we suspected though, now the new prices are live, Extra and Premium have gone up too. Extra now starts at $16.99 per month, while Premium is $19.99.
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Verge Score
The latest headphones from Sony are a more plush take on its flagship series, with a price tag to match.
Look, I’m not saying Sony’s audio naming scheme is good, per se, but you can’t deny it’s distinct. Is it really willing to throw that away?
Hoto:
Are we sure the initial reporting is correct? Isn’t a Sony product more likely to be named the WH-C0113-X10N?
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The two companies are forming a joint venture that will combine Sony’s designs with TSMC’s manufacturing capabilities to develop next-gen image sensors. The joint venture, majority owned by Sony, will also allow the companies to explore opportunities in physical AI applications in the robotics and automotive industries, the press release says.
Remember that mod for running Linux on PlayStation 5 consoles? It turns out that people are using it as a base to install the open-source RPCS3 PlayStation 3 emulator, which allows Sony’s newer console to read physical PS3 discs.
The best (currently) noise-canceling earbuds will feel even more premium with Sony’s new $39.99 case covers that wrap the WF-1000XM6’s charging case in a smooth vegan leather finish. The cover is available in black and light gray, and while it makes the case slightly larger, it doesn’t inhibit wireless charging.
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