Microsoft to buy US gaming giant Activision-Blizzard for $69 billion

Microsoft announced Tuesday a landmark $69 billion deal to purchase US gaming giant Activision Blizzard, grabbing the sex harassment scandal-hit firm as the tech colossus seeks to boost its power in video games.

Merging with troubled Activision will make Microsoft the third-largest gaming company by revenue, behind Tencent and Sony, it said, a major shift in the booming world of games.

"This acquisition will accelerate the growth in Microsoft's gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud and will provide building blocks for the metaverse," Microsoft said in a statement.

Activision, the California-based maker of "Candy Crush" has been hit by employee protests, departures, and a state lawsuit alleging it enabled toxic workplace conditions and sexual harassment against women. 

Over the past seven months the company has received about 700 reports of employee concerns over sexual assault or harassment or other misconduct, in some cases separate reports about the same incident, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

Nearly 20 percent of Activision Blizzard's 9,500 employees have signed a petition calling for CEO Bobby Kotick to resign.

"Acquiring Activision will help jump start Microsoft's broader gaming endeavors and ultimately its move into the metaverse with gaming the first monetization piece of the metaverse in our opinion," Wedbush analysts said after the news broke.

- Troubled Activision -

"With Activision's stock under heavy pressure (CEO related issues/overhang) over the last few months, Microsoft viewed this as the window of opportunity to acquire a unique asset that can propel its consumer strategy forward," Wedbush added.

Microsoft has just marked 20 years of the "Halo" video game franchise that turned its Xbox console into a hit.

Microsoft launched a host of initiatives to mark two decades of both Halo and the Xbox, including a virtual museum exploring key moments in the console's history.

Xbox remains a key player in a video game industry now thought to be larger than the movie sector, with market research firm Mordor Intelligence valuing it at $173.7 billion in 2020.

Troubles, meanwhile, have stacked up for Activision over its sex harassment and discrimination scandal.

In July, California state regulators accused the company of condoning a culture of harassment, a toxic work environment, and inequality.

In September the Securities and Exchange Commission launched a probe into the company over "disclosures regarding employment matters and related issues."

And two months later the Journal reported that Kotick, accused of mishandling the harassment complaints, had signaled he would consider stepping down if he failed to quickly fix the company culture. He has led the company for more than three decades.

Late last year chief operating officer Daniel Alegre pledged a 50 percent increase in female and non-binary staff over the next five years so that they will account for more than a third of Activision's workers.

Agence France-Presse

iPhone XI to feature long-distance 3D camera, says report

It’s no secret that the iPhone will get a radical upgrade in 2020 when Apple integrates 5G tech into the model, but what can we expect from the upcoming 2019 generation?

According to BloombergQuint, which was recently in contact with Sony, that company will be “boosting production of next-generation 3D sensors after getting interest from customers,” customers that include Apple Inc. In fact, Sony will be undergoing mass production in late summer to meet demands.


These new camera chips are expected to hugely impact mobile photography, gaming and phone user interface, and Sony hopes such tech will reinvigorate the slumping market.

Additionally, several rumors claim that Apple’s next flagship iPhone model will have three rear lenses that potentially have augmented reality functioning.

Apple will reportedly be using new camera features like these to draw their audience to the 2019 model, likely to be released in September, which will be difficult considering the already quickly growing anticipation for the 2020 generation.

In November, Fast Company noted Apple’s plans to release its first 5G iPhone in 2020 which will be powered by Intel’s 8161 5G modem chip, a release that may come a bit late considering some other phone giants’ first 5G devices are slated for the first half of 2019.

Samsung, Huawei and OnePlus all revealed plans to release their own 5G handsets early next year. JB

source: technology.inquirer.net

Sony PlayStation Classic announced for December 2018

With 20 games built in, including “Final Fantasy VII”, the PlayStation Classic is being listed at $99 (about P5,300), $129 CAN, €99, £89 and ¥9,980.

Classic adventure game “Final Fantasy VII” is among the first five titles announced for the PlayStation Classic’s on-board library ahead of a Dec. 3 launch.


Nintendo has already found great success with the $59 (about P3,100) NES Mini and $79 (about P4,300) SNES Mini, and now PlayStation is responding with a sub-$100 shrunk-down retro console of its own.

Five entries to the PlayStation Classic’s on-board games library were revealed upon announcement.

Revolutionary Japanese role-playing game “Final Fantasy VII” is joined by racing title “R4: Ridge Racer Type 4”, fighting game “Tekken 3”, hybrid 2D and 3D wild west adventure “Wild Arms”, and first-person jump-and-run excursion “Jumping Flash”.

At the time, each one was well-received and recognized for a particular technical accomplishment.


At 45 percent of the 1994 PlayStation’s size, the PlayStation Classic adopts a similar form factor to its Nintendo equivalents.

It replicates the original console’s design, a top-loading CD bay now decorative rather than functional, while RGB display cable ports have been replaced with an HDMI output for HD screens.

Like the Nintendo Mini range, the PlayStation Classic ships without the USB AC adaptor needed to power it up, but does include the required USB cable as well as two control pads.

Those controllers are modelled on the PlayStation’s original pads and, because of that, omit the dual analog stick set-up introduced with the 1997 Dual Analog and 1998 DualShock controllers.

That omission is thought to rule out 1999’s iconic “Ape Escape” from the retro console’s 15 unannounced games, as it relied upon the presence of analog controls.

Similarly, “Metal Gear Solid” featured a sequence that depended on controller vibration, another feature introduced with the Dual Analog.

And with a games library limited to 20, it is not yet clear whether the PlayStation Classic will be vulnerable to the sort of simple software hacking process that allows NES and SNES Mini owners to add unlicensed games.

A release date of Dec. 3, 2018 coincides with the PlayStation’s 24th birthday. JB

source: technology.inquirer.net

PlayStation 4 passes 80 million milestone, Nintendo Switch close to 20 million

Console manufacturers Sony and Nintendo have both released sales reports, with both the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch within touching distance of their immediate predecessors.

82.2 million PlayStation 4 consoles have been sold between a November 2013 launch and a July 2018 financial report detailing shipments up to June 30.

Sales had been lagging 2.9 million units behind retail shipments in June and December 2017, meaning that at an estimated 79.1 million total sales, the five-year-old PlayStation 4 has just a little way to go to surpass the 80-million seven-year lifetime total of its predecessor.


Sony stopped reporting PlayStation 3 sales in 2013. It has forecast a total of 17 million PlayStation 4 sales for the fiscal year ending March 2019.

As for Nintendo, Sony’s fellow Japanese console company reported 19.67 million sales of its hybrid home and portable console, the Switch, between its launch in March 2017 and the end of its most recent financial period on June 30, 2018.

The Switch had outsold its immediate predecessor, the Wii U, by the end of 2017 after nine months of availability, and is now on the verge of overtaking the 21.7 million sales of the more popular 2001 GameCube.

Next up in the Nintendo family would be the 1990 SNES (49 million) 1983 NES (62 million), and the portable 2011 3DS (72 million), which is still on sale as a lower-priced alternative to the Switch.

Both consoles are some way off from the title of their manufacturers’ crowning achievements. For Sony, that would be the 1994 PlayStation (102 million) and year 2000 PlayStation 2 (over 155 million), and for Nintendo, that’s the 2004 Nintendo DS (154 million), the 1989 Game Boy and its 1998 successor, the Game Boy Color, which achieved a combined total of 118 million sales, and the 2006 Wii on a tally of 101 million.

The good news for Sony and Nintendo is that both the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch appear to be in good health.

PlayStation 4 owners can look forward to creative sandbox “Dreams” and a Marvel “Spider-Man” tie-in as upcoming 2018 exclusives, while Nintendo has announced a self-assembly Nintendo Labo pack for September with “Super Smash Bros. Ultimate” and two “Pokémon: Let’s Go” games towards the end of the year. JB

source: technology.inquirer.net

Latest PlayStation 4 update now ready for download

Early on Sony announced that a major update to the PlayStation would be forthcoming, which includes HDR output capabilities. This update is now live and ready for download.

The update, codenamed “Shingen,” is by far the biggest that Sony has put out for the PlayStation console. Apart from the promised HDR output, the update also tweaks the menu screens and adds folders, reports The Verge.

Streaming in 1080p on Twitch, YouTube and remote play has also been enabled as preparation for the soon-to-be available PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro.

The UI changes were done so that the quick menu screen will no longer cover up games, videos and apps, and occupy only a portion of the TV screen. Folders will also offer more organization options for users while a new LAN connection function helps in transferring data from one console to another.

Sony also streamlined info screens for games, DLCs, videos and trending images. Lastly, users can now play songs from Spotify without needing to launch the app.  Alfred Bayle

source: technology.inquirer.net

New Sony action cam arrives on US soil in late September

Last week’s IFA 2016 saw a fair share of new gadgets from different companies and one of these was Sony’s FDR-X300R. A press release from the company announced pricing and availability for the US market.

The highlight for the X300R action cam is the optical image stabilization technology that Sony also uses in its camcorders. The company said it was the most requested feature by the users of its Action Cam line, reports Engadget.

Sony didn’t hold back when it designed the X300R. It features a redesigned Zeiss Tessar wide-angle lens that works hand in hand with a 1/2.5-type 8.2M Exmor R CMOS sensor and Bionz X processor. It is fully capable of shooting 4K videos at 30fps and 1080p at 120fps. Finally, it comes with a waterproof housing that’s rated for up to 60 meters (roughly 197 feet).

source: technology.inquirer.net

Sony set to unveil PS4.5 Neo on Sept. 7

The PS4.5 Neo is nothing new to most gamers as it has been an open secret to the community for quite some time. However, Sony wants to make it official and is set to unveil the console on Sept. 7.

TechRadar reports that the 4K-ready gaming console may also be unveiled with a slimmer version of the PS4 at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS).

In the wake of the introduction of this much-awaited console from Sony, competitors Microsoft and Nintendo are slated to launch their own machines. Microsoft has already announced its Xbox One S during its E3 keynote. It will be capable of 4K Blu-ray playback and High Dynamic Range gaming.

Nintendo, on the other hand, will unveil its next-gen console, the Nintendo NX in March next year.  Alfred Bayle

source: technology.inquirer.net

Sony Xperia Z5 to have fingerprint scanner?

A fingerprint scanner could be the biggest come-on for Sony's upcoming new Xperia flagship handset, a tech site reported.

Technodify.com said the upcoming phone, dubbed the Xperia Z5, is to sport Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB of RAM.

But the site, citing leaked information, said the phone will have a fingerprint recognition system.

"While we currently don’t know where Sony is planning to implement this fingerprint scanner... we are expecting to see it on the home button. Along with that, the phone will follow the same old OmniBalance design with 4,500 man battery Inside," it said.

The Xperia Z5 is also expected to feature the latest Sony Exmor RS IMX230 based CMOS sensor with 4K video recording support, HDR and 21 million pixels, it added.

Citing rumors, it said Sony might bring Xperia Z5 to Japan in September. — Joel Locsin/LBG, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Japan gamers finally get PS4 at midnight launch

TOKYO - Diehard gamers in Japan who began queuing earlier this week finally got their hands on a new PlayStation 4 as Sony unleashed its console on home turf in a midnight launch.

The long-awaited Japanese launch comes after a stellar debut in the United States and Europe where more than 5.4 million units have been shifted since November, offering a bright ray of hope to Sony after years of gloomy sales of its key consumer electronics goods.

At midnight (1500 GMT Friday), the first 100 customers were allowed to take home a new console from Sony Building, a flagship display venue in Tokyo's bustling district of Ginza, putting the lucky few fans hours ahead of a nationwide mass release.

"Thank you for coming to this launch despite the cold," Andrew House, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, said to the first buyers.

Some of the eager fans had queued for the past two days to be among the first in Japan to own the new console.

"I want to play games with state-of-the-art technology," said Tetsuya Tamura, a 44-year-old IT engineer who arrived on Wednesday with his son, Shion, 19, to take first place in the queue.

Early adopters of the PS4 in Europe and the US have enthused over its vast computing capacity and the cinematic graphics it makes possible.

"I played on a trial one and found that its processing speed is fast and it's easy to play," said Shion, who had brought his PlayStation Portable to pass the time.

In the coveted US market, Sony boasted that video game industry sales data, reported last week by NPD Group, showed PS4 is far outselling Microsoft's Xbox One consoles, also released in November.

Analysts say sales at home are expected to widen the lead.

Sony's domestic rival, Nintendo, launched its new Wii U console in November 2012. It took more than a year for the video game giant to sell 5.86 million units.

PS4, Wii U and Xbox One are fighting to be at the heart of digital home entertainment at a time when consoles are under intense pressure to prove their worth as people increasingly turn to smartphones or tablets for games and videos.

Sony's gaming division has emerged as a potential savior for the once-mighty giant, which is struggling to reinvent itself in the digital age, having been left in the dust by its nimbler rivals like South Korea's Samsung.

Potential savior
The company, whose iconic Walkman changed the way people listened to music, has failed to repeat its earlier successes and this year warned it would book a $1.08 billion annual loss as it cuts 5,000 jobs and exits the stagnant PC market.

Moody's downgraded the firm's credit rating to junk, saying the maker of Bravia televisions had more work to do if it wanted to fix the holes in its tattered balance sheet.

It is not alone. Domestic rivals like Sharp and Panasonic have also suffered at the hands of US giant Apple and Samsung, and found themselves outplayed in the smartphone and low-margin television business.

But analysts said the PS4 might just help Sony turn the corner.

"Sony may not be able to see a sizable contribution for the current fiscal year, but is likely to harvest fruit later if the brisk sales continue," Hideki Yasuda, analyst at Ace Securities, told AFP.

"PS4 has a chance to establish a virtuous circle -- strong sales leading to popular titles," which would create more demand for the console, Yasuda said.

"It can be a potential cash cow for Sony." — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Moody's cuts Sony's credit rating to junk

TOKYO – Moody's cut its credit rating on Sony to junk on Monday, saying the Japanese electronics giant had more work to do in repairing its battered balance sheet.

The international ratings agency lowered its view of the company to Ba1 from Baa3, meaning its debt is now seen as below investment grade, a move that threatens to push up Sony's borrowing costs.

"While Sony has made progress in its restructuring and benefits from continued profitability in several of its business segments, it still faces challenges to improve and stabilize its overall profitability," Moody's said in a statement.

"Of primary concern are the challenges facing the company's TV and PC businesses, both of which face intense global competition, rapid changes in technology, and product obsolescence."

The downgrade was the latest to hit Japan's embattled electronics industry – including Sony rivals Sharp and Panasonic – which has continued to lose ground to overseas rivals even as a weak yen helped boost their profitability.

"Sony's profitability is likely to remain weak and volatile, as we expect the majority of its core consumer electronics businesses – such as TVs, mobile, digital cameras and personal computers – to continue to face significant downward earnings pressure," Moody's said.

It added that Sony's popular new PlayStation 4 console would help earnings at its videogames unit, but warned that profitability would likely not top levels seen in previous years. – Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Without grand plans for China, U.S., Sony set to lag in smartphones

TOKYO - Kazuo Hirai's plan to restore Sony Corp to lasting profitability rests in large part on its smartphones leapfrogging rivals to become the world's third-biggest sellers after the Apple iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy series.

But that goal remains some way off. Sony's CEO, installed last year with a brief to turn the serial loss maker around, said on Friday that for now, Sony has no big plans for the world's two largest smartphone markets, China and the United States.

Instead, Hirai said Sony, which aims to rise to third position from its current ranking of seventh, will focus on Europe and its home market in Japan, which collectively account for 60 percent of its smartphone sales.

"Those two are the most important areas for us and we'll put substantial resources there. But not yet for the U.S. and China," Hirai told a gathering of journalists.

"It's not realistic to try to do everything at once. In the U.S. we'll start gradually."

In the U.S., only the fourth-largest carrier T-Mobile US Inc offers Sony smartphones. Meanwhile, Sony has been unable to compete in China with homegrown brands from ZTE to CoolPad despite contracts with the three largest carriers.

Sony is not among the top five smartphone brands in either of those markets, according to research firm IDC. Its global share of the smartphone market was a modest 2.2 percent in the second quarter of this year, according to research firm Gartner, trailing the likes of LG Electronics Inc and Lenovo Group Ltd as well as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics.

Hirai has positioned mobile devices as one of the three pillars for a turnaround of the company's electronics unit, which relied on help from a weak yen to post a profit in the latest quarter - its first quarterly profit in two years.

The other two key divisions are games, where the PlayStation 4 console due for launch next month has drawn strong pre-orders, and digital imaging, where Sony dominates the production of image sensors for smartphone cameras.

Against that background, smartphones could end up the weakest link in the strategy.

NOT EXCEPTIONAL

"Their devices are OK but frankly not compelling. They're fine, but they're not exceptional," said Benedict Evans, an independent mobile and telecommunications analyst based in London.

"But the deeper problem is that when you're selling devices made on someone else's platform it's extremely difficult to differentiate."

Even in its home market, where Sony ranked No. 2 in the latest quarter behind Apple, the outlook has become tougher. Last month Japan's largest carrier, NTT DoCoMo Inc, which in its summer campaign favored Sony's Xperia over other domestic brands, struck a deal with Apple to carry the latest iPhone.

Still, Hirai said the Xperia's established reputation in Japan should help to see off the threat from Apple. "We have strong brand recognition here for Xperia's hardware and services," Hirai said.

The company has set a target of selling 42 million smartphones worldwide in the financial year to next March, an increase of 27 percent from a year ago.

In 2012, Samsung shipped 218.2 million Galaxy phones while Apple sold 135.9 million iPhones, according to IDC.  — Reuters

source: gmanetwork.com

PS4 to support voice command, says gaming site

A camera accessory for Sony's upcoming PlayStation 4 console will support navigational voice command capabilities, a gaming site reported.

The Eye camera peripheral will be sold separately from the console, Polygon.com quoted a Sony Computer Entertainment spokesperson as saying.

"Sony Computer Entertainment can confirm that PlayStation Camera allows for voice recognition and we will look forward to sharing more details in the lead up to the launch of PlayStation 4 on November 29," the spokesperson said.

Polygon also cited a YouTube video indicating the camera's capabilities range "(f)rom navigational voice commands to facial recognition."



It also said the PlayStation Camera promises to add "incredible innovation to your gaming."

During Sony's presentation at the GameStop Expo 2013 in Las vegas, SCEA group manager of retail training and advocacy Sean Coleman said the camera will enhance the PS4 experience.

"The new stereoscopic lenses track your body movements in games or even recognize your face easier system navigation," Coleman said.

PlayStation 4 is to launch on Nov. 15 in North America for $399 and Nov. 29 in Europe for €399, Polygon said.

The PlayStation Eye camera will be sold separately and will retail for $59 in North America and €49 in Europe, it added. — VC, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com

Sony, Panasonic to work on 300GB optical disc

From the 650MB CD to the 4GB DVD and to the 50GB Blu-ray, the next optical media disc may contain a whopping 300 GB once it is release by 2015.

Sony and Panasonic have agreed to jointly develop the standard for these "professional-use next-generation optical discs."

"Both companies aim to improve their development efficiency based on the technologies held by each respective company, and will target the development of an optical disc with recording capacity of at least 300GB by the end of 2015," they said in a joint statement.


They will also continue to discuss the specifications and other items related to the development of the new standard.

Sony and Panasonic said optical discs have "excellent properties to protect them against the environment, such as dust-resistance and water-resistance, and can also withstand changes in temperature and humidity when stored."

Also, they said optical discs allow inter-generational compatibility between different formats, "ensuring that data can continue to be read even as formats evolve."

"This makes them a robust medium for long-term storage of content," they said.

It will not be the first time Sony and Panasonic work together, as they had developed products based on the Blu-ray format.

But they also noted optical discs will need to accommodate much larger volumes of storage in the future.

Before the joint work with Panasonic, Sony commercialized a file-based optical disc archive system in September 2012, housing 12 optical discs in a compact cartridge.

This July, Panasonic launched its LB-DM9 optical disc storage devices, using a magazine to house 12 100GB optical discs. — VC, GMA News

source: gmanetwork.com