We had a rumor about this news back in April but as part of a new corporate Strategy Update, Sony has just confirmed it: video downloads will come to the PS3 "this summer". That's first in the US, with a Europe and Japan roll-out later in the year. Plus, Sony will expand the service across their other video-enabled products, which means the PSP and video-enabled Walkmen. There're some other interesting snippets in there too: like the fact that by 2011 90% of Sony electronics will be "network-enabled and wireless-capable." Read on for the full press release.

June 26, 2008
Sony Group Corporate Strategy Update FY2008—FY2010*
“To be the leading global provider of networked consumer electronics and entertainment”

Tokyo, Japan – Sony today presented a series of new initiatives designed to build on its previous
three-year revitalization plan and to position the company as the leading global provider of
networked consumer electronics and entertainment. In particular, the company will focus on
strengthening core businesses, enhancing network initiatives and leveraging international growth
opportunities to build for the future and drive further growth and profits. In addition, Sony
announced the following key mid-term goals:

Expand our PC, Blu-ray DiscTM-related products and component/semiconductor businesses
into “trillion yen businesses**,” joining LCD TVs, digital imaging (digital cameras and
camcorders), game and mobile phones and raising the total number of “trillion yen
businesses” to seven.
Ensure that 90% of our electronics product categories are network-enabled and
wireless-capable by the fiscal year ending March 31, 2011 (“FY2010”).
Roll out video services across key Sony products by FY2010, starting with the summer 2008
launch on the PLAYSTATION®Network.
Double annual revenue from BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries to 2 trillion yen***
by FY2010.

* Three-year period ending March 31, 2011
** Businesses each generating 1 trillion yen or more of annual sales to outside customers, except for Blu-ray Disc
related business which includes intersegment sales
*** Includes Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications and SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT as allocated

Sony has identified a 5% operating margin as a baseline of profitability to generate cash to
continue to lead and innovate. Furthermore we will target an annual return on equity of 10% by
FY2010. Sony is also planning to allocate a total of 1.8 trillion yen to invest in and build key
businesses and technologies over the next three years.

Highlights are as follows:

Further Strengthen Our Core Businesses

Sony intends to maintain a leading position in its “trillion yen businesses” (LCD TVs, digital
imaging, game and mobile phones) and will focus on expanding its PC, Blu-ray Disc-related
products, and component/semiconductor businesses into “trillion yen businesses” by the end of
FY2010. At the same time, we expect to improve the operations of our TV business significantly
and implement a variety of cost reduction measures to restore that business to profitability in the
fiscal year ending March 31, 2009*, and strive for the global No. 1 position in LCD TVs by
FY2010. Of the planned 1.8 trillion yen investment over the next three years, approximately 900
billion yen will be allocated towards strengthening core focus areas within components and
semiconductors, such as image sensors, batteries, display devices and Blu-ray Disc-related
components.
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Sony is also promoting the concept of “open innovation”, whereby we are looking not only inside
the company, but outside for technologies that foster innovation. By combing Sony’s inherent
technological strengths with external expertise, we aim to accelerate R&D efficiency and enable
the company to effectively respond to rapidly changing customer needs and preferences in the
network era. Through the creation of new user experiences, strengthening core businesses,
driving innovation, and minimizing the environmental impact of its operations, Sony will strive to
achieve not only sales volume, but also sustainable and profitable growth.

In the Game segment, the two key drivers of new growth are non-game content and services in
tandem with enhanced network capability. Sony also expects to achieve profitability in this
segment in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2009*, a significant year-on-year improvement due
to hardware cost reductions and an enhanced line-up of software titles for PLAYSTATION®3
(“PS3”). Key Game initiatives are:

1. Expand content and services available on the network platform
2. Continue to expand the PS3 customer base through the strength of Blu-ray Disc
3. Accelerate PS3 sales through upcoming key franchise software titles
4. Continue PS3 cost reduction initiatives

* Forecast as of May 14, 2008

Network Initiatives

Sony will increase network and wireless connectivity across its family of devices and build a
service platform to provide a seamless user experience across our key hardware devices and
content. We are planning to expand services that will enable our customers to enjoy content such
as motion pictures and television programming through the network on a variety of Sony
products such as BRAVIATM LCD TVs, PS3, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) and Walkman® video
music players.

Sony’s unique position in electronics and entertainment allows us to offer compelling network
services. As an example of our potential, this November, Sony Pictures Entertainment will offer
one of the most highly anticipated films of the summer, “Hancock”, exclusively to all internet
connected BRAVIA LCD TVs in the U.S. before it is available on DVD. This film will be
distributed to Sony customers directly to their televisions outside conventional distributors and
without the need for any set-top box. This is an industry first.

Capitalize on Growth in BRIC Countries and Other Emerging Markets

Because Sony believes that the largest growth opportunities exist outside its traditional markets
of Japan, North America and Europe, expanding Sony’s business into new markets is a key area
of focus. New markets in regions including the BRIC countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China
– are developing quickly, and Sony’s business in these countries is growing rapidly. Going
forward, Sony plans to accelerate business expansion through collaboration and integration, not
just within each of the Electronics, Game and Pictures segments, but across the entire Sony
Group.

Sony will target annual sales of 2 trillion yen in the BRIC countries (including revenues from Sony
Ericsson Mobile Communications and SONY BMG) by FY2010, doubling FY2007 sales with
annual Electronics segment sales alone slated to grow from 600 billion yen to 1.2 trillion yen
during this period.

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Environmental Initiatives - Green Management 2010

“Green Management 2010” is a series of mid-term environmental targets that are guiding the
Sony Group in its efforts to help prevent global warming, recycle resources, ensure appropriate
management of chemical substances and address a broad range of other environmental issues.
Through these initiatives, Sony is striving to achieve an absolute reduction in greenhouse gas
emissions, specifically a 7% or greater reduction in CO2 emissions by FY2010 compared to the
level of FY2000.

Financial Strategies for the Mid-Term

In order to generate funds to continue to grow and innovate, Sony has identified a 5 percent
operating margin as a baseline of profitability. Sony is also establishing return on investment
capital as a fundamental framework for evaluating capital investments and potential acquisitions
across the Sony Group to ensure the optimum use of resources. Our targeted investment (an
aggregate of 1.8 trillion yen by the end of FY2010) will put Sony in a position to drive further
growth and innovation over the next three years and beyond. Sony will also target an annual
return on equity of 10% by FY2010. Going forward, we will work to deliver a stable, high level of
profitability while enhancing shareholder value.

The business environment in which Sony operates is changing rapidly and, with the advance in
digital technology and broadband networks, technological innovation is moving at a pace never
experienced before. In order to be a leading company in the digital age, Sony aims to leverage its
unique advantage of producing both hardware and content, continuing to offer cutting-edge
products together with superior content and services to meet the needs and expectations of our
customers.

[Sony and Impress]

We've been keeping you updated about the morphing-screen Rokr E8, and now T-mobile has officially announced its version. Available from July 7, it'll cost $199.99 and that's on a two-year service plan. [PCMag]

The Gadget: The Touchsmart IQ506 is HP's second gen, touch-sensitive computer. In addition to its all-in-one design, built-in webcam, TV tuner and wireless keyboard and mouse, the selling point here is the custom touch interface created by frog design.

Price: $1500 (The IQ504, sans TV-tuner, sells for $1300)

The Verdict: The TouchSmart comes with the standard array of features you'd expect in an all-in-one PC—22-inch widescreen, 2.16 Core 2 Duo Processor, ATSC tuner, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD, 5 USB ports and an SDHC reader. These are all solid features, though not mindblowing. The real hook here is whether or not the touchscreen features are as good as advertised. The short answer is that they're satisfactory within the custom interface, and not so great in the normal Vista environment.

The touch interface has a homescreen with a row of giant, oversized tiles up top, and smaller ones underneath that display various widget-like apps. Examples of these apps include a music player, photo browser, movie player, RSS feed, calendar, weather, chess, solitaire, notes, etc... Both rows can scroll fromside to side, similar to that of the iPhone, and tiles can also be exchanged between the top and bottom rows freely.

Once inside individual apps, they take advantage of using pan and scroll features for lists and thumbnails. The movie player even has a record feature that lets you create a short movie with the webcam that you can email out when finished. The photo browser lets you perform basic adjustments, or even use the touchscreen to crop your photo.

Some apps are better than others. Apps like the photo browser, and weather widget are perfectly suited to the touch interface, because the menus are simple and typing is hardly ever required. The RSS reader and Web Browser are not so great because they both use Internet Explorer as its backbone (you have to enter your RSS feeds as bookmarks in IE). The calendar app is decent if you just want to check your schedule, but you ultimately need the keyboard and mouse to do anything more.

And while the touchscreen works well within the interface, trying to control the rest of Vista (Media Center notwithstanding) can be maddening. Buttons and icons in Vista are too small for fingertaps on the screen, resulting in hitting the wrong button, or not hitting anything at all. I basically gave up on navigating Vista with the touchscreen after the first 30 minutes.

But even within the interface, though it functions competently, you can't help but feel like it needs a bit more polish. Sure, it looks great, but sometimes its choppy or laggy in reacting to your touch, making it feel less than intuitive.

Part of this is due to the fact that the touchscreen isn't a real touchscreen, but rather an IR ring around the front of the monitor that tracks the position of your finger on a 2D plane. When the plane is broken, it interprets that as a mouse click. It isn't microscopically precise, but the big buttons of the custom interface help compensate for that to a degree. While I'm sure this helps keep cost low, It doesn't have the same smooth feel.

The Touchsmart IQ506 is a good computer, both in design and features, but is a little rough around the edges when it comes to it's touch features. If you want a kitchen computer that looks nice, functions well with a keyboard and mouse, and has a few neat touch functions to boot, this $1500 machine, or the IQ504, isn't a bad deal. But if you're expecting to be blown away by the touchscreen experience, you may want to hold off. [HP Touchsmart]

The Gadget: The Touchsmart IQ506 is HP's second gen, touch-sensitive computer. In addition to its all-in-one design, built-in webcam, TV tuner and wireless keyboard and mouse, the selling point here is the custom touch interface created by frog design. Here's why this is not just an imitation iMac.

Price: $1500 (The IQ504, sans TV-tuner, sells for $1300)

The Verdict: The TouchSmart comes with the standard array of features you'd expect in an all-in-one PC—22-inch widescreen, 2.16 Core 2 Duo Processor, ATSC tuner, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HDD, 5 USB ports and an SDHC reader. These are all solid features, though not mindblowing. The real hook here is whether or not the touchscreen features are as good as advertised. The short answer is that they're satisfactory within the custom interface, and not so great in the normal Vista environment.

The touch interface has a homescreen with a row of giant, oversized tiles up top, and smaller ones underneath that display various widget-like apps. Examples of these apps include a music player, photo browser, movie player, RSS feed, calendar, weather, chess, solitaire, notes, etc... Both rows can scroll fromside to side, similar to that of the iPhone, and tiles can also be exchanged between the top and bottom rows freely.

Once inside individual apps, they take advantage of using pan and scroll features for lists and thumbnails. The movie player even has a record feature that lets you create a short movie with the webcam that you can email out when finished. The photo browser lets you perform basic adjustments, or even use the touchscreen to crop your photo.

Some apps are better than others. Apps like the photo browser, and weather widget are perfectly suited to the touch interface, because the menus are simple and typing is hardly ever required. The RSS reader and Web Browser are not so great because they both use Internet Explorer as its backbone (you have to enter your RSS feeds as bookmarks in IE). The calendar app is decent if you just want to check your schedule, but you ultimately need the keyboard and mouse to do anything more.

And while the touchscreen works well within the interface, trying to control the rest of Vista (Media Center notwithstanding) can be maddening. Buttons and icons in Vista are too small for fingertaps on the screen, resulting in hitting the wrong button, or not hitting anything at all. I basically gave up on navigating Vista with the touchscreen after the first 30 minutes.

But even within the interface, though it functions competently, you can't help but feel like it needs a bit more polish. Sure, it looks great, but sometimes its choppy or laggy in reacting to your touch, making it feel less than intuitive.

Part of this is due to the fact that the touchscreen isn't a real touchscreen, but rather an IR ring around the front of the monitor that tracks the position of your finger on a 2D plane. When the plane is broken, it interprets that as a mouse click. It isn't microscopically precise, but the big buttons of the custom interface help compensate for that to a degree. While I'm sure this helps keep cost low, It doesn't have the same smooth feel.

The Touchsmart IQ506 is a good computer, both in design and features, but is a little rough around the edges when it comes to it's touch features. If you want a kitchen computer that looks nice, functions well with a keyboard and mouse, and has a few neat touch functions to boot, this $1500 machine, or the IQ504, isn't a bad deal. But if you're expecting to be blown away by the touchscreen experience, you may want to hold off. [HP Touchsmart]

Studio is Dell's new line of notebooks that'll sit in between Inspiron (low end) and XPS (high end), taking design cues from the latter—like its tapered lines, hinge design and slot-loading optical drive—and bringing 'em to a more value-oriented set, with a Skittles seven color palette (and some cool artist designs coming later). Yes, Dell finally gets that design matters, even in the chubby middle! (Check out that Apple-flavored dock.) The 15-inch model starts at $799, but LED backlighting, Blu-ray options or upgrading to the 17-incher will obviously bump that up. We've got the full spec list for each below, if you're itchin' to see the numbers.
[Dell]

Dell's Studio Laptops will be getting a little touch of the Mac OS when they ship, thanks to the Dell Dock, a launcher that cleans up the Vista desktop in the most charming, albeit derivative, way. Below you can see "Before" and "After" images of the cleanup:

Here's the standard Vista desktop:

And here it is when it's been all Dockified:

Dell talks about customizing it in various ways by adding and deleting icons, changing colors and adding text:The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

There's no mention of whether you can move it to the bottom or sides, though. Wouldn't that be, uh, Mac friendly? All joking aside, I would like to say kudos to Dell for the cool execution. I, for one, can't wait to test it out.

[Dell]

Linksys today announced EasyLink Advisor setup wizard for Mac OSX 10.4 and up, available for download in support of WRT310N, WRT160N, WRT110 and WRT54G2. New routers will ship with a disc containing both Mac and Windows setups. The other good news is that Linksys and parent company Cisco will now support Mac users when they call for tech support. As a fan of Linksys and Macs, all I can say is, "It's about freakin' time." [Linksys]

Tonight, we finally got our hands on the BlackBerry Bold, and it was worth the wait. You've already seen the UI, which yes, it's that snappy and smooth. The screen is nice 'n' crispy, if a lil' tiny for extended cinematic pursuits. But the real q: How's the browser? Damn skippy. It not only renders Giz correctly (a feat that makes most mobile browsers cry blood), it's fast (thanks AT&T), and zooming in and out with the trackball works pretty well.

Smaller than the 8800, but bigger than the Curve, it feels really nice in your hand. Well, our hand. The keyboard is solid, as expected—BlackBerries live and die by the keyboard. Sweet design, more features, a great browser and the most consumer-oriented feel of any BlackBerry yet. This is the BlackBerry you've been wanting.

In the numbers soup of RIM's quarterly earnings today, there is a one bit that stood out to us: RIM is pushing hard on R&D and marketing next quarter, to the tune of an expected 26-28 percent increase in expenses. In other words, it's going to spend serious cash to promote the hell out of the BlackBerry Bold, Thunder and Kickstart, while furiously developing new wares behind the scenes to try to stay ahead (or keep up, depending on how you see BlackBerry). But it's a fight for survival either way. [Alley Insider]

Joel spent all day with Syd Mead of Aliens, Blade Runner, 2010, Tron vehicle design fame and the first thing he's posted is this Lego Blade Runner Spinner Car replica that Lego made for him. It's the only one in the world. More photos at [BoingBoing Gadgets.]