Letter to Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Playstation 3 Team

I love the video downloads online being offered through the Playstation Network Store.  So I could only wonder when SCEA would offer music downloads and I wrote them the following letter.

July 18th, 2008

Dear Sony Computer Entertainment of America,

I recently became truly excited about the new Playstation Network store providing Videos rentals and purchases online.  GREAT WORK!

And I was wondering if there are any plans to start offering Music downloads in an online music store offered for download (hey what about Sony BM).

Thanks for taking the time.

Adam Stafford
AdamEntity.com

I hope they get back to me soon so I have some news for you.

PS3 Movies available in the Playstation Store

So it’s been announced and the still isn’t much to compete with the Netflix service, but it is available for those of you that want to watch a movie without the monthly service commitment.

The Netflix service is being made available to the XBox 360 community according to yesterdays news, however you have to be a Gold member in order to truly enjoy it. What’s with that?  There are users that have created application that already connect their XBox 360 to Netflix…  Duh…

So I went into the store to check out the library and found ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ for $2.99 on 14/24 rental or $9.99 to purchase.  (14/24 Means you have 14-days to watch the movie within 24-hours of first hitting play.)  I also noticed that the movie was only available in SD (Standard Definition) format and will have to check out the quality on my HDTV.  I don’t think I will be purchasing many movies online, especially in SD format, as I will continue using my Netflix.

Let me say this first as a Netflix customer, I LOVE MY NETFLIX!  And it provides me with unlimited downloading of it ‘Watch Instantly’ content on my $16.99 a month plan, however it does not have an up-to-date collection of movies to watch (Mostly documentaries and movies from the late 80’s).  Secondly, it relies on Windows DRM for content distribution which will be some time before we see this available on the PS3, if ever.

PS3 Hard drive crashes after upgrade from 2.40 to 2.41

Thank God, Sony Entertainment Corporation pulled the firmware update when they did.  I didn’t get the 2.40 firmware so I am unable to test the situation and verify the problems people are having.

I ran across a blog which had the following to say about Call of Duty 4 crashing after the update from 2.40 to 2.41.

This is some news that has affected myself and also a few other people that I know, lets find out if its just a small number of people or a much wider issue with the Playstation 3.

Since updating to firmware 2.41 from 2.40, my Sony PS3 crashes a lot and this has happened in games like Call of Duty 4 (as reported before). At first I felt this may be an issue with COD4 and the recent firmware, but after hearing from others having crashes with COD4 it may not be the case.

SOURCE: My Sony PS3 Crashes A Lot: Hard drive maybe : Product Reviews Net

Review: Incipio Wallet for Zune 80GB

Review done for GotZune.com

Vendor: Incipio

Price: $24.99

This review if for Incipio’s Zune 80 wallet case, in caramel leather.

The Incipio Wallet is a snug fitting quality leather case with a suede insert.  It can fit a few cards such as your drivers license, credit card and some cash.  The stitching encompasses the entire case adding to the overall presentation.

Features

• Quality leather and suede.
• Designed to allow access to all controls and inputs.
• Compact design to easily fit in pocket or purse.
• Protects well against damage or scratches.
• Backed by Incipio’s Legendary Lifetime Warrant

Incipio Wallet Video Review

Read the rest of this entry »

Paige Hurd gives away Zune for charitable donations

Teen Actress Paige Hurd know for her roles on ‘Everybody Hates Chris,’ and ‘Beauty Shop) is asking everyone to donate to children’s charitable cause rather than send gifts for her.  Unlike the out-of-control kids that get overly spoiled on that MTV show, Hurd is interested in actual causes that affect others.

Her enthusiasm is derived from her willingness to help children living with cancer just like her 6 year old brother Pierce.  All she is asking is that everyone make a $5 dollar donation that will entitle each purchaser to a raffle ticket that will be received via email. (100% is turned over to charity) The drawing will be held on July 19th and the winners will be posted on July 20th via her blog PaigeHurdSweet16.blogspot.com.  This is in addition to the two parties she will be hosting in California’s Club Oxygen.

The following 16 prizes will be raffled:

• T-Mobile Sidekick
• Juicy Handbag
• Cruise to the Mexican Riviera
• Zune Music Players (2 to win)
• $1500 Croton Watch (2 to win)
• Spa Massage Package (from The Right Touch)
• Online Foreign Language Lessons (Edu Fire)
• A Wardrobe Prize Pack from LRG/Luxirie
• A Wardrobe Prize Pack from Lucky Brand Jeans
• An outstanding Beauty Pack from Sephora
• Cool Girl Decks (Skate Board)

Sources: PR-Inside.com and Paige Hurd’s Sweet16 Blog

Playstation 3 in stores August 2008

The new Playstation 3 will be hitting stores shelves in August as leaked by some documentation from Walmart that suggests the PS3 will be replaced.  This story was picked up by Joystiq who provided this scan of the alleged document.

Some folks have called it the PS3 Elite but I hope that’s not what the official name will be since this was used already for the XBox 360.  I already have mine but I am looking for a second PS3 and HDTV to have in-house gaming when friends come over.  Maybe they will take a break from Everquest to come over…

Reasons to choose the Playstation 3

Well I came across a question in the Playstation forums asking why you chose the PS3, this was a GREAT question.  I spent alot of time making this big purchase for pleasure and here was my response:

I did my research and compared consoles.  Playstation 3 had everything I wanted in it without the gotchas.

• It came with a large hard drive (included) that I can upgrade myself withouy voiding the warranty.  And it’s soooo easy!
• It’s capable of being used as a Linux computer! Ubuntu Gutsy, if you havent installed it or not using it.  Your short changing yourself.  So you probably aren’t using an Epson printer connected to it either…    Although installing the OS requires you to loose what you have cause it should have been installed prior to using the system.  You can download the image for the PS3 Ubuntu operating system and get complete documentation here: Ubuntu PS3
• I watched the DVD war over Bluray and HDDVD and knew Bluray wold come out the winner.  The Bluray player was once again INCLUDED and did not require an additiona purchase to enjoy movies.  And to think people complained about spending $400 on a PS3 but thats the same cost as buying just a Bluray DVD player but you also get a gaming console using some pretty intense processing power.
• Visually it outdid the other consoles and met my needs.  I’m pretty fit so I didnt need the excersise one of them offers.
• It’s smart very system and design that has destroyed market growth over such a short period of time.  Remember it hasnt been on the market as long as the others but it was well worth the wait.
• Certain games you can’t do without.  One of them being Call of Duty 4 which I compared side by side with another system, the textures and colors were sooo much better.
• UPDATES!  The system is constantly changing and growing.  With an active internet connection its all available for free.
• Which brings me to the last thing: I don’t have to pay ANY monthly fees to get online.  Except now with Playstation Qore being released but, it’s still a very small price to pay for what your getting annually.

And that pretty much sums it up for me.  It was a smart purchase! www.adamentity.com
PSN: AdamEntity

Let me know if you agree or have other reasons…

The Internet’s Newest and Coolest Toy: PicLens

This has to be the coolest thing I have seen in a long time on the Internet.  And to make it even cooler is the fact that its free.

The software which is available for many commonly used browsers and platforms provide a 3D virtualization of pictures, videos and even shopping.  If you have a Media Center PC and a large LCD then you can take advantage of the awesome interface to interact with YouTube, Flickr and even Amazon.com.  This is way too cool not to check out so I am sharing it will all of you.

Try searching the top right hand corner for Happy Tree Friends on YouTube.  It’s just wrong…

Download: www.piclens.com FREE

Download: www.piclens.com FREE
Then check out the sites that have PicLens enabled.