TechRadar.com is running a piece today where Microsoft's Chris Stephenson has spoken out in an interview about the upcoming Zune Video Marketplace. We'll have more on this as and when the official announcement happens next week at E3! (Also spoken about as the new ZuneHD player, but no mention of and Irish release yet!)
For now have a gander over the piece below (Thanks to TechRadar.com for this!)
"A service called Zune Video will be arriving on the Xbox 360 in key markets including the UK, with Microsoft confirming that it will pair two of its brands as it separately announced a new Zune media player for the US.
Zune Video, a 'revised' service to the current US Zune Marketplace, will arrive in the UK on Xbox Live, as well as in the US, France, Italy, Germany, Ireland and Spain.
In an interview with the Guardian, ahead of the official announcement later this week, Microsoft's Chris Stephenson explained the thinking behind moving Zune to Xbox.
"Xbox as a platform is broadening its audience, growing beyond games into living room entertainment," said Stephenson.
"That's what's driven the prioritisation of an enhanced Zune video service to Xbox… It's about changing the way people think about entertainment."
Not a Zune-gamer phone
The revelation falls far short of some predictions that a Zune mobile phone or portable games console was all set to be unveiled.
Meanwhile, confirmation of a new Zune player have been released, with Reuters posting up some of the details in a brief report.
The new Zune HD will, as the name suggests, incorporate high definition video, have a touch-screen and Wi-Fi connectivity.
The WiFi heralds the arrival of a web browser, and there will also apparently be an internet radio and the promise of better quality radio playback.
"Yes. We've got a tremendous device," added Stephenson. "This is a fantastic piece of hardware and absolutely it's going right up against iPod Touch; it's hyper competitive against that product.
Stephenson also talked more about the potential for gaming on the Zune, stating in the same Gurdian games blog article:
"Well, gaming on the handheld device is definitely a big opportunity for us, we have the DNA in our business.
"We're not talking specifically about the gaming aspect of our hardware platform at the moment, but it's definitely something that over time, we want to step up, and we'll have more announcements around that in the future."
A massive explosion rips through six square blocks of EmpireCity!! annihilating everything and everyone in its path. Everyone, that is, except for one man: Cole MacGrath not only survived the blast, he’s been transformed by it.We asked the Producer Of The game Brian Fleming and also the Game Director Nate Fox, some questions that YOU Gamers wanted to know about the game! Here's what they said...
Brian Fleming
Producer & Co-Founder
Sucker Punch Productions
How has the make-up of Sucker Punch changed during development of inFamous?
The game has a much bigger scope, much more content, so much more detail than anything we’ve ever tried before…It’s borderline crazy for a team of sixty people to try to build a game like this, but we have always valued being a smaller sized team because it keeps us nimble.I never thought I’d say “nimble” about a sixty person team, but it still feels that way!So many new specialized positions for this title: high detail character artists, full-time lighting, a team of 2 guys just detailing out the climbing system across a city’s worth of buildings.But in the end, I think inFamous is very much going to be a game with similar strengths to our previous work… Excellent controller feel during gameplay, strong storyline, and incredibly detailed/interactive environments…It’s who we are!
Why just electricity? Was there a temptation to go full-on elemental, to include fire and water powers?
We never entertained fire and water powers for Cole, though we did entertain those for enemies at one brainstorming meeting—though we never could really work out how water or earth might really work out.At the beginning, we started off with a blank slate, and just prototyped… We tried all sorts of powers in the first year of the development cycle—always looking for things which gave us the feeling of being powerful, had cool impact on the environment, and which gave lots of good gameplay opportunities.Electricity had some very encouraging initial prototypes and that got us excited, so we started more focused brainstorming there.We found great relationships between the hero powers, and the city itself.And then things got rolling—you start simulating the power system of the city and you end up with a super model for influence and control on neighbourhoods.Healing peds like a defibrillator happens and things start to make even more sense.It just sort of snowballed from there.The constraint of “just electricity” ends up being hugely helpful to the brainstorming process, kind of opposite of what you might expect.
Can you name examples of the comics/movies/TV shows that inspired the premise of inFamous?
Egads, how long do you have?If you forced me to pick a few big ones, I’d say Batman Begins (early on) and the more recent Dark Knight movie certainly connected for a lot of us.For print, I’d point first at Brian Woods’ work, especially DMZ, as something we talked about a bunch when trying to imagine the world of EmpireCity.We’d already begun development of the title when the Heroes TV show started airing, and we constantly talked about how it portrayed ordinary people as heroes… You didn’t need a spandex suit to be a super-hero.That was encouraging and inspiring, too…
Can you tell me more about how the blackout in Seattle had some effect on the concept of the game – is this true? Can you relay that story for our readers?
On December 14th, 2006 a huge rainstorm hit the Pacific Northwest, followed by 70+ MPH winds… Besides putting a serious dent in the Sucker Punch holiday party that year, the storm knocked out a huge amount of the electrical power infrastructure.Our offices were in one of the 5 square blocks that had power the whole time, but many employees had no electricity at home for days and days.The first day it’s sort of an adventure; you eat the ice cream melting in the freezer, and enjoy the candles.But then you see the police take over the only working gas station and turn away the public.Streetlights and signals are off for a week.Most folks don’t have a generator so they endure 40 degree nights, or bring their baby and wife to the office to stay warm.
So this all happens a year into the development of inFamous… We happen to be creating a fictional world which doesn’t just have a power outage; it has a law enforcement vacuum, and some actual destruction from a bomb blast.Now let it drag on for weeks and weeks.More than anything the blackout helped us imagine the world of EmpireCity much more vividly.
What are the real-world inspirations behind the city’s design?
Super hero comics and movies were the principal inspiration—and super heroes are so closely linked to city life, it seemed obvious from the beginning that we were talking big-city locales….We looked to New York for some of the architecture and design elements, it’s kind of the god-father of super hero cities…But we certainly aren’t trying to make New York, we looked at a ton of international cities (Tokyo, Montreal come to mind), and always looked for cityscapes which had really excellent climbing related architecture as well—we knew from the beginning that Cole was going to use the city like a 3D jungle gym.I remember our game director, Nate, kept bringing in all these photo reference pieces from Kowloon, which were crazy complex and detailed—telling us all “This is what we gotta make!!”
Can you explain how the customisation of Cole works in the game? Every player, we assume, is imbued with electric powers – how, then, can one character differentiate from the next?
I’m going to have to pass on this one—I see our PR folks are about to electrocute me with their powers if I spill.
Has the release of GTA IV affected the way you create your open world? Did you see that title and go: ‘Okay, let’s add this so that we keep ahead of the times’?
Not especially.Clearly GTA IV is the big dog of open world games, and we’d be stupid if we didn’t play it, study it and learn.But the big differences in inFamous – the totally explorable, climbable, and detailed environment, the simulated city and crime ecology, discovering and mastering your powers, the decisions you make to save or destroy…Those were in place long before GTA IV shipped.
How long would it take a player to travel from one side of EmpireCity to the other?
Well that will depend on the method you use to traverse it!Is this the beginning of the game?If yes then it’s essentially impossible… Not only are bridges out but the power grid is down in most places and you’d never survive the journey -- even if you could make it across the bridges.By the end of the storyline, your journey will of course be possible… You’ll have acquired powers which enhance your navigation through the world, there’s trains running around the city you can hop rides on, etc.
Are there advantages to being under the Sony umbrella? Do you have an open dialogue with other developers within the PS3 community?
Without question there are advantages – the largest of which is the amazing team at Sony America who produces our titles.They’ve been amazing partners over the last 10 years and have always supported and challenged us to make our games better.We trust our publisher—something that seems quite rare.
We also have been fortunate to have a close and open relationship with the teams at Naughty Dog and Insomniac, two amazing teams whose ability to make excellent titles always inspires us.We trade tools, approaches and offer advice to each other.It’s another great part of our gig.
Can you talk a little bit about developing on the PS3 for inFamous? How can you build upon it in future?
We’ve enjoyed the PS3 development experience.As a PS3-only studio, we’ve had the chance to focus on and extract a lot of the power that the platform offers, which sort of feels like a luxury at times.I’ve said this in previous interviews but the SPUs are simply amazing.Of the things we could move onto the SPUs, we’ll get about half of them there in this generation of our technology—occlusion, rendering, particle systems, ect.But there’s much more we can move, it’s just a matter of time until we do so, and I can’t wait to make games with our next generation engine!
Have you cast any voice actors for the project?
As I write this we’re 24 hours from our second major recording session.Casting voice actors who capture the vibe of a character in the game is a surprisingly difficult part of the process.I know for one of the bosses on the game, who has a small-ish overall line count, we listened to between 70 and 100 auditions for that role.Actors from Seattle, Portland, LA and New York did readings for the part.We cast an actor, had them record the part, and then decided we didn’t like it, so pitched it and tried the process again.Hopefully the results will show up in the final game!
Additionally, we try very hard to schedule our recording sessions with multiple actors in the booth at once.So if Cole is talking to his friend Zeke about how much they miss pizza delivery ever since the blast – we put both those guys in the booth and record it as a conversation.If you listen to a lot of game audio, you can tell they recorded the halves of the conversation in isolation – and it has a subtle but very important effect on the quality of the performances.
The moral choices you make in the game – how much of an effect does it have on the outcome of the story, or indeed the tasks you’re handed by the game? Is it just a case of watching a different ending FMV, or have you tackled it in a new way?
(Answer redacted by a sharp-eyed marketing team member who points out that this is being revealed at a later date)
What types of tasks can players engage in outside of the main story?
Beyond the main story, we’ve built a sort of crime eco-system constantly running in EmpireCity.It’ll offer up lots of heroic and not-so-heroic opportunities to the player.Will you save those pedestrians being rounded up by the Reapers?Or will you blow the whole lot to smithereens?Want to help the few remaining cops retake their police station and try to establish some order?These choices are yours!
We’re almost sorry to ask, but have you played Crackdown on the 360? That game had quite a cool mechanic for scaling buildings – how do you feel inFamous compares with its equivalent system?
Don’t apologize, it’s a common connection.I think people hear superheroes in a modern setting and they connect the two.And for the record Crackdown was a fun if under-appreciated game that many of us played and liked!
Cole’s climbing and exploration abilities are one part scaling buildings athletically and gracefully, and one part vertical duck and cover combat.It’s empowering, fluid and works everywhere you think it should… Want to climb that drain pipe, leap to the windows and then off the building onto the nearby streetlight?That should be effortless…. We’re trying to give a complete sense of freedom to the player, while trying to make things feel believable and grounded enough that it seems entirely possible.And the fact that you can use your powers while climbing means you can use poles and structures for cover and to get better firing angles.All together you’re looking at the most core mechanics of the entire game—movement and using your powers—so things better work pretty well!
Nate Fox
Game Director
Sucker Punch Productions
Cole isn’t alone in the game; can you talk about his companions and their role?
Like any good superhero story Cole is surrounded by a supporting cast of bad-asses.Zeke’s the best friend who sometimes helps out in the field (AKA- the Sidekick).Trish is the love interest, she runs all around town helping out as a guerrilla medic.And finally there’s Moya, Cole’s mysterious source for Intel.
How hard has it been to give the player so much power but still provide a challenge in the game?
Since we’re trying to give Players the feeling of becoming a modern day superhero it sort of demands a full slate of amped-up powers.To provide a challenge we’ve crafted a large Rogue’s Gallery of equally gifted enemies.After all, powerful iconic villains are a must for any superhero experience.
If Cole can be good or evil how do you define the ‘bad’ guys?
Anyone trying to kill Cole or his buddies is the enemy.It’s pretty simple really, Cole’s on quest that allows him the flexibility to be either selfless or selfish, good or evil… and anyone that tries to keep him from his goal is gonna get a lightning bolt to the face.
Pitch your game to someone who’s never heard of it before in 50 words.
InFamous takes a realistic, modern-day look at super heroes -- it's not set in a fantasy world, it's set in our world. What would happen if you suddenly found yourself with super powers? How would your friends react? What would the public think of you? Those are the issues that inFamous explores, all while offering a dynamic, open-world environment.
What’s different about developing your game now compared to developing something when the PS3 launched?
It took a while to get our new streaming engine up and running, but now that it’s here “life is good”.It’s easy to create elaborate cinematic missions packed with a variety of enemies.And since it’s a sandbox game you end up getting all this spontaneous interaction between systems.
How is development coming along? When can we expect to see the finished product?
The game's coming along pretty well and we're right on target for a release in Spring 2009, and it's fun to play. I guess that's the big thing, isn't it?
What will set your title apart from other games of its genre?
Our hero, Cole, has powers that are designed from the ground up to work well in the context of a videogame. For example, he can shoot lighting bolts out of his hands -- why? Because shooting in videogames works really freaking well. Same with being able to climb everywhere in the world and jump between buildings -- it's fun to do! This is our core strategy in crafting our superhero -- we're building the world around his powers and his powers around what's fun to do in the world.
How have things panned out since we talked six months ago? When do you anticipate the game hitting the shelves?
You wouldn’t believe me if I told you how much has been built, changed, and improved over the last six months.Virtually every aspect of the game is better, runs faster, and of course there’s tons more to do in EmpireCity.Development cycles, especially for new projects like inFamous, are really strange…At least the first half of the project feels like total darkness, trying things which fail, working in a toolset that has bugs, and the game is always missing the feature you need.Then sometime, in our case about 8 months before the end – things start coming together.Each day is more fun, you get more work done, and the game starts to really get good.We are making the game better every single day, and will continue polishing and improving an awful lot before we finish!You should see inFamous on store shelves this Spring!
We understand that Cole’s powers will centre on electricity. Can you tell us what went into this decision and why electricity.
You know it was one of the strong candidates from the beginning for us… Clearly it wasn’t our only idea though, so we did what we always do—which is start trying things… We prototyped some electricity powers, and of course some other powers too… And started playing with them—in test worlds, in combat…After our first couple rounds of prototyping, electricity is visually strong, and playing strong, so we start doing focused brainstorming around that – and then the really good stuff starts coming up—hey, we can use it to revive dead guys on the street!Oh yeah, we can power up dead machinery… Hey, the entire city electric grid can be simulated, we can use that!And when you hit that stage—where brainstorming meetings are turning out great, usable ideas, that’s when you know you’re onto something.
It’s been a while since we heard about any of the enemy types. Can you describe any to us just to help add somecolour to the feature?
Well, there’s all sorts of enemies, as you probably expect… You’ve seen the Reaper gang, but not their leader… You’ve probably also not seen all the different unit types in the Reaper gang either, so let me assure you that the grunts with guns, and the taller, teleporting elites, those are just two of four unit types of that one gang... And of course the boss of the reapers, we haven’t talked about her yet… We’ll talk more about the other gangs as we get a bit closer to launch too, so stay tuned!
Has Cole developed a surname yet?
MacGrath...We drew from his back story, and looked at lots of Irish Clan history, mottos, and crests and picked MacGrath because we liked the fit.The crest includes a Maltese Cross indicating the family was dedicated to healing, and also battle axes indicating the family was often involved in battles.It’s not like his crest is a part of the game, but there was a lot of care taken, even at this level.Salus in fide!
Can you give us two-line bio of each of his sidekick characters and briefly outline an example of how each will help you during gameplay?
I think helpers is probably the wrong way to look at the cast – they’re involved, important, but independent of Cole.Well so far, we’ve introduced Zeke, conspiracy theorist, survivalist and blood brother with Cole.He’ll fight alongside you at times, but you know, Zeke’s his own man, so don’t expect that to be super common.Trish is Cole’s on-again/off-again girlfriend, a med-student, and one who can really sharpen the point of some of Cole’s moral dilemmas in the game.Moya is the law, she’s outside the Quarantined parts of Empire City, but has decent intelligence reports, and strikes a deal with Cole to clear his name if he keeps his end of the bargain.
How do you make both the good and evil paths through the game rewarding? In Bioshock, it felt like there was a slight imbalance where it was more rewarding to do good than bad – is this something you’re addressing? Will you get different endings depending on your morals?
I think of it less of separate paths, more of appropriate experiences and responses… We try to give you a little taste of what it’s like to be famous, or infamous… It’s not like in one ending the city blows to smithereens and in the other it becomes a utopia… That “fork the story” is not what holds our interest as storytellers… What we like is the little stuff, the people passing you on the street and taking your picture, or ganging up on you to try to exact revenge…The endings can indeed be, but that’s not really the point we’re trying to make…
What’s the latest on multiplayer and online play? Co-op is really ‘in’ at the mo – will it be supported?
Nope, sorry…
Let us in on what a few of your Trophies will be awarded for...
Whatever our QA staff and design team deems as the most worthy!Got any suggestions?
The day you've been waiting for is here. Sprint just announced that the Pre will cost $199.99 after $100 mail-rebate and 2-year contract and will launch on June 6th as rumored this morning. The phone will go on sale nationwide (US-only for the moment) at Sprint stores, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and select Wal-Mart stores. The Pre will be available under Sprint's Everything Data or Business Essentials with Messaging and Data plans. Accessories include the optional $69.99 Touchstone charging dock kit that includes the $49.99 dock and $19.99 Pre back cover. June 6th, that's two days before the WWDC keynote. Poor Apple.
Note: Looking more info? Check out our giant Palm Pre hub!
The free arcade style 3D side-scrolling MMORPG Dragonica has been online for Europe during its Closed Beta for less than a week at the www.gpotato.eu gaming portal, with the official release planned for June 2009. In order to perform server tests and allow all users to take part in the CBT Community Events, the gPotato Team have decided to open the servers to all gPotato.eu users for a 4 days Stress Test beginning 19th of May.
For the first time in western countries, the highly anticipated action MMORPG Dragonica has been made available to a selected amount of players for the European Beta Test on the 13th of May. Since then, many events, such as Combo Challenge or Screenshot Contest, have been lead by the gPotato Community Team, and many more are planned for the coming days.
All gPotato.eu users will be able to participate in the upcoming events, as the gPotato Team opens Dragonica to the public for a 4 days Stress Test leading to the end of the beta test on Friday the 22nd. During these four days, users will be able to discover the colorful world of Dragotaka and the action-paced gameplay of Dragonica. All beta users who reach level 20 before the end of the tests will be able to reserve their character name and receive rewards at the official launch of the game next month.
In order to have access to the Dragonica Stress Test, just create a free account on the www.gpotato.eu gaming portal, download the game from the official Dragonica website, and play!
Sony Ericsson launches challenge to capture millions of smiles around the world
Sony Ericsson and RTE 2FM’s Nikki Hayes have launched a nationwide “smile hunt” across Ireland today. As part of the global Sony Ericsson Smile Hunter campaign, to look for the best smile hunters from around the world, Sony Ericsson is offering two lucky people from Ireland the chance to become Sony Ericsson official Smile Hunters.
Sony Ericsson’s Smile Hunters will get to go to the most prestigious events, exclusive parties, meet new people and travel to exciting places as a Sony Ericsson VIP – for free. In return, the Smile Hunters will be challenged to capture as many smiles as possible on their mobile camera phones and to keep a blog about the stories they gather behind the smiles.
Nikki Hayes, who is one of Ireland’s most popular radio presenters, will be leading the search for smiles around the country by becoming Sony Ericsson’s official Smile Hunter Ambassador for Ireland, taking pictures on her Sony Ericsson C905 camera phone whenever she’s out and about. Nikki will then post her photos on the Sony Ericsson Smile Hunter website for everyone to see. Nikki said “I love taking photographs on my C905 camera phone so catching smiles will be easy for me plus most people know that I spend a lot of time blogging!”
Anyone who thinks they could be a Sony Ericsson Smile Hunter must first apply online at www.sonyericsson.com/smilehunter. A shortlist will be selected by a panel of judges who will decide who makes it through to the final experience. Once selected, Sony Ericsson Smile Hunters will be given ‘Smile Hunting Kits’ containing everything they need for an action-packed summer – including a new Sony Ericsson Cybershot™ C510 camera phone with innovative Smile Shutter™ technology - the ultimate tool for capturing smiles - gig tickets, VIP passes to exclusive events, trips for you and your friends, festival tickets and entrance to exclusive club nights.
Sony Ericsson’s clever Smile Shutter™ technology is the latest in camera phone sophistication. Available with both the Sony Ericsson C510 Cyber-shot™ and C905 Cyber-shot™ upgrade, the Smile Shutter™ detects a person’s smile and immediately takes the photograph - capturing the perfect smiling-shot every time. Missed smiles are a thing of the past with this revolutionary smile hunting tool.
Even if you don’t make it through to be an official Sony Ericsson Smile Hunter, there will be a chance to take part in an exciting global smile hunter competition, in which anyone can enter by simply uploading their best camera phone ‘smile’ photos to an interactive gallery on the official website www.sonyericsson.com/smilehunter.
A global judging panel comprising David Viggers, international photographer, Tony Briggs, celebrity portrait photographer, Martin Wezowski, design producer for Sony Ericsson, Liu Heung Shing, Time magazine’s first photojournalist (based in Beijing) and Angela Boatwright, the international photographer with rocker roots, will travel to London to vote for their favourite smile photos uploaded by the Smile Hunters and the general public.
However, it’s not just the judges who will choose the winners, the general public will be able to vote for their favourite smile photos in the interactive gallery on the Smile Hunter website, with the person with the most votes being crowned the ‘People’s Global Winner’. All entrants could be in with a chance of winning a range of amazing prizes, from a trip for two to visit the new youth culture wonders of the world, to having their images displayed in a local exhibition.
Russell Keating, Marketing Manager, Sony Ericsson Ireland said: “With Smile Shutter™ technology, taking great smile photos couldn’t be simpler. Mobile phone technology is evolving incredibly quickly and it’s amazing what can be achieved. The Smile Hunters have an exciting adventure ahead of them and we can’t wait to see the smiles they capture along the way.”
If you think that you have what it takes to be a great Sony Ericsson Smile Hunter, or want to find out how to take part, log onto www.sonyericsson.com/smilehunter for more information and deliver your pitch for why you should be picked.
About Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson is a top, global industry player with sales of around 97million phones in 2008. Diversity is one of the core strengths of the company, with operations in over 80 countries including manufacturing in China and R&D sites in China, Europe, India, Japan and North America. Sony Ericsson was established as a 50:50 joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in October 2001, with global corporate functions located in London. For more information about Sony Ericsson please visit www.sonyericsson.com.
Sony Ericsson launches challenge to capture millions of smiles around the world
Dublin: Sunday, May 17th, 2009 – Sony Ericsson and RTE 2FM’s Nikki Hayes have launched a nationwide “smile hunt” across Ireland today. As part of the global Sony Ericsson Smile Hunter campaign, to look for the best smile hunters from around the world, Sony Ericsson is offering two lucky people from Ireland the chance to become Sony Ericsson official Smile Hunters.
Sony Ericsson’s Smile Hunters will get to go to the most prestigious events, exclusive parties, meet new people and travel to exciting places as a Sony Ericsson VIP – for free. In return, the Smile Hunters will be challenged to capture as many smiles as possible on their mobile camera phones and to keep a blog about the stories they gather behind the smiles.
Nikki Hayes, who is one of Ireland’s most popular radio presenters, will be leading the search for smiles around the country by becoming Sony Ericsson’s official Smile Hunter Ambassador for Ireland, taking pictures on her Sony Ericsson C905 camera phone whenever she’s out and about. Nikki will then post her photos on the Sony Ericsson Smile Hunter website for everyone to see. Nikki said “I love taking photographs on my C905 camera phone so catching smiles will be easy for me plus most people know that I spend a lot of time blogging!”
Anyone who thinks they could be a Sony Ericsson Smile Hunter must first apply online at www.sonyericsson.com/smilehunter. A shortlist will be selected by a panel of judges who will decide who makes it through to the final experience. Once selected, Sony Ericsson Smile Hunters will be given ‘Smile Hunting Kits’ containing everything they need for an action-packed summer – including a new Sony Ericsson Cybershot™ C510 camera phone with innovative Smile Shutter™ technology - the ultimate tool for capturing smiles - gig tickets, VIP passes to exclusive events, trips for you and your friends, festival tickets and entrance to exclusive club nights.
Sony Ericsson’s clever Smile Shutter™ technology is the latest in camera phone sophistication. Available with both the Sony Ericsson C510 Cyber-shot™ and C905 Cyber-shot™ upgrade, the Smile Shutter™ detects a person’s smile and immediately takes the photograph - capturing the perfect smiling-shot every time. Missed smiles are a thing of the past with this revolutionary smile hunting tool.
Even if you don’t make it through to be an official Sony Ericsson Smile Hunter, there will be a chance to take part in an exciting global smile hunter competition, in which anyone can enter by simply uploading their best camera phone ‘smile’ photos to an interactive gallery on the official website www.sonyericsson.com/smilehunter.
A global judging panel comprising David Viggers, international photographer, Tony Briggs, celebrity portrait photographer, Martin Wezowski, design producer for Sony Ericsson, Liu Heung Shing, Time magazine’s first photojournalist (based in Beijing) and Angela Boatwright, the international photographer with rocker roots, will travel to London to vote for their favourite smile photos uploaded by the Smile Hunters and the general public.
However, it’s not just the judges who will choose the winners, the general public will be able to vote for their favourite smile photos in the interactive gallery on the Smile Hunter website, with the person with the most votes being crowned the ‘People’s Global Winner’. All entrants could be in with a chance of winning a range of amazing prizes, from a trip for two to visit the new youth culture wonders of the world, to having their images displayed in a local exhibition.
Russell Keating, Marketing Manager, Sony Ericsson Ireland said: “With Smile Shutter™ technology, taking great smile photos couldn’t be simpler. Mobile phone technology is evolving incredibly quickly and it’s amazing what can be achieved. The Smile Hunters have an exciting adventure ahead of them and we can’t wait to see the smiles they capture along the way.”
If you think that you have what it takes to be a great Sony Ericsson Smile Hunter, or want to find out how to take part, log onto www.sonyericsson.com/smilehunter for more information and deliver your pitch for why you should be picked.
About Sony Ericsson
Sony Ericsson is a top, global industry player with sales of around 97million phones in 2008. Diversity is one of the core strengths of the company, with operations in over 80 countries including manufacturing in China and R&D sites in China, Europe, India, Japan and North America. Sony Ericsson was established as a 50:50 joint venture by Sony and Ericsson in October 2001, with global corporate functions located in London. For more information about Sony Ericsson please visit www.sonyericsson.com.
Although Sony has categorically denied that a PlayStation 3 redesign, price drop, or reconfiguration would be in the future, rumors and "leaked details" keep popping up about PlayStation hardware revisions. This week's Sony hardware buzz comes in the form of new photos leaked to the internet by factory workers producing what looks to be a slimmed down variation of the console. The photos, which were first posted on a Japanese gaming blog, GameColumn, show components of a PlayStation 3 console with a much smaller overall clearance. Although the depth of the casing looks about the same, the comparatively shorter height of the device suggests a slim variation, similar to what we saw with PlayStation 2 Slim and the PSP Slim.
The PlayStation 3 Slim would fall into line with Sony's previous product trends, but this bout of "evidence" is highly suspect. For one, the device appears to feature a textured plastic finish, similar to the PS2, however, Sony's design trend with the PlayStation 3 and PSP product series has been focused on gloss or semi-gloss finishes. Additionally, the typeset on the device and packaging is oddly similar to that of the PS2-era, straying from the new PS3 font despite the fact that it is used in all of the console's branding and promotional materials since launch.
Still, the photos have caused quite a stir around the web. We'll just have to wait and see if Sony makes a move on the PS3 Slim.
