199w ago - Recently we learned that the PS3 Slim didn't lose the OtherOS and Linux functionality due to a security hole, however, many were left wondering why Sony ditched them.

Today, TheRegister.co.uk (linked above) has a definitive answer- to cut costs and be able to pass the savings on to the consumer.

To quote: "A forum response on Sony's official Linux for PlayStation 2 developer community sheds some new light on the feature's removal.

A Sony rep explained the company is simply unwilling to bear costs of maintaining the hypervisor used for OtherOS support across major hardware revisions. From the horse's mouth:

The reasons are simple: The PS3 Slim is a major cost reduction involving many changes to hardware components in the PS3 design. In order to offer the OtherOS install, SCE would need to continue to maintain the OtherOS hypervisor drivers for any significant hardware changes - this costs SCE. One of our key objectives with the new model is to pass on cost savings to the consumer with a lower retail price. Unfortunately in this case the cost of OtherOS install did not fit with the wider objective to offer a...

203w ago - According to Bloomberg, today Sony Corporation has reported a second straight quarterly loss as the stronger yen pushed the company further behind Samsung Electronics Company in television sales, and the global recession drove down demand for videogame machines.

The net loss was 37.1 billion yen ($390 million) in the quarter ended June 30, compared with profit of 35 billion yen a year earlier.

To quote: The result beat estimates after Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer cut jobs and shut factories to revive a company that's lost its lead to Samsung in TVs, Nintendo Co. in game players and Apple Inc. in portable media players.

Pressure is building for Stringer to prove he can increase Sony's sales, not just reduce expenses, by slashing jobs and suppliers, according to investors such as Yasuhiko Hirakawa.

"Cost cutting and reshuffling of management may help mend unprofitable businesses but they won't make Sony competitive against Samsung and other rivals," said Hirakawa, a Tokyo-based fund manager at DIAM Co., which oversees $80 billion in assets.

"The brand is still highly regarded but that won't last forever."

214w ago - Sony today (5/14/09) announced that amid a drop in sales has had a loss of 98.9bn yen ($1.04bn; £685m) at the end of March compared to it's profit of 369.4bn yen last year.

Sony blames the currently strong yen and global economic downturn for the loss of profit this year. Sony had cut around 8,000 jobs and closed 10% of it's factories earlier this year in an attempt to slow the loss in revenue.

This current loss in profit is not unexpected though it is better than what Sony had originally predicted in January, which they said would be a loss of 150bn yen.

Sony's stocks closed today down 6.8% at 2,400 yen ahead of the results.

Sony is predicting a net loss for the current financial year of 120bn yen and as a result will continue to cut jobs and close factories. Analyst say that the only way for Sony to truly recover from this downturn would be to create a popular electronic as they currently have "no number one product" with the PS3 only being number one in Japan and slowly growing in several other countries.

However experts are agreeing that is currently a small blip and does not reflect a loss in popularity in the Nintendo Wii console due to the increase in profit that Nintendo announced earlier in the month. Time can only tell if this giant will recover or fall...

230w ago - Following up the restructuring announcement from earlier this week, today Sony has warned that it could post a massive $2.9 billion annual operating loss due to decreasing demand and a stronger yen.

It also revealed fresh restructuring steps to revive its ailing electronics operations, to quote:

Sony Corp warned it would post a record $2.9 billion annual operating loss due to sliding demand and a stronger yen, and unveiled fresh restructuring steps to revive its ailing electronics operations.

The operating loss will be Sony's first in 14 years, underscoring deepening troubles for a company that has fallen behind Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPod in portable music, Nintendo Co (7974.OS) in videogames, and is losing money on flat TVs.

"While these are extremely challenging times, we must be fully prepared to embrace the opportunities that await us once these dark economic clouds begin to part," Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer told a news conference on Thursday.

"We simply have no alternative but to dramatically change the fundamental ways we view our business as well as the way we create, manufacture and distribute our products," Stringer said.

239w ago - According to a thread at the AVForums, several Xbox 360 users are losing all sound after upgrading to the New Xbox Experience.

Evidently the problem only appears in HDMI-connected systems, but there has been one report of someone having the same problem using a SCART connector. Fortunately, there seems to be a fix.

• Turn off the Xbox 360.
• Remove the hard drive.
• Turn on the Xbox 360.
• When the Dashboard loads, put the hard drive back.

Apparently, the fix is only temporary. If you turn of the Xbox, you will have to receive the process.