entertainment

Sony, Blizzard ink partnership: Diablo 3 headed to PS3, PS4

Sony has inked a deal with Blizzard Entertainment -- maker of World of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo -- to bring the last of those titles onto the PlayStation platform.

The two companies today announced a strategic partnership that will bring dungeon crawler Diablo 3 to both Sony's PlayStation 3 and the upcoming PlayStation 4.

On-stage in New York during the PS4's unveiling today, Chris Metzen, Blizzard's senior vice president of story and franchise development said the company already had Diablo 3 running on the PS3 and that it was "amazing," though he did not give … Read more

Southwest ups in-flight viewing with on-demand TV and movies

People flying on Southwest Airlines can now watch on-demand movies and TV on their tablets, smartphones, and laptops via the planes' Wi-Fi.

The airline announced today that it's boosting its in-flight entertainment to include new movie and television packages. This feature is available on all Wi-Fi-equipped aircrafts, which is about 75 percent of the Southwest's fleet.

"Providing a comprehensive and robust in-flight connectivity system for our customers is paramount," Southwest Airlines' senior vice president of business development Dave Ridley said in a statement.

Southwest now boasts eight channels of live television, which customers can stream directly … Read more

Philips sells audio, video unit to Funai for $202 million

Royal Philips Electronics has signed a deal to sell its consumer-oriented lifestyle entertainment division to Funai Electric.

According to Philips' announcement today, Funai is paying 150 million euros ($202 million) for the division, which includes audio, visual, multimedia, and accessories. Funai will also license the Philips brand for five-and-a-half years.

Philips' lifestyle entertainment division is made up of a wide range of consumer products, including the company's home speakers, DVD players, and headphones. Although those products will still be available with Philips branding, Osaka, Japan-based Funai will be developing them.

According to Philips CEO Frans van Houten, the move … Read more

Sony chats up future of Music Unlimited, PlayStation Store

LAS VEGAS--Nearly three years after the formation of Sony Network Entertainment, the company still struggles to capture consumer attention with its Music Unlimited media-streaming service, but things look better than ever for the PlayStation Store.

Sony Network Entertainment COO Shawn Layden remains upbeat despite his company living in the shadow of Pandora, Xbox Live, and other competitors. In a conversation with CNET, Layden relayed the primary goals for Sony's entertainment services: bring content to more regions, expand the number of compatible devices, and design a common user interface across device categories.… Read more

Sharp's AQUOS LED TV portfolio gets bigger, smarter at CES 2013

LAS VEGAS--Sharp brought a "go big or go home" attitude to the 2013 Consumer Electronics Show as it unveiled a bevy of new LED TV in the 60-, 70- and 80-inch screen classes.

Sitting below the 90-inch AQUOS display (touted by the manufacturer as "the world's largest LED TV") that Sharp debuted last year, all of the new Sharp TVs rolling out this week are promised to be "smarter" too.

All three screen classes feature some common traits, including (but not limited to) AQUOS 1080p LED displays, dual-core processors, built-in Wi-Fi, ultra-slim frames, … Read more

Sharp updates AQUOS lineup, intros SmartCentral interface

LAS VEGAS--The mantra for Sharp's new AQUOS LED TV line unveiled at CES 2013 on Monday morning might be as simple as this: bigger and better.

The bigger quality will be obvious from the get-go with 21 new displays in the 60-, 70-, 80-, and 90-inch LED TVs in the AQUOS portfolio.

But the better comes in the form of upgraded display quality as well as more digital content and connectivity.

With the 80-inch class displays in particular, Sharp has added a new layer dubbed "Super Bright," which is the combination of an intelligent contrast engine with … Read more

Sharp debuts 32-inch 4K resolution IGZO LCD monitor

LAS VEGAS--Sharp kicked off its media event at the 2013 International CES on Monday by revealing the future of the electronics giant's display portfolio.

Specifically, that strategy is being spearheaded by IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) technology as Sharp unveiled a 32-inch 4K resolution IGZO LCD monitor.

IGZO is based on a compound semi-conductor that produces approximately twice the resolution of current LCDs.

Sharp described that IGZO produces a more natural picture with greater presence while delivering more visual information than ever before.

Kozo Takahashi, executive vice president of Sharp Corporation, remarked during Monday's press conference that IGZO … Read more

J.J. Abrams grants movie wish to dying Trekkie

Sometimes it's easy to forget the incredible social power of the Internet, but this story about director J.J. Abrams granting a dying man's "Star Trek" wish serves as a great reminder.

Last week on popular link-sharing site Reddit, a user named ideeeyut described how his 41-year-old friend Daniel -- a Manhattan man who has been afflicted with leukemia, another unrelated cancer, and additional health problems -- wanted to see the latest "Star Trek Into Darkness" movie but may not have the chance.

To get a taste of the upcoming sci-fi epic before his … Read more

Microsoft buys R2 Studios startup to boost Xbox

Word has it that Microsoft was able to get ahead of Apple and Google and buy the home entertainment technology startup R2 Studios, according to the Wall Street Journal. This acquisition will most likely help amplify Microsoft's Xbox platform.

R2 Studios was created by Sling Media founder Blake Krikorian in May 2011. Sling Media developed Slingbox, which let users watch television on their computers. According to the Wall Street Journal, R2 Studios has been working on ways to display content on televisions, which could coordinate with Xbox's focus of adding TV entertainment to its gaming console.