Fully Equipped

In recent days, a few blogs have picked up on the fact that the battery on Sony's upcoming PSP Go will be sealed into the unit and not be user-replaceable, just as it is on all of Apple's latest portable devices and plenty of other new gadgets. The integrated battery isn't new news. But what caught people's attention was an old quote from John Koller, Sony's director of hardware marketing, which PlayStation Insider recently ripped off from a June Ars Technica article that had Koller explaining that the move to a built-in battery was a least partially designed to thwart pirates.

The PSP Go's embedded battery is a security feature.

(Credit: Levelup.cn)

In case you don't know the history behind PSP piracy, it goes something like this: For the original PSP-1000 and second-generation PSP-2000, Sony had a secret "backdoor" system for resuscitating frozen or "bricked" PSPs. The process involved replacing the common PSP battery with a special one that unlocked the system.

Alas, the secret didn't last long, and hackers developed their own custom battery (the appropriately named Pandora's Battery) and firmware that allowed anyone to run illicit "ripped" versions of UMD games along with home-brew applications and PSOne titles that had been converted to run on the PSP. Those in the home-brew community maintain that they're just interested in fully accessing the products they've purchased and that pirating games isn't what their creative efforts are about. But the offshoot of the whole movement has been a flourishing trade in pirated games.

Nintendo faces similar problems with hacked DS systems, but a quick check of The Pirate Bay Top 100 handheld games reveals that the majority of the illegal downloads on the list are for the PSP. As I write this, more than 2,000 people are illegally downloading Dissidia: Final Fantasy, the top game on the list.

It's also worth noting that a counter on another site says that 81,000 people have already downloaded a recent custom firmware upgrade that will potentially allow modders to play that pirated version of Dissidia. A couple of competing custom firmware upgrades are out there, both of which appear to have been created by European hackers, including the infamous Dark Alex, a Spanish programmer who hasn't been heard from for a while. Some speculate that Sony has somehow neutralized Dark Alex either through legal threats or compensation, but Sony reps tell me that while they're aware of him, they [Sony], "Really have no relationship with him."

Although Sony hasn't said that much publicly about the piracy issue, it's acutely aware that tens of thousands of people--and quite possibly hundreds of thousands--never pay for games. Over the years, it's been trying to stay ahead of hackers with a steady stream of new firmware upgrades and additional security features incorporated into the PSP-3000 and the game discs.

In a response to some questions I submitted to Sony for this article, Koller says that, "Piracy is an industry-wide issue that ultimately is bad for consumers. We're continuing to take proactive steps to address the issue of piracy and to minimize its impact on the PSP, from both a legal and technical perspective. For example, firmware updates enable us to apply security patches and enhance or add new features."

Many, if not most, new PSP releases going forward will require you to install Sony's latest firmware to run the title (the firmware comes on the game's UMD disc). At this juncture, hackers appear to be a step behind Sony, though message-board posters on sites like psp-hacks.com remain confident Sony's security measures will be breached and that the real game begins when Sony releases its 6.0 firmware (Sony hasn't announced a launch date yet).

If there's an irony in all this it's that that the UMD format was supposed to prevent piracy and now Sony is seeing the move toward digital downloads as an opportunity to keep pirates at bay. Although a bit late (many argue that the PSP should have skipped physical media from the get-go), it's the right thing to do. That said, Sony does face some serious challenges in making the transition to a UMD-less platform.

• The $250 price tag on the PSP Go is too high (this is fairly self-explanatory, but it's unclear why Sony would bring out a more expensive device unless it was actually being cautious and didn't want to sell as many PSP Gos as it could if it were priced at $179, like the current PSP-3000 is).
• It's unclear just how much people are willing to pay for downloadable games. For a UMD PSP title, you're looking at $30-$40, but the top end for a downloadable game is $29.99 max for a AAA title and $19.99 for AA stuff.
• Currently, there's no way to trade in digitally downloaded games. As it is, popular PSP titles don't fetch all that much money at Gamestop or Amazon. But they fetch something, and trade-ins are how a lot of people help finance the purchase of new games.

Koller says that based on Sony's consumer research, there's strong demand among PSP owners for digital content. "That's why we're launching the PSPgo, which specifically invites consumers who prefer digital content to download games legally," he says. "We're offering a full spectrum of games for PSP owners to download, from bite-sized games in the new 'Minis' section on PlayStation Store to full, large-scale experiences like Gran Turismo."

As far as the pirates go, if history is any indicator, Sony probably won't be able to stop hackers from cracking the Go. (Koller was smart enough not to declare it unhackable; he merely said, "The PSP Go is going to make things tougher on the pirates.")

Ultimately, the company's best defense against piracy may be to offer good, affordable sub-$20 games and applications or perhaps even move to a monthly rental/subscription model that allows you to check out titles for 30 days, with an option to buy at the end. To get to where it wants to go, Sony not only needs to stay one step ahead of the hackers, but it needs to stay one step ahead of the competition. Occasionally, that requires thinking differently.

Comments?

Update 7/20: After reader feedback, I have dropped Windows Media Center and Nintendo's Game Boy Micro from the list and added Apple's Power Mac G4 Cube and Microsoft's Smart Display initiative (codename Mira). Thanks for all the comments.

Here we are just months away from closing out the first decade of the 21st century, which means a lot of publications will soon be in look-back mode, taking stock of all the good--and bad--things that happened over the last 10 years. While we've still got a few months to go before hitting 2010, I thought I should get a head start on the whole best/worst roundup fad that's about to flood the Internet (Time magazine has already done the 10 Biggest Tech Failures of the Last Decade, but it was pretty lame; this one's much better, I swear).

The Gizmondo in its heyday.

(Credit: ImageShack)

Before we get to the list, let's get the parameters straight. This isn't a list of all the most spectacular tech failures. I chose to exclude dot-coms, corporate debacles (AOL-Time Warner), search engines (i.e., Cuil), and assorted other Web 2.0 flame outs (I'll let Webware handle that). No, this is a roundup of gear, the stuff that turns on and off, the stuff I've been covering for almost 10 years at CNET (yes, I started in 2000).

It's also important to define just what a flop is. In my book it's simply something that was really hyped but didn't live up to its promise or expectations. And while the word "flop" has a negative connotation, we here at CNET have a lot admiration for the designers, engineers, and everybody else who put their heart and soul into bringing these products and technologies to the world. Some of them didn't deserve their fates. They were ahead of their time or just marketed poorly. Whatever the case, we appreciate the vision, risk taking, and hard work that went into creating these things.

But enough sentimentality (I meant it, really). Let's get to the biggest tech flops of the decade. If you disagree with any of them or have more to suggest, please post a comment. If we missed any clear candidates, we'll modify the list.

Click on any image to start the slideshow. (Note: The list is in chronological order).

The decade's 25 biggest tech flops slideshow

More:

With E3 returning to its old, bigger-is-better format, there seemed to be more at stake at this year's show. Could Nintendo provide enough compelling news to hold onto its lead? Would Microsoft trot out something to create new enthusiasm for its Xbox 360 platform? And could Sony reveal anything that might give it some much-needed momentum?

Alas, as it goes most of the time at E3, none of the companies truly hit it out of the park and a lot of what was announced was already leaked to greater or lesser degrees before the show started. However, that doesn't mean we can't try to objectively determine which companies did themselves some good--and which companies may not have.

Here's a quick recap of the news conferences from each camp and my quick assessments. But nevermind what I say, feel free to add your own comments--and try to be objective.

A lot of folks have been talking about a potential PS3 price cut to spur sales, but with Wii sales on the way down, the question is will Nintendo need to do some price trimming of its own to keep its system from floundering?

Last week, Silicon Alley Insider posted an article titled "Nintendo Wii Losing its Shine," in which author Dan Frommer cited some interesting figures. Yes, the Wii remains the best-selling game console, with 340,000 units sold in the U.S. in April (that gives it a 2-1 advantage over the XBox 360 and nearly a 3-1 advantage over the PS3 for the month). And yes, Wii Fit, Mario Kart, and Wii Play made up three of the top four games. But Wii sales are down an eye-opening 52 percent year-over-year.

The article goes on to mention that Citi analyst Brent Thill finds this notable "because the Wii is no longer supply-constrained, is relatively cheap, and didn't have to compete with huge games on other consoles, such as Grand Theft Auto 4."

One could argue that with its lead, Nintendo can afford to wait until 2010 to cut prices. It also doesn't hurt that in just a few weeks, Nintendo's going to roll out its new Wii Sports Resort and Wii MotionPlus motion sensor add-on, which should give the platform a little boost. Yet bloggers continue to take swipes at the Wii, mocking it for having PS2-level graphics, gimmicky controls, a limited selection of good games, as well as accessory requirements that raise the cost of ownership to less affordable levels. And while the Wii's precipitous sales drop may be a reflection of the gaming industry's recessionary blues, it's also probable that the Wii's hype has worn off and it is now harder for the Wii to stand on its own merit.

What do you think? Is the Wii just fine where it is at $249.99? Should it cost $50 less? Or would you never buy it anyway, no matter what it cost?

This alleged spy shot of a PS3 Slim box may very well turn out to be a fake--or not.

(Credit: Kotaku)

Back in 2004, after the PS2 was on the market for four years, Sony went ahead and shrank its design down and brought out a new model dubbed the "slim" PS2. It was a great move and Sony initially couldn't keep up with demand for the system.

Now, five years later, rumors have been percolating that Sony might be preparing to trim the PS3, with an outside chance that the company might have something to say about a new design at E3. While early reports we read seemed pretty dubious, a set of alleged spy photos of a PS3 Slim (with a new PS3 logo) surfaced on Chinese Message boards late Wednesday and seemed slightly more promising.

The original report stems from a PlayStation LifeStyle post declaring, "Redesigned PS3 to be revealed at E3." That's a rather bold headline, but the story deflates it rather quickly with a disclaimer that, "Of course, this is just yet another rumor..." However, the site claims to have "caught word" that Sony will not only take the wraps off the new PSP Go at E3, but unveil "another hardware redesign."

"We didn't get any specifics, but we speculate that it could be one of a couple different options," the post goes on to say. "First off, it very well could be as simple as a white or a silver PS3 to go with the white and silver DualShock 3s that have been made available." The writer also admits that the hardware in question might refer to Sony's rumored Wii-like motion-sensing controller, which may also be announced at E3.

T3's rendition of a slim PS3

(Credit: T3.com)

I4U News picked up on the story and then Engadget took a whack at the rumors with a bit of its own speculation, suggesting that a trimmer PS3 would be in line with Sony's alleged move to a smaller Cell processor and RSX chip in August.

For the record, it should be pointed out that this whole slim PS3 rumor is actually rather ancient, with T3 and Engadget asking whether the PS3 was on the verge of a slim down over a year ago, in February 2008. In fact, the image to the right is from that original post.

Anyway, that's the anatomy of this latest rumor and you can choose to buy into it or not. On the one hand, Sony could use E3 to radically alter its gaming fortunes with a couple of bold new designs for its hardware systems. Or, it could just announce the new PSP and superficial changes to the PS3 that are designed to trim costs so Sony can finally break even on the system instead of losing money on each one.

All that said, at the end of the day, the most important thing Sony can do now is sell the PS3 for $299. If it can get there by slimming the thing down, and hopefully not stripping out any features, that's great. But I think people would be just as happy if Sony found a way to get to $299 with the current design.

Anybody buying this rumor? Will Sony come out with a totally new PS3? Would a slimmer version entice any XBox 360 owners to switch allegiances?

Note: As for Sony's response to the rumors, it says, "We currently don't have any plans for a redesigned PS3."

Netflix's consumer survey has brought hope to PS3 owners with Netflix subscriptions.

(Credit: Engadget)

In recent days, rumors have been percolating about the PlayStation 3 getting Netflix streaming video support. Most of the rumors revolve around a survey that Netflix has out gauging user interest in adding its service to Sony's game console for a fee. No one seems to know whether Netflix or Sony commissioned the survey, but either way, it's certainly raised hopes with PS3 owners that they would get something that Xbox 360 owners have had for a while. (For what it's worth, nearly identical rumors of Netflix on the Wii have also been making the rounds.)

Interestingly, as the rumors make their way around the blogosphere, Sony's been trying to promote how robust its Playstation Network Service (PSN) is and how great a media extender the PS3 is. A few weeks ago, a few of us from CNET spent some time visiting with Sony PR and marketing reps in a hotel suite going over what PSN had to offer, including Home, Sony's online virtual community that's hit 5 million registered users. And just yesterday, I got a voice mail from a PR rep encouraging me to do a story on what a great media extender the PS3 is.

I said I'd do a story--but only in context of the Netflix rumors.

"Why doesn't Sony just add Netflix?" I asked.

Of course, I knew it wasn't as simple as that. ... Read more

A couple of years ago I was talking to the folks from Sony's PlayStation division in a hotel suite in Manhattan where they were showing us the second-generation PSP, the PSP-2000. I was telling them all the things I would like to see in the PSP. "This is a mini computer," I said, complimenting them on what a great device it was. But I thought it was being underutilized. "Why don't you open this thing?" I suggested. "Let people develop for it. Screw the UMD. It's got built-in wireless, you should be able download all kinds of games and apps to it. Slap on a detachable BlackBerry-style keyboard and you're good to go."

At the time, Sony's marketing department had seemingly grappled with and settled on selling the PSP as a gaming device first and foremost with a dash of multimedia thrown in for good measure. Even if there was an active homebrew market percolating, there was little beyond the idea that the PSP could play games, music, and movies (from a UMD disc) and surf the Web on a second-rate browser. Yes, the whole PSP "store" concept was in the works, but it seemed to be moving at a glacial pace. VoIP support in the form of a Skype client was also on the table.

IBM's 45nm cell processor.

(Credit: IBM)

Ah, the challenges of being a game-console manufacturer. Blogger Sean Hollister at GameCyte says that Japanese tech news site PC Watch is reporting that, in a potential cost-savings move, Sony is considering using a tweaked version of PS3's current cell processor in the upcoming PS4--which isn't due out until at least 2010.

Unfortunately, I don't read Japanese, so I can't translate the article for you, but here's what GameCyte has to say:

"In a long technical analysis following the report, PC Watch voices the opinion that the PS4's performance would not increase significantly from that of the PS3 if this is true. While Moore's Law and the historical rate at which Sony has shrunk processors size would suggest that the cell processor could reach as many as 32 cores, PC Watch expects that the cost of redesigning the cell's layout--which has apparently remained the same as it has shrunk from 90nm to 65nm, and from 65nm to 45nm--would be prohibitive enough that Sony will stick with around 10 cores for the PS4."

PC Watch hasn't cited any particular source in its article, but apparently Sony's been asking some developers what they think of the idea. Hollister goes on to note that, "They [PC Watch] speculate that while Sony would like to distance themselves from the cell in the long run, at present they might do well to make use of their existing investment and expand the technical capabilities of the PS3-only moderately--a la the hardware transition from GameCube to Wii-- in order to constrain further expenditure."

Personally, I think the Wii's graphics suck--and most Wii games suck, too--but Nintendo hasn't exactly been hurt by any of that (though, I do think the mediocre graphics will seem overly retro sooner than Nintendo thinks). That said, the PS3's graphics are obviously starting from a much higher baseline than the GameCube's, and developers are just starting to get the hang of developing for the thing. So, it does make some sense for Sony to stand pat with the current cell processor and simply try to get the cost of the machine down to the point where it can move a ton of consoles and not lose money on each one. I'd guess that will be somewhere in the range of $250.

The basic problem for Sony is that, ideally, it wouldn't put out a PS4 until 2012 or even 2013. By that time it could recoup--or at least start to recoup--its initial investment on the PS3. But, a little company called Microsoft will undoubtedly push forward with an XBox 720--or whatever the 360's successor will be called--in 2010. And it will probably push the graphics envelope.

I'd like to see Sony just stick with the PS3 until 2012 and come out with a model that had a modified design (read: flat top) that would fit better in my equipment rack. This would be similar to what it did with the PS2; Sony could call it the PS3 Turbo Slim, or something like that. Have a couple of models, one that cracks the $200 barrier, and let Microsoft do what it's gotta do. Then come out with something a year or two after Microsoft does--but make sure it's actually superior (Sony's initial claims that the PS3's graphics would best the XBox 360's simply haven't been true).

Oh, and Sony? For those of us with universal remotes, please put an infrared port in whatever new machine you build.

Anybody else have any bright ideas for how the company should proceed with its PlayStation franchise? Thoughts on what the PS4 should be--or not be? And when would you like to see it arrive? Feel free to comment.