Tag: sony

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Code suggests several Android brands will support Android 12 dynamic colours

One of the highlights of Android 12 is the new Material You dynamic theme engine, which can pull colours from users’ wallpaper and implement them into system and app UI elements.

Dubbed ‘Monet,’ the system currently works on Pixel phones. That could change in the future, however — several Android phone manufacturers now appear in Google’s Material Components library.

Mishaal Rahman, former editor-in-chief at XDA Developers and now the senior technical editor at Esper, spotted the list and posted the information on Twitter. In short, code included in the Material Components library lists manufacturers that support dynamic colour. You can read the full list below:

  • Oppo
  • Realme
  • OnePlus
  • Vivo
  • Xiaomi
  • Motorola
  • Itel
  • Tecno Mobile
  • Infinix
  • HMD Global (Nokia)
  • Sharp
  • Sony
  • TCL
  • Lenovo
  • Google
  • Roboelectric

It’s also worth noting, as Android Police points out, that the core software behind extracting colour from the wallpaper and the appearance model are already part of the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), while the colour palette generation algorithm is Pixel exclusive. That’s set to change with Android 12L, since Google is expected to push that code to AOSP.

Unfortunately, it’s possible the above manufacturers could implement their own versions of dynamic theming, particularly the palette generation portion, designed specifically for their Android skins. Android Police notes that Samsung likely already went this route. The company supports dynamic colour theming in the One UI 4 beta, but it’s probably a proprietary solution since the company doesn’t appear in the above list. Likewise, Oppo has its own dynamic colour implementation in ColorOS 12.

Hopefully these brand-specific takes on dynamic colour theming properly leverage the Material Components library since third-party apps reply on it for the colour extraction. If not, colour theming could be limited to the system UI of each manufacturer’s skin if app developers don’t manually add support for each one.

Source: Mishaal Rahman (Twitter), Android Police

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Mobile Syrup

Sony cuts PlayStation 5 production due to chip shortage: report

Sony has reduced its PlayStation 5 production forecast, according to Bloomberg.

The company is now reportedly expecting to manufacture 15 million consoles by March 2022, which would be down slightly from the 16 million it had publicly announced last month.

Per Bloomberg, the issue stems from the ongoing global chip shortage, which has been a recurring problem in many industries, not just gaming. Earlier this week, Valve’s Nintendo Switch-esque Steam Deck was delayed into 2022 for this reason.

However, the outlet also notes that there are logistical challenges stemming from uneven COVID-19 vaccine rollouts in countries where these chips are being made.

Ultimately, though, one million fewer consoles isn’t a drastic reduction, and hopefully, PlayStation can maintain its relatively steady production of the consoles going into the new year.

Source: Bloomberg

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Mobile Syrup

Hackers make significant strides towards cracking Sony’s PS5

There’s a possibility that Sony’s PlayStation 5 may be crackable at some point in the future.

Over the weekend, well-known hacking group FailOverflow tweeted that it was able to get its hands on the PS5’s root key, which then allowed the console’s firmware to be decrypted. FailOverFlow was the first group to get through the PS3’s security features back in 2010.

The Verge also reported that Andy Nguyen, a security engineer at Google that goes by the online handle @theflow0, accessed the console’s debug settings. Though not directly related to FailOverFlow’s efforts, this is another example of someone circumventing Sony’s security software.

Though these exploits don’t mean much yet, in the future, it could eventually lead to hackers having more access to the PS5’s software, allowing it to be reversed-engineered. While this would allow the installation of emulators, Linux and homebrew software to be installed on the PlayStation 5, it will also, unfortunately, lead to game piracy.

It’s important to remember that Sony is likely aware of these hacks and is working to patch them. In a sense, exploits like this are inevitable and happen whenever a video game console releases. Whether it’s running emulators on the Xbox Series S/X or jailbreaking the Switch, life always finds a way.

Source: Wololo, @failOverflow, @theflow0 Via: The Verge 

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Mobile Syrup

PlayStation 5 sales have topped 13 million units

Sony has sold 13.4 million units of its PlayStation 5 console, the company revealed in its latest earnings report.

3.3 million units were sold during this quarter, compared to the 2.2 million in the previous. While the PS5 is one of many devices that is suffering from supply constraints due to the global chip shortage, that quarter-to-quarter growth at least shows some improvement.

Game sales saw an even larger increase; Sony reported 76.4 million units sold in this quarter, compared to 63.6 million in the previous quarter. The company noted this was driven in large part due to third-party titles.

However, sales of first-party titles dropped from 10.5 million to 7.6 million last quarter. This led to operating income coming in at 82.7 billion yen (about $900 million CAD), a drop from last quarter of 3.4 billion yen (about $37 million CAD).

It’s worth noting that Sony said in August that it secured enough components to sell 22.6 million units by March 2022. This means that the company would need to sell 9.2 million consoles between now and March. While the demand is certainly there for that, it remains to be seen whether PlayStation will be able to manufacture enough systems to hit that goal.

Source: Sony

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Mobile Syrup

PlayStation 5 sales have topped 13 million units

Sony has sold 13.4 million units of its PlayStation 5 console, the company revealed in its latest earnings report.

3.3 million units were sold during this quarter, compared to the 2.2 million in the previous. While the PS5 is one of many devices that is suffering from supply constraints due to the global chip shortage, that quarter-to-quarter growth at least shows some improvement.

Game sales saw an even larger increase; Sony reported 76.4 million units sold in this quarter, compared to 63.6 million in the previous quarter. The company noted this was driven in large part due to third-party titles.

However, sales of first-party titles dropped from 10.5 million to 7.6 million last quarter. This led to operating income coming in at 82.7 billion yen (about $900 million CAD), a drop from last quarter of 3.4 billion yen (about $37 million CAD).

It’s worth noting that Sony said in August that it secured enough components to sell 22.6 million units by March 2022. This means that the company would need to sell 9.2 million consoles between now and March. While the demand is certainly there for that, it remains to be seen whether PlayStation will be able to manufacture enough systems to hit that goal.

Source: Sony

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Mobile Syrup

Sony’s Xperia Pro-I sports a variable aperture and an 1-inch sensor

Is Sony’s Xperia Pro-I a smartphone or a camera?

The new device features a 1-inch camera and an f/2-f/4 variable aperture lens. Sony’s phone/camera device also features an RX100 VII’s 1-inch sensor that can shoot 12-megapixel photos with a 2.4µm pixel pitch (which refers to the density of pixels).

Additionally, the phone brings together phase-detect autofocus with real-time eye autofocus, and it offers high-speed continuous shooting with both AF/AE tracking at 20 frames per second.

The Pro-I also features a 16mm f/2.2 12-megapixel ultra-wide and a 50mm f/2.4 12-megapixel telephoto sensor. Moreover, the phone offers a two-stage shutter key as well as a shortkey with a circular button that opens a Videography Pro app that controls white balance, exposure and focus.

Alongside all this camera business, the Pro-I features a 6.5-inch 4K HDR OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate, Snapdragon 888 processor, 12GB of RAM and 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage. It also sports a microSD expansion port, a 4,500mAh battery and 30W fast charging with 3.5mm audio jack, stereo speakers and Dolby Atmos alongside IP68 water and dust resistance.

The device retails at $1,800 USD (about $2,229 CAD) and like all of Sony’s recent Xperia devices, will not release in Canada.

Via: Android Police

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PlayStation’s next State of Play is set for October 27

Playstation has announced its next ‘State of Play’ event is on Wednesday, October 27th at 5pm ET/2pm PT.

The show is 20 minutes long and focuses on announcements and updates for upcoming third-party releases headed to Sony’s PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

The event will primarily look at previously announced games plus a few reveals from Sony’s partners around the world, according to the gaming giant.

I’m looking forward to seeing anything to do with Elden Ring at the event, especially since the game’s release was recently pushed back a month.

Source: PlayStation

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Dbrand resurrects Darkplates with new design, baits Sony to sue again

Toronto-based Dbrand, a company that makes vinyl skins for smartphones and other tech, announced that it’s bringing back its PlayStation 5 replacement panels called ‘Darkplates.’

If you haven’t followed along with the drama, Dbrand announced over the weekend that Sony had threatened legal action over Darkplates. Considering Dbrand boldly baited Sony to sue when it launched the Darkplates, the threatened legal action wasn’t a total surprise.

While the whole “company dares another company to sue them, then gets threatened with a lawsuit” bit is rather funny, Dbrand’s bait wasn’t why Sony threatened legal action. As Dbrand pointed out in a new Reddit post, the entire basis of the lawsuit is that Sony registered a patent for the design of the PlayStation 5 side plates. Dbrand said that Sony didn’t have a registered design patent for the PS5’s side panels when it launched Darkplates.

“We didn’t think they’d ever get one,” Dbrand wrote in the Reddit post. “They did.”

Dbrand Darkplate

The original Darkplate design

It’s also worth noting that in the company’s previous Reddit post, Dbrand said that it received a cease and desist letter from Sony’s attorneys months ago but only complied after learning that Sony had gotten a patent in Canada.

Not to be deterred, Dbrand also announced a new version of Darkplates in its Reddit post. This time, the side panels sport a different design (primarily by ‘cutting corners’) and new air intake vents. Dbrand cited a video from Gamers Nexus that analyzes the thermal design of the PS5 — if you don’t have time to watch the full 37-minutes, the relevant information is basically that removing the side panels makes the PS5 run about five degrees cooler.

The new Darkplates come with optional mesh grills to help prevent dust from getting into the console for those worried about dust.

Dbrand unveiled new colour options for its revamped Darkplates as well, including white for those who like how the PS5 currently looks and ‘Retro Gray’ that’s “colour-matched to a retro console which shall remain nameless.”

Finally, Dbrand announced ‘Lightstrips,’ which are strips of semi-translucent coloured vinyl that are “designed to precisely cover the diffused LED light strips flanking the sides of your PS5, tinting them with one of eight high-saturation hues.”

To wrap it all up, the company notes that Sony will “probably” sue them, but notes that this time, Dbrand has created an original design “for which [Sony has] no basis to allege infringement.” Confident as ever, Dbrand also said that if Sony wants to try, “they’d better be ready to pay our legal fees.”

You can learn more about the new Darkplates here.

Images credit: Dbrand

Source: Dbrand (Reddit)

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Mobile Syrup

New PS App beta lets Canadian PS5 users access PS5 game captures on mobile

PlayStation is now allowing Canadian PlayStation App users to access their PS5 game captures as part of a Canada- and Japan-exclusive beta.

With this functionality, players will be able to directly share their PS5 screenshots and clips through their mobile devices (either to social media or on PSN within the app) or save them to their camera rolls. Previously, you could only share game captures from your PS5. The official Xbox app has offered similar functionality for a few years now.

PlayStation notes that neither a PlayStation Plus membership nor any beta registration is required to access the feature; simply download the latest version of the PS App from your respective mobile storefront. The PS App will automatically upload non-4K screenshots and game clips under three minutes long to the cloud. These can then be accessed through the PS App for 14 days.

There are a few things to keep in mind, however. To start, you’ll have to enable the feature. Keep in mind that in order to auto-upload your game captures, your PS5 needs to be linked to the PS App and be left in rest mode with the ‘Stay Connected to the Internet’ setting turned on.

Once you’ve done all of this, the PS App will automatically upload non-4K screenshots and game clips under three minutes long to the cloud. These can then be accessed through the PS App for 14 days.

iOS users can download the update starting today, while the Android version of the app is getting the beta as part of a phased release. This means that users may have to wait up to one week for it to become available.

Source: PlayStation

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Dbrand declares PS5 Darkplates ‘dead’ after Sony threatens legal action

Back in February, Toronto-based Dbrand launched ‘Darkplates,’ an accessory for the PlayStation 5 that let owners replace the default white faceplates that ship with the console with matte black ones.

In typical Dbrand fashion, the company cheekily baited Sony to “sue us” on the website for the Darkplates — a decision that seems to have come back to bite the company.

Although Sony didn’t sue, it did threaten legal action and sent a cease and desist letter (which Dbrand has published here).

Sony’s letter raises several issues with the Darkplates, including with how they “replicate” Sony’s design — the Darkplates feature Dbrand’s take on the PlayStation 5’s ‘microtexture,’ which feature thousands of tiny circles, squares, ‘X’ symbols and triangles (the same symbols on the PlayStation controller’s buttons).

In the letter, Sony also asked Dbrand to “promptly and permanently cease and take down all marketing and promotion for and cease all sales worldwide of faceplates featuring the product configuration of [Sony’s] PS5 faceplates or any similar product configuration, including without limitation all faceplates currently for sale at dbrand.com.”

In a lengthy Reddit post full of swear words, jokes, and some clever ‘whataboutism’ pointing fingers at Netflix’s Squid Game, Dbrand wrote that it “elected to submit to the terrorists’ demands… for now,” (emphasis theirs). The Darkplates website now features a list of coverage from media outlets and that’s it — you can’t buy them anymore.

Dbrand also notes in the Reddit post that it received the cease and desist letter months ago, but only made a change after Sony’s lawyers informed the company that a patent had been issued in Canada that reportedly covers the shape of the PS5’s faceplates.

The Verge points out that Sony has threatened legal action against other companies that sold PS5 faceplates. Further, both The Verge and Dbrand heavily imply that Sony may launch its own PS5 faceplate accessories given how easy it is to remove the faceplates and how hard Sony’s fighting third-party options.

Whether that actually happens, Dbrand seems to sum it up best: “Darkplates are dead. Thanks, Sony.”

Source: Dbrand (Reddit) Via: The Verge