CORP TALK: Nikkei Tech-On has a feature story on how Sony has plans to tap and grow on its gaming user base on the current PlayStation Network (PSN).

The idea is to help grow and integrate an online platform tentatively known as the Sony Online Service, which will then work with its various devices (TV, cameras, ebooks, mobile phones, etc.) for content distribution, generation, revenue and add-on services.

To date, the PlayStation Network (PSN) has 33 million member accounts. The idea is to allow users a singular user-ID which they can utilize to access ’social elements’ from its devices, its networks and of course, the Sony PS3.

This is similar to how the company had once planned for the Memory Stick to be the integrating factor connecting all of its multimedia devices together. With this move, the factor has gone digital, and probably social.

Right now, the PlayStation Network 3.10 firmware update allows users to link their gaming activities with Facebook. Here’s a simple demo of how the Facebook social integration works with the PSN account.

HWM Indonesia

HWM Indonesia: Another app store? With Sony’s pervasive consumer electronics reach, this could well be a household app store of the future.

Sony has to make sure that the platform is “open” enough for developers to provide content/ applications.

Other consumer electronics giants might follow suit to strengthen (maintain) their foothold within the Internet in near future.

Project Natal by Microsoft uses the entire body as the controller.

Expect a battle to emerge among the PS3, Xbox360 and Wii this Christmas -- this time centered around games supporting motion sensing systems.

T&A: Initially announced and slated for release by Sony by Spring of this year, the motion controller of which a prototype was shown at E3 last year, will now makes its debut in Autumn this year, based on news from Reuters and BBC.

This puts its right-smack up against the planned launch of Microsoft’s Project Natal for the Xbox360, which according to Robbie Bach, Microsoft’s President for Entertainment & Devices Division at CES 2010, will launch by end-2010.

Project Natal is a radical controller-less motion sensing system where users use their entire body to navigate their avatars in-game. We’ve covered this as a news post awhile back.

The Sony PS3 motion controller is somewhat similar to the Wii motion sensing controller, except that in the PS3’s case, the PlayStation Eye camera atop the HDTV will detect the movements of a special light-emitting sphere on the controller instead of using infra-red sensors like the Wii.

Expect the console gaming season in Christmas 2010 to be one of the hottest ever as different console manufacturers, and game publishers for the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3, release games that tap on these new motion sensing systems.

Meanwhile, here’s a video of Sony’s PS3 prototyped motion sensing controllers in action at last year’s E3 2009 event in Los Angeles, USA.

SHOWCASE: The Consumer Electronics Show, currently being held in Las Vegas, USA, from 7-10 January 2010, has been the focus of the tech community over the past several days, especially with hypes, pre-announcements and previews.

Here’s a collection of keynote and demo videos by the different tech companies like Microsoft, Sony and Intel which we think would make for a good start of what’s happening over there.

Microsoft’s CES 2010 keynote presented by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, including a segment by Microsoft’s President for Entertainment & Devices Division, Robbie Bach. The video is prefaced with an introduction by CEO and President of Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), Gary Shapiro:

Sony’s Bravia LX900 3D TV demonstration:

More videos after the jump:
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Kiyoshi Shikano (second left) Senior Vice President Sony Corporation during a press conference of Sony at the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC) on December 3, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images for Sony)

CORP TALK: The world’s first World Cup with a 3D broadcast and it’ll beam live from South Africa next year by Sony.

According to this announcement from the electronics giant, football governing body FIFA and Sony have struck a deal to film up to 25 matches in next year’s World Cup 2010 with 3D cameras.

Sony advertisement boards at the International Airport on December 3, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images for Sony)

These will then broadcast at demo booths at “International FIFA Fan Fest” events in 7 cities in June and July next year.

The 7 cities are Berlin, London, Mexico City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Rome and Sydney.

Press members watching a 3D demo at the Sony press conference at the Cape Town International Convention Center (CTICC) on December 3, 2009 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Alex Grimm/Getty Images for Sony)

For those in other countries, 3D aficionados will probably have to wait for Sony to release the official 3D film of the World Cup 2010 after the event.

Additional reports indicate that 3D-TVs will be the next big thing to hit the living room as early as next year (or 2013 as others predict).

With 3D Blu-ray Discs being not that far-fetched a reality (Sony says next year) and James Cameron’s AVATAR set to hit 3D cinemas next week, expect 3D to be the next buzzword among the tech community before the year is out.

HWM Indonesia

HWM Indonesia: Sony is unraveling a new dimension to viewing experiences and by bringing it to the masses (7 cities for a start), it’s setting the bar pretty high.

This is a new kind of entertainment (eventually for the home) which was only previously available on the big cinema screen.

This is a precursor of more big things to come visually from Sony as well as from the 3D entertainment world. The opportunities are limitless!

Vijay Anand, Editor, HardwareZone.com

Vijay (HardwareZone.com): It’s great to know that Sony is betting high stakes on probably the next biggest change in consumer experience for entertainment.

Aside from the porn industry which is inevitably the media consumption standard trend setter (whether we like it or not), focusing on sports, especially on a major event like the FIFA World Cup is really a smart and calculated move on Sony’s part.

It’s just too bad that not all countries can enjoy the live 3D broadcast, which would have been really swell if theaters around the globe had the right equipment to decode a 3D broadcast and enable a big screen 3D experience to devoted followers. (more…)

Succeeding the HDR-CX12, the Sony HDR-CX520 features 64GB of internal memory while the CX500 has 32GB.

SHOWCASE: Sony Electronics Asia Pacific has unveiled two new AVCHD-based Memory Stick Handycam series camcorders with expanded internal memory to succeed the HDR-CX12. Known as the HDR-CX520 and HDR-CX500, the former houses 64GB of memory while the latter has 32GB.

The new Handycam models are equipped with Sony’s G Lens and “Exmor R” CMOS Sensor technology, and are compatible with the latest Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo HX (32GB). Both models feature a 3-way Shake Cancelling feature (to reduce subtle blur) based on its Advanced Optical SteadyShot (Active Mode) function. Optical SteadyShot itself provides up to 10x wider camera shake correction angle.

With Full HD video recording and 12.0 megapixel still image shots, the new Handycam series also integrated the Smile Shutter with Face Touch function and Highlight Playback feature for users to highlight scenes from movie recordings that can be automatically extracted for Face Detection, Dual Recording and Smile Shutter.

Expect both the CX520 and CX500 to be available in selected Asia Pacific countries from August 2009 (32GB Memory Stick by September 2009). No pricing info has been released yet.