That’s the news Stateside where SCEA (Sony Computer Entertainment America) is claiming that sales of the PS3 console have rocketed 135% at its key retailers in the past two weeks.
The reason, of course, is the recent lopping off of $100 from the price tag, taking it to $499 for the 60GB edition. Jack Tretton, SCEA president and CEO, said:
“The new price on the 60GB PS3, coupled with our very strong software showing from E3, is certainly paying dividends in terms of impressive sales across the board at retail.”
Of more note though is independent US console figures from NPD for June, showing PS3 sales up 21% over May to 98,500 units. While promising, let’s put this in context: the older Xbox 360 sold 198,400 units, up 28 per cent on May.
The NPD figures for July will be interesting for the PS3, no doubt greatly boosted by the price cut, but can Sony expect a similar jump in European sales where it has substituted a much-desired price cut for a better bundle?-Martin Lynch
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HannSpree has been pushing hard in the UK and European market this year and, following the recent launch of its great looking Pop-Art TV and the heavy metal LCD monitor, the company is back with two incredibly cheap HDTVs.
The HannSpree XV models comprise a 32in and 37in model, with native resolutions of 1366 x 768, 8ms response times and twin HDMI slots to go with the twin Scarts. The icing on the cake is that they are priced at just £359 and £499, respectively. The specs are certainly good for the money and there are a lot of picture tuning features and picture format pre-sets to allow consumers to get exactly the kind of picture they like.
In the looks the department they are less wacky than other HannSpree sets, and are somewhat more stylish than many other budget models. Both TVs come a 2-year pick-up, repair and return warranty as standard.-Martin Lynch
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Hitachi has developed some key technologies that will allow it to launch the first Blu-ray camcorder this year.
The new camcorder – see prototype above – will allow you to record in 1080p on little, 3in blank Blu-ray BD-R/RE discs that can cope with up to 7GB of video. Not outstanding but a lot better than little DVDs.
The new technologies include an optical head for Blu-ray/DV and image processing LSI among others. The device uses AVC/H.264 MPEG-4 encoding for the high def stuff and MPEG-2 for standard definition material. That said, why?
It seems like a backwards step if you ask me. High definition is high definition, regardless of the format. Why invest in a Blu-ray camcorder that records to mini Blu-ray discs when there are so many new HD camcorders out there that record straight to hard disk drives? Sounds like someone hoping to make some cash on pricey Blu-ray media. -Martin Lynch
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Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
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