Universal Media Disc 'another Sony bomb'

From ZDNet

Benjamin Feingold, president of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, was a big believer in PSP as a movie-watching platform. He still is, even though he concedes that retail shelf space for UMD movies is on a sharp decline and his own studio is being "more selective" in choosing movies for UMD release.

Feingold believes the PSP's biggest drawback as a movie-watching device was the inability to connect the gadget to TV sets for big-screen viewing, "which would have made it more compelling," as well as the inclusion of memory stick capability.

"I think a lot of people are ripping content and sticking it onto the device rather than purchasing," he said.

But next week, Sony Computer Entertainment executives will begin making the rounds of the Hollywood studios to discuss plans for making the PSP able to connect to TV sets.

"We're hoping the format's going to be reinvigorated with next-generation capability that may include living-room or normal television playback," he said.

"Reinvigorating?" Boy, I know technology moves fast, but this thing's only been out a year!

[I guess they did come up with Betamax and did so well with Minidisc too]

Always the Last Place You Look

What a ridiculous statement. Of course it's always the last place you look. You're hardly likely to look elsewhere once you'd found it, now are you.

A colleague this week lost his wallet. Looked everywhere. In and around the office. In the car, especially down the side of the seat. At home. Everywhere. After a couple of days, he took the plunge and called each card issuer and cancelled each card. No small task. No wallet. No cards. No money.

Two further days pass. The first replacement card arrives. The wallet is discovered. Now how in the hell did his wallet fall and land here? And how did it not fall off whilst he wheeled around the office?

Moderately Gigantic One

Southampton is the venue for the Burf's birthday bash. It sounds like a moderately gigantic affair with about 12 of us going out. As there'll be females of the species in attendance, it's almost certain to get messy for one reason or another.


I'll be looking forward to it as I've not had an night out on the lash for a while. I'm discounting the night out with my beautiful wife last evening as that's a whole different kind of enjoyment. We spent a fun evening at the casino on an introduction evening. After doing my spare change on roulette, I managed to double up on a stack on blackjack at end the evening (what are the chances of three players drawing 18 and the dealer going bust?).

I so wish I hadn't

Of a Sunday evening, two bottles of red wine is far too much. Especially when they're preceeded by six beers. My noggin has been seriously unforgiving today. If you look up binge according to the governments 'how to be a model citizen', my guess is that six beers and two bottles of red wine in one session would probably be listed. Ho hum. Bovvered.

Finally - Some News on Sky HD

So, for months I've been trying to find out how I get Sky HD. What's it going to cost? When can I get it? How much is the box?

The call centre, when you can eventually get through, can tell you nothing. Nada. Zip. Squat. Diddly. Nice marketing, creating some real desire and anticipation. Clever. Anyway, after asking three times in six months, I eventually get told about a page where I can register my interest in Sky HD. Fantastic.

Click, click. Ooh, that looks nice. How much? [No information] When [No information] Sigh.

Sign up and you'll be the first to know.

Waits [im]patiently

An Email landed in my inbox today. Sky HD News. You can pay a deposit of £30 and we'll call you to arrange your installation during May. Just in time for the World Cup. [Where do I sign?].

Prior to signing up - is the BBC broadcasting HD? I really want to watch the World Cup in glorious High Definition TV. After some searching (you'd think it wuld be more obvious a marketing campaign by the Beeb), I established that indeed they would be broadcasting their first HD programme, Germany v Costa Rica on 09 June 2006.

Finding £2,000 for the TV I would like is all that remains now. And to redecorate the lounge after mounting the new plasma on the wall.

Wheels

So I finally got myself some new wheels. The Audi A4 was getting a little long in the tooth with 149K on the clock and, despite it being a seriously reliable vehicle, it was time for a change - I just got the feeling that I was pushing my luck on it keeping on going without something major going wrong.

Who am I kidding? I guess I can tell myself that as much as I like, but I'm just like most guys, once I'd considered it long enough, looked through Autotrader and dreamed for long enough, I really just wanted a new toy. Everything else is justification I guess.

Well, who cares. I deserve it. And I'm damn pleased with it, despite the fuel consumption.

I also managed to squeeze a private plate in on my budget.

There have been a few small problems that the garage have been perfectly happy to resolve, to their credit. Although I'd expect nothing less, let's be fair.