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Sony PSP to become huge online comic store | Home Cinema Choice

Using the Sony PSP to read digital comics seems like a great idea. I’ve yet to find a platform that actually does this particular job properly (my desktop is littered with downloaded .cbr/.cbz readers) and the PSP might well be the answer. However there seem to be some super-powered hurdles to overcome when it comes to access and content.
The video trailer for the service (click the link above to find it) is clearly focused on manga titles and I can imagine that the Japanese comic industry is well placed to migrate to this kind of content delivery. Japanese publishers have been delivering digital comics to mobile phones for years. Europe holds some promise. Personally I’ve no interest in Euro comics – I’ve read enough Tintin and Asterix to keep me going for years – but 2000AD is already available to UK subscribers via an iPhone app, so that mag would be an ideal early contender. But it’s not enough for the concept to gain traction. What the PSP would need is one of the big American publishers to sign on. [Read more →]

Despite my dour demeanor I try hard to be a ‘cup-half-full’ sort of guy. But the grim reality of the current economic choke-hold could clearly be felt in the latest set of financial reports delivered by the world’s biggest consumer electronics companies. All confirmed that a slowing demand for everything from screens to semiconductors, not to mention the strong yen, were demolishing their earnings. Red flowed like spilt wine across the financial papers.
When Sir Howard Stringer’s troupe announced a 90 per cent fall in quarterly profit, commentators gasped. Operating income in Sony’s electronics division plunged like necklines on Strictly Come Dancing. Only the seemingly invincible Nintendo significantly grew its business. Currently ranked as Japan’s sixth-most valuable listed company, ahead of Canon, Panasonic and Sony, Ninty recently posted a stonking 36 per cent jump in quarterly operating profit, thanks to ongoing demand for its Wii console and DS handheld. As a token gesture to the global crunch, it cut its operating profit forecast, before heading out into the Osaka night for a big party.

Ironically, these numbers all emerged even as the majors unveiled significant technologies and concepts that should see them power ahead over the next five years.
Unfortunately, I have the nagging suspicion that we’re destined to see at least one high profile exit from the UK consumer electronics market over the next twelve months. Naturally I hope I’m very wrong (and it must be said that I have a rubbish track record in such matters, having bought Betamax and backed HD DVD), but the omens don’t look so good.
Thankfully, there are those who predict that the credit crunch could actually be good news for all of us in the AV business. London-based market research firm FutureSource argues that consumers will opt for ‘stay-cations’ rather than vacations, and invest in new home entertainment systems to keep them entertained in the cold, dark nights ahead. FutureSource predicts that Blu-ray sales will triple over the next 12 months, bringing the total number of players shipped into the UK to 1.8 million. And that doesn’t include PS3s. And more BD player sales should translate to ongoing demand for quality big screens, new AVRs, associated speaker systems and even projectors. ‘In times of economic hardship, we’ve seen consumer electronics and in-home entertainment weather the storm,” says director Sarah Carroll.  “Sales of VCRs jumped by 440 per cent during the Eighties recession.’
I like her thinking. Let’s raise a glass of sparkling Perry and toast a swift return to the good old days, before having a quick workout on Wii Fit to celebrate.

Exclusive review: Quantum of Solace is a Blu-ray blockbuster, but Bond’s package could be better | Home Cinema Choice

There’s no doubt about it. Kids are influenced by movies, but not always in the way you expect. While watching the Blu-ray of Quantum of Solace with my son (click the link above to read the resulting review), he turned to me after a particularly prolonged and violent sequence featuring Daniel Craig and said: This film really makes me want to wear a suit.’ Coming from a committed hoodie-wearing herbert, I was really quite shocked.

Home Cinema Choice 166 now on sale

The latest issue of Home Cinema Choice is on sale and even if I say so myself, it’s a  corker. There’s no shortage of interesting reviews, plus coverage from CES 2009 and (ironically) my in-depth preview (sic) of Pioneer’s next generation of Kuro picture processing technology, codenamed Fuga. This, of course, will now probably never see the light of day, given that Pioneer no longer plans to introduce any more screens once its current range sells through.

It just goes to show how quickly the company made the decision to pull from the market. The interview was done in Japan in December and clearly Kuro was still in [Read more →]

Shiver me timbers! The animated piratical story-within-a-story spin-off from the upcoming Watchmen movie, Tales of the Black Freighter, will be released on Blu-ray March 24 with BD Live features that might actually be worth looking at. In addition to exclusive live-action Watchmen footage not featured in the theatrical cut of the movie, the disc will feature a BD Live exclusive entitled The Why of Watchmen with Executive Producer/Director Zack Snyder. Another lame-ass bit of promo puff or an ingeniously crafted application that bridges the two ambitious projects? [Read more →]