Netflix still isn't offering a firm date for its launch in the UK, but it looks like some of the final pieces are starting to fall into place. The company's PlayStation 3 app is now hitting consoles across the pond, displaying the message you see above when it's launched. Unfortunately, that's about all we have to go on at the moment, but PS3 users can now at least rest assured that they won't have any waiting to do when Netflix does finally flip the switch -- one more shot after the break.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/06/n...-still-coming/ ...

Media streaming service LoveFilm has signed new deals with both BBC Worldwide and ITV to bring new programmes to its subscribers.
"We are thrilled to be bringing together great British TV content with Europe's leading film subscription service," said CEO Simon Calver.
"This gives Lovefilm an even more powerful, unique offering of instant programming for our members to view across a growing number of platforms, for one low monthly price."
ITV will offer shows like Cold Feet, Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, and Prime Suspect, while BBC programming will include Spooks, Life On Mars and Planet Earth.
"We've had a content partnership with Lovefilm for several years now and it's great to see this evolve digitally," added Lisa Rousseau of BBC Worldwide.
"We're delighted to give Lovefilm's subscribers the opportunity to instantly watch their favourite British shows, wherever and whenever they wish, alongside a diverse range of great programmes and films."
LoveFilm subscribers can currently receive Blu-rays, DVDs and games by mail, as well as streaming content to computers, iPad, PS3 and 360. It already has content deals with Entertainment One, Disney, Lionsgate, Momentum, Studio Canal andWarner Bros.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-and-itv-deals ...

New report claims that all three next gen systems will take stage at LA extravaganza

Sony is planning to rock the industry by announcing PlayStation 4 plans in just a matter of months, a new report has revealed.
In a highly unexpected move, Sony executives will head to Los Angeles in June to discuss their next home console at E3, within days of Microsoft doing the same.

This week’s MCV magazine has splashed on its front page “Biggest E3 ever will reveal new consoles”, claiming that Microsoft too will unveil its next generation system at the industry event.
In October last year, Develop revealed that several Sony studios had begun prototyping early PlayStation 4 projects. One month later, PlayStation Europe boss Jim Ryanadmitted it would be “undesirable” for the PlayStation 4 to launch later than its rivals.
MCV now claims that Sony has sent the message to third-parties that it will not be left behind this time.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...uncement-at-E3 ...

If you're the sort to spend actual money on clothes and an apartment for a virtual (mis)representation of yourself, this month is a good time to do that on PlayStation Home.
Sony's virtual social world will be hosting January Sales all this month following brief downtime maintenance tomorrow morning.Servers will go offline on Thursday 5th January from 8AM GMT, and when they come back on you'll be able to snap up anything from a new apartment, or a companion, to some furniture or a new outfit for your avatar for as much as 50% off the normal price.
To browse discounted items just head over to the star in Home Square or check out the Shop category on the PS Home Navigator before the end of January.
This week's update also sees the release of the Red Bull House of Skate, a personal space that includes "breathtaking views, flatscreen TVs, a swanky hot tub and Red Bull Skateboarding - an adrenaline soaked game that you won't find anywhere else".
More details on the PS Blog.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...g-maintenance/ ...

We don't mean these games will make you start taking hikes or playing bocce ball in the park or something. These are games Amazon has classified as active -- they require more input from the player than simply mashing a button or d-pad. Sometimes you have to, like, stand up to play these games.

Amazon's discounting Just Dance 3, the LittleBigPlanet 2 Move bundle, Zumba Fitness ... and Rocksmith? Rocking out counts as activity, we guess. There are also discounts on Kinect and the Wii Cyberbike. Oh, and PS3 accessories have been incongruously mixed into the list. You can pick up some 3D glasses, in case Santa dropped one of those 3D displaysdown your chimney this year.

http://www.amazon.com/Outlet/b/ref=a...pf_rd_i=468642 ...

Anonymous group 'targets personal data of company executives'

The online hacker network collectively known as Anonymous has threatened Sony executives for the company’s partial support of a controversial piracy bill in the US.
It is believed the group wants to publish personal details of Sony executives, though initially the plan was to “destroy” the PlayStation Network.

Sony previously claimed that Anonymous activists were suspects in the PlayStation Network hack; last year’s infamous data breach that affected some 77 million customer accounts and left Sony’s game network offline for six business weeks.
“It has come to the attention of Anonymous that Sony has chosen to stand by the Stop Online Piracy Act,” the hackers said in a video message posted on YouTube.
“This act will halt online businesses and restrict access to many sites for many users. Supporting SOPA is like trying to throw an entire company from off a bridge," the group continued.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/3...er-SOPA-stance
...

The year ended well with Vita's release, but Sony's 2011 was defined by the PS3 and PSN hacks.


PlayStation 3

Sony's year got off to the worst possible start with the news that the PlayStation 3 had been hacked. George "Geohot" Hotz, the man who devised the iPhone jailbreak, published the PS3's root key online, opening up the console to mass piracy. Less than a week after telling us it would re-secure PlayStation 3 with a series of firmware updates, Sony filed a lawsuit against Hotz and 100 unnamed members of fail0verflow, a hacking group also credited with the breakthrough.

Sony won the first round - a court granting it a restraining order on the same day a firmware update pushed pirates off PSN - but the case soon got bogged down in an argument over jurisdiction, Hotz arguing his home state of New Jersey, rather than SCEA's California base, would be the better venue. Sony set about resecuring its console and online network, sending an email to those running custom firmware telling them to change their ways or face PSN bans. Sony accused Hotz of "dodging the court's authority" after he went to South America and failed to comply with an order to hand over computer hard drives. Hotz insisted he was on vacation, but the hacking group Anonymous decided it had had enough. Which is where things went from bad to worse.

PSN

First, Anonymous released a statement slamming Sony for its treatment of Hotz and Graf Chokolo, a hacker who was working to restore the OtherOS feature Sony had removed from PS3 in 2010. A splinter group, Sony Recon, began gathering personal information on Sony employees and their families, but Anonymous backed down after an attack on PSN provoked the ire of gamers unable to play online. Days later, Hotz and Sony settled out of court. We like to think it was Hotz's YouTube rap that sealed the deal.

It didn't end there, of course. On April 21 Sony said it had taken PSN offline for maintenance. Then it said it was an "emergency outage." Six days later it admitted that the personal information of 77 million PSN users had been compromised, and that while it had found no evidence of credit card data being taken it could not rule it out. The company's MMOG wing, Sony Online Entertainment, later warned of the potential loss of 24.6 million users' data.

Kaz Hirai apologised and announced the Welcome Back programme, a choice of free games designed at tempting users back online once PSN was back up and running. But with the outage in its fourth week, we revealed that it was beginning to impact on retail, with die-hard online gamers running out of patience and trading their PS3s in for 360s. On May 16, Sony finally began restoring PSN - though the Store itself wouldn't return until June 2, with Japan forced to wait a further month. It was a protracted, thoroughly embarrassing saga, and to see how it all panned out we suggest a look at our PSN attack timeline.

Vita

Sony announced its PSP successor at a Tokyo event in January, smartly held just eight days after Nintendo's European 3DS launch event, codenamed Next Generation Portable. With its 5-inch OLED screen running at four times the resolution of a PSP, dual sticks, front and rear touch pads and cameras, and a quad-core ARM CPU it was clearly a high-end gaming device, but what was most surprising about the announcement was PlayStation Suite. The cross-platform, hardware-neutral framework meant Vita, as well as Sony tablets and other Android devices, would be capable of playing PlayStation Certified content. It showed that, unlike Nintendo, Sony understood how the portable gaming landscape had changed since the release of PSP and DS.

Much was also made of Vita being far easier to develop for than its predecessor, with Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida saying PS3 ports would be easy, Andrew House acknowledging PSP's "development challenges," with both WipeOut 2048 developer Studio Liverpool and SCEE saying it was the most dev-friendly PlayStation yet.

At E3, Kaz Hirai revealed NGP's final name, as well as confirming its US price - $249 for WiFi only, $299 with 3G - though his announcement of AT&T as Vita's 3G provider of choice didn't go down so well. Hirai said the machine would be released in 2011, but Sony spent much of the year managing expectations, warning that a worldwide release was difficult, and even more so following the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in March.

As such it was little surprise when Hirai confirmed Vita would only be released in Japan in 2011, with other territories to follow next year. The system eventually hit shelves on December 17, and sold 324,000 units - 65 per cent of its launch allocation - in the first two days. The system will be released in the US, Europe and Australia on February 22.

http://www.next-gen.biz/news/2011-round-playstation ...

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