Music Unlimited
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Amazon gives Music Unlimited subscribers up to six months of free Disney+
Amazon is giving you free access to Disney+ if you pay for its music streaming service.
Amazon offers students Music Unlimited for 99 cents per month
Amazon is offering Prime Student subscribers a solid deal on a Music Unlimited plan. Members can gain access to the music streaming service for an extra 99 cents per month. Students who don't have a Prime Student plan can opt for a six-month trial, and then add the Music Unlimited subscription at the cut-price rate. Six bucks for half a year of ad-free music is nothing to sniff at.
Take a tour of the PS4's Video, Music Unlimited services
It may not play your old Spin Doctors CDs (yet), but the PlayStation 4 does offer a number of other media functions, all of which are laid out in this video tour of Sony's Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited services.
Sony discussing MP3, CD playback in PS4 after surprising fan feedback
When Sony outlined the PS4's hardware features in October, some potential customers were so shocked that the console wouldn't support MP3 files or CDs that they vowed to cancel their pre-orders. President of Sony Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida was surprised by such a heated response. "The biggest surprise for us all internally at Sony was there are so many people who passionately reacted to our announcement that there's no MP3 support or CD support on day one," Yoshida said on Giant Bomb's Interview Dumptruck, caught by Eurogamer. "It's not like we actively decided, 'Let's not do this feature so people will have to subscribe to Music Unlimited. The focus has been more on the game features. Some of the features we wanted but we couldn't get in on day one." The PS4 team in Japan is figuring out the best way to implement the missing media features, Yoshida said: "We didn't really think about MP3 or CD. We thought, 'We're going to do that eventually ....' It caught us off-guard. People don't really talk about these features, right? Some people get really mad and [say,] 'I'll cancel my pre-order!' So as we speak, people in Japan – the system guys – are discussing when we can put these features in." People certainly started talking about media features after Sony's announcement – we asked you (yes, you!) if musical freedom was important in a console, with poll results and your comments compiled here.
30 days of PlayStation Plus, $10 PSN voucher free with US, Canadian PS4s
Expect to find a 30-day trial for PlayStation Plus, a $10 voucher for the PlayStation Store, and a 30-day trial for Music Unlimited in your new PS4 if you live in the US or Canada. Sony has announced via the PlayStation Blog that, for a limited time, new consoles will come with these three pack-ins to help new users get all nice and comfy with their shiny new box. While PS Plus will be required for online multiplayer on the PS4, you'll also get access to the Instant Game Collection and the ability to cloud-save your games. The PS4 will also limit your music-listening options to Music Unlimited - which is kind of ironic when you think about it - so if you want to crank some tunes, the trial will get you started. The $10 voucher is arguably the real treat here, as you can use it however you like in the PlayStation Store. Movies, games, TV shows and more will be available on your new PS4, but if you're a Call of Duty fan, you've probably already noticed that $10 is the same amount it will cost to upgrade from a PS3 copy of Call of Duty: Ghosts to a PS4 copy. Update: Note that Ghosts isn't the only game that can be upgraded for $10. Battlefield 4 will also be available to upgrade for the same price, as will Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition.
Sony to gift early PS4 owners $10 PS Store credit, 30-day Plus and Music trials
Microsoft may have dropped a whole lot of news on us today, but that doesn't mean Sony hasn't got a few surprises up its sleeve. With just a week until the PlayStation 4 hits stores in North America, the company has revealed a trio of surprises for PlayStation 4 buyers when they receive their units on launch day. As part of a special promotion, Sony will include $10 credit for its PlayStation Store, which can be used to against games, music or movies, a free 30-day membership to PlayStation Plus and a 30-day trial for its Music Unlimited streaming service. Sony appears to be onboarding gamers in the hope they'll enjoy its multiplayer gaming and media services enough to stump up the cash for a full subscription. The company says the offer is available for a limited period, and that its music offer will only apply to new users.
PlayStation Plus deals: Dungeon Defenders, Sonic 1 and 2 for free, Sega discounts
This week may play host to the big debut of PlayStation Plus on Vita, but a smattering of other deals also await subscribers. The free game this week is Dungeon Defenders, the tower-defense online co-op RPG hybrid from Trendy Entertainment. The Classic Sonic bundle, which pairs Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, is also gratis to all PS Plus members this week.Deals come from Sega's staple of games too, the PlayStation Blog reports, with discounts on Nights Into Dreams HD, Jet Set Radio, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown and even a bundle on Hell Yeah and two supplementary DLC packs on the docket. And if you got into the PS Plus membership for the non-gaming stuff (sure, we totally get it) then an 80% discount on one year of Music Unlimited Premium may entice your earbuds.
Sony Xperia Tablet S hands-on (video)
Sony officially launched its new tablet here at IFA -- and it's keeping that folded-over profile. Happily, it's running Android ICS. We've just spent some time with the Xperia Tablet S here in Berlin and it's looking like Sony wants this to be the center of your media-consuming world. The new tablet pals up with the company's range of phones, bearing that familiar Xperia branding on a freshly hewn metal slab. Yes, the new tablet sidesteps the plastic build of Sony's last two tablets going for a solid metal build. Fortunately, it feels just as light in the hand, while that folded design also remains well-balanced. We're particularly pleased with the tactile finish on the folded-over surface of the tablet -- it's very grippable. Internally, we're dealing with a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, while a 10-inch 1,280 x 800 IPS display will be showing off all that media and gaming content. Browse our gallery of images below and check out our hands-on video and first impressions after the break. %Gallery-163657%
Sony announces 60-day Music Unlimited trial for new customers, new monthly subscription tier
CEO Kaz Hirai didn't spend too much time on it during the keynote, but Sony has just announced two new changes to its Music Unlimited service that it no doubt hopes will help it lure in more customers. The first is a 60-day free trial that will be available to all new customers. Those looking to stay on beyond that will also now have a new subscription option to choose from, dubbed Access, which will give you unlimited streaming for a monthly fee of €4.99 (or just over $6).
Sony Xperia Tablet S official: slimmed-down design, Tegra 3, IR remote and Android 4.0, starts at $400
Looks like those leaked slides showing Sony's Xperia-branded tablet were right about pretty much everything. (Well, everything except the price, anyway). The company just formally announced the Xperia Tablet S and, as rumored, it features a Tegra 3 chip, Android 4.0 and up to 64GB of built-in storage. Like last year's Tablet S, it has that distinctive folded-over magazine shape, except this go-round it's made of metal, and measures between .35 and .47 inches thick (the weight, too, has dropped to 1.26 pounds, down from 1.31). Sony also kept the Tablet S' IR emitter, which allows the tablet to double as a universal remote, and this time you can program shortcuts to do things like watch sports. Rounding out the spec sheet, there's a full-size SD slot, a 9.4-inch (1,280 x 800) IPS screen and a 6,000mAh battery promising 10 hours of runtime. As we mentioned, the tablet will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich, but Sony is promising an upgrade to Jelly Bean as soon as it can optimize all its custom apps. And indeed, there are quite a few specialized applications here. For starters, there's a new Watch Now app that allows for live TV-viewing (cable subscription required), with the option to "check into" shows and share comments on Facebook and Twitter. Meanwhile, Sony added a Guest Mode that lets you create custom user profiles, forbidding the use of certain apps -- a handy parental control tool, we say. Naturally, Sony also threw in Music and Video Unlimited, where you can buy content from Sony's vast movie and song catalogs. Finally, the tablet comes with 5GB of space in PlayMemories, Sony's new cloud storage service. The tablet will be available September 7th, though Sony is accepting pre-orders starting today. It will start at $400 for the 16GB model, with the 32GB going for $500 and the 64GB for $600. And yes, as those leaked slides indicated, there will most certainly be accessories. For starters, there's that optional Surface-like keyboard we heard about, priced at $100. There's also a three-position stand, with HDMI output and a USB adapter for a charging. That, too, costs $100. Sony is also selling a charging cradle ($40), a plain-Jane stand ($25), a dock speaker ($130) and a carrying case, priced at either $51 or $80, depending on whether or not you get it in leather. We very much expect to get some hands-on time at IFA, so stay tuned for first-hand impressions.
Sony's Music Unlimited service finally reaches Japan homeland, offers access to over 10 million tracks
The rest of the world has been sampling Sony's streaming music wares for a while, but the all-you-can-listen subscription service has finally launched today in Japan, priced at 1,480 yen per month. Music Unlimited has now rolled out to both Sony hardware and various mobile OS', in a bid to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Spotify. Users can still 'match' their existing music collection to the cloud service -- if available -- and will be able to stream available music on any compatible device and even cache their playlists for offline playback. Hit up the PR after the break for all the details.
PSA: Sony Xperia Ion lands in US today, yours starting at $50 with two-years of commitment
You've likely read our review of Sony's Xperia Ion by now, so just consider this a reminder for those who've yet to peruse it. After nearly half a year from being christened at CES, the Ion can officially be purchased today in the US. Agreeing to a two-year commitment and laying out 100 smackers at AT&T -- or just 50 at Sony or Best Buy -- will net you this handset and its curious match-up of dated and up-to-date specs. On the one hand, this Xperia disappointingly runs Android Gingerbread (2.3.7) atop a dual-core 1.5Ghz Snapdragon S3 processor. However, it also packs a 4.6-inch HD Reality display (1280 x 720), 1,900mAh battery, 1GB of RAM, a 12MP (720p video) Exmor R sensor-loaded rear shooter, NFC and PlayStation certification. Hit up your local AT&T, Best Buy or Sony store to see if it feels better in your hand than it did in ours, or shop for it online at the source links below. [Thanks, Jason & Oliver]
Sony Xperia U review: a little slice of Android that punches above its weight
More Info Sony Xperia P review Sony officially debuts Xperia U at MWC 2012 Sony Xperia U gets torn to pieces, FCC destroys something beautiful There's an oft-used idiom about small packages, which frequently doesn't apply to the world of technology. That's to say that a diminished form factor often doesn't bring the "best things" with it. For example, Sony's NXT family members, revealed between CES and MWC, gifted consumers with the choice of three new handsets: the Xperia P, S and U. The last one in that list is by far the smallest, and in congruence with the general trend of mobile technology, the most lightly armored. However, we're not ones to make assumptions, and heaven forbid we pre-judge something based on size alone. We're as willing to be surprised as anyone, and the new baby of the Sony bunch is as likely a candidate as any to throw us a curveball. Our initial impressions in Barcelona were largely positive, so this review -- as the firm says on its marketing material for the phone -- is all about (the Xperia) U.%Gallery-156734%
Sony releases Music Unlimited for iPhone
After launching its Music Unlimited service for Android and PlayStation Vita owners, Sony is now bringing the streaming music service to the iPhone and iPod touch. The free music app requires a US$4 monthly subscription and lets you stream music over 3G, 4G or WiFi connections. You can listen to music from Sony's library or upload your own songs using the Music Sync service. The Sony Music Unlimited app is available for download in the countries where the Music Unlimited service is available. [Via Engadget] Show full PR text SONY ENTERTAINMENT NETWORK'S MUSIC UNLIMITED APPLICATION FOR IPHONE AND IPOD TOUCH READY FOR GLOBAL RELEASE Company Reaffirms Its Commitment to Entertainment Everywhere with the Release of Its Cloud-Based Music Service App in the App Store This Friday FOSTER CITY, Calif., May 22, 2012 – Sony Network Entertainment International today announced the Music Unlimited service application (app) for iPhone® and iPod touch®1 will be available globally this coming Friday, May 25. With the free app, subscribers can access the service's global catalog of millions of tracks2 whenever and wherever they are. "With the proliferation of connected devices, consumers expect complete access to their digital entertainment and demand a consistent experience regardless of the device," said Tim Schaaff, President of Sony Network Entertainment International. "Bringing the Music Unlimited service to iPhone and iPod touch is one of the many ways we are able to reach more music lovers around the world while ensuring the same level of high-quality entertainment that is associated with the overall Sony Entertainment Network experience." The iPhone® and iPod touch® will be the newest additions to the Music Unlimited service's existing ecosystem of Sony and other connected devices including PlayStation®3, PlayStation®Vita, BRAVIA® TVs, and Android™ tablets and smartphones including Sony Xperia™. The new app allows consumers to listen to their music library3, playlists and channels, easily add songs to playlists, discover related artists and tracks, and browse by genre. "We want to let users pick up their favorite device and crank up the Music Unlimited service at any time," said Michael Aragon, Vice President and General Manager of Digital Video and Music Services, Sony Network Entertainment International. "With the addition of the new iPhone and iPod touch app, users with a Basic or Premium subscription can listen to their favorite songs across a number of the most popular connected devices – in and out of the home." The new Music Unlimited service app for iPhone ® and iPod touch® can be downloaded for free from the App Store™ beginning Friday, May 25, 2012.
Sony Music Unlimited comes to iPhone with streaming music app
Android and PlayStation Vita owners have felt the Music Unlimited love on their respective devices for quite some time now, but the Spotify / MOG / Rdio competitor has finally made its way to the App Store, bringing with it yet another option for streaming music on iOS. The free app appears to be optimized for iPhone and iPod touch (though it's also compatible with iPad), and will enable on-the-go jammin' with a $4-per-month Basic subscription over 3G, 4G or WiFi connections. You can pull in tunes from the millions of tracks in Sony's collection, or access songs on your PC using the Music Sync service. The app is currently only available in the New Zealand App Store, but it's expected to hit other Music Unlimited countries soon. For now, you can hit up the source link for the Kiwi App Store preview, or head over to the Music Unlimited site to sign up.
PSA: Sony's Music Unlimited service now on Vita
Sony's subscription music streaming service, Music Unlimited, is now available on the Vita. The app touts a touch-navigated menu system and the ability to listen to music offline, which is a first for the service, but is otherwise unchanged from its various other iterations across Sony devices. There's still two levels of service at $3.99 and $9.99 monthly, with cross-platform "Music Sync" technology that keeps your various Sony devices pumpin' the same jams.We'd love to have been a fly on the wall during the Music Unlimited naming meeting at Sony HQ: "We need a name that communicates the fact that our service provides people with music. But, like, a lot of music. There's so much music in our service, you guys.""What about The Infinite Blackness of the Void of Horrible Space, With Music™?""Johnson, you're fired. Turn in your unlimited coffee voucher on your way -- Johnson you're a genius."
Music Unlimited app arrives on PlayStation Vita, Android version gets offline play
Listening to music isn't the best reason to take the plunge with the PS Vita. However, a new feature's a new feature, and Sony's very happy to tell you that its own subscription-based Music Unlimited service has arrived on UK devices, courtesy of its own dedicated app. Now you've had your fill of the games, Twitter and Facebook apps, it must be time to integrate with Sony's verticals and hand over more cash. The Android app has also been updated to include offline playback to songs added to your playlists -- like another certain streaming music service. You can grab the latest version at the source below.
Sony Z Series Walkman Player review
Since it was announced last August, we've anxiously been waiting for Sony's flagship Walkman Z (the first to feature Android) to hit US shores. (It made it here well after the holidays passed. Better late than never, right?) While Sony is billing the Z as a Walkman first and foremost, its spacious 4.3-inch display and 1GHz Tegra 2 SoC ensure it's powerful and well-sized for playing games and generally making the most of Gingerbread. The device will be available in a variety of flavors, with up to 32GB of storage ($330), though for the purposes of this review we've been rocking the entry-level 8GB model ($250). Although we haven't exactly been charmed by similar devices vying for a piece of the iPod Touch's market share, the Walkman Z has plenty of promise. The question is, does it deliver? And does it deserve your $250 when it goes on sale in March? Let's find out.
PlayStation Network ID moniter sacked, falls under Sony Entertainment Network umbrella on Feb. 7
Listen up, those of you with PlayStation Network IDs. Sony Computer Entertainment International has announced that, as of February 7th, PSN IDs will change into SEN IDs as a part of its existing Sony Entertainment Network The company has aimed the move at clearly unifying the services of PSN and SEN, such as Music Unlimited. Fret not, however, as Joystiq notes that the change is basically a looks-only affair, meaning your current account information and related services will remain the same. Notably, the moniker refresh won't apply to the PSP, which will curiously remain under the PSN moniker for network services. The news comes as a part of SCEI's updated Terms of Service and privacy policy, both of which take effect on the same day. Those changes, by the way, appear to mainly be regarding location-based services for PS Vita, and parental controls for sub-master accounts. After all of the bad times PSN has been through, partnering up closer to SEN might just be the refreshed outlook on (online) life it needed all along -- and hopefully with less downtime. Hit up the source link below for the full details.Update: We've adjusted the post to clarify that the PlayStation Network will remain named as such, but that PSN IDs have now become SEN IDs.
PSA: PlayStation Network goes down (again) from 9AM ET, but it's for maintenance (again)
There's presumably still some kinks left to be resolved, as Sony's PSN is once more scheduled to snooze from 9AM EST through 3AM. Longer than last month's efforts, it'll affect the PlayStation Store, Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited services on PlayStation Home. However, you will be able to continue online gaming if you sign in ahead of the downtime. Frustrated gamers can seek the full explanation at the source below.
