Music Unlimited
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Music Unlimited available day one on PlayStation Vita, PlayMemories Studio confirmed
Sony's cloud-based music service, the aptly titled Music Unlimited, has been destined for the PlayStation Vita since before it was called a PlayStation Vita. Today, Kaz Hirai revealed during Sony's annual CES keynote that the service would be available on day one for PlayStation Vita users. Also of significance to the Sony product owners of the US is the confirmation of PlayMemories Studio, the leaked editing application first seen this past weekend. It will allow users to manipulate photos and videos directly through the PS3.
Sony's Music Unlimited cloud service comes to limited non-cloud Walkmans
Sony's connected Music Unlimited offering is already available online, on gaming devices, on Android phones and tablets, so nice to see it's finally available on its, you know, Walkman music players. In what feels somewhat like an afterthought, "compatible Walkman devices" (currently just the NWZ-E465) can play your favorite channels and playlists on the move -- no connection required. Only those paying the $9.99 premium, however, get to add songs from the actual Unlimited music catalogue. Plug-in at home, sync the music, and listen at your leisure offline via the dedicated app, but with so many other competing ways of enjoying your music from the cloud, on a plethora of connected devices, it really is surprising this wasn't already possible. Still, if you own an NWZ-E465, and subscribe to the Music Unlimited, you can feel all gooey knowing Sony has your back. Hit the PR after the break for more info.
Sony's new A, E, and S series Walkmans to get Music Unlimited freebie
For those that haven't yet gone down the iFaithful portable media player route, there's always the Walkman. Sony officially unveiled updates to its A, S and E series line of players just last month, and now plans to dole out a free trial of Music Unlimited to owners of the NWZ-A860, S760BT and E460 when they go on sale this September. The streaming service, formerly known as Qriocity, brings with it a catalog of over 10 million songs and will be available gratis for 180 days, after which it'll run you $3.99/mo for basic service and $9.99/mo for the premium offering. It might be too late in the game for the company to wrestle back the portable audio crown but, hey, you can't fault it for trying to sweeten the MP3-playing pot. Official PR awaits you after the break.
Sony PSN 'Welcome Back' promotion extended... for one more day
Welcome back. Again. Chances are, anyone planning to grab those PSN freebies took their share when the promotion launched last month, but just in case you've been holding out, Sony's giving you another 24 hours (from now) to download your pair of free PS3 and PSP games, 100 virtual items from PlayStation Home, and 30 days of PlayStation Plus. After then, you better be prepared to pay up for your copy of Dead Nation or LittleBigPlanet. The whole gratis shebang goes offline for good at 9AM Pacific Time tomorrow -- just before the PlayStation Store is set to open for business in Japan.
Sony rolls up the PSN 'Welcome Back' mat this Sunday, takes free entertainment with it
Four weeks ago today, Sony announced its 'Welcome Back' campaign following the weeks-long PSN outage that began in April. Now, the program is entering its final weekend, giving you just two more days to download your pair of free PS3 or PSP games, along with 100 virtual items from PlayStation Home and 30 days of PlayStation Plus. To claim your gratis package from the PlayStation Store, click on the "Welcome Back" tab and make your pick. Sure, a few handouts may not make up for those countless days you spent offline, contemplating a switch to other networks, but free stuff is free stuff, so head over to PSN to claim what's rightfully yours before the clock strikes midnight on July 3rd.
Sony Music Unlimited hits Android, hopes you don't know why 'Qriocity' sounds so familiar
Sony didn't make a big to do about the arrival of its Music Unlimited service on Android -- perhaps it's the fact that the market for streaming music on mobile devices is getting a bit crowded these days, with recent arrivals from Apple, Google, and Amazon. Or maybe it's that the mention of Qriocity, the service that powers the offering, is still likely to leave a bad taste in the mouths of lots of folks, after the whole, well, you know. Whatever the case may be, the app is now available as a free download for those with Google's dessert-based operating system on their handsets, plus either the $4 a month basic or $10 a month premium plan. [Thanks, Archon810]
Sony offering six months of Qriocity to PS3 owners
Were you perplexed by the odd, seemingly misspelled word that kept periodically popping up during Sony's updates about the PSN outage? You know, Qriocity? It seems Sony is attempting to take advantage of your piqued attention, as PlayStation Blog has announced that all PS3 owners ages 18 and up are eligible to receive a free 180-day membership to the streaming music service. To access the offer, PS3 owners simply need to select the "Music Unlimited" option under the Music pane of the XMB. After that, it's just a matter of figuring out which of the seven million tracks therein you want to listen to first. No, seriously, it's an important decision. If you kick off your Qriocity career with Hoobastank, we're going to be very disappointed in you.
Sony restored Qriocity VOD, Music Unlimited services today if anyone cares
Less noticed in Sony's PlayStation Network fiasco was the fact that it affected the company's Qriocity video and misc services as well, but today the company announced those are back online everywhere (with the exception of Japan.) Of course, even though Qriocity access is built into many Sony devices, we just haven't heard of anyone actually using it. As promised, Music Unlimited Premium subscribers have had a free 30 days added to their accounts, while the video service merely encourages users to check back later. Anecdotal evidence suggests most had never heard of Qriocity before it was mentioned so prominently during the outage, let us know if you're interested in trying it out now that its back on your Bravia TVs and Sony Blu-ray players.
PSN 'Welcome Back' package is here, our long global nightmare is over
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! Seriously, even a few Engadget editors are chortling in joy. PSN and Qriocity service has been restored in the Americas, Europe, and Asia and to celebrate (and soothe the seething frustration of its customers) Sony has launched its "welcome back" program. To be eligible you'll have to have been a member before April 20th but, otherwise, it's relatively qualifier free. Fire up the PlayStation Store and head to the "Welcome Back" tab to claim your pair of free games (you've got five different options on the PS3 and four on the PSP). In addition everyone gets a month of PlayStation Plus gratis and there's a selection of "On Us" movie rentals available over the weekend. There are a few other freebies to placate the masses too, like 100 free items in PlayStation Home, while Current Plus and Music Unlimited Premium subscribers get a 60 and 30 day handout respectively. If you've got any burning questions yet to be answered, check out the rather lengthy FAQ at source link and enjoy! It's not everyday that a company just throws open the flood gates on free stuff.
Sony begins full restoration of its PSN and Qriocity services (update: intermittent issues)
Can it be happening? Is Sony's security nightmare finally over? Seems to be. On Tuesday, Sony promised full restoration of its PlayStation Network and Qriocity services in the Americas, Europe, and Asia (excluding Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea) by the end of the week. Now Sony is proclaiming that today is the day for full restoration with details of its "welcome back" package to be announced from each region. The PlayStation Store is already up with a "huge lineup" of new games, demos, add-ons, themes, avatars, and videos along with an updated Playstation Plus. Hey, look on the bright side Sony, even though you've lost the confidence of millions of your customers, at least now they're aware of your Qriocity service. Full press release after the break. Update: Working fine for us from London. We signed in to the PlayStation Store and even fired up Black Ops multiplayer just for kicks. Update 2: We're now seeing error "80710D36" occasionally when trying to access the PlayStation Store, presumably due to congestion. We're seeing this from both London and New York.
Qriocity music streaming app on PSP today
It's now possible to access Music Unlimited Powered by Qriocity anywhere you can get a Wi-Fi signal. The PSP can now use the streaming music service, which offers "more than seven million songs" to paying users, with two tiers of playlist customization. Sony announced this morning that the PSP app is now available in "UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Australia and New Zealand." Today is also the planned release date for the US. If you'd like to try Qriocity, Sony is offering 30-day trials to PSN members here.
PSP starts streaming Music Unlimited on April 14th
What started as loose-lipped tattle is now official: the PSP will get a taste of Sony's Music Unlimited streaming music service starting on April 14th. The service, tortuously entitled "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity" by Sony, requires a PlayStation Network ID to access all that digital audio. Once setup, Sony promises a "synchronized music experience" across your PSP, PS3, PC, and other network-enabled Sony devices like Bravia TVs and Blu-ray players -- a claim backed by a cloud-based catalog of some seven million tracks supported by a "music sync" functionality that will automatically organize your Music Unlimited library after perusing the local files and playlists found in your existing media player (yes, iTunes is supported). Click through the break for the full press release and a good video overview of the service while you ponder the $3.99 basic and $9.99 premium monthly service fees.
Music Unlimited platform coming to PSP, NGP and Xperia Play
In a recent interview with Eurogamer, COO of Sony Network Entertainment Shawn Layden confirmed that the company's Music Unlimited platform would soon make its way to PSP owners living in the UK in "a matter of weeks," and would appear on the NGP and Xperia Play later this year. The cloud-based music streaming service (which kicked off in the U.S. this year as part of the PS3's Qriocity application) will let listeners access their music and genre channels set up on a PC or PS3 on-the-go -- for a monthly fee, of course. We've contacted Sony to see if this info applies to the States as well. Layden explained the inspiration came from the PSP and PS3's ability to share games between one another, adding that Sony hopes to, "bring all those different content domains into a more comprehensive space for the user." Hey, we're all about synergy, here. We just hope Sony finds a way to add Qriocity support to our most anticipated NGP launch title, Now That's How I Touch Music: Vol. 6.
Sony's Music Unlimited streaming service coming to NGP, will hit Xperia Play this year and PSP 'in a matter of weeks'
It may sound patently obvious at this point, but there's still cause to celebrate -- Sony's streaming subscription music service, Music Unlimited, is headed to both the PlayStation Portable and its pair of divergent spiritual successors the Next Generation Portable and Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play. Eurogamer sat down with Sony Network Entertainment VP Shawn Layden, who spread the news readily, confirming that the service would be activated (at least in the UK) on PlayStation Portable "in a matter of weeks." Meanwhile, Android phones including the infamous PlayStation handset will get Music Unlimited "this year," and SNE "will make it happen" on the NGP as well, presumably sometime after the company reveals when its beast of a portable game station will actually come out. All in the name of taking your tunes with you wherever you happen to travel -- a concept that's getting rather popular right now.
Amazon negotiating for Cloud Player music licensing deals after all?
Publically, Amazon wants you to think it doesn't care about licensing the music that it will let you store in the cloud, but privately we're hearing the company is scrambling like mad to work things out with angry music labels as we speak. Specifically, the Wall Street Journal cites a pair of anonymous sources who say Amazon's actually negotiating deals with the four major labels right now -- though Amazon won't confirm such a thing -- which the e-tailer hopes to close in a matter of weeks. What's more, they say Amazon may move to a system that compares users' uploaded songs with a database of those tunes it's managed to licence should the deal go through -- a system much like Sony's Music Unlimited, by the sound of it. It shouldn't come as any surprise, then, that the Journal quotes Sony Music chairman Martin Bandier in its final paragraph, who makes his pointed indignation at Amazon's announcement heard: "This is just another land grab. I can't make it any plainer than that. It's really disrespectful, and of course we are considering all of our options." Nothing like a little bit of mainstream media coverage to help pressure a business deal.
Amazon Cloud Player upsets Sony Music over streaming license, Amazon shrugs
In case you missed the news, last night Amazon gave us a little surprise by launching its free Cloud Player service, which lets you stream your music collection from the cloud to your computer or Android device. While this has no doubt put a smile on many faces (American ones only, for now), Sony Music isn't too happy about Amazon jumping the gun over licensing for streaming rights. The record label told Reuters that it's hoping Amazon "will reach a new license deal, but we're keeping all of our legal options open." Yikes. In retaliation, Amazon responded with the following statement to Ars Tehcnica: "Cloud Player is an application that lets customers manage and play their own music. It's like any number of existing media management applications. We do not need a license to make Cloud Player available. The functionality of saving MP3s to Cloud Drive is the same as if a customer were to save their music to an external hard drive or even iTunes." Of course, the bigger story here is that Amazon's free Cloud Player is going head-to-head with Sony's Music Unlimited streaming subscription service, which was pushed out last month after plenty of money talk with various record labels. Understandably, Sony isn't willing to let Amazon cut through the red tape here without a fight, and this may also affect similar music locker services like mSpot and MP3Tunes, albeit at a much smaller scale. In fact, Sony's already expressed its discomfort with those particular companies' mode of operation, so you can probably expect to see this tension boiling over to some form of legal action before long. Now that a big shot like Amazon's involved, it's almost inevitable. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Sony Google TV devices get a modest upgrade with Music Unlimited, WMA playback -- but no Android Market
It's been a few months since all Google TV devices got their first major update and while Logitech's Revue is standing pat, Sony started pushing the 2011030201ON update to its Blu-ray player and Internet TVs this weekend. As seen above it adds access to the new Music Unlimited part of the Qriocity service, the ability to play back WMA files and tweaks WiFi connection stability. That's all well and good, but we're probably not the only ones already looking forward to the next major update with its potential of a performance boost and access to the Android Market (without the need for any soldering irons) however that appears unlikely to arrive this far ahead of Google's I/O conference in May. [Thanks, Andrew, Kyle, Dan and Felipe]
PS3 'Qriocity' music service available in US today
If you're, um, qrious about what it would be like to stream music through your PS3, you're in luq luck. Music Unlimited Powered by Qriocity, the cloud-based music service released in parts of Europe late last year, is available in the US today. Music Unlimited allows you to stream "more than six million music tracks from major recording labels, leading independent labels and major publishers around the world." There are two options: a "Basic" service and a "Premium" service. Both offer commercial-free music and multiple genre-based channels, but "Premium" offers more channels and the ability to listen to specific songs on demand. The service will be available for PS3, Bravia TVs, Blu-Ray players, and VAIO PCs "later this afternoon," with versions for other devices including PSP coming soon. If you somehow don't have enough ways to listen to streaming music, or aren't satisfied with the short name of your existing service, check out the preview video after the break and see if Qriosity is for you.
Sony denies rumored plans to exit iTunes
Sony is preparing to launch its Music Unlimited service in the US today and has used this occasion to debunk the rumor that it was pulling out of iTunes. A recent interview with Michael Ephraim, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, hinted that Sony may leave iTunes if its own Music Unlimited service saw widespread adoption. Sony Network Entertainment COO Brandon Layden responded to this report by stating: Sony Music as I understand it has no intention of withdrawing from iTunes, they're one of our biggest partners in the digital domain. I think those words were either taken out of context or the person who spoke them was unclear on the circumstances. This latest statement confirms that, under current circumstances, Sony's media content will stay in iTunes. This is good news for iOS users as Sony's Music Unlimited service in the US will be available for the PS3, networked television sets and Blu-ray players. Mobile devices are not included in its immediate plans, so iTunes will continue to be the easiest way to get the latest Avril Lavigne album on your iPhone or iPod touch. [Via Electronista]
Sony Music Unlimited now streaming tracks to the US
Let's hope Sony's new streaming music service -- just launched today for the US, Australia, and New Zealand -- isn't as unwieldy to use as its "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity" moniker suggests. The service features six million tracks from Sony Music Entertainment, Universal, EMI, and Warner and is available on Sony's own devices including the PS3, Blu-ray disc players, Bravia televisions, and VAIO PCs. It'll also be available on Android smartphones soon with an iOS app coming later this year, assuming Apple's new subscription debacle doesn't derail Sony's plans. A basic membership provides an interactive radio experience for $3.99 per month while a premium $9.99 per month service gives subscribers on-demand access to the Music Unlimited library with the ability to manage your music through playlists and the like. Sony also provides a useful service that scans your local library and playlists to "jump start" the organization of your Music Unlimited collection. Wonder how it'll work on the NGP and PlayStation tablet?
