Technology

Many, many years ago, when cameras were either a compact camera or a DSLR, Olympus came onto the scene and helped to popularize the Micro Four Thirds system. This removed the mirror box from the camera’s design, which led to the mirrorless design, resulting in many of the popular cameras we know and use today.

Now it looks like the company is done with cameras as they have announced that they will be selling off its consumer camera business. This business will be sold to Japan Industrial Partners, who for those unfamiliar, is the same company that bought up Sony’s VAIO computer business back in 2014.

Sony's Album app for its Xperia smartphones has consistently been one of the best apps from its home stable of apps. Over some time we have seen Sony retire a number of its own apps, and its Album app could soon follow.

The Xperia 1 II (Mark 2) has now been out for a few days, so it's a perfect time to ask new owners what their impression of Sony's flagship has been so far. For those lucky owners, please let us know how you are finding the device so far in the comments below. What do you like, and what has you frustrated? If you have previously used a Sony Xperia device, how does the Xperia 1 II compare? Or, if you're new to Xperia, is it living up to expectations?

Sony is rolling the first firmware update for the Xperia 1 II, its newest flagship device. The update moves the build number to 58.0.A.3.31 and the latest June 2020 Android security patches. This update hit dual SIM devices (XQ-AT52) around a week ago, but is only rolling out to single SIM devices (XQ-AT51) today.

According to the report, it alleges that Nintendo is apparently looking to scale back on their mobile development efforts. While the company isn’t quitting mobile completely, it seems that the company’s success with Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Nintendo Switch has reaffirmed what they had previously thought, which was that console gaming is where it’s at.

This alleged decision shouldn’t come as a surprise. Back in May, Nintendo’s president Shuntaro Furukawa had already hinted of the company’s mobile plans, where he was quoted as saying, “We are not necessarily looking to continue releasing many new applications for the mobile market.”

Last month, Fujifilm announced that they would be releasing the Fujifilm X Webcam software for computers. In case you missed the announcement, basically this is a software that turns Fujifilm digital cameras into webcams pretty much as a plug-and-play method, and the good news is that it will be coming to Mac computers next month.

When the company initially announced the release of the software, it was only available for PCs, but with this update, Fujifilm has confirmed that development of the macOS version is in development and is expected to be released around mid-July (no specific mention of dates, but we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled).

If you’re looking for a game to play this weekend, then you’ll be pleased to learn that WB Games has announced that Injustice: Gods Among Us will be free to play on the Xbox One, PS4, and the PC. This deal will run until the 25th of June, so you’ll want to move quickly and download the game while the deal is still active.

Injustice: Gods Among Us was released way back in 2013 so it is by no means a new game. Some might even consider it to be dated, but it doesn’t mean that it isn’t fun. For those unfamiliar, Injustice: Gods Among Us is developed by Netherrealm, the same studio behind the Mortal Kombat games.

For anyone who owns a dog, you know that sometimes when you come home, you’ll find your dog waiting for you excitedly at the door. If you’d like to replicate that experience with your Sony Aibo robot dog, you’ll be pleased to learn that in an update to the robot, Sony has introduced a similar experience.

First, users will need to specify where the front of your home is and mark that location so that the Aibo knows where to go. Afterwards, whenever the user comes home and opens the door and says the phrase like, “I’m home”, it will train the robot to know your timings. In theory, over time the Aibo dog will be able to predict when you are coming home and will move to the location and should be there waiting for you when you walk through the door.

Sony started to roll June 2020 Android security patches for a variety of recent devices earlier today. Last year's flagship devices, the Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 are seeing firmware update 55.1.A.9.21 release across a couple of regions so far (Russia, SEA), but availability should widen in the coming days.

On your computer if you deleted a file, it would end up in your computer’s trash can. This is done to help you potentially retrieve files you might not have intended to delete, but accidentally done so. However, on your phone, there isn’t anything quite like that, and while you can retrieve deleted files, it’s not so straightforward.

However, the good news is that in the upcoming Android 11 update, it seems that Google has introduced a hidden trash can feature in the operating system. What this means is that in the event that files are deleted, they can be retrieved as long as it is not more than 30 days since they were deleted.

At the moment no one really knows how much Sony’s next-gen PS5 console will cost, but a listing on Amazon revealed that it could be priced starting at $450 and could go up to close to $600. Now according to the latest rumors, it seems that in terms of price, Microsoft could very well win on that front.

This comes from a user calling themselves Eastmen who posted on the Beyond3D forums (as reported by Dutch website Techtastic) claiming that the Xbox Series X could be priced at around $400, while the Xbox Series S could even hit price points as low as $200. The post claims that to cover their potential losses in hardware sales, Microsoft might be looking to take a bigger cut of game sales and subscriptions.

The Nintendo Wii was released more than a decade ago, about 13 years to be exact. It is one of Nintendo’s most successful consoles to date (although the Switch seems to be catching up), and it seems that over in the Windsor Court care home located in Wetherby in the UK, the Wii is still finding a lot of use amongst its residents.

According to a report from the Harrogate Informer, they revealed how a Wii was donated to the care home thanks to the efforts of a domestic assistant at the home, Leown Botten. Botten then helped set the console up and even taught them how to play, and it appears to be quite a smashing success as the residents are now having a truckload of fun playing it.

Today is the eve of the launch of the Xperia 1 II flagship in Europe – the phone was due to be available from 18 June i.e. tomorrow. Therefore it is disappointing for us to hear from numerous irate Sony eStore customers across Europe who have been receiving emails saying that their orders will be delayed to 31 July 2020.

With Sony officially unveiling the PS5, there is still the question of pricing. Sony had previously hinted that it will not be cheap, but how much more expensive will it be compared to the PS4? That’s really anyone’s guess for now, but it seems that we now have an idea of how much the console could cost.

This is thanks to Ben Geskin who shared a screenshot on Twitter in which he stumbled across a listing for the console on Amazon France. According to the listing, the PS5 is priced at €499 for the standard version, and €399 for the Digital Edition (which doesn’t come with an optical drive). This roughly converts to around $565 and $450 respectively.