Why Doesn’t Sonicstage Have Better Podcast Support?
In a recent conversation with our friend Damage we were discussing Sony devices and so forth as usual. After some fickle bickering and revelations, he mentioned that Sonicstage could really use better podcast integration. The statement was simple, yet profound. Why is Sonicstage limited with the creation of podcasts? Sonicstage is a nexus for all Sony audio devices; Hi-MD users could have access to some sort of Sony managed youtube-esque environment that is accessible via Sonicstage and deliver a rich feed of user-submitted live recorded content, including podcasts or independent music. Featured users could also have a presence on the Connect music store where they could sell their content accordingly and flash/hard drive audio player users could download that content to their devices.
There could be an option that keeps your Walkman updated with the top 5 or 10 clips automatically each time your sync’d to Sonicstage and a broadband internet connection is enabled.
One of Sony’s biggest fallacies is that they are not seizing the opportunity to promote a sense of community. The company does interact with most media-outlets about their endeavors but they really need to focus on releasing the communist grip and letting their users demonstrate their creativity and ideals. User-driven content is running some of the most popular websites in the world these days. There needs to be a better bridge between user and manufacturer and Sony should be much more vocal about it. If you have noticed, Apple started really listening to the customer during the evolution of the iPod and that is why it is now a gapless audio playing behemoth. However, we here at ATRACLife see alot of the same recommendations over and over again that make sense but aren’t implemented.
Thanks for writing this - I know I for one would love to see podcast/vodcast support in Sonicstage or its replacement. Since I listen to podcasts and music on the same device, it’d be great to see all of those things integrated into the same software package - and maybe on Connect too. It’s another of those things - like drag n’ drop or album art display - where you ask “it’s on the PSP, why isn’t it on the Walkmans?”. Sony seem to have been taking some steps in the right direction recently, and a new focus on user-gen content would be really cool.
well, WHY SS DOESN’T HAVE ANYTHING ITUNES ALREADY HAS??? podcast, vodcast, cool store, plenty of options, auto syncro, auto folder arrengement, and UNICODE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Everything has to be redone! it unbelivable SS has been the same old shit since SS2.0 with tiny evolutions without the true important ones!
Hope that with the new walkman coming SONY’s going to take their soft seriously…
I’m still surprised that Sony hasn’t leveraged the fact they own one of the worlds biggest record labels yet. They should get some live gig recordings of some of their signed artists and get ‘em up on Connect for free download to Sony devices. Make it a ‘Sony Music Gig of the month’ podcast. DRM it to hell for all I care, just give us Sony owners a few freebies every now and then.
willykyu is dead on. nothing substantial has happened to SonicStage in years and the walkman hardware has suffered from that misery.
Now with video support coming to the 8 Series, it´s a must they put some real effort into software. If they fail yet again and dare include some additional software along the lines of the junk that comes with se phones the hemorrhaging will continue and people will turn down walkman despite of sound quality.
I agree with everyones comments.
But, one thing that Sony listened to consumers is their superb Sound Quality, which vastly improved this past 5 years (also built in Noise canceling).
Anyway, yes to UNICODE.
Does anyone here think that Sony will add video managment/playback to SonicStage with launch of the device? Or another app? Do you all think the new NWA-800 will support movies purchased online for the PSP?
I have nothing substantial on this and this is my very own opinion. I think Sony is close to launching a movie download store (for the PSP) within the next 2 months, if not early next month. I wouldn’t be surpised to see it launch with Casino Royale (March 13), myself. This is just my 2 cents. But again I have nothing substantial on this. Sony Picture Home Entertainment were the ones handling it, if internet rumors/articles were somewhat accurate back in Dec.
On podcasting… Yeah there’s no reason they couldn’t support it within SonicStage. RSS is used on the PSP and I think PS3, so Sony does know of it’s existance. Maybe with the next major release of SS.
Even though I love SonicStage, I have to be honest. Itunes has it all. Personally, even though I am a Sony fan, it might be a better idea if Sony made their products compatible with iTunes. Although this would be a substantial risk, their Connect program just isn’t offering what it should.
Considering that they have an MP3 market and a new multimedia console sony could well have lost out significantly in this round of business. I feel this shows that sony needs to sack its top bosses and put people in charge that are intune with the current buying public.
The potential for them to rule the roost with regards to new media systems interconnectivity and music and video content consumerism has been well and truely messed up, someones head should roll.
You have a PS3 you have MP3 you own music and video content. put the three together and bang.
But you messed up the PS3 dashboard execution not only for games and Xbox live type stuff but also for media delivery and PC interconectivity. I work for a SONY PS3 dev and the guys buy microsft 360s because it works and they are so disgusted with the tech they know the inside of, its shocking.
You messed up Sonic stage and connect player beyond belief. You messed up on the Atrac side of the formats and the licensing.
Christ why do you make such good hardware then not provide for its potential useage?
Horse before the cart? left arm does’nt know what the right arm is doing ? Arse and elbow?
Theres one reason and it got to be the management and bosses making the decisions and making them badly.
[...] immer: Wenn wir gerade dabei sind, Sony, wie wäre es SonicStage bei dieser Gelegenheit Podcasting (wie schon AtracLife anmerkt) und eine integrierte Firmwareupdatefunktion zu [...]
I agree with Free4. I love Sony too. I have an NW-A1200, PSP, 2 MZ-NH600D’s, an D-NE20 and an VGP-APL1 on the way from Ubid. Plus I have 130+ purchases from Sony CONNECT.
I agree that some heads do need to roll in managment, if not for the fact that things are just generally a mess. CONNECT Player 1.0 was cool, but they obviously couldn’t stabilize it or communicate well with other divisions.
Sony Ericsson Walkman phones DO NOT support ATRAC3, hence it doesn’t support CONNECT, but it does carry the Walkman label and use Memory Sticks.
ATRAC CD playback support is only on select number CD players, but MP3 is available on the majority of them.
Location Free TV is limited to only 4 computers for the LF-PK1 and 8 for the LF-B20 but that wasn’t enough so they made you purchase a $29.99/license for each PC to be authorized and for the Mac (Taxan) $39.99. SlingMedia has no such limitations. (No wonder I saw 3 returned LF-PK1’s at Fry’s)
Sony announced they were working with STARZ!/VONGO last year (CES 06) to provide movies for the PSP, but no such a service has yet come to fruition.
Again, PSP issues. Can’t playback just any video clip in MPEG-4/AVC. Resolutions must be perfect. AVC headers must be Sony’fied before the thing will want to touch it. Web browser is just so so. No TV-out option.
(Although I do hope Skype is coming!)
Certain Network Walkman’s require the use of a proprietary USB cable to connect, yet Sony parts direct service has no such cable. Obviously they’re soo scarcely limited, they’re selling on e-bay for around $50.00/cable. No accessories really seem to have been made besides 2 docks and a carry/plastic case.
MagicGate DRM comes standard on just about every Sandisk/Lexar/Sony Memory Stick sold these days. But beyond buying a VAIO or just using your MYLO or PSP, your only option on getting purchased ATRAC3 music on your memory card is the USB MSAC-US40. No other manufacturer seems to support secured Memory Sticks. They sell it, they just don’t do much else with it.
The VAIO Roomlink Network Media Reciever… It can play ATRAC3, but only unsecured ATRAC3. And that’s on top of the fact, I believe, you haft to have their VAIO Media Server software, which is then only available on VAIO PC’s.
I love Sony’s products. But their feel on the average consumer seems minimal. It just tends to come down to what was said above. The hardware is good. The software is bad or half-a’d implementations that limit the end-users to appease every other Sony division… Oh and of course to rake in the dough.
Sony Pros:
ATRAC3 sounds superb.
I love the XMB crossbar interface.
SonicStage is very stable now.
Choice of h.264 codec is good.
Native playback of AAC, WMA and MP3.
Well, no suprise really, they are just not one big company but many medium to large size corporations under the same name but with very little coordination amongst them.
Instead of benefiting from knowledge in different units, everyone works on their own systems and solutions, so as a result you have different strategies (attrac in one unit, mp3 in another), different solutions and generally a company that is slow to react to the market, to its consumers.
It is - and I can only speak of my 4 year experience in Sony Europe - a great company, but it is just not ONE company at all. There is the consumer electronics business units, so audio, tv, hifi, car audio, who have been obliged to work together more closely some years ago (separate kingdoms until then), there is VAIO, the PC branch, considering itself better, bigger and more important than the rest, there is the entertainment companies, so music, pictures and playstation (totally different planet) and there is sony ericsson, a joint venture, mainly ericsson.
What they have in common is firstly and mainly a name. A common strategy and the enforcing of such is not really Sony (or japanese?) tradition. It is one big dinosaur of a conglomerate of nearly independent companies and I think that is its biggest drawbacks compared to a lean and centralised American company like Apple…
Having said that, even 2 years after leaving Sony, I still have and continue to buy Sony as the quality is generally good and I like the MemoryStick concept as the one interconnectivity feature that works very well.
Hoping that the current first non-Japanese CEO will be able to change things on this great cruise ship… and maybe we will in future have even better and more interconnecting products and solutions.