As of the end of last month, Sony has shipped 50 million PS3 units worldwide and it appears that most of those consoles have been sold to consumers.
Additionally, Sony has sold 8 million Move motion control systems as of April 3rd.
The PS3 launched in late November and the Move was released in September 2010.
Including PSP owners, the PlayStation Network has 75 million registered accounts, with over 40 million expected to be active.
Sony is about 3 million units behind the Xbox 360, which had a one-year head start and has seen extremely strong sales since the release of the Kinect motion control system.
Result for: consoles
Yesterday we reported that the jury trial for the case of Matthew Crippen had been delayed, after the presiding judge took 30 minutes to lecture the prosecution.
Today, the prosecution has dismissed the case, after just hours, “based on fairness and justice.”
Prosecutor Allen Chiu says: “The government has decided to dismiss the indictment.”
Crippen was on trial for allegedly modding Xbox 360 consoles to be able to play pirated games and homebrew.
U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez started the trial off yesterday with a 30-minute rant complaining about the prosecution and the government’s case, with his main concerns being the prosecution’s “star” witnesses.
The two witnesses in the case had both potentially broken the law, making them less credible. The first,Entertainment Software Association investigator Tony Rosario, had video of Crippen modding consoles in his home in L.A. Those videos, however, were taped secretly, in violation of California’s strict privacy laws.
Microsoft security employee Ken McGrail was the second witness, the man who analyzed the consoles that were seized from Crippen’s home. McGrail, however, had admitted under oath to modifying the original Xbox and the Xbox 360 back when he was in college.
Crippen was charged with two counts of breaking the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA and faced up to 10 years in prison.
The 28-year-old says he will finally be able to go back to school, needing just one more year to get his degree from Cal State Fullerton.
Result for: consoles
AT&T has announced today that their popular IPTV service U-Verse has been expanded to the Xbox 360 gaming console.
Starting on October 15th, gamers can access the service through their consoles, eliminating the need to purchase a new receiver for their home.
With the launch, AT&T is the first TV provider in the states to offer live TV via the console.
Additionally, the company has announced the launch of “U-Verse Mobile” for upcoming Windows Phone 7 devices.
Starting next month, the Mobile app will be preloaded on AT&T WP7 devices.
“Now you can get our award-winning U-verse services on your big screen TV, online, on your mobile phone, and integrated with your Xbox 360,” said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “Our IPTV strategy is putting AT&T at the forefront by delivering U-verse content where you want it. And now we’re extending the U-verse experience to more AT&T smartphone customers with the upcoming launch of U-verse Mobile on Windows Phone 7 devices.”
For the 360, subscribers will need to purchase a $99 Xbox Kit which is installed for free by a U-Verse technician. Having a 360, however, eliminates the need for an additional receiver taking up space in the house.
The company says “using your Xbox 360 as a U-verse receiver, you can receive chat and game invitations from friends through Xbox Live while watching live TV and switch seamlessly from game to TV mode without switching video inputs on your TV screen. You will enjoy virtually the same U-verse TV experience and features available today, including the ability to watch live TV, manage and play back DVR recordings and access interactive apps, your program guide, the On Demand library and more.”
