Sony offers up an excuse for me to buy a new set of headphones: the "MDR-NQ1" will be released o­n February 10th. They're "neckstrap type," and available in four colors. More details inside.

One way or another (take a guess), I came across the following patent application:

"Methods and systems for remote execution of game content and presentation o­n a wireless portable device"

Filed by none other than Masayuki Chatani, Sony Computer Entertainment's CTO. The language o­n the document is somewhat vague, but o­ne thing is clear: Sony is planning o­n implementing some sort of "wireless game transmission system" for handheld gaming devices.

What I hope this means is a wireless link between the PS2 and PSP. In other words, o­ne person could use their PSP to play a game versus another person using their PS2 to play the same game (imagine racing Gran Turismo 4 against Gran Turismo 4: Mobile). Click "read more" for renderings from the patent application.

What first attracted me to this article was a new PSP case, perhaps o­ne that's actually worth a damn. If you read my PSP Audio/Video report, you probably recall that I'm not a huge fan of the "sleeve" that's included with the PSP Value Pack.

Anyway, the "PS Pictogram" brand remains somewhat mysterious, but what we do know is that the first round of products includes baggage and accessories developed in collaboration with "PORTER." Most of them seem to be overpriced brand items...but hey, it's Japan. Since when did overpricing keep products from being successful? Just take a look at the iPod.

Remember the new High Speed Memory Stick PROs? The o­nes that were supposed to come out in February?

They're delayed, again. Sony is now shooting for a "late April" release. They were originally planned for release o­n October 8th 2004, were delayed to February 10th 2005, and now are again delayed until April. Crap. Click the image below for Sony's press release.

We've covered a couple QUALIA products here o­n TechJapan in the past, and the general impression I get is that they're aimed at people with too much money who want a gadget or two sitting around so they can impress their other friends who also likely have too much money.

The QUALIA 001 is no exception. Called the "Creation Box," the QUALIA 001 is a video convertor, that will convert SD/HD video to higher quality signal. Whether or not this quality difference is worth 525,000 yen (about $5,100 USD), I'm quite suspicious.

DC Watch has gotten their hands o­n the brand spankin' new Cybershot DSC-T33, and they offer up some sample pictures. Take a look.

Sony announced the Cybershot DSC-T33 today, and it looks to be a kick in the pants. Billed as the successor to the DSC-T11, the T33 improves upon two areas: the LCD screen, and the exterior. Plenty more details inside.

Continuing with our English press release regurgitation, here's two from Sony:

The DSC-P200 looks to be pretty nice; it's got a 7.2MP sensor whilst still under 1" thick. It appears to have the same form factor as previous P series Cyber-Shots, though, meaning I'm (personally) not interested.

Perhaps to go with that announcement, Sony's also announced their own 4GB Memory Stick PRO. SanDisk beat the company to their own media by announcing a similar product months ago, but all's well that ends well. Frankly, I think Memory Stick Duo is where the party's at these days.

I don't know what iPodlounge is doing reporting o­n the PSP, but here's an interesting tidbit from this article:

"Reports out of Asia suggest that the company is planning to switch LCD screen suppliers from Sharp to Samsung, yielding screens with fewer pixel defects but less accurate color rendition."

I don't know where these "reports out of Asia" are coming from, but if this turns out true, then I will officially be entertained. My Sharp-screen PSP has nary a single dead pixel, meaning it could be worth a pretty penny o­ne day.

Sony will be releasing a new model of their RoomLink network media player in February, and as a Vaio owner, I'm ready to invest in o­ne.

But as with the previous RoomLink, non-Vaio owners are completely out of the picture.

Way to go Mac OS there, Sony.