Patents Assigned to Sony
  • Publication number: 20070283398
    Abstract: A method and system for use in providing content to a viewer that includes providing a service comprising an on demand video service to the viewer wherein the viewer has an option to view video content. The system is configured to compensate the viewer a reward for having viewed the video content, and the system maintains an accounting of the reward and corresponding viewer identification.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicants: Sony Corporation, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
    Inventor: Bryan F. Bowles
  • Publication number: 20070279972
    Abstract: A memory including a memory element having a memory layer that retains information based on a magnetization state of a magnetic material, and a conductor electrically connected to the memory element is provided. In the memory, a magnetization pinned layer is provided for the memory layer through an intermediate layer, the intermediate layer is formed of an insulator, and spin-polarized electrons are injected in a stacking direction to invert a magnetization direction of the memory layer, so that information is recorded in the memory layer. The magnetic material is also provided for the conductor, so that a magnetic field with current flowing in the conductor is enhanced and a leakage magnetic field is applied to the memory layer to cause a deviation of the magnetization direction of the memory layer. Current in the stacking direction flows into the memory element through the conductor, so that spin-polarized electrons are injected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 8, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Yutaka Higo, Masanori Hosomi, Hiroyuki Ohmori, Tetsuya Yamamoto, Kazutaka Yamane, Yuki Oishi, Hiroshi Kano
  • Publication number: 20070278667
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a substrate, a semiconductor chip flip-chip mounted on the substrate, a sealing resin layer sealing the surroundings of the semiconductor chip, and a heat sink bonded to the sealing resin layer through a TIM layer. In addition, a cooling medium is encapsulated in an enclosed space formed on the rear surface of the semiconductor chip.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicants: SONY CORPORATION, SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT INC.
    Inventors: Hidetoshi KUSANO, Kazuaki YAZAWA
  • Publication number: 20070278642
    Abstract: A semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor module having a semiconductor part on a board and conductive parts for making connection with another board on an upper surface of the board, a second semiconductor module having a semiconductor part on a board and conductive parts for making connection with another board on a lower surface of the board, and a plurality of relay boards placed between conductive parts formed on an upper surface of the first semiconductor module and the conductive parts formed on a lower surface of the second semiconductor module for connecting both surfaces' conductive parts, a side length of the relay board corresponding to one of a plurality of divided portions of a side of the first semiconductor module's board, the relay board having a plurality of conductive via formed on an upper and lower surface of the relay board allowing electric conduction between both surfaces.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 24, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Hiroyuki Yamaguchi, Kazuya Oota, Atsuhiro Harada
  • Publication number: 20070279438
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus that executes information display processing is disclosed. The apparatus includes: a display unit that executes information display; and a data processing unit that executes a control of the information display of the display unit and data processing based on a user input. The data processing unit displays an image browsing screen, which corresponds to image data stored in a storage unit, on the display unit and executes display of a map at the position, which corresponds to position information included in attribute information of a selected image, on the basis of a user's input of image selection information and map display request.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroki Takakura, Shiro Miyagi, Yoshihiro Yamaguchi
  • Publication number: 20070283395
    Abstract: A radio communication terminal, and a method for alerting a communication terminal user of an incoming signal. The method comprises the steps of receiving an input signal from a sender, such as a telephone call signal; extracting identity data related to the sender, such as a telephone number extracted from the received signal or a name of the sender extracted from a memory in the terminal using the senders communication address; generating and outputting an alert signal comprising a first audio part associated with the terminal and preferably used for all incoming phone calls, and a second audio part associated with the identity data, such that the alert signal provides an indication of who has sent the signal received in the terminal. The second audio part may be a modified version of the first audio part, or a separate audio piece such as its own audio file.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 1, 2006
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: SONY ERICSSON MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS AB
    Inventor: Martin Marcin, Robert WEZOWSKI
  • Publication number: 20070280083
    Abstract: The light intensity of a light beam emitted from a light source is appropriately controlled when the light beam is transmitted through a variable optical coupling efficiency device in an optical head. During a read mode, the light beam from the light source is incident on an optical disk at an intensity relatively weaker than that of the light source. By switching the optical coupling efficiency of the variable optical coupling efficiency device between a write mode and a read mode, the light intensity directed to an optical recording medium is substantially varied from the write mode to the read mode. This arrangement eliminates the need for substantially increasing the optical output power ratio of the light source of write power to read power.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 21, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Noriaki NISHI, Hiroaki Mizuma, Motoi Kimura, Kenji Yamamoto, Masatoshi Nishino
  • Publication number: 20070279403
    Abstract: A pixel circuit able to prevent a spread of the terminal voltages of drive transistors inside a panel and in turn able to reliably prevent deterioration of uniformity, wherein a source of a TFT serving as a drive transistor is connected to an anode of a light emitting element, a drain is connected to a power source potential, a capacitor is connected between a gate and source of the TFT, and a source potential of the TFT is connected to a fixed potential through a TFT serving as a switch transistor and wherein pixel circuit lines are connected by an upper line and bottom line and are arranged in parallel with pixel circuit power source voltage lines so as not to have intersecting parts.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 13, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Katsuhide UCHINO, Junichi Yamashita, Tetsuro Yamamoto
  • Publication number: 20070283296
    Abstract: A communication device may include a lens and processing logic. The lens may receive a gesture made by a user of the mobile terminal and the processing logic may identify the gesture. The processing logic may also generate a command based on the identified gesture, where the command instructs the mobile terminal or an external device to perform a control action.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 31, 2006
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: SONY ERICSSON MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS AB
    Inventor: Peter Alexander Nilsson
  • Publication number: 20070281217
    Abstract: An electrolyte and battery using same is provided. The electrolyte comprising at least one of a compound represented by Formula 1, wherein, R1, P2, R3, and R4 represent a hydrogen group, or a methyl group and an ethyl group; X, Y, and Z represent sulfur (S) or oxygen (O) or Formula 2, wherein, R1 and R2 represent a hydrogen group, a halogen group, or a methyl group and an ethyl group, or groups in which a part of hydrogen thereof is substituted by a halogen group; X, Y, and Z represent sulfur (S) or oxygen (O), which can retain chemical stability at high temperatures. Use of the electrolyte allows a battery to have excellent characteristics in a hot environment.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Masayuki IHARA, Hiroyuki YAMAGUCHI, Tadahiko KUBOTA
  • Publication number: 20070280295
    Abstract: A playback apparatus includes the following elements. An input receives content data and accompanying data formed on the basis of a plurality of first units and used for displaying information accompanying the content data. A first storage section stores, among the plurality of first units forming the accompanying data received by the input section, a first unit in which decoding time information concerning a decoding time is defined. A time information storage section stores the decoding time information. A decoder extracts the first unit from the first storage section and decodes the first unit in accordance with the decoding time information stored in the time information storage section. A second storage section stores the first unit decoded by the decoder. The time information storage section at least has a capacity based on an upper limit of the number of first units stored in the first storage section.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 5, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventor: Kouichi UCHIMURA
  • Publication number: 20070283415
    Abstract: File systems of a plurality of service providers are allocated in a single memory area so that the service providers share a single information recording medium. In an initial state, an IC card issuer manages the entire memory area. When a different service provider separates the memory area to generate a new file system, the service provider is required for the authority of separating the memory area and authentication by the IC card issuer. After the file is separated, in order to access the file system, authentication by the service provider which has separated the file is required. The IC card provides a user with ease of use as if the IC card were directly issued by the service provider of the service that the user is currently using.
    Type: Application
    Filed: December 22, 2004
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Taro Kurita
  • Publication number: 20070282787
    Abstract: An information processing apparatus that performs processing for editing information on contents includes: an acquisition means for acquiring attribute data classification information in which a plurality of attribute data indicating predetermined attributes of contents is correlated with category data indicating categories for classifying the plurality of attributes; a selection means for selecting predetermined attribute data from the attribute data included in the attribute data classification information acquired by the acquisition means; and a correlation means for newly correlating the attribute data selected by the selection means with category data other than the category data, which is correlated in the attribute data classification information acquired by the acquisition means, in response to a user's instruction.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 12, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Yasuhiro Shirai, Toshihiro Morita, Taku Sugawara, Shin Ogata, Susumu Morita
  • Publication number: 20070278533
    Abstract: An MOS type solid-state image pickup device including pixels each of which comprises a photodiode PD, a detection portion N and a transfer transistor QT for transferring the charges accumulated in the photodiode PD to the detection portion N, wherein the gate voltage of the transfer transistor QT when the charges are accumulated in the photodiode PD is set to a negative.
    Type: Application
    Filed: July 11, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Keiji Mabuchi, Takahisa Ueno
  • Publication number: 20070279431
    Abstract: A program causes an information processing apparatus to execute the steps of assigning an operating element of an operation input device to a search term having been input, displaying an information image containing the search term on a screen, the information image being obtained on the basis of search processing using the search term, and indicating a position of the search term in the information image, the search term being assigned with the operating element in the assigning step, when operation information on the operating element assigned to the search term is input while the display of the displaying step is being performed.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 23, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Kouichi Matsuda
  • Publication number: 20070282941
    Abstract: An information processing system is disclosed. The system includes: a client that executes information display processing; and a server that creates a display structure description file applied in the information display processing, wherein the client acquires image data reference information and transmits display structure description file creating data including the image data reference information to the server, the server creates the display structure description file and transmits the created display structure description file to the client, and the client executes processing for displaying a map on a display unit on the basis of the display structure description file received from the server and acquiring image data from a storage unit within the client on the basis of the image data reference information recorded in the display structure description file and then displaying the acquired image data on the display unit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 24, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: SONY CORPORATION
    Inventors: Hiroki Takakura, Shiro Miyagi, Yoshihiro Yamaguchi
  • Publication number: 20070279930
    Abstract: A liquid crystal display assembly includes a liquid crystal display, and a surface light source device that illuminates the liquid crystal display from a back surface. The surface light source device includes a housing including a bottom plate, a light source that is arranged on the bottom plate and illuminates the liquid crystal display, and a plurality of radiator fins arranged at a spacing from each other. Each of the radiator fins includes a first fin portion formed by bending a part of the bottom plate in a direction away from the liquid crystal display, the first fin portion extending substantially perpendicularly to the bottom plate, and a second fin portion formed by bending a part of the first fin portion in a direction away from the liquid crystal display, the second fin portion extending substantially parallel to the bottom plate.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 29, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Tomio Aoki, Masayoshi Morita
  • Publication number: 20070280641
    Abstract: A data structure includes content data and accompanying data which is formed on the basis of a plurality of first units, the accompanying data being used for displaying information accompanying the content data. Among the first units in which time information is defined, the time of a target first unit based on the order of the first units is set to be later than the decoding time defined in the first unit arranged in the order earlier than the target first unit by an amount equal to N first units where N indicates the upper limit of the number of first units that can be stored in a buffer provided for a decoder for decoding the first units.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 5, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Kouichi Uchimura
  • Publication number: 20070279760
    Abstract: A zoom lens includes in order and from the side of an object, a first lens group having a positive refractive power and fixed in position, a second lens group having a negative refractive power and movable in position for providing mainly zooming, a third lens group having a positive refractive power and fixed in position, a fourth lens group having a positive refractive power and movable in position for performing a focal position correction due to the zooming and for focusing, and a fifth lens group including a single lens fixed in position.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventors: Koji Toyoda, Yusuke Nanjo, Shinichi Arita
  • Publication number: 20070280080
    Abstract: A PLL circuit having an analog-to-digital converter; a phase error detecting circuit; and an oscillator, in which the phase error detecting circuit includes: phase error detecting means detecting a phase error from a data stream signal and a data stream signal 1 clock cycle earlier; absolute value comparing means detecting an absolute value of the phase error detected exceeding a predetermined threshold; holding means holding a polarity of the phase error, as of a timing of the detection by the absolute value comparing means, for a period of the detection; anticoincidence detecting means detecting anticoincidence between the polarity held by the holding means and a polarity of the phase error detected by the phase error detecting means; and polarity inverting means that provides the phase error detection signal by inverting the polarity of the phase error in detection of anticoincidence, or without inverting the polarity in detection of no anticoincidence.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 22, 2007
    Publication date: December 6, 2007
    Applicant: Sony Corporation
    Inventor: Shingo Harada