What you will get is a kind of "service offering with premium content and services" that you can't get in the free edition, but what that is is unclear. But it's unlikely that Sony will charge for the services they give away now, such as the ability to play for free online. [Gamespot via Engadget]

Trade in Your DVDs, Plus a Couple Bucks, and Get the Blu-ray Versions

Warner set up a DVD to Blu-ray exchange program called, appropriately enough, DVD2Blu, as sort of a more-tempting version of its HD-DVD to Blu-ray version. The problem is, it's not actually that great of a deal; you're limited to Warner movies, obviously, but it also costs $8-10 per DVD, plus $5 shipping, for the exchange. You might actually be better off just hitting Best Buy or Walmart or whatever and looking for sales, since DVD2Blu could cost you 18 bucks plus the agony of waiting for your new HD copy of The Wedding Singer: Totally Awesome Edition to arrive. [Engadget]

Steve Ballmer Acknowledges Apple's Gains, Remains Cocky

Microsoft held a shareholder's meeting this morning, led by the always-dynamic Steve Ballmer, and an interesting question came up: Why does Microsoft have such a lousy reputation among certain demographics, like, say, upper-middle-class college kids? Ballmer admitted that Apple's been seeing some gains that, while small, are a clear sign that Microsoft has room for improvement, either in marketing or product positioning. It's a pretty clear-headed statement from Ballmer—after all, he notes, Microsoft still has an insane marketshare, even in the high-end consumer demo, so despite Apple's visibility, Microsoft doesn't exactly have cause for concern. That level-headedness is why this story's in Remainders: Where's the explosive, frothing-at-the-mouth, prone to Bidenesque gaffes Ballmer we all know and, um, know? [TechFlash]

Sanyo to Build Houses Powered by Solar Energy and Li-Ion Batteries

Sanyo, considered Japan's "greenest" electronics manufacturer (sort of like being the best-dressed homeless person), is about to start building solar-powered, lithium-ion-based homes in its native country. The houses are all equipped with LED lighting, solar-powered water heater, all that stuff. They'll be a little pricey, at around $355,000—an equivalent non-green house would cost $62,000 less, although the Sanyo houses come with a $30,000 government subsidy. It's in Remainders because it's Japan only, and because I don't understand enough Japanese to learn any more about it. [Crunchgear]

Sony Announces Vague "iTunes-Like" Store on PlayStation Network for Books, Movies, Music

Sony announced the tentatively named Sony Online Service today—it's described as an "iTunes-like" service on the PlayStation Network, offering movies, music, and books, all media for which Sony also sells accompanying hardware. It'll also allow users to upload their own video, and will probably have support for independent app development later on down the road. We don't really know much else, like, say, a launch date or pricing (or even a final name), so it winds up here, alone in the dark corner of Gizmodo we call Remainders. [AppleInsider via Engadget]

One of Sony's Senior VPs said that the company is going to be releasing some Vaio notebooks that take advantage of touch capabilities "at the launch of Win 7," which is October 22nd.

In addition, we may see the movie and TV content that you can currently download on the PS3 coming over to Vaios as well. They're also discussing bringing games over, so you can pay for the casual games that have been converted from free online flash games for the console market, right on your laptop. How convenient! [Laptop Mag via Electronista]

They wish it was more like the iPod. Touch, to be specific. Let me clarify.

Sony has a long, distinguished history of taking the long, wrong road when it comes to managing content on their devices. In this decade, that meant screwing up portable music. Minidisc and ATRAC hardware was eventually supplanted by regular MP3 players, but it was too little, too late—something which the company itself even admitted back in 2005.

They still dwell on this pain, even under new leadership. From the mouth of Howard Stringer earlier this month:

If we had gone with open technology from the start, I think we probably would have beaten Apple.

If rumors of a flash-based PSP and expanded PS Network Store have even a grain of truth, it appears as though Sony feels like they've made a similar mistake, though a much less egregious one, with their portable gaming device. In building their original PSP ecosystem around the ill-fated UMD format, Sony was short-sighted, and blind to the inevitable march toward digital distribution.

Full digital content distribution, a music and video store, and stronger online capabilities are all tipped as the new direction for the PSP, and such a move is more or less inevitable, if not imminent. But just like the one in 2005, Sony's latest moment of clarity came too late; only after Apple, a company who gingerly stepped into the serious gaming world just last year, showed them the way. [CNET]

SCEA reserves the right to monitor and record any online activity and communication throughout PSN and you give SCEA your express consent to monitor and record your activities. SCEA reserves the right to remove any content and communication from PSN at SCEA's sole discretion without further notice to you. Any data collected in this way, including the content of your communications, the time and location of your activities, your Online ID and IP address and other related information may be used by us to enforce this Agreement or protect the interests of SCEA, its users, or licensors.

There's also just the whole principle of the thing: I know they need to fight griefers, racists, pedos and assorted other nasties, but there isn't a better way than actually recording me telling people I'm going to slay them so hard it'll kill their grandchildren in their future? And do they really need to "protect" their properties this way?

To make this depressing bit of corporate creepiness bright, what's the worst thing you've ever yelled in an online deathmatch? (Keep it as work-safe, please). [Ars via Alley Insider]

Apparently the system had been purchased from a local pawn shop and Waller, not knowing how the PlayStation 3 worked, assumed that the account already on the system was automatically generated. So he'd been logging in under someone else's name—someone who'd reported their system stolen as part of a larger ring of crime.

The police (we're assuming with the help of Sony) tracked Waller's IP and found the address of the PS3 (where it was immediately confiscated). While Microsoft has aided authorities in tracking Xbox LIVE threats and the occasional theft, we've never heard of busting anyone through PSN. Way to crack the skulls, Sony! [Salisbury Post via PS3Fanboy]