12:20 am Pacific-Time - May 7, 2024 -- Insane Rumour About Sony Merging With Microsoft!

[HarryFilm]

Now this is from a Washington State (i.e. Home of Microsoft!) rumour source where Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has FORMALLY made an outreach to Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida about Microsoft and Sony MERGING into some sort of Electronics super-company. One of the X-Box OR Playstation divisions WILL have to be divested due to U.S. Anti-Trust Issues but Microsoft is one of the FEW American companies that would be politically allowed to invest or merge with such a Japanese technology giant as Sony! BOTH headquarters in Redmond, Washington and Minato City, Japan will be retained but Microsoft and Sony will be exchanging MASSIVE amounts of patents, hardware systems and software technology to better compete against the likeness of Apple, Panasonic, LG, Samsung and Huawei.

Microsoft wants to leverage Windows OS software into consumer gaming AND mobile electronics hardware including upcoming Smartphones and Smartwatches and Sony wants access Microsoft's Azure Cloud technology to create a massive media consumption powerhouse (Sony owns Columbia Pictures and a number of other consumer media properties!) that will be efficiently managed and served via Microsoft Azure Cloud Technology. Current rumour has it that XBox will be spun off out to Comcast (i.e. Universal Pictures and Home Media) and Sony Playstation will be kept in-house with Microsoft's recent Blizzard acquisition and Sony's Game development divisions MERGING to form a super-powerhouse of video game production.

The second part of this rumour has Microsoft leveraging Sony xPeria smartphones and tablet technology into Microsoft Surface Phones and Surface Tablets and desktop computers to form a CREDIBLE COMPETITOR to Apple and Samsung on the mobile and desktop marketplace and one way to compete is by offering SUPERIOR image sensor technology and superior CPU processing technology which will leverage Microsoft RECENT licensing and EXTENSION of ARM mobile CPU technology to create VIABLE competitors to Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU chips and Apple M-series mobile processors! Microsoft also wants Sony image sensor and microdisplay products to create cheaper but higher resolution versions of the Microsoft Hololens technology to offer a real competitor to Apple's Vision Pro AR/VR glasses!

This was a TOTAL WAY-IN-LEFT-FIELD RUMOUR which I have pontificated about in the past BUT have just tonight received major notice from a local Washington State "insider source"!

I have heard no other confirmations from other 3rd party sources and this discussion was to have taken place THIS PAST WEEKEND and is just now being bandied about via various grapevines! I shall update you all as I get further into the week!

For now, YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST!

V

 

[HarryFilm]

Now that NAB 2024 is over (April 18, 2024), the rumour mill is GETTING HOT! Microsoft AND Sony ARE DOING SOMETHING TOGETHER! What that it is, I do not YET KNOW but it's there! It could be a large patent exchange, a hardware production agreement, and OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)/ODM (Original Design and Manufacture) agreement or MAYBE EVEN a full-blown merger.

Right now, my Washington State (i.e. home of Microsoft!) secret source is pointing the way to a very large patent exchange and some hardware manufacturing agreements! Could we see a set of Sony-sourced SUPER-LARGE IMAGE SENSOR Microsoft-branded super-smartphone and super-tablet ecosystems coming next year 2025?

Could there be a high-end Sony a7 s4/s5 OEM-based but Microsoft-branded prosumer-video-oriented Full Frame DSLR coming sooner rather than later?

Those might be coming based upon my sources! The merger idea SEEMS to have been more of a "What-if-we-did-this?" set of internal comments from both Microsoft and Sony executives BUT that possibility might not be totally out of the ballpark either!

Anyways, there is ALSO still the issue of Apple putting BIG PRESSURE on Sony for better image sensors at better prices as there looks to be ON Semiconductor and Canon involvment in providing such bigger/better image sensors to Apple for their iPhones and iPads AND there is also a long-rumoured Medium-format super-DSLR camera with built-in 3D LIDAR/SONAR scanning ability that will be useable for AR/VR content production AND for inclusion as an object scanner within a long-rumoured Apple-centric metal powder deposition and multi-colour polymer fast-3D-printing ecosystem!

We shall see!

Remember! You heard it here FIRST!

 

[HarryFilm]

My Washington State rumour source is making some waves that a hardware supplier agreement is now in the works between Sony and Microsoft to supply image sensor hardware for tablets, desktops and SMARTPHONES plus a Microsoft branded high megapixel count Sony A7-series body with 3D LIDAR/SONAR scanning built-in to be used for 3D AR/VR production.

Looks like Microsoft Hololens may be redone into a cheaper high resolution Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality ecosystem to counter Apple's Vision Pro system. 8K VR Headsets for $1400 USD is what is being bandied about by my source and $500 to $800 USD at 4K/6K resolutions for low to mid-range options.

A patent exchange and major Azure Cloud software licencing agreement is also being completed between Sony and Microsoft but no major details on that yet!

V