Los Angeles - Sony plans to close its Connect digital music and video store, resulting in the loss of about 20 jobs at the company in Los Angeles, PaidContent.org reported.

Sony Connect head Steve Banfield will leave the company, while Tim Schaaff and Fumi Kanagwa will be called in to manage the Connect engineering team.

The Connect service faced obstacles since its inception in 2004, including an early focus on proprietary Sony formats, user interface issues, and shuffling of management of the fledgling service between different divisions of the company.

The remaining 80 or so on the Los Angeles team will maintain its eBooks division, and also continue to provide technical support to the company's PlayStation group.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/yvxug4 (PaidContent)

http://www.connect.com