Sony

Sony to Launch Online Entertainment Store in 2010

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 20, 2009 - 11:23am.

Tokyo - Sony (NYSE: SNE) announced plans on Friday to launch a new online store next year that will sell books, music and movies next year, and deliver content to networked televisions and other devices. The company did not provide many details about the "Sony Online Service," as it is tentatively being called, but is expected to be positioned as a competitor to Apple's iTunes Store.

Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Get Facebook, Social Media Integration

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 18, 2009 - 12:47pm.

Foster City, Calif. - A day after Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) introduced Xbox 360 integration with social media services including Facebook, Twitter and Last.fm, Sony (NYSE: SNE) Computer Entertainment America announced its own integration of Facebook on the PlayStation 3 platform.

Report: U.S. Video Game Sales Fell 19% in October

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 13, 2009 - 10:21am.

Port Washington, N.Y. - U.S. video game sales dropped 19% in October from a year ago, to $1.07 billion, continuing a recent downward trend that will likely lead to slightly lower annual sales figures than 2008, according to a report from market research firm NPD Group. Overall sales this year so far are down 13%, to $11.43 billion, and are likely to reach $20-$21 billion, below 2008's $21.3 billion total. "The continued economic turmoil, and in particular the troubling unemployment rate, is undoubtedly impacting industry sales," said NPS analyst Anita Frazier. "If consumers' personal outlook continues to erode, they could very well be much more conservative with their holiday shopping this year."

Gracenote Inks Lyrics Licensing Deal with Harry Fox Agency

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 9, 2009 - 11:52am.

New York - The Harry Fox Agency, which handles U.S. music licensing rights, announced on Monday that it has signed a lyrics licensing deal with Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Gracenote. The terms provide Gracenote the rights to deliver digital lyrics with permanent downloads, CD playback, online subscription services, lyrics search, mobile devices and consumer devices. The Gracenote Lyrics service is currently used by customers including Pandora, MetroLyrics, MTV and Yahoo Music.

Netflix to Enable Movie, TV Streaming to PlayStation 3

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 26, 2009 - 10:54am.

Los Gatos, Calif. - Online DVD rental service Netflix (NASD: NFLX) announced on Monday that it will extend its on-demand movie and TV episode streaming service to Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 game console platform, expanding beyond a previously exclusive deal with Microsoft's Xbox 360.

MP3Lyrics.org Licenses Gracenote's Lyrics Database

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 20, 2009 - 12:09pm.

Emeryville, Calif. - Sony-owned (NYSE: SNE) Gracenote announced on Tuesday that lyrics website MP3Lyrics.org has signed a deal to license Gracenote's Lyrics service, which will in turn provide authorized song lyrics from all four major music publishers and hundreds of indie publishers on the site. North American users of the Norway-based site will also be able to submit new lyrics directly into Gracenote's lyrics database.

Report: U.S. Game Sales Up 1%; Sony PS3 Leads for First Time

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 20, 2009 - 7:43am.

Port Washington, N.Y. - Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 for the first time ever led U.S. video game sales in September, which on the whole rose 1% from a year ago after several months of decline, according to sales figures compiled by market research firm NPD Group. Overall sales were $1.28 billion in September; despite Sony's success, game hardware sales fell 6% from a year ago, to $472 million.

Sony: Sales of New, Cheaper PS3 Hit 1 Million

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 24, 2009 - 9:35am.

Tokyo - Sony (NYSE: SNE) has announced that sales of its new, cheaper $299 PlayStation 3 model have hit 1 million in the three weeks since the device was launched. The company also said that a new motion-sensitive controller for the PlayStation 3 is set to be released in the spring of 2010.

tags: Games | Sony | PlayStation 3 |

Paltalk Sues Multiplayer Game Publishers Over Chat Technology

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 18, 2009 - 10:35am.

New York - Paltalk, a provider of online chat and instant messaging technology, has filed patent infringement claims against a number of massively multiplayer online game publishers, alleging they are using its real-time messaging technology without licenses, Mass High Tech reported.

Sony Introduces Ultra-thin NW-A850 Walkman

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 16, 2009 - 12:14pm.

Tokyo - Sony (NYSE: SNE) has introduced its slimmest-ever Walkman digital media player, the NW-A840, which is due for release in Japan next month and sometime after in the U.S. The Walkman is 7.2mm thick -- compared with the iPod Classic (10.5mm) or Zune HD (8.9mm) -- and sports a 2.8-inch screen, FM radio and noise-cancelling features. Pricing information was not disclosed.

tags: Music | Sony | Walkman |

Report: U.S. Video Games Sales Sink for 6th Straight Month

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 11, 2009 - 7:03am.

Port Washington, N.Y. - U.S. video game sales slid for the six month in a row in August, down 16% from a year ago to $909 million, and are now down 14% year-to-date, according to sales data compiled by market research firm NPD Group. Hardware sales fell 25%, to $298 million, although NPD noted that all consoles except Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PS2 realized sales increases over July levels.

Report: Sony Walkman Outsells Apple iPod in Japan

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 4, 2009 - 7:44am.

San Francisco - Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Walkman outsold Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPod in Japan for the first time in over four years last week, CNET News.com reported, citing data from Japanese research firm BCN. While the survey does not include the iPhone, it found Sony took 43% of digital music player sales for the week ended Aug. 30, compared to Apple's 42.1% share. Sony had six of the top ten selling players during the week, according to BCN.

Sony to Debut 3D LCD TV in 2010, Add 3D Support to Devices

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 2, 2009 - 11:58am.

Berlin - Sony (NYSE: SNE) announced on Wednesday that it intends to introduce a 3D-compatible Bravia LCD television in 2010. Additionally, the company plans to develop 3D compatibility into more of its devices, including Blu-ray products, VAIO laptops and PlayStation 3 game consoles.

Report: Xbox 360 Console Most Likely to Fail; Wii is Most Reliable

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on September 2, 2009 - 10:33am.

San Francisco - Microsoft's (NASD: MSFT) Xbox 360 consoles fail at a rate of 23.7% during their first two years of use, compared with a failure rate of 10% for Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 and just 2.7% for Nintendo's Wii, according to a survey of 16,000 failed consoles conducted by warranty provider Square Trade.

Sony to Support Google in Settlement with Authors

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 31, 2009 - 7:32am.

New York - Sony (NYSE: SNE) intends to file a brief supporting Google's (NASD: GOOG) position in its landmark settlement with authors, over the use of copyrighted works in its massive book-scanning project, Wired.com reported.

Sony Debuts $399 'Daily' Touch-Screen E-book Reader

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 25, 2009 - 10:46am.

New York - Sony (NYSE: SNE) on Tuesday introduced a new e-book reader device, the Reader Daily Edition, which will sport a touch-screen display and 3G wireless Internet access through AT&T when it goes on sale in December for $399. That price point will make the Daily $100 more expensive than rival Amazon's new Kindle 2 e-book reader.

Sony Introduces PlayStation 3 "Slim" With $299 Price Tag

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 18, 2009 - 10:24am.

Foster City, Calif. - Sony Computer Entertainment (NYSE: SNE) has announced plans to introduce a cheaper, slimmer version of its PlayStation 3, which will sell for $299 when it goes on sale Sept. 1. At $299, the PS3 "Slim" is still more expensive than Microsoft's Xbox 360 or Nintendo's Wii.

Will you upgrade to the new $300 PS3?

Authored by Jay Baage on August 18, 2009 - 9:47am.

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Report: U.S. Video Game Sales Down 29% in July

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 17, 2009 - 10:33am.

Port Washington, N.Y. - U.S. video game sales were down 29% in July -- their fifth consecutive month of decline -- to $848.9 million, and are down 14% overall from the same period last year, according to a report from market research firm NPD Group. Hardware sales fell 37% from a year ago; Nintendo's Wii led all consoles with sales of 252,500 units, while the Microsoft (NASD: MSFT) Xbox 360 sold 202,900 units and Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 3 sold 121,800 units.

Sony to Adopt EPUB E-book Format, Ditch In-house DRM

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on August 13, 2009 - 3:54am.

San Diego - Sony (NYSE: SNE) announced on Thursday that it will convert its eBook store to the industry-standard EPUB format by the end of the year, and do away with proprietary copy-protection software in favor of a more versatile content server from Adobe.

Sony to Launch Online Entertainment Store in 2010

Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 Get Facebook, Social Media Integration

Report: U.S. Video Game Sales Fell 19% in October

Gracenote Inks Lyrics Licensing Deal with Harry Fox Agency

Netflix to Enable Movie, TV Streaming to PlayStation 3

MP3Lyrics.org Licenses Gracenote's Lyrics Database

Report: U.S. Game Sales Up 1%; Sony PS3 Leads for First Time

Sony: Sales of New, Cheaper PS3 Hit 1 Million

Paltalk Sues Multiplayer Game Publishers Over Chat Technology

Sony Introduces Ultra-thin NW-A850 Walkman

Report: U.S. Video Games Sales Sink for 6th Straight Month

Report: Sony Walkman Outsells Apple iPod in Japan

Sony to Debut 3D LCD TV in 2010, Add 3D Support to Devices

Report: Xbox 360 Console Most Likely to Fail; Wii is Most Reliable

Sony to Support Google in Settlement with Authors

Sony Debuts $399 'Daily' Touch-Screen E-book Reader

Sony Introduces PlayStation 3 "Slim" With $299 Price Tag

Will you upgrade to the new $300 PS3?

Report: U.S. Video Game Sales Down 29% in July

Sony to Adopt EPUB E-book Format, Ditch In-house DRM

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