Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), Vivendi SA (EPA:VIV)
Sony-Microsoft battle comes to E3 as tablets dent game consoles (LiveMint)
Gun-toting fighters take a back seat to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) and Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) this week as the console makers battle to show they’ve got the best plan for selling pricey machines in the age of cheap play on phones and tablets. Both present on Monday at E3, the video-game industry’s annual conference running through 13 June in Los Angeles, with the $67 billion game market in the grip of two-year slump. Consumers have cut purchases of consoles and costly packaged games for inexpensive Web-delivered titles like Rovio Entertainment Oy’s Angry Birds, defined as more casual, mobile and social.
Sony Unit Sells NY HQ Building for $1.1 Billion (IVCPost)
Singed by accumulated losses and a rather gloomy scenario for electronics manufacturing, global electronics major Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) is selling assets and cutting jobs for a turnaround of its business. The global major’s wholly-owned unit Sony Corporation of America (SCA) is now selling its 37-story New York headquarters to investors led by the Chetrit Group for $1.1 billion. The sale is expected to close in March. Reports indicate the deal will fetch Sony net cash proceeds of about $770 million after it meets the debt tied to the Madison Ave. building and other transaction costs.
Apple Inc. Signs Sony Corporation to Complete iRadio Trilogy (Nasdaq)
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has finally settled on a contract with Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) Music Group, according to a report from AllThingsD this morning. With Warner Music Group and Vivendi SA (EPA:VIV)‘s Universal Music Group signing with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) last week, the tech giant now has the means to launch its streaming radio, dubbed iRadio by the press. While speculation thus far has suggested that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) wouldn’t announce the launch of its new product at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which will take place June 10 to June 14, the addition of Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) could prove to be a game-changer.
‘After Earth’ joins exclusive ultra-HD movie club (Redding)
Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) is taking a deeper dive into ultrahigh-definition video as it comes out Friday with “After Earth,” the first of Sony’s three movies this year both shot and presented in the emerging 4K digital format. At a screening for journalists, I got a close-up look at even the pores on Will Smith’s face as details were rendered with greater clarity on the big screen. Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) and other consumer electronics makers are betting that 4K images will become the new standard, prompting consumers to buy fancier TVs just as they did when high definition, or HD, rolled out over the past decade. It could also entice more people to buy movie tickets to see for themselves what the super-clear format is like.
Sony Releases New Google TV Box With Microphone, And Soon We’ll All Be Talking To Our TVs (FastCompany)
Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) just unveiled a new Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) TV set-top box, the NSZ-GS8. The updated box now includes a microphone, and has a complex remote, which in the past was one of the criticisms levelled at Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s TV design. The microphone is a key part of the update. Late in 2012, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) updated its TV system to allow voice-powered searches, and it looks like Sony Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) has only just caught up. Voice search for TV is likely to be crucial to taking streaming TV viewing into the future, with users making generic commands like “play me some college football,” instead of clicking between channels.
