Sony

According to the speculation reported by DigiTimes next generation game console from Sony will feature body-movement controls like those offered by Microsoft’s Kinect. The game console PlayStation 4 is scheduled for launch in 2012.

The move is not surprising as long as Sony’s motion gaming technology resembles that of Nintendo’s Wiimote motion gaming technology. The report states that Foxconn and Pegatron Technology will be assembling the PS4 for Sony with production at the end of 2011 for a 2012 launch.
 

A 19-year old man was arrested by British police on suspicion that the was linked to the cyber group Lulz Security behind cyber attacks on CIA and Sony Corp. London's Metropolitan Police, working with the U.S. FBI, said they arrested the teenager in the town of Wickford, close to London.

The investigation was launched and the raid was arranged in relation to recent attacks on the websites of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the British police Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), which targets organized crime in Britain and overseas, police said.

As it tries to soften the public stress over its hacked database Sony demonstrated its new PlayStation Vita handheld games device at a Lost Angeles event this week.

Starting the holiday season the new PlayStation Vita will be retailed for $249, or $299 for a 3G mobile version, said the company executive Kazuo Hirai.

Sony said that it would work with AT&T as exclusive carrier for the Vita.
 

A group of hackers reported a new successful hijacking of another Sony Corp’s computer networks to show that the electronic company lacks proper security in all its systems. LulzSec hackers broke into U.S. PBS television and Fox.com and accessed the information of more than 1 million customers. It published the names, birth dates, addresses, emails, phone numbers and passwords of thousands of people who had entered contests promoted by Sony.

All PlayStation network functionality is available again, announced Sony. This includes access to the PlayStation store the access to which will be fully restored by the week end.

However, in few areas in Asia with very strict regulation some features will still be missing. Meantime, other countries will have access to online games like Dirt 3.

Sony PlayStation Network has not been hacked, according to a new statement made by the company in a blog post. Sony spokesperson Patrick Seybold says that the PlayStation Network wasn’t hacked so much as threatened yesterday when a password exploit accessible through its PSN web page login page came to light.

“We temporarily took down the PSN and Qriocity password reset page,” wrote Seybold, quickly adding “Contrary to some reports, there was no hack involved.”

World nations may start a massive prosecution of Sony after it delayed disclosing a security breach of its popular PlayStation Network.

Last week on April 19 Sony shut down its PlayStation Network after discovering the breach. However, it was only this week Tuesday the company unveiled that the system had been hacked and that users’ data may have been stolen.

Several members of Congress in the United States were shocked by the breach and one U.S. law firm filed a lawsuit in California on behalf of consumers.

Microsoft has issued a warning against phishing scam practiced by perpetrators over the company’s Xbox Live network. Meantime, Sony is struggling the consequences of a massive security breach reported this week.

The warning posted on the Xbox Live support page says that the phishing scam appears to be directed at those people playing "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" online:

77 million accounts were compromised in a massive data breach incurred by Sony Corp. The company this week unveiled the fact of hacking of its video game online network that led to the theft of names, addresses and possibly credit card data belonging to 77 million user accounts.

The breach became known for Sony on April 19 which prompted the company to shut down the network. However, Sony did not uncover the news to the public until Tuesday.

Sony has been granted permission by a federal judge to subpoena PayPal records of George Hotz, the hacker behind jailbreaking the company’s PlayStation 3 game console.

Latest rumors reported by Engadget say that Sony is developing Playstation Certified gaming tablet. The new 9.4-inch device will likely feature a 1280 by 800 pixel display, an NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, front and rear cameras, USB and infrared ports (plus the ability to drive Bravia TVs), a sprinkling of buttons (volume, on/off), tie-ins with its Qriocity download service, preloaded Sony PS One games, a Bravia Media Remote.

The table will run Android 3.0 Honeycomb with the preliminary date of release in September 2011. The price will supposedly hover at around $600.

Sony made an official announcement that it will make PlayStation gaming available on Android phone, confirming thus earlier rumors that new Sony Ericsson mobile phone will come with gaming.

The new PlayStation Suite app is not related to all-in-one PlayStation Phone of rumour. Last week Chinese media advertised the appearance of the pseudo Sony Ericsson Xperia Play, but as everyone knows such incredible innovations usually die there in China where they appear on considerations of making a stir.

According to the latest report by the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun a long rumored gaming phone by Sony is to come in the spring 2011. The PlayStation Phone will be based on the PSPgo while keeping the PSP's familiar gaming controls, the report said.

Sony Corp wants to buy back its microchip production line from Toshiba Corp for an estimated 50 billion yen ($598 million) in a move to increase its output of chips for cameras and mobile phones, an industry source said on Thursday.

The facility was sold to Toshiba back in 2008 for 90 billion yen as part of Sony’s "asset light" strategy.

The deal of repurchasing its assets is aimed to help Sony boost its output capacity of image sensors used in digital cameras and cellphones, the source close to the deal reported.

On the basis of a Barron’s report media sources reported that Apple may consider the acquisition of Sony which took the stocks of the latter up 3%. Reuters reported that Apple currently has $50 billion in cash reserves while Sony has a market cap of $34 billion. So, financially speaking, Sony is a strong possibility for Apple.

Barron’s said that cash-rich Apple could be contemplating a big acquisition and noted speculation about Adobe, Sony and Disney as potential targets.