Qriocity

Sony's various content distribution services may soon be operating under a new, unifying name, CNET has learned.

The Japanese electronics giant currently operates several entertainment stores, such as Qriocity, Sony's streaming music and video service; PlayStation Network; and others. Several sources tell CNET that Sony may roll out a new name for those services during IFA 2011 next month in Berlin. That name is currently known within the company as "Sony Entertainment Network," or SEN.

Does this mean people will turn on their PS3s or PSPs one day in the near future and see Sony Entertainment Network instead of PlayStation Network? Not quite. Our sources indicate that Qriocity Music Unlimited and the VOD service would be first to move under the SEN umbrella. Other services would possibly then be moved to SEN later; this may include the PSN and the Reader Store.

A possible reason for the transition, our sources say, is that soon-to-be-chairman Kazuo Hirai desires a unified Sony user experience, as it has been fragmented over the last decade. Hirai oversees all of Sony's consumer electronics, including PlayStation products, so the PSN transitioning to the rubric of SEN seems plausible. It also wouldn't hurt to move away from PSN after the embarrassing hacking scandal that breached millions of accounts and caused service interruption for 23 days. … Read more

This week Sony's home turf becomes the final country to regain access to PlayStation Network and Qriocity after a cyberattack in April forced the company to rebuild its security system.

Sony said Monday that it will fully restore PSN and Qriocity to its customers in Japan tomorrow. This follows Sony doing a "phased" restoration of access to some services in Japan at the end of May.

Sony was forced to shut down the security of PSN and Qriocity after a cyberattack on the network in mid-April compromised the personal data of more than 77 million customers. Sony … Read more

Sony's quest to return to a position of power in the music sector already faced plenty of obstacles.

A reputation for writing flawed software was one. Another was the company's history of creating failed consumer-focused media services that appeared more concerned with satisfying honchos at the company's film studio and record label. The company's hardware and software makers struggled to build devices and services that allayed security concerns held by content creators. Sony Connect, the so-called iTunes killer that bubbled up out of the chaos, was a glitch-prone and DRM-laden fiasco that launched to great fan … Read more

Brian Cooley invades the studio! Bing uses your Facebook social graph to help you make better...Decisions. T-Mobile lets you make Wi-Fi calls for free, but that will probably go away if the merger with AT&T happens. Another reason not to like it. Plus, the Power Point versus Keynote debate rages on!

Sony's breached PlayStation Network may well be offline longer than the company had expected, according to a Sony executive.

In a post on Sony's PlayStation.Blog late yesterday, Patrick Seybold, senior director of corporate communications and social media for the company, said Sony was still performing security checks on the system and that it might not be back up and running in the originally announced timeframe. Part of the problem, Seybold said, has been the hitherto unknown size of a breach of the Sony Online Entertainment gaming network, discovered during Sony's investigation into the PlayStation intrusion.

"… Read more

For all of the great things that Sony Ericsson has debuted over the last few weeks, one device it has yet to show off is a tablet.

With LG and Motorola gearing up with their first push and Samsung readying a larger Galaxy Tab, Sony Ericsson would be wise to jump on the emerging market, and according to a pair of recent Engadget articles that's exactly what the company has been doing. If the rumors hold true, we'll see two Honeycomb tablets bearing the Sony brand in time for the holiday shopping season.

While neither of these looks … Read more

The result from Jeopardy proves that we are no match for the machine. Sony officially announces their music streaming service Qriocity, while we try to figure out how to spell it. And Sony will be getting in on the tablet game. It's about time. Plus, Donald Bell joins us in studio and takes over the show.

Sony wants to take back digital music from Apple.

The creator of the Walkman says it is ready to challenge iTunes, forge ahead into music streaming, and also put its doomed prior attempts to build iTunes-killers behind it.

Today, Sony unveiled a new cloud music service in the United States that will play songs on a mix of Sony devices, such as the PlayStation3, Bravia TVs, and Blu-ray Disc Home Theater system, as well as a range of Sony's portable devices. The service is called "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity," and hopefully the service is less clunky … Read more

Designed as a cloud-based alternative to iTunes, Sony's new digital music streaming service has added a few more European countries to its audience, with the U.S. potentially next on the list.

Already available in the U.K. and Ireland, the company's "Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity" service hit France, Germany, Italy, and Spain this past weekend.

Offering music from Sony's own label as well as from other publishers, Music Unlimited gives consumers the ability to stream songs to a variety of different Sony devices, including Bravia TVs, Blu-ray players, home theater systems, PlayStation consoles, … Read more