Sony talks up plans for digital media superstore

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Danette Breitenbach

Many companies would give up their right to right-click to be able to duplicate Apple's success with iTunes. However, only one actually has the pieces already in place to do that, and its executives announced their intentions Thursday, 19 November 2009, to take on Steve Jobs' company with its own online content service.

Sony executives used a management meeting in Tokyo to tell the world that they want to build an online network so that all manner of company devices - Bravia TVs, Blu-ray DVD players, Cybershot cameras, Sony Readers, Vaio computers and, of course, the Walkman - can receive downloadable content like movies/videos, games, books and music. The company also said that consumers would be able to upload pictures and videos from Sony cameras for storage on personal online accounts, and that Sony plans to introduce new mobile devices to take advantage of the new service.

Sony didn't mention a specific launch date, only that it hopes to get the service going in 2010. No prices were mentioned, and there were no details given on whether the service would be an expansion of Sony's existing Playstation Network - which lets PS3 users download games, movies and TV shows - or would be an entirely new platform.

However, enough was said to get analysts and tech bloggers scrambling for comparisons to Apple and thinking about the potential pitfalls and opportunities for one of the world's biggest consumer electronics companies, which also just happens to own a movie/TV production studio and a music label.

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