SONY:Sony will sell a smaller, lighter version of the PlayStation 3 console this Christmas as it tries to win back customers flocking to games played on mobile devices and personal computers.
The new consoles, which have more storage capacity than current models, will go on sale in Europe on September 28th for the 500 gigabyte version and October 12th for the 12GB flash memory.
Sony will also start the “PlayStation Mobile” service, through which users can download games on their smartphones and tablet computers, on October 3rd, Andrew House, head of the games business, said in Tokyo.
The games unit is among the focus areas listed this year by Kazuo Hirai (51), who became Sony’s chief executive officer in April and started reforming the unprofitable television operation and cutting 10,000 jobs.
The firm is trying to return to profit following four straight annual losses after the yen gained in value, the global economy slowed and consumers switched to Apple and Samsung devices.
Sony’s “PlayStation Mobile” Android service, renamed in June from “PlayStation Suite”, will be available next month in nine countries including the US, Canada, Germany, Australia and Japan, Sony said yesterday.
The service allows users to download and play titles made by Sony and third-party developers, it said.
– (Bloomberg)
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