James Delahunty
4 Sep 2007 6:10
Sony is interested in the market for movie downloads, according to some company officials. Such a service would put Sony in direct competition with Apple Inc.'s iTunes, and would also pit Sony's recently announced new Walkman player against Apple's iPod for video playback. "Music and video downloading has been available through networks, and we are looking into the area as a possible business," said Sony spokesman Shigenori Yoshida.
Sony struggled to compete with Apple in digital music, watching sales of its Walkman players sink in comparison to constant strong sales for the iPod. Sony's Connect music service also couldn't compete with Apple's iTunes, which has sold over 3 billion legal downloads since it was launched, solidifying its position as the market leader.
Last week, Sony showed off a new video-capable Walkman player that comes with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media Player 11 that is capable of managing digital libraries. The player can playback both MPEG-4 SP and H.264 video content. The company also announced that its Connect music stores using its failed proprietary ATRAC format would be phased out by March 2008.
Source:
Yahoo (AP)