PlayStation Store may have been breached Sony warns

Sony Computer Entertainment has issued a statement warning that a "small percentage" of PlayStation Store accounts may have been breached, and subsequently had their passwords changed.

The company says it's working around the clock to rectify the problem, though it notes that because entire details aren't displayed on the Store, the chances of your credit card information being leaked is "very unlikely".

"We have investigated the extent of unauthorized access and possible alteration of passwords that could have occurred before corrective measures were taken, and are directly contacting customers who may have been affected by this incident," the statement says.

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Pre-orders for upcoming HD DVD stayed strong at Amazon.com

Pre-orders for upcoming HD DVD titles stayed strong at Amazon.com. despite Toshiba Corp.'s announcement that it will exit the HD DVD business.
Advanced sales for There Will Be Blood on HD DVD increased 1,341 percent, Sweeney Tood – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street up 1,099 percent, and I Am Legend increased 144 percent by Wed. afternoon.

Amazon this week said it will more prominently promote Sony Corp.'s Blu-ray hardware and software to customers, but continue the sale of HD DVD products.

The HD DVD camp faced a barrage of setbacks last week when Netflix Inc., Best Buy Co. Inc, and Wal-Mart stores said each would back the Blu-ray disc format over HD DVD.

Toshiba on Tues. said it expects to exit the HD DVD business by Mar.

Major retailers this week are offering steep discounts on HD DVD products to move inventory.

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Sony introduced its 11-inch OLED

Sony made a big splash by showing off the 11-inch XEL-1, which will be the first OLED HDTV available in the United States and measures just 3mm thick. Samsung also had a 31-inch prototype OLED on display and there's no doubt the OLED technolgy is promising: razor thin screens, low power consumption and an excellent contrast ratio. At this early point in the game OLED isn't commercially viable--Sony's 11-inch set will cost $2,500--but as prices drop and screen sizes increase, OLED could be a major flat-panel TV technology

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Sony announced its forthcoming "flagship" Alpha branded SLR

Its chief defining feature so far is its use of a 24.8-megapixel sensor that's unusually large--the size of a full frame of 35mm film. That move makes Sony only the third digital SLR (single-lens reflex) maker, along with Canon and more recently Nikon, to aim for that part of the market. Sony's flagship is geared toward advanced amateurs, but Sony hopes professional photographers will like it, too. The camera is scheduled to go on sale later this year.
The back of the SLR features a large LCD and controls on the attached, but optional, vertical grip.

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Sony sells 1.2M PS3s during holiday season

Sony has announced that PlayStation 3 game machine sales totaled 1.2 million in North America during the key holiday season, boosts the strength of the company's Blu-ray video format because the console also works as a Blu-ray player.
Competition is tough among the latest video game machines, pitting Sony against Nintendo's popular Wii and Microsoft Corp.'s XBox 360.
But the rivalry between the two of the latest video formats — Blu-ray and HD DVD — appears to be tipping toward the former after Warner Bros. Entertainment, formerly a supporter of the Toshiba-backed HD DVD format, defected to the Blu-ray side over the weekend.

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Sony, Skype calling gamers

The consumer electronics industry has for many years now tried to shoe-horn a game (some would say game-like) experience on the mobile phone device, but this year, Sony swims upstream in the same waters. It has taken the PSP handheld game platform and turned it into a mobile phone -- albeit with limitations. But the value proposition for consumers is win-win.
Sony has partnered with eBay's Skype division and developed a portable version on the VoIP service for the PSP, effectively turning the gaming handheld into a Skype phone -- with the same functionality, as well its limitations.
Here's what we know:
In about 1-2 months, owners of the newer PSP model (the P-2000) will be able to download a firmware update and secure a free application that will allow users to make free PSP-to-PSP and PSP-to-PC calls so long as both parties are in a WiFi hotspot. PSP owners with the Skype firmware update can also make calls to conventional land lines (or cell phones) off the Skype network, however, a per-call charge will be assessed.

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