Stories by Martyn Williams

Sony withdraws more claims in Connectix case

A day before they were due to be heard in court, eleven claims of patent infringement against Connectix have been withdrawn by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) and its US unit.

Sony to sell PS2 chips to other companies

Just as Sony rolled DVD Video player functions into its recently launched PlayStation 2 (PS2) games console to give it a double role, the company has announced it hopes others will soon start building support for PS2 gaming into their consumer electronics products.

Sony Profits Fall on Strong Yen, PS2 Costs

Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony Corp. on Friday announced its financial results for the full year to March 31 and, for the second year in a row, took a hit on profits because of the strong yen. The company also said heavy start-up costs associated with its PlayStation 2 games console hit results.

Sony to tie internet into core business

Sony last week outlined its business plan for the coming financial year and vowed to continue corporate reform and push for ever tighter integration of the Internet and other network platforms with the company's core electronics businesses.

NTT DoCoMo to Invest in Planned Internet Bank

NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. (NTT DoCoMo), Japan's largest mobile telephone network operator, is planning to get into the online banking game. The company said this morning it plans to invest 1 billion yen (US$9.4 million) for a 5 percent stake in a new Internet bank being established by Sakura Bank Ltd.

Microsoft Details X-Box Games Console

Microsoft Corp. Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates will today confirm weeks of speculation and announce the Redmond, Washington-based software maker is to make a play for domination of the living room.

Plenty of Emotion Greets Playstation 2

Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) launched its new PlayStation 2 games console on Saturday morning here to large crowds and excited domestic media coverage that easily eclipsed that of Windows 2000 just two weeks earlier.

Jobs Unveils New Apple Hardware

Apple Computer Inc. chief executive officer Steve Jobs today met the aspirations of show-goers to the 10th MacWorld Expo Tokyo with the unveiling of several new computers during his keynote speech.

Attack takes down Yahoo for three hours

In what company officials are describing as a "fast" and "intense" assault on its network, the US-based Web sites of Yahoo and some of its companion sites were unreachable for around three hours on Monday.

Bulletin: Ebay, Buy.com Confirm Sites Attacked

A day after the U.S. Web sites of Yahoo Inc. were targeted with a denial of service attack, Ebay Inc. and Buy.com Inc. have both said problems experienced by their Web sites today were due to similar attacks.

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