According to the Financial Times, Sony boss man Sir Howard Stringer will be announcing the company's plans to invest in 3D LCD TVs at the IFA show in Berlin. And he'll also be announcing Sony laptop computers, PlayStation 3 games and Blu-ray players that will be compatible with the technology.

With the PS3 already capable of playing 4D games, according to former PlayStation exec Ken Kutaragi, one has to wonder "Why the step back?"

Sony plans to put 3D televisions in homes by the end of next year [FT]

Sony honcho Howard Stringer then retorted that a price cut would cause the company to lose money on every PlayStation 3 sold.

Now BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk has entered the fray — adding his two cents. "I think it's silly to be saying you're not going to support Sony," says Zeschuk. "The brand itself is still huge and there are millions of [users] out there."

Bobby Kotick is not only the CEO and President of Activision, he also says silly things.

BioWare: Activision PS3 comment "silly" [CVG] [Pic]

Responding to Kotick's threats that Activision may "stop supporting" Sony consoles, Stringer says "He likes to make a lot of noise. He's putting pressure on me and I'm putting pressure on him. That's the nature of business."

Stringer was equally blunt to anyone else banging on about the price of the PS3, telling a Reuters reporter asking about the logic of not cutting the console's price "I (would) lose money on every PlayStation I make — how's that for logic."

No need to get so touchy, Sir Howard. It's not your fault. Just blame Ken Kutaragi! Problem. Solved.

Sony CEO dismisses price cut chatter on PlayStation [Reuters]

According to a Fortune report, it was PlayStation boss Kaz Hirai that said the bigger PlayStation Network should rear its head next Spring. The service is said to make Sony devices "talk to each other efficiently," according to Stringer, that it will make it easier to handle digital camera images, edit video, share content and store whatever it is you download from a Sony device.

Fortune also reports that Sony has designs on making acquisitions that would "accelerate the effort," but plans to "start small" and roll out the new PlayStation Network over time.

Sony: Lost in transformation [Fortune/CNN Money]

Over 8,000 investors were in attendance at the annual shareholders meeting in Tokyo. Stringer told investors that the company was trying to streamline business. For example, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai will head a new business group that brings together Sony's mobile electronics and personal computers.

"This reorganization is designed to transform Sony into a more innovative, integrated and agile global company," said Stringer earlier this year. These changes and reorganization "will now make it possible for all of Sony's parts to work together."

Sony has been posting enormous losses due to a strong yen, global economic slump and competition from rival companies like Apple and Samsung.

Sony shareholders approve new management [Japan Today] [Pic]

Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Kaz Hirai will head a new business group that brings together Sony's mobile electronics and personal computers. It is unconfirmed how this will affect his PlayStation duties. We are following up with Sony for clarification.

"This reorganization is designed to transform Sony into a more innovative, integrated and agile global company," said Stringer. These changes and reorganization "will now make it possible for all of Sony's parts to work together."

Sony has been criticized, often by Stringer himself, of its multiple divisions operating in "silos," with a lack of communication between its product development teams. The move reflects an increase in power and further reach across multiple areas of the business for both Stringer and Hirai.

Sony C.E.O. Takes Over Company's Presidency [The New York Times]

While the company is forecasting ¥260 billion (US$2.95 billion) in operating income losses and ¥150 billion ($1.68 billion) in net income loses.

According to Sony, "In the Game segment, operating income (loss) is expected to be lower by approximately ¥30 billion. Of this, approximately ¥15 billion is due to the impact of the appreciation of the yen and approximately ¥15 billion is due to lower-than-expected sales."

Lower than expected revenue is also expected in Sony's motion picture business, and the economic slowdown has hit Sony electronics as well.

So lower than expected sales and yen appreciation are driving down the company's gaming division. It should be noted that this is merely a forecast and that Sony says such a forecast is subjected to "uncertainty and changes."

The foreign currency rates, which have fluctuated, were pegged at ¥90 to the US dollar.

[Pic]

Potentially more painful to Stringer is a reported plan to cut managerial and executive bonuses for the year.

Nikkei reports that the 2,000 jobs Sony will cut at home — a fraction of the 16,000 positions it plans to eliminate worldwide — will be done through attrition, by leaving jobs vacated by retirement or resignation unfulfilled. The cuts are expected to be complete by the end of the company's fiscal year.

No word yet on how this may affect Sony's PlayStation business, as it's the Japanese giant's electronics endeavors that are currently dragging the company down hardest.

Sony's hi-def console competitor Microsoft is also reported to be on the receiving end of cut backs, with analysts projecting between 6,000 and 8,000 staffers let go. We expect to hear more from both parties later in the day.

Sony to shut Japan TV plant, cut 2,000 jobs-Nikkei [Reuters]

It's a different experience. The Wii is a well-made device that has found a new target group. For a while, we held the same target group with the SingStar karaoke game. But perhaps we neglected to pursue that avenue. Playstation games are rather designed for those who play a lot. Although it's a different strategy, it pays off.

Of course you neglected to pursue that avenue. Phil Harrison - the guy who was pushing SingStar, and EyeToy, and Buzz! - didn't leave for Atari for the prestige.

Future of Sony Ericsson uncertain [Welt Online] [Image]

I've played a Nintendo Wii. I don't see it as a competitor. It's more of an expensive niche game device. We're selling a lot of PlayStation 3s now and it's still the best way to buy a Blu-ray player.

I've heard the Wii called a lot of things over the past two years, but "expensive niche game device" is definitely a new one. Well done, Howard!

Sony's PlayStation 3 Gaining Ground on Xbox With Games, Blu-Ray [Bloomberg] [Pic]

Stringer also admitted the PlayStation 3 had been "on life support for a while," but told the event attendees that things were looking rosy for the console now - promising a boost for the PS3 thanks to Grand Theft Auto IV and titles coming down the pipeline that he says will make good use of the PS3's processing power.

He also talked about how PS3 helped Sony win the Blu-ray war:

After Stringer credited the PS3's Blu-ray drive with the format war victory, the Journal's Walt Mossberg said to him, "I thought you you won that battle because you paid the studios more than the HD-DVD group did."

"We were not in the check-writing competition," Stringer told Mossberg, citing support from Disney and other studios.

Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman and CEO, Sony - D6 Highlights [All Things Digital]

Interesting factoid: Before Sony released the PS3, HD DVD occupied 64 percent of HD format sales, and now Blu-ray accounts for 65 percent. The ironic bit: While Sony built up big Blu-ray support with the PS3, it doesn't solely own the technology. Sony must split royalties with other members of the Blu-ray association like Samsung and Panasonic — the same members Sony is battling with for market share! Says Morgan Stanley's Tokyo-based analyst Masahiro Ono:

Sony's Blu-ray hardware business model isn't very profitable. Even if it's profitable next year, we can't expect a high margin.

Says Stringer:

The [supposed] solution to everything at the moment in the digital space is ad-supported. While advertisers are happy to talk that up, there is a limit to the amount of money available... Young people don't like advertising very much...

Make that, young people don't like bad advertising. If it's done in an innovative, non-intrusive way, in-game advertising could work. I mean, why not?

Questions Raised Over Modern Ads [FT.com via Gamasutra]

PS3 has now gone past XBox [sic] on the Christmas market. It's moving into its own as it gets into higher bandwidth...PS3 is out of the woods and beginning to hold its own.

Sony CEO says sales going well, watching yen [via eurogamer]

The Sony CEO may just be high on the sales win the PlayStation 3 had over the Wii in Japan last month. That and the fact that fewer people are slagging the hulking console seem to have gone to his head. Still, Sir Howard is probably just feeling a bit more confident now that more than 10,000 units are shifting a week in Japan. We just hope he and the rest of the executive team at Sony have something to continue to crow about when NPD sales data is released later today.

Playstation battles back against arch-rival [The Guardian]

Sony chief financial officer Nobuyuki Oneda said earlier this year that the company may miss its goal of selling 11 million PlayStation 3s by March of next year. If Howard Stringer's sales figures are to be believed, however, there's a better chance Sony might just make it. He told the press that European gamers are snapping up the PS3 at the rate of 200,000 per week. Similarly, he pegged sales in the U.S. at 200,000 following Thanksgiving, giving us a slightly better perspective than a handful of percentages provide.

You may remember the post-Black Friday chest pounding from Microsoft that boasted sales of 310,000 Xbox 360s in the week following Thanksgiving, a figure it claimed was double that of PS3 sales. Sony later refuted that number.

The NPD Group is expected to issue its monthly sales figures this week, so we'll have a better idea how Sony's holiday sales plans are shaping up. Then everything will be settled and we can put this petty issue behind us and focus on the true meaning of Christmas. Hot cocoa will be served.

Sony to Build PlayStation 3 Network to Increase Sales [Bloomberg]

Stringer added that the PlayStation 3, still struggling in North American sales charts in October, was "not behind the curve compared to PlayStation 2 in terms of momentum." If only there were some analytics that could prove or disprove this notion, say, sales figures or games available for the platform. Sadly, the data just simply isn't there and we're leaving it up to our bowl of chicken bones to give us answers.

Sony's latest console did perform quite admirably during its debut week in Japan, but we won't know how North American consumers reacted to the price drop until next month. We'll know soon enough, however, if the PlayStation 3's resurgence in Japan is the start of a new trend or simply a one-week fluke. I'm leaning toward something more in between the two.

Stringer talks a Blu-ray streak [The Hollywood Reporter]

The company's Japanese division also recently added a new trademark, known as the Broadcasting Engine, the logo of which can be seen above. The trademark info hints less at a software release, instead covering hardware bases on cellular phones, computer mice, video cameras, dvd players, video game machines, set-top boxes and vending machines. This is intermixed with multiple mentions of downloadable media, like music, movies, television programs and video games.

The Broadcasting Engine may be the name of the technology that powers the PlayStation Network Sir Howard Stringer was referring to recently in an interview that took place in Moscow. He spoke of Sony's plans to integrate the PlayStation Network throughout its consumer product line, connecting PlayStation 3s and PSPs to Bravia televisions and Sony Ericsson phones.

Stringer told press the company is "trying to get our devices to talk to each other efficiently. PlayStation Network should migrate from gadget to gadget. But initially it starts with PlayStation devices and then to TV and beyond." He didn't give a time frame and admitted Sony won't know how "effective" the current efforts have been until next year.

Hey, I have an idea, Howard. How about Japan and North America concentrate on some video games?

Sony steers PS3 towards music and films [Financial Times]