Sony said that it will release a new motion controller for the PlayStation 3 video game console by mid next year during spring.

The controller which Sony unveiled in June, will work with the existing PlayStation Eye camera, which can track players’ voices, faces and body motion. The controller, in turn, has on its end a light-emitting sphere that can be recognized by the PlayStation Eye camera. Read the rest of this entry »

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Sony said Thursday its net profit plunged 95 percent in the October-December quarter, as the holiday shopping season provided no respite for the struggling electronics giant and tepid sales of TVs, digital cameras and cell phones hit its bottom line.

The Japanese manufacturing icon said its usually dependable electronics division posted its first-ever operating loss in the fiscal third quarter. It also reiterated its forecast for a net loss of 150 billion yen ($1.67 billion) for the full fiscal year through March — its first loss in 14 years.

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The Japanese consumer electronics giant, the Sony Corporation, said Tuesday that it would eliminate 8,000 jobs and rein in planned investment as it reacts to the global economic slowdown.

Sony, which had already announced scattered cost-savings measures, blamed the rapid deterioration in the global economic outlook and the strength of the Japanese currency for the cuts.

“These initiatives are in response to the sudden and rapid changes in the global economic environment,” Sony, which has 160,000 employees, said in a statement. Sony aims save more than 100 billion yen, or $1.1 billion, a year through the measures, which also include shutting several plants.

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January

• Internet access and international telephone calls throughout Malaysia and most of Asia were disrupted for weeks due to an earthquake in Taiwan that damaged the underwater Asia Pacific Cable Network 2 link. Everything returned to normal in February after repairs by ship were completed.

• TIME Engineering Bhd signed an agreement with MSC Management Services, a subsidiary of Multimedia Development Corporation, to provide wireless broadband nationwide via WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) and WiFi. Read the rest of this entry »

U.S. sales of video game hardware and software jumped 75 percent in September, driven by Microsoft Corp’s (MSFT.O) “Halo 3″ and Nintendo Co Ltd’s (7974.OS) Wii console.

Total sales in September, a 5-week retail period, soared to $1.36 billion, up from $779 million a year earlier, according to market research firm NPD.

“Halo 3,” the latest installment of Microsoft’s flagship franchise, sold 3.3 million copies, more than twice as many as the next nine games combined, the data showed. Read the rest of this entry »