Sony is set to release its own iTunes-battling download store to sell music, movies and – sensibly given its line of ebook readers – books. The service is currently known as Sony Online Service.
Sony plans to make the Sony Online Service tie-in with its consumer electronics brands including the Sony Walkman range and its ebook readers like the Sony Reader Touch Edition.
Sony Online Service will resemble the current Playstation Network and will also integrate with the Playstation 3 and the Sony PSP Go. The big difference between iTunes and Sony’s new service appears to be the ability to store your own content in an online account.
Sony plans to allow users to upload videos, photos and other digital content to a personal account that will take some of its inspiration from Youtube and Google Docs.
Most interestingly, Sony also apparently plans to allow developers to create apps for sale through the service just as Apple does with its iTunes App Store.
Sony’s curreny senior vice president of software is former Apple man, Tim Schaaff, so it’s likely he’ll have a fair idea about how Apple developed iTunes.
The Sony Online Service was announced at low-key meeting in Tokyo and no firm details on pricing or a timescale for implementing the service have been revealed yet.
TBA | TBA | Sony (via Apple Insider)
Now the phone companies are serious about setting up their own entertainment stores.