Behind the scenes Sony is buying up Companies such as Gracenote, a provider of digital media identification for their online assault which is expected to be rolled out later this year. Founded in 1998, Gracenote developed the CD identification technology that has become the standard used by software like Apple's iTunes and Yahoo's Music Jukebox and and on portable music players from Sony, Samsung and others.
They have also hired Tim Schaaff, a senior Apple executive who helped Apple develop the iPod interface and iTunes software.
Sony admit that they lost the walkman market because they were "lousy software developers" when compared to the likes of Apple who overnight took the portable music and video market away from Sony by not only having a superior product but more importantly better software.
Now Sony is getting set to roll out a major assault on Apple's domination of the download content market and Microsoft's Xbox live service. They are also set to introduce a significantly upgraded PS 3 with new software that allows users to access games movies and music and push them to other devices over a wireless network.
