Sony Corp

Less than a week after a security breach sparked an uproar, Sony Corp. has suspended its online-gaming unit's services after a hacker infiltrated the network in the second such attack on the company in the last month. Sony Online Entertainment, known for creating massively multi-player games such as EverQuest and The Matrix Online, suspended service Sunday night, it announced Monday. "In the course of our investigation into the intrusion into our systems we have discovered an issue that warrants enough concern for us to take the service down effective immediately," the company said in a statement.

The computer security breach in Sony Corp.'s online PlayStation Network and Qriocity music service last week struck a serious, though not fatal, blow to Chief Executive Howard Stringer's ambitions for a world of connected entertainment in which consumers can access and buy all manner of content through Sony devices, according to entertainment and security analysts. The attack, which exposed the personal information and possibly credit card data of 77 million customer accounts, was disclosed Tuesday, more than a week after the computer systems were breached.

Former Sony President and Chairman Norio Ohga, who gave up a career as an opera singer to join the fledgling consumer electronics maker in the 1950s and later led its expansion from hardware to software and entertainment and developing the compact disc, died Saturday. He was 81. Ohga, who led the company from 1982 to 1995, died of multiple organ failure in Tokyo, Sony said. Some decisions made during Ohga's presidency, such as the $3.4-billion purchase of Columbia Pictures, were criticized as unwise and costly at the time.

Sony Corp. on Thursday announced the promotion of Kazuo Hirai, the head of its PlayStation and Vaio business, to assume control of its vast consumer electronics division. The move appeared to give Hirai, 50, a leg up in the four-way race to succeed Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer, 69, who is expected to retire within two years. The other three candidates are said to be Hiroshi Yoshioka, Yoshihisa Ishida and Kunimasa Suzuki. Stringer had dubbed his lieutenants "The Four Musketeers.

About two months ago, Rob Wiesenthal was sitting in bed at his home in New York, reading a magazine, when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was a photo of his 13-year-old son, Richard, at a friend's birthday party. The picture had been snapped just six minutes earlier and was posted to his son's Facebook page. It popped up on a device called the Dash, on his bedside table, that Wiesenthal was testing out for his company, Sony Corp. "It was one of those spooky moments," said Wiesenthal, who is chief financial officer for Sony's American business.

Video game sales in the U.S. plunged 15% in February as skittish consumers continued to ratchet back their spending. The bleak sales report from the NPD Group marks the 10th monthly decline in the last 12 months. Game sales fell to $624 million. Console sales dropped 20% to $426 million, while sales of peripherals such as game controllers slipped 1% to $204 million. The drop occurred despite three major titles released last month: BioShock 2 from Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., Dante's Inferno from Electronic Arts Inc., and Heavy Rain from Sony Corp.

3-D TV is coming. The question is how many people will be able to watch it. Call it the "Avatar" effect. Cable programming giant Discovery Communications Inc., in partnership with Sony Corp. and big-screen theater operator Imax Corp., said Tuesday it would launch a 3-D channel in 2011. At the same time, Walt Disney Co.'s sports channel ESPN announced it was entering the 3-D fray with its own network set to debut this year. "The momentum of 3-D in the last six months alone has been quite striking," said Sony Corp.

Sony Corp. says some customers who pre-order its newest e-reader may not get the gadget in time for the holidays. The company said it was trying to ship the $399 Reader Daily Edition for the holidays. But because interest has exceeded expectations, the company can't be sure that everyone who buys one will get it by Christmas, it said. Sony unveiled the Reader Daily Edition, which can download books wirelessly, in August and planned to release it for the holidays.

Sony Corp. saw sales drop nearly across the board in its fiscal second quarter as the Japanese consumer electronics and media giant continued to struggle with a withering global economy. As shoppers around the world cut back on buying televisions, cameras and computers, Sony's revenue plunged 19.8% to $18.5 billion from the same quarter last year. Bargain pricing also eroded profit margins, leading Sony to swing from a $200-million profit last year to a $292-million loss. Sales slipped in all of Sony's divisions except for its financial services business in Japan.

Sony Corp. plans to start selling a more-expensive version of the PlayStation 3 for the holiday season, offering increased storage capacity for downloaded games, movies and television shows. The 250-gigabyte PS3 will be available for $350 starting Nov. 3, Sony Computer Entertainment America said Thursday in a statement. The current version has 120 gigabytes and sells for $300. Tokyo-based Sony cut the price from $400 in August. The added storage will give the PS3 more room for storing games and other entertainment purchased through Sony's online PlayStation Network.