Sony Corp. has established Connect Company, a new division which will exclusively develop products and services to rival Apple's iPod players and iTunes Music Store service. Connect Company established on Nov. 1 2004. will enter into operations early next year and will eventually employ 300 to 400 workers. Engineers will work on new hard disk based portable audio players equipped with the first product expected late 2005. Connect Company will also operate a personal computer-and cellphone-compatible music download service. Video and game distribution services planned as well.

The Sony PSP expected to hit our shores March 2005 should jump start Sony's plans for 2005. The PSP is a game machine and multimedia player designed for music and movies. The PSP portable device incorporates high-quality, full-motion video similar to PS2 that can be played anytime and anywhere.

The Play Station Portable features a 4.3-inch 16:9 widescreen LCD TFT screen with a 480x272 resolution, button layout similar to the PlayStation with a digital control pad, an analog stick, circle, square, triangle, x, and 2 shoulder buttons, supports a Wi-Fi wireless connectivity that allows up to 16 PSPs to play together and uses a new, Sony-developed optical media called the Universal Media Disc (UMD), which offers game software, full-motion video and other digital content