Berlin – Timing its announcement to coincide with Apple’s (NASD: AAPL)
media event on Wednesday, Sony (NYSE: SNE) unveiled plans to expand availability of its
Qriocity network service platform, positioning the service as a challenger to
the iTunes Store. The cloud-based service will deliver movies, music, games and
e-books to Sony’s PlayStation 3 game console, Bravia
TVs, Blu-ray players and personal computers.
Sony launched Qriocity in the U.S.
in April, but will now expand the service into Europe.
A premium video streaming
service will launch in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. in the fall,
offering content from Fox (NYSE: NWS), Lionsgate, MGM, NBC Universal (NYSE: GE), Paramount (NYSE: VIA), Sony
Pictures, Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Warner Bros. (NYSE: TWX)
A "Music Unlimited" cloud-based
digital music service is expected to launch by the end of the year.
Qriocity is not
Sony’s first attempt to build a challenger to iTunes. The Sony Connect online
music download service launched in the U.S. in 2004, but was discontinued by
2007.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/22tzkmp
http://tinyurl.com/2cjmy7n
(Financial Times)
i can see no reason why this won’t directly challenge iTunes…
other than all the reasons in which it will no way challenge iTunes.
Sony is cute. they keep trying, no matter how much they fail. and fail. and fail.
“Qriocity” … that says it all right there.
tone-deaf + incompetent = Sony.
but hey, proprietary formats will work SOMEDAY, right Sony?