Sony's CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, has come out swinging (in the rounders sense) at a recent speech to investors in Tokyo. High on his agenda is a plan to upgrade the PlayStation Network to enable great connectivity between the PlayStation 3 and other devices.
To this end he is also being reported as stating that the network overhaul will be open to third-party developers and will launch on April 1st 2008. Now, back at the Tokyo Game Show in September we reported the keynote speech of Sony Computer Entertainment president Kaz Hirai, during which he stated that the company was aiming for a
Spring 2008 launch for PlayStation Home.
April 1st is Spring 2008 as far as we're concerned. Stringer is, as we said, rather upbeat about the PS3's online future not only stating that it will enable the PS3 to connect with other devices such as mobile phones, but also that network "puts us in the direct line of Apple and Microsoft".
Fighting words from the top Sony man. Let's hope April 1st doesn't live up to its reputation in the West.
Sources: MarketWatch
Bloomberg
Forbes