Sony promises 'phased restoration' of PlayStation Network and Qriocity starting this week

Sony made quite a few promises this morning about how it intends to deal with the fallout from the PlayStation Network outage and breach when it wasn't profusely and solemnly apologizing including improved security measures and a few token handouts of 30-day free subscriptions to PlayStation Plus and Qriocity and possibly some free software. Perhaps more importantly for you gamers, Kaz Hirai told reporters that services will resume "soon," and by the end of the week we should see some functionality return. Of course, it made those promises in Japanese, but if you want an English copy you won't have to look far, as the official PlayStation.Blog got hold of a press release with them all spelled out.

SONY TO LAUNCH TWO ANDROID TABLETS

Sony plans to launch two models of Android tablets in the fall, marking the company’s long-awaited entry into the tablet PC market. IDG News Service’s Martyn Williams reports from Tokyo.

Sony S1 and S2 dual-screen Honeycomb tablets get official

Sony's hosting a press event in Tokyo today where it just made the first announcement: a pair of Android 3.0 tablets -- yes, the very two Honeycomb slabs we told you about exclusively back in February. The first is the Qriocity-focused 9.4-inch S1 media tablet with both front- and rear-facing cameras and a curved wrap design that resembles a folded magazine. The S1 features a Tegra 2 SoC and customized "Quick and Smooth" touch panel UI with "Swift" web browser. It can also be used as a remote control for Sony gear thanks to integrated infrared. Video and more after the break...

Norio Ohga, former Sony chairman and multimedia pioneer, dies at 81

There's more sad news out of Japan this morning, we're afraid -- Sony is reporting that former chairman Norio Ohga passed away in Tokyo yesterday from multiple organ failure. He was 81. You may not personally remember a Sony under his reign -- Ohga helmed the company from 1982 to 1995 after decades of service in product planning -- but Norio Ohga was arguably the man responsible for turning Sony from a high-profile analog electronics manufacturer into a digital multimedia conglomerate. He helmed the deals that formed Sony Music, paved the way for Sony Pictures and established the very same Sony Computer Entertainment that would birth the PlayStation, and it was he who pushed the optical compact disc standard that all but replaced the magnetic cassettes and diskettes that held portable media. Without him, DVDs and Blu-rays might have fallen by the wayside, and that's another thought that brings tears to our eyes.

CE-Oh no he didn't!: Sony's Jack Tretton says Nintendo makes 'babysitting tools'

Sony does what Nintendon't? That's the general sentiment from a brief interview that PlayStation chief Jack Tretton gave to Fortune this week, in which he talked up Sony's strengths and played down (some may even say belittled) its competitors, and Nintendo in particular. That began with the relatively tame assertion that Sony's decision to go high-end with PlayStation 3 is just now beginning to pay off while the other consoles are "starting to run out of steam," before he took aim at Nintendo's handheld business. According to Tretton, Nintendo's handhelds all offer what he calls a "Game Boy experience," something that's great as a "babysitting tool," but that "no self-respecting twenty-something is going to be sitting on an airplane with one of those." Yow. Any self-respecting twenty-somethings beg to differ?

Sony's Howard Stringer confirms Honeycomb tablet in US by summer

Ready to taste a sweet Honeycomb tablet with a Sony twist? You'd better be -- Japan's Nikkei is quoting Sony chief executive, Sir Howard Stringer, saying that the company's first Android 3.0 tablet will be on sale by the end of summer. Better yet, it'll pop for retail in the US first, according to the report. This lines up nicely with the reported September launch of a PlayStation Certified Tegra 2 "S1" tablet featuring a 9.4-inch display and unique "wrap" design that we first told you about back in February. Or will it be the S2 clamshell? Who knows, Howard isn't saying. The new tablet tattle was apparently uttered at the same event where Howard spilled the beans about Apple's plan to use Sony sensors. Come on Howie, quit the teasing and just come out with it you saucy Welsh minx.

Update: Sony told Japanese site AV Watch that it will release the tablet before the end of this year. It's unclear if the comment relates to the domestic Japanese model or if it's meant to temper expectations after the company's rogue CEO spoke out of turn. Regardless, it's coming.

Exclusive: Sony 'S2' dual-screen Android clamshell and 9.4-inch Windows 7 VAIO slider due this year

So, by now you've seen the PlayStation Certified Qriocity tablet known within Sony as the "S1." But that's not the only tablet the vernerable Japanese company is preparing to launch in 2011. We've been told by a pair of highly trusted and proven sources that Sony is also working on two rather unconventional tablet form factors including a dual-screen Honeycomb clamshell and newfangled Windows 7 tablet slider. More after the break...

Sony's official NGP announcement video hits the web

Sony's official NGP announcement video hits the web......