Sony has recently released its own entry into the growing tablet wars, yet its netbooks are also excellent products. Indeed, these devices were a great step for laptop computers, and there are a few models which are worth investigating for people who want something highly portable and affordable.

The Sony M Series netbook is an excellent option for business users. It has a 10.1 inch screen, which is small yet more than adequate for most tasks, combined with a 250GB hard drive that is certainly beefy enough. The processer runs at 1.66 GHZ alongside 1GB of RAM – this comes with a perfectly adequate built in webcam. This product is by no means new, yet it executes a variety of tasks with speed and efficiency – business people will find it much easier to work on than a tablet.

The Y Series (Ultraportable) is aimed more at regular consumers with a slightly larger screen (11.6 inches) and a weight of just 3.2 pounds. There is more space on the hard disk and it generally has the increased performance that you would expect from a newer model. 2GB of RAM is certainly a welcome addition and the battery appears to last for at least three and a half hours.

These two Sony products are cost-effective solutions for people on the move – they perform quite well and are much cheaper than getting a tablet. Indeed, these Sony laptops might give you cause to think twice before buying something flashier.

SOE (Sony Online Entertainment), home of online games such as the Everquest series and host to Facebook based game Fortune League,has been declared as yet another ‘victim’ of the Sony online hacking debacle. Of course, the real victims are the 24.6 million plus customers who’s credit card and personal details may have been stolen by the hackers. The SOE servers are now offline until further notice.

We had previously believed that SOE customer data had not been obtained in the cyber-attacks on the company, but on May 1st we concluded that SOE account information may have been stolen and we are notifying you as soon as possible.

We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the attack and as a result, we have:

1) Temporarily turned off all SOE game services;

2) Engaged an outside, recognized security firm to conduct a full and complete investigation into what happened; and

3) Quickly taken steps to enhance security and strengthen our network infrastructure to provide you with greater protection of your personal information.

The SOE service was closed down yesterday as Sony became aware that the SOE service had been affected by the recent hacking of their databases, Sony previously thought that SOE had not been affected and it seems that they only became aware of the problems with SOE whilst making attempts to bring certain services on the PSN back online after last weeks disaster.

Sony have issued a press statement regarding the latest events: Sony Online Entertainment Hacked PR

Certain services on the PlayStation network and on Qriocity are to be reopened, according to a press release from Sony. Kazuo Hirai, the head of the PlayStation department has made a statement apologising for the error that caused over 75 million PSN users to have their confidential details stolen by hackers. He has also announced that some services on PSN will resume

“The organisation has worked around the clock to bring these services back on line and are doing so only after we had verified increased levels of security across our networks. These illegal attacks obviously highlight the widespread problem with cyber-security” – Mr Hirai

Sony have also announced that the PlayStation 3 is to recieve a compulsory system software update which will make users change passwords before they can use the network again. Sony intend implimenting a number of new security measures including more intricate firewalls and data protection and by allowing users to change passwords only from the PS3 console that they first activated the password on or by activating through email.

The ‘limited’ services that Sony are reopening on the PlayStation Network and Qriocity are expected to be up and running within the next week or so.

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Following on from the news that the Sony PlayStation Network (PSN) had been hacked and confidential user details had been stolen, including credit card data, the latest update is that the details that were stolen have now reportedly appeared for sale on the internet.

A group declaring themselves as responsible for the hacking of the PSN are now apparently posting on forums around the internet that the whole PSN database is for sale to ‘the highest bidder’, according to a security expert at TrendMicro. Details including users names, addresses, telephone numbers, email details, date of birth and credit card information were stolen as part of the electronic hacking of the PSN databases and details such as card expiry dates and the security number on the back of credit cards (CVC number) are apparently now for sale by the hackers, although Sony have responded to the rumours stating that security numbers from credit cards are not amongst the stolen data:

“your credit card security code (sometimes called a CVC or CSC number) has not been obtained because we never requested it from anyone who has joined the PlayStation Network or Qriocity, and is therefore not stored anywhere in our system While we do ask for CCV codes, we do not store them in our database..”

If the rumour is true and these details are indeed for sale then this could clearly be a further huge mess for Sony and it’s customers to try and clear up.

For many users, the initial reaction to the Sony Playstation Network (PSN) and Qriocity services going ‘offline’ on April 20th was one of disappointment and irritation. Many were optimistic that the service would be resumed quickly though, presuming maintenance or a small glitch were to blame for the downtime.

The optimism ended officially on the 23rd of April however, when it became apparent that the reason for the outage on the PSN was a lot more serious than a simple glitch, as Sony themselves declared on their own blog – the reason that the PSN was offline was because there had been an “external intrusion” to their systems.

“An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20th. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share.”

Although at that time, no further explanation regarding the ‘intrusion’ was given, days later Sony finally admitted that the intrusion was actually an electronic hacking attempt that had successfully taken user details including names, addresses and more seriously, credit card details from the Sony databases.

“..between April 17 and April 19, 2011, certain PlayStation Network and Qriocity service user account information was compromised in connection with an illegal and unauthorized intrusion into our network.”

Sony are now working to ‘save the situation’ and the closure of the PSN was their first step. However, users are now left wondering firstly why their details were left accessible to a hacking attempt in the first place secondly, why Sony took several days to admit that these details had been stolen and thirdly, what damage will be done by the theft of their personal and financial details.Credit card companies/financial institutions have been quick to reassure affected customers that they should be covered in the event of any fraudulent use of their details however, the whole event is causing much anguish amongst PlayStation Network users, understandably.

As news comes in regarding the hacking of the PSN and the fallout from it, we will update our readers. In the meantime Sony suggest following them on Twitter for updates on the situation:  Follow – @PlayStation or @PlayStationEU.