Sony has announced that it will cease operations at its Hungarian manufacturing site in Gödöllö, Hungary and transfer production to its manufacturing site in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia. Production will be discontinued by the end of this year. With this move, Sony is aiming to improve its profitability and efficiency in manufacturing.

The Hungarian site, which currently manufactures Blu-ray Disc players and DVD recorders, was established in 1996 while mass production began in 1997. The plant produced batteries, displays, DAV systems, speakers and Micro Hi-Fi systems. This move to transfer operations will result in the loss of 540 jobs.

“The worldwide demand for Blu-ray disc players is expected to expand. By consolidating global production to achieve efficiency and offering customers higher value-added products such as Blu-ray 3D-compatible Blu-ray disc players, Sony aims to increase the competitiveness and profitability of its home video business,” the Sony website said.

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Sony Corporation today announced the launch of Sony Internet TV, the world’s first TV to be based on the Google TV platform announced by Google Inc., Sony, Intel Corporation and Logitech today.

Sony Internet TV is a new generation of TV that offers new forms of TV enjoyment and it will provide consumers with easy access to a range of rich and attractive content.

Sony will sell HDTVs and Blu-ray players with Google TV capabilities. One of the interesting features is the ability to use an Android-based phone as a remote. Users can talk into the phone and get results on the TV screen.An Intel Atom processor will power the TV.

Sony CEO Sir Howard Stringer said the company was “fairly giddy with excitement” about working with Google and pledged to “expand into other hardware and beyond.”

The TV is set to release in fall this year. There is no news on pricing yet.

There is great news for all football lovers since Sony has inked deal with FIFA to relive top 20 spectacular moments over a span of 76 years of FIFA world cup. This will enable all people to view this action via Internet protocol (IP) enabled Bravia television sets and Blu Ray discs. Several player’s profile and films will also be screened to provide wonderful entertainment. The internet video platform of Bravia will showcase these wonderful events from mid may.

Sony has also made arrangements to screen 25 FIFA world cup 2010 with 3D technology. Football lovers will surely be treated with great fun due to availability of games in three dimensional modes. Several sophisticated cameras will be used to make this broadcast possible.

* View top 20 golden moments of FIFA world cup using IP enabled Bravia television sets
* Filming of 25 FIFA world cup 2010 games in 3D mode
* Service to start from mid may

In conjunction with the Football World Cup this year, Sony have announced they will be running a ‘scrappage scheme’ fronted by ex England managers  Graham Taylor and Terry Venables and the current England under-21 coach Stuart ‘Psycho’ Pearce.

From April 29th until July 11th – the date of the 2010 World Cup final, customers can hand in old electronic goods, for example TV’s and Blu-Ray players, working or not, at “Sony Centres, Comet, Curry’s, John Lewis and Tesco Extra stores” and will recieve up to £150 off the price of a new Bravia television. Items do not need to be Sony branded which gives consumers a great chance to scrap their old, unwanted goods and settle down to watching the World Cup on a shiny new Bravia, all at a cut down price, the Sony press release reveals.

Sony UK commercial director: “We understand that consumers will undoubtedly want to upgrade their kit as they gear up for the World Cup this summer, but cost is still an issue for most of us coming out of recession.

“This campaign is not only timely in helping people take their entertainment to the next level, it is also a good way to encourage the responsible disposal of old technology.”

When Netflix and Sony announced the Playstation 3 would be getting the former’s “Watch Instantly” streaming-movies feature, but that the PS3 would require a special Blu-ray disc, PS3 owners were a little bummed.

Now PS3 owners are just miffed due to the fact that Sony says there will be no firmware update like the Xbox 360 has that allows streaming for at least a year. And worse: there’s no clear way for Netflix to offer interface improvements to the PS3’s Watch instantly mode.

Sony are replacing their VAIO CS line of laptops with CW notebooks. They will launch in the UK on October 22nd with Windows 7 as the operating system. The VAIO CW is available in blue, red, white and pink. Featuring 4GB of RAM, Dual Core processor and a 320GB hard drive. For the display it’ll use a 14 inch widescreen display with a 16:9 ratio. Other specs include Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, a web camera, DVD drive and a HDMI output port.

The VAIO CW is also available in black which comes with a Blu-Ray drive.

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