Sony are set to release their first two tablets into the market next month. Previously known as the S1, the tablet features a 9.4 inch display and Android 3.1 aka Honeycomb, while the S2 will feature two 5.5 inch screens and Honeycomb as well.

Sony have now named the S1 tablet the “Sony Tablet S”. It’s unknown at the moment what Sony have named the other tablet, or if they’ve changed it at all from the S2.

Both tablets are due to go on sale in the first weeks of September but, it’s not definite. Also there is no pricing information surrounding either tablet at the moment but, hopefully this will become known shortly.

After the huge fire that destroyed the Sony DADC distribution centre in Enfield during the recent UK riots on the 8th of August, Sony distribution has today announced that in partnership with fellow distributors Cert Octavian and Cinram, they are back up and running with their distribution services.

While this may not be the most flexible OLED display we’ve seen, this new OLED panel from Sony will delivery higher quality images, with enhanced glitch free brightness. The panel is in the form of a 9.9 inch display, which outputs images in a 960×540 resolution, while having a 96% color gamut. It also has a Self-Aligned Top-Gate FTF, which reduces disparities in luminosity.

The manufacturing process is now completed in four parts, which lowers the parasitic capacitance between the gate electrode and the TFT, thus bringing higher quality images compared to other OLED displays. As well as this, Sony have also shortened the TFT’s channel length which will make it easier to use the technology and adapt it for larger screens with higher resolutions.

Sony haven’t provided any release information on this prototype but, hopefully it will be reasonable priced like other OLEDs from Sony.

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.