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.