Research is showing that for a brief moment at least, Sony have taken the crown in Japan and have sold more Walkmans than Apple have sold iPods in the last month.

It might not seem like a big deal on the surface but, since 2001 when research company BCN began compiling their monthly sales stats, this is just the second time that Sony have come out on top (which lasted a week), with Apple and their iPod range outselling their competitors for the rest of the time. Last month the Sony Walkman held a 47.8% share of the market where as the iPod had 44%. Many expect this will all change when the new iPod models are released by Apple in Japan but, for the time being Sony can puff out it’s corporate feathers and celebrate it’s victory in the Japanese market.

Between them Sony and Apple hold around a 90% share of the market for portable music players in Japan anyway, so there is no real loser in this battle anyway.

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Yet again, Sony are to change the hard drive specifications of it’s PlayStation 3. The PS3 Slim is currently available with a 120GB hard drive or a 250GB hard drive and is only available in black. From July 29th onwards the PS3 Slim will be available with either a 160GB or 250GB hard drive, which should retail for $340 and $400 respectively. From then, the PS3 Slim will also be available in Classic White, as well as the current black. Unfortunately this will only be available in Japan but, hopefully Sony will reveal their plans for North America and PAL regions soon.

Two new phones have been announced today for those living in Japan. First up is the Cyber shot S003 which, from the looks, is a cross between the C905 and the Satio. On the front, it features a slide out keypad (like the C905), with a 3.2 inch display. The handset can display up to 16.7 million colors and display in 480×854 resolution. Where as on the back, the S003 looks very similar to the Sony Ericsson Satio, including the 12.1 megapixel camera. It also features a Sony Exmor image sensor. It appears to be available in white, black, pink and purple.

Japanese-Swedish handset maker Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10, is reportedly the best selling handset at DoCoMo. The X10, which is the first mobile phone from Sony Ericsson with Google’s Android operating system on board was made available several weeks ago, and reports state that more than 120,000 units have been sold already

A series of figures show that the Xperia X10 was sold in more than 120,000 units in about three weeks, which is much more than HTC’s Android devices, which reached 80,000 units sold in 10 months.

According to a recent article, Barclays’ Note reads: “Last week we upgraded DoCoMo to Buy to reflect our increasing optimism that the company could be the big beneficiary of smart phone proliferation in Japan, given their high quality network and evolving philosophy. DoCoMo’s new smart phone, Sony Ericsson Xperia, has sold about 120,000 units within its first three weeks on sale; Tsusaka’s data shows that the initial 100,000 unit shipment to distributors sold out in 10 says, but another 50,000 units delivered in mid-April, and a third set of 30,000 units is apparently scheduled for late April.”

When compared to other devices, Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 holds the record for highest sales. It remains to be seen whether the device will enjoy a similar success in other markets around the world.

Sony are releasing a new TV in Japan, which comes equipped with a 500GB hard drive. Like the other TVs being released there, the BX30H will offer up 3D. It will be available in both white and black, along with a choice of 22 inch, 26 inch or 32 inch display. Pricing is currently unknown. While over in the US, Sony will be releasing the Bravia TV as the BX300. In the US it will only be available with a 22 inch or 32 inch display and only come in black. The US will also miss out on the integrated HDD. Pricing for the US will be $280 for the 22 inch model, or $420 for the 32 inch model. Other specs of both of the TVs are:

* 720p HD resolution
* 100,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio
* CCFL back lighting
* 5.1 channel audio output
* 24p True Cinema
* BRAVIA Engine 2
* BRAVIA Sync