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Sony Corp. said on Tuesday it would cut the price of its PlayStation 2 game console by about 19 percent to 16,000 yen ($138) in Japan as it gears up for the eagerly awaited launch in November of the PlayStation 3.

Hollywood is hoping high-definition DVDs will reignite a slowing market for movies at home, but they have drawn mixed reviews from retailers and analysts due to technical issues and a bitter format war.

Some 75 movie titles, including The Da Vinci Code and Chicken Little, will go on sale in Japan later this year using the next-generation Blu-ray DVD format.

Shares of Sony Corp. fell as much as 3 percent to a one-month low on Friday after Apple Computer Inc. said it would recall 1.8 million PC batteries, the second major recall involving Sony-made battery cells in 10 days.

Apple Computer Inc. will recall 1.8 million lithium-ion notebook PC batteries after nine overheated, the second major recall in the past 10 days involving battery cells made by Sony Corp..

Apple Computer Inc. will recall 1.8 million lithium-ion notebook batteries after nine devices overheated, causing minor burns in two users, U.S. safety regulators said on Thursday.

Time Warner Inc.'s AOL said on Thursday it will offer movies from four major Hollywood studios for downloading on its new Internet video service.

Sony Pictures Entertainment has acquired Grouper Networks, a video sharing Web site for $65 million.

Japanese video game maker Nintendo Co. expects to price its new Wii gaming console below 250 euros ($321.50) in Europe, its head of German operations said on Wednesday.

Dell, the world's largest PC maker, has issued a recall of a laptop computer batteries manufactured by Sony after the batteries sparked fires.

Consumer safety officials said on Tuesday they are reviewing all Sony-made lithium-ion batteries in laptop computers for fire hazards after Dell Inc. announced the largest electronics recall in the United States.

Dell Inc. said on Monday it will recall 4.1 million notebook computer batteries because they could overheat and catch fire, in the biggest recall in its 22-year history.

In the Darwinian evolution of electronic companions, first came the speaking doll, then the Tamagotchi virtual pet, then Sony's short-lived AIBO dog.

Kazaa, one of most well known file sharing networks, has reached an agreement with the music industry over illicit file-sharing this Thursday.

Advanced Micro Devices Tuesday pledged to release a version of its upcoming enthusiast desktop product, code-name 4x4, for less than $1000.

Sony Corp. is to launch two models of high-definition camcorders that record images onto DVD discs and hard disk drives (HDDs), the first camcorder maker to offer such products, the company said on Wednesday.

Online multimedia site Guba has signed a deal with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment that makes it the first video-sharing community to distribute Sony Pictures movies online.

The battle for the next generation of DVDs intensified on Tuesday as Sony Corp. released its first set of seven movies for the new Blu-ray Disc format to coincide with the sale of the first new player this week by Samsung.

The next-generation DVD format war limps on in the coming weeks as Blu-ray - one of two formats vying to become the high-definition standard - officially launches its first player and titles.

At the biggest video game show of the year, Sony, which has dominated the console market with its PlayStation 2, must show gamers reason to wait six more months for its PS3, even though Microsoft's next-generation Xbox 360 already sits temptingly on stores shelves.

The Nikkei average fell 1.29 percent on Friday as shares of Sony Corp. tumbled after it forecast a sharp profit decline in the current year and as a stronger yen raised concern of a drop in earnings at exporters such as Kyocera Corp.

Sony Corp. (6758.T) posted a 68 percent rise in annual operating profit on Thursday on investment gains and robust sales of flat TVs, but forecast a sharp fall this year because of start-up costs for PlayStation 3 (PS3).