Sony planning to go against iTunes, Live in 2008

Let the bell ring and the pretty lady walk by the arena holding up the sign telling us that Round 1 is about to begin -- gloves are off, et cetera. Sony's laid out its plans for 2008 and from the looks and sounds of it, they're planning to up the ante of the PlayStation Network to rival such services as Apple's iTunes and Microsoft's XBox Live service -- all for free. Sony CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, said the PS3 is planned to connect to a multitude of devices, including mobile phones and other "unspecified" electronics.

The mobile phone deal is part of a three year plan, coupled with the persistent rumors of a PSPhone, making the date of April 1, 2008 a little something to look forward to. Stringer outlined Sony's next fiscal year a little like this: "PlayStation Network next year puts us in the direct line of fire with Apple and Microsoft," referring of course to iTunes and Live. He didn't say what was planned exactly, but draw your own conclusions from his quote about a dinner he had: "we had a dinner where the heads of Sony Electronics, [Sony] Pictures, Sony BMG, and Sony PlayStation were all at the same dinner table intermingled and actually communicating." Who knows. It could be any number of exciting things, what with all the different areas Sony covers in the electronics world.