It is a given fact that Sony decided to re-organize its online music store Sony Connect to cater more to its PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable user base. However, people are now speculating that the said service will soon be terminated.

Sony reiterated the other day that Sony Connect will continue to operate. Currently, there are around 90 different positions being held by various employees in Sony Connect. Although one representative from Sony Connect who wishes to be anonymous said that around 20 of those will be phased out.

It has also been reported that the head of the store division Steve Banfield will be leaving in a couple of weeks. All of these began when the official site of Sony Connect was updated and began sporting announcement of compatibility with the PSP.

The company has yet to inform the public regarding the scope of the layoffs and how it will ultimately affect console owners.

Let it not be said that Sony doesn't care about its PlayStation community. The company has announced that it will be stopping its music and video services to focus on serving the PlayStation group and their technical needs.

In the Sony offices in Los Angeles, employees were given word that about 20-plus jobs will be phased out as the current project winds down and closes. The eBooks division of the project will still be up and running since it will be providing services to the Sony Reader product.

The head of the Sony Connect division Steve Banfield will be leaving in the next few weeks while two members from Sony corporate, namely Tim Schaaff and Fumi Kanagwa will be running the remaining members of the Connect engineering team. The 80 other employees will be assigned to PlayStation support.

A couple of factors have yet been disclosed by Sony. First up, is whether the Sony Connect brand name will still be maintained by the company after this change. The second question is what happens to the SonicStage software? Will it just be junked and relegated to just disappear, or will Sony continue to support it?

It is unfortunate that Sony had to do this, but still, it looks to be a very good marketing move by Sony as the PlayStation community is by far one of the loyalest groups of Sony customers. Be sure to keep checking back here for more updates on the gaming industry.

Over at the Sony CONNECT website, there is an announcement that SonicStage Version 4.2, an application that allows you to access the CONNECT Music service, is now available for download.

Given all the wonderful workarounds that the homebrew community has developed to empower their handheld, we're not quite sure you're going to appreciate it. The release of the new version of the application though, is itself newsworthy. Perhaps some of you may find technical uses for it or whatnot? Of course, some of you seem to really like SonicStage for what it is, I mean, check out the comments on a report we did on it from way way back.

Anyway, to get the URL to the download site for the application, feel free to use our "Read" link below.

Okay, this may seem like a very stupid question, especially on a website that specialises on PSP gaming, homebrew and news. The thing is, it's true: Sony wouldn't like anybody calling the PSP just a gaming machine as this does make it seem like an updated version of the GBA. After all, Sony's PSP website does say that with the launch of the PSP, "The Portable Entertainment Revolution has arrived". Ever since its launch, the PSP has been described as an entertainment machine for use anyway, not just your simple gaming machine.

With the drastic failure of Sony's UMD format designed specifically for the PSP, is the PSP still an entertainment machine - or is it just a gaming machine? Sure you can still watch movies or listen to music from your memory stick, but it isn't the same as having off-the-shelf media in the form of films and music videos to just put in and play. Surely something that you have to spend ages converting can't be considered as a portable entertainment machine as you can't just access it straight away! You need the aid of a computer in order to pretty much do anything decent on the PSP.

Although this won't apply to most of the readers of this website, a large proportion of PSP owners wouldn't be able to get a movie in the correct format to play on their PSP. Call me stubborn for not reading a readme or/and FAQ, but I still remember the first time I tried to get my PSP to play an MP4 video, it took me hours to figure it out, and then more hours for it to convert.

The only way Sony can redefine their portable console as a portable entertainment gateway is through the release of digital media available directly to download on your PSP. In response to DRM'd media being available on the PSP, John Koller, Senior marketing manager for the PSP said “That’s still something we are debating here. We need to see how the Connect site works out.”

The Sony Connect website has supported the PSPs web browser for a while now, and once DRM has been secured for the PSP, I'm sure music and more copyrighted entertainment media will be available through this website. Maybe after better media hits the Sony Connect website we can call the PSP a portable entertainment revolution. Until then, we still have homebrew.

Visit: [Sony Connect PSP website]

It seems like Sony has developed a taste for the controversial when it comes to how they advertise their popular handheld console, the PSP. If you recall, we've made a series of articles covering this subject detailing how Sony has received very strong reactions from gamers and non-gamers alike. Both of which were appalled at the insinuation of the ad. And before that, there were the graffiti ads in the North and South Philadelphia area, that one caused an uproar from irate residents and city officials.

Now, Sony is once again in the frontline of attention with their rather interesting ad on Connect. Connect is Sony's music store built within the SonicStage music management application for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I think it's the looming presence of Will Ferell on this picture that makes the carefree tagline worth a laugh or two... okay a snicker.

Thanks a bunch to Nugz for bringing this to our attention.

Sony has recently updated their Sony Connect website for viewing on the PSP. Content on the site located at psp.connect.com is available to the masses, with everything from cars to TV shows to game trailers available on the site in PSP video format. The amazing thing is that the downloads appear to be in ZIP form, but I guess that works differently when accessing it through a PSP than a PC, allowing you to download them in MP4 format.

This update to the Sony connect website is probably in preparation for the next PSP firmware upgrade, which could contain Video RSS feeds. This would make sense as all of the content on psp.connect.com is organised into channels just for you! Whether you're a petrolhead or just a fan of the TV show Rescue Me, there's something for you to download and watch on your PSP throughout the holiday season.

Thanks for the tip Pacos!

Visit: [psp.connect.com]