November 20 - 4:05pm EST   A lawsuit filed against Sony over two years ago by Agere Systems has finally been settled, according to a Thursday report, with Sony ordered to pay $18.5 million for infringing on eight patents held by Agere. The jury ruled Sony willfully infringed on the patents, which dealt with wireless local area network apparatus that Sony uses in its PSP portable gaming system, Network Walkman and mylo portable Internet device. [full story]

November 19 - 3:40pm EST   Apple is discussing deals with the three major music labels yet to sign on to iTunes Plus to remove the locks on their music as well, alleged sources tell CNET. Two reported contacts describe "preliminary" negotiations that would expand Apple's deal for music without copy protection beyond EMI and independents to include Sony, Warner and Universal. The talks are said to have been spread over the past several months for at least two labels and aren't certain to result in a favorable income. [full story]

November 17 - 5:30pm EST   The W580 has been a staple of GSM phone carriers ever since it was released simply because it does most things well (including music) at a low-enough price. Still, there were definite limitations, and the device now has a RAZR-like overabundance that signals a time for something new. The W760 promises to check off some the remaining flaws -- including the addition of 3G -- but also faces a tougher cellphone market. Sony Ericsson's ultimate challenge may be less to improve the device and more to consider the roles of the devices themselves. Read our full W760 review to see where the slider fits in. [full story]

November 7 - 5:20pm EST   As part of a price drop campaign it is calling Operation Main Street, Walmart on Thursday announced it will cut back prices of many popular products over the next seven weeks, in time for the holidays. The more noteworthy items include a Magnavox Blu-ray player, the NB500MG9, priced at $198, down from its regular price of $229. It is capable of upconverting standard DVD movies and will support Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound formats. A 2GB Sony Walkman MP3 player will be priced at $49. [full story]

November 6 - 7:35am EST   Sony Ericsson today held a characteristically low-key unveiling centered around one music phone and a universal Bluetooth home stereo. The W705 represents a relatively high-end Walkman phone for the company and centers on its addition of Wi-Fi. All versions can use the format for faster Internet access and for sharing media on the local network with DLNA-supporting devices like the PlayStation 3 and certain PC software; a special W705u variant also supports Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) for Internet calling that bridges to the phone network. [full story]

October 13 - 11:15am EDT   Wireless provider AT&T and handset maker Sony Ericsson on Monday announced the availability of the Sony Ericsson W760a Walkman phone, unique as the first Walkman-branded handset to offer access to 3G data networks on AT&T and possessing a built-in accelerometer that allows users to switch tracks by shaking or tilting the device. The new interface method can also be used as a controller when playing video games. [full story]

October 5 - 9:55am EDT   After years of insisting on little-used proprietary formats and software, Sony has recently been mending its ways: the company's latest Walkman players have virtually become champions of cross-platform standards (including the Mac), beautiful design and the no-fuss interface. The S730 promises to be an evolution of an already solid formula, especially with its active noise cancelation feature, but it remains to be seen how well the S730 stacks up against the veteran iPod nano and Microsoft's latest Zune software. Click through for our full S730 review. [full story]

September 8 - 4:30pm EDT   Sony on Monday announced it will soon begin shipping three new mini sound systems, two of which are network capable and all of which feature built-in drives. The NAS-M500HD and NAS-M700HD sport 160GB hard drives and a 4.3-inch LCD display, while the CMT-E300HD has an 80GB drive and makes do with an 8-color monochrome LCD screen. In addition, the two NAS systems will connect to users’ existing home networks via their Ethernet jacks. All will be capable of ripping music CDs and storing the contents on their built-in drives, though the NAS drives can do it at 16x speeds versus just 4x for the CMT-E300HD. [full story]

September 8 - 9:20am EDT   Sony on Monday reversed another one of its longstanding blocks against third-party support with news of a Designed for Walkman program. Similar to Made for iPod, the program finally allows third parties to develop and sell accessories for Walkman players based on Sony's proprietary WM-PORT connector; similar to the program for Apple's Dock Connector, it allows speaker docks and other add-ons that put out audio and video as well as charge the player. [full story]

August 28 - 8:45am EDT   Sony today followed through on recent leaks with a significant overhaul of its Walkman music players. Apart from a new design that slims the device down to under 0.3 inches and harmonizes the look among all video-capable Sony players, the S730 series are the first to simplify smart playlists with a fully automatic feature known as SensMe. The addition gauges the tempo, rhythm, and other factors of songs and creates as many as 11 playlists of its own to match a given mood. [full story]

August 20 - 10:20am EDT   AT&T today began offering two new phones, including just its third mobile TV device. The LG Invision is billed as the smallest phone of the type in the US and is just four inches tall while also registering at under half an inch thick. Both of which make it small enough to fit in most pockets but still supply live digital TV broadcasts. It also fully supports AT&T's 3G network as well as matching online music services like eMusic. [full story]

August 17 - 5:45pm EDT   Sony is planning a new entry level Walkman that would combine the simple features of its stick players with the more advanced features of its full-size devices, the company itself has accidentally revealed through its New Zealand website. The NWZ-E430 series appears a sequel to the A600 series with a slightly larger two-inch screen and at most 8GB of storage, but will be easier to load than earlier models; full drag-and-drop support allows not only loading music and video through the operating system's file manager but through sync software; both iTunes and Windows Media Player are claimed to support new Walkman range. [full story]

August 6 - 2:05pm EDT   Canadian cell provider Rogers Wireless will put most of its emphasis in the next few weeks on the BlackBerry line and music phones, according to a roadmap slip from BGR. The details confirm the launch of the BlackBerry Kickstart and add that the device will work with Rogers' Home Calling Zone Wi-Fi phone service, which will be rechristened Talkspot. The EDGE-only flip smartphone hasn't been given pricing but has previously been slotted into a late September release that may arrive near that of T-Mobile USA's version. [full story]

August 5 - 9:10am EDT   Sony today announced that it has bought out Bertelsmann's 50 percent stake in Sony BMG and will now completely own its music label. The new label, named Sony Music Entertainment Inc. (SMEI), ends the short four-year run of Sony BMG and will let Sony create a "total entertainment experience" where the electronics giant can more closely integrate its music with its devices, according to company chief Sir Howard Stringer. [full story]

August 4 - 11:25am EDT   Sony Ericsson and Zeemote today teamed up for a hardware tie-in aimed at spurring mobile gaming. Dutch buyers of the cellphone maker's W760i Walkman phone have the option of getting Zeemote's JS1 Bluetooth joystick for free. The grip-style analog controller gives more precision than the directional pad on most cellphones and permits a class of games that are normally off-limits to feature phones, such as Tomb Raider Anniversary. Two games that support the controller are already included in the box. [full story]