Sony 2000 Annual Report Download - page 24

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SONY CORPORATION ANNUAL REPORT 2000
22
HDCAM camcorders for broadcasting- and professional-use can
record high-definition images on a compact, half-inch videotape,
thus greatly simplifying shooting and other tasks. Picture qual-
ity on a par with film and the convenience of digital technology
have earned this camera high marks.
Star Wars: Episode II
is
expected to be filmed using HDCAM equipment.
In the growing field of electronic money, Sony’s FeliCa electronic money system, composed
of Sony-developed non-contact IC cards and reader/writers, has been operating at office buildings
in Tokyo since June 1999. The cards have been used as employee ID and office access cards as
well as money.
Since its January 1996 start, Sony Communication Network Corporation’s (SCN) So-net has
rapidly grown into one of Japan’s largest internet service providers. Members numbered
approximately 1.28 million as of May 2000. Efforts to improve convenience continued during
the year under review. In addition to credit cards, the Smash Internet settlement platform,
which SCN and Sony Finance International, Inc. codeveloped, now accepts debit transactions
using bank ATM cards. Furthermore, with the aim of building new business models to broaden
services, SCN formed several alliances in the e-commerce field. For example, SCN has invested
in Entertainment Plus Co., Ltd., which sells entertainment-related tickets over the phone and
Internet, and Skygate Co., Ltd., which provides travel products, services, and information over
the Internet. Also, SCN has started supplying networking services to Sony Music Entertain-
ment (Japan) Inc. for its “bitmusic” electronic music distribution service. To attract more So-net
members, SCN is working to further its high value-added connection services and to expand
its range of content and e-commerce services. Looking towards the broadband network era,
SCN hopes to create a new form of entertainment that integrates broadcasting and Internet
technologies by participating in a communication satellite broadcasting venture.
SONY’S AIM TO OFFER NEW FORMS OF ENJOYMENT IN THE NETWORK ERA
Sony is going all out to develop the core technologies and software needed to make possible
new forms of enjoyment in which hardware is linked to networks. Illustrating this was the broad
range of Memory Stick products which Sony
introduced during the year ended March 31,
2000. Sony’s Memory Stick is an IC recording
media capable of storing audio, video, and
other data. During the year, Sony introduced
Digital Handycam home-use camcorders, VAIO
home-use PCs, digital still cameras, and an IC
recorder with Memory Stick slots. Other intro-
ductions were a digital photo frame to view
still images and a Memory Stick Walkman. The
Memory Stick Business Center, which operates
within the Electronics business to coordinate
the adoption of this new media in all of Sony’s
Network Companies, is working to set the
stage for more products that will further
expand Memory Stick applications. At the same
time, the Center is contacting other companies
in many business fields to propose ways to
make use of the Memory Stick format.