Sony's Music Service Puts The Pressure On Google (SNE, GOOG)

Sony's subscription music service is finally coming to mobile phones, filling a big gap versus services like Rhapsody, Rdio, and (in Europe) Spotify.

It should also provide welcome competition to Google's own music service by giving users access to their music collection from any Android device.

The unfortunately named Music Unlimited by Qriocity (pronounced "curiosity") service launched last year overseas and in February in the U.S., but it was kind of a dud: mainly because it was only available on PCs and Sony electronic devices like the PlayStation 3 and various TVs.

But starting today, a Music Unlimited app is available in the Android Marketplace, and will work on all mobile phones running Android 2.1 and later (not just Sony Ericsson phones, which would be silly).

The service comes in two tiers. The Basic level, at $3.99 a month offers Internet radio (think Pandora) plus a scan-and-match service that scans your existing collection and then lets you listen to those songs on any compatible device, without having to upload songs. (That part is like the iTunes Match service Apple announced last week but won't release until this fall.)

The premium service at $9.99 a month adds on-demand playback of the seven million songs in Sony's Qriocity library -- which includes tunes from all four major labels, not just Sony.

The service has the potential to make the Google Music product look out of date and incomplete. It could increase pressure on Google to work out deals with the record labels so that it can offer a comparable service of its own.

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See Also:

• THE APPLE INVESTOR: Apple Stock Has At Least 30% Upside Potential
• Spotify Is One Step Away From A U.S. Launch
• BUSTED! Spanish Police Arrest Three Sony Hackers

Sony's Music Service Puts The Pressure On Google (SNE, GOOG)

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Sony Unveils PlayStation Suite And Puts Its Games On Android

Wow, this is pretty interesting. Instead of just a PlayStation Phone, which Sony is widely reported to be working on, the company has announced the PlayStation Suite, which will put PlayStation games not just on Sony's phones but also on other phones, including Android. (Engadget)

The Suite is a development framework and also basically an app store for games on Android. Sony will control the app store and probably attract tons of top-tier developers for the framework. They also hinted at other "content" that might be on the Suite.

This is a pretty ballsy move from Sony, and also a smart one. It looks increasingly likely that, as with point and shoot cameras, standalone mobile gaming devices are becoming subsumed into smartphones. Sony's previous mobile gaming devices were underwhelming and software is where most of the value is. But Sony has an infuriating habit of trying to own every step of the value chain, sometimes shooting itself in the foot. For example, their PlayStation Portable was hampered by its disc format, the UMD, that only worked for the PSP but which Sony went on a quixotic quest to make the dominant mobile media format and have movie studios put out their movies on UMD.

So Sony is finally accepting reality and focusing on its strengths, marketing the heck out of a game platform and attracting developers to it.

Some people will whine about yet another app store on Android, but we think this could be good for the platform. So far the iPhone is ahead of Android on gaming, because it's easier for developers to make money there. If Sony fixes that, that means Android phones will be more attractive and sell more.

Don't Miss: Here's Why Amazon's Android App Store Can Be A Huge Deal →

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Microsoft Puts New York City In The Cloud

When Mayor Bloomberg wants to make an announcement with Microsoft, CEO Steve Ballmer gets on a plane and flies to New York City. That's because he's Mayor Bloomberg, but also because New York City is a very large customer with 100,000 city employees. Today Ballmer and Bloomberg are in City Hall announcing a new five-year deal which will roll up dozens of separate city contracts with Microsoft into one master agreement and is projected to save the city $50 million. The value of the deal is about $100 million, or $20 million a year. The savings will come from the consolidation of different contracts, but also by shifting some of the city's software needs to the cloud. The first phase of the deal impacts 30,000 city employees, and will include Microsoft Windows 7, Office, Sharepoint, Exchange, Live Meetings, Azure, Windows Server, development tools, and database products. (When Office 365 becomes available that too could be rolled up into the contract).

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