Rioters in London apparently set Sony's Enfield-based DADC (Digital Audio Disc Corporation) facility ablaze last night, reducing the disc distribution center to flames and smoke. The massive multi-story, 20,000 square meter building would have likely contained stock tied to multiple mediums, ranging from music labels to video games to movies and more.

Sony ruled out dumping its television business or dissolving a TV panel partnership with Samsung Electronics Co even as it looks to overhaul its loss-making TV unit.

Panasonic Corp., Sony Corp., and Sharp Corp. all bled red ink for the April-June quarter as a result of the March 11 disaster, according to results released Thursday.

Sony Ericsson has blamed the the Japanese earthquake for a EUR50 million (US$71 million) loss during the three months to June.

Mosaid Technologies has announced that it is suing HTC America and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications (USA) for infringing three US patents that are essential to all cellular telephones that implement the emergency 911 (E-911) standard, as mandated by the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

FBR Capital analyst Craig Berger asserted in a research note that OmniVision could be at risk of losing its status as the dominant provider of image sensors for the Apple iPhone.

ARM has said that within 18 months its Mali GPU will be able to match the power of Sony's Playstation 3 or Microsoft's Xbox 360, but that Moore's Law was not the only way to achieve that.

It's been barely a fortnight since UK customers started receiving their pre-orders for Sony's flagship HX923 series of Bravia LED-backlit LCD TVs, but now the Japanese manufacturer has issued a recall on all existing display models and boxed units from Sony Centres and independent dealers, following complaints from KDL-46HX923 and KDL-55HX923 owners about a physical defect on the LCD screen.

Hitachi Ltd is in talks with Toshiba and Sony about joining the merger of their liquid-crystal display (LCD) units, a move that would create the world's largest maker of small panels, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday.

Japan is seeking to protect its lead in the production of touchscreen displays used in smartphones and tablet computers with a plan to merge operations owned by Sony and Toshiba into a new company that would be majority-owned by the government.

Sony has said it resumed output of Blu-ray video disks on May 30 at a factory in Tagajo that was badly damaged by waves unleashed by the magnitude-9 offshore 'quake.

HTC, Samsung, LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson drove Android shipments in the first quarter, with each vendor shipping well over three million devices, said Canalys Principal Analyst Pete Cunningham.

Sony plans to resume production of Blu-ray and other optical discs at a tsunami-hit factory in northern Japan in late May, according to the company.

S-LCD, a flat screen joint venture between Sony Corp and Samsung Electronics , said it would reduce capital by US$555 million, as Sony struggles with perennial losses from its TV business and Samsung seeks to shift to a new type of display.

Consumer electronics giant Sony, chipmakers Elpida Memory and Renesas, and electronics firms Panasonic and Toshiba have all said that production at some plants in northern Japan had been halted again due to power cuts triggered by a major aftershock that shook the region on April 7.

Sony has announced that, following the devastating earthquake and tsunami that struck the northern region of Japan on March 11, Sony and its group companies will donate JPY300 million (US$3.66 million) to help relief and recovery efforts in communities affected.