Sony ditches Qriocity
September 1, 2011
Sony has dumped the strange original name of its online TV services opting instead for the more prosaic Sony Entertainment Network. It is taking the music and video services from Qriocity, combining them with the PlayStation Network for gaming, and putting them under the new brand name. It may not entirely end the confusion as Sony already has the SEN name for the over-all division. As the announcement says: “Sony Network Entertainment introduces Sony Entertainment Network.”
Sony Entertainment Network will encompass Video on Demand powered by Qriocity, which will now be called simply Video Unlimited; and Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity, which will become Music Unlimited; and the PlayStation Network. The changes were detailed by Kaz Hirai, president of Sony Computer Entertainment, at the IFA show in Berlin, Germany.
While the rebranding could simplify the Sony’s cloud entertainment offerings to the market, it will also have the added bonus of taking away a name synonymous with the hacking scandal that hit Sony earlier this year.
The announcement coincided with Sony’s other big news: the official unveiling of two new tablets, the S and the P. Sony boasts of the many entertainment services it has in place that would link up with the new devices, including Music Unlimited and Video Unlimited.