Sony today let us all in on the latest information regarding the state of its PlayStation Network, as well as announcing that it will be offering a selection of freebies to help smooth over relations with its customer base.
It's really not been a great week for Sony. The news that their PlayStation Network had been hacked was bad enough, but then the Japanese electronics giant was forced to tell its 70 million users that their personal data, and even their credit card details may have been stolen.
While we're sure nobody will be surprised by this, it's still a little disappointing that it's happened nonetheless. With Sony admitting yesterday that its PlayStation Network had indeed been hacked with personal details (and potentially credit card numbers) stolen, it was always a matter of when, not if someone was going to sue them.
Things are going from bad to worse for Sony this week. Firstly their PlayStation Network was taken offline amid speculation of hacking, then today the company finally confirmed that their service was actually compromised as we all expected. But it's even worse than that.
After reports worldwide of users having issues when trying to log into PlayStation Network, Sony has released a statement on its blog explaining just what's going on. According to the company an 'external intrusion' caused the issue forcing Sony to take both PSN and Qriocity offline.
One of the most irritating things about Sony's PlayStation 3 is that despite the many hacks and custom firmwares available, the region-locked Blu-ray drive had yet to be opened up. Now though one forum-goer has managed to rectify that.
Ever since Sony deemed users not worthy of installing a 2nd operating system onto its PlayStation 3 gaming console - after initially touting it as a feature - the hacking community has been on the lookout for a way to re-instating the option. A new hack does just that, allowing users of a Linux-persuasion to install a separate OS.
PS3 hacking is a big deal these days. Everyone at it. Well, maybe not everyone but it seems to be growing in popularity with each passing day and Sony has helped it grow by removing the Linux install option from its PS3 software. Now hackers are working on giving users the option of choosing what OS they wish to boot into when they switch their PS3s on - dual-booting to coin an old PC phrase.
Yet more drama and intrigue coming out of the Sony vs. George Hotz PS3 hacking case in the United States, with Neowin's Brad Sims bringing news that Hotz (Geohot to the jailbreaking community) has actually done a bunk - effectively fleeing Sony.
It's a headline we didn't expect to be writing, but sure enough it's true. One clever hacker has found a way to get the Xbox Kinect to work with Sony's PS3.
