When we think of Sony, we think of gaming consoles, Televisions and cyber shot cameras. Being too focused on hardware and not making a mark in software and digital world is a huge issue with Sony. However, all that may change with this recent announcement.

Sony just announced that they plan to launch an online store to sell music, books, movies and other downloadable applications for mobile devices. No dates or specifications have been disclosed yet but speculations are that it will be very similar in nature to Apple’s iTunes. With a number of mobile devices like mp3 players, ebook readers e.t.c. , the store will work as a platform to link all such products to Sony’s digital library.

With thin margins in hardware, Sony does need to make this one work to be profitable like earlier and to become a top player in the market. As part of their strategy to move into the software market, Sony also brought in Tim Schaaf, one of the main software people at Apple, back in 2006.