"The launch of Sony Connect was held in conjunction with United Airlines, which is letting travelers exchange frequent-flyer miles for digital music. Singer Sheryl Crow -- who also endorsed Apple's iTunes -- staged an in-air concert for the launch party during a flight from Chicago to Los Angeles. Like most rivals, Sony is offering downloads for 99 cents and albums largely for $9.99, with access provided through a piece of software that can be downloaded through the site," reports CNet.
"As part of the store launch, Sony has been heavily promoting its newest MiniDisc player, the MiniDisc Hi-MD Walkman, which reads small discs that can hold about 45 hours of music each. Earlier Sony devices, including the Net MDWalkman recorders, ATRAC CD Walkman players and Network Walkman players, will also be able to play music from the Connect store."
The launch is also being discussed at Slashdot.
Comment: As expected, it's got Sony Music in Sony Atrac format with a Sony DRM piped to a Sony MiniDisc player or a Sony device with a Sony MagicGate Memory Stick (Vaio, Clie etc) that you might have bought in a Sony store. Sheesh, it's enough to make even Steve Jobs jealous. ("We love Sony, we admire Sony, we aspire to be like them.")
