CHIBA, Japan (AP) -- Sony Corp. (SNE) showed off its PSX, the beefed up PlayStation 2 video-game machine that also works as a DVD recorder, analog TV, digital photo album and music player and goes on sale in Japan late this year for just over $700.


The offering from the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant underlines the intensifying competition in the industry to sell the idea of home digital entertainment that introduces computer functions from the office into the living room.


The PSX, slated for sale next year in the U.S. and European markets, took center stage Tuesday at the Sony booth at CEATEC Japan, an annual major electronics show near Tokyo, where Sony's rivals are also showing off their wares.

This would be a LOT more exciting if a facist, steroid-driven chauvanist Austrian hadn't just walked away with the planet's fifth-largest economy.