Sony is hoping developers are interested in working on games for its PlayStation Vita and Android-based devices, as it launched a beta test Thursday of a new cross-platform SDK.

Sony will fully restore PlayStation Network service to users in Japan this week, ending a two-and-a-half month suspension of service, and bringing to a close an embarrassing incident that began with the largest known loss of customer information by a company.

Japan's console and portable gaming market sank 16 per cent in the first six months of the year as new software failed to make a splash and sales of hardware fell, according to data released on Thursday.

Sony Corporation has launched the Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity app in A/NZ for the Android Market

Millions of PlayStation users are once again able to shoot, fight and race their way through online worlds after Sony resumed online gaming service late Saturday and Sunday in many major markets.

Sony will begin a phased resumption of its PlayStation Network and Qriocity services on Sunday, more than three weeks after a cyber attack that resulted in the loss of personal information on more than 100 million customers.

Sony appears to be close to ending a two-week long outage of its PlayStation Network. The company said late Thursday that it is in the final stages of internal testing of the new system, but it stopped short of saying when the popular online gaming service would resume operations.

Sony said it has found no link between an attack on its PlayStation Network and Qriocity services and Internet activist group Anonymous, which had earlier targeted its systems.

Thank God Steve Jobs isn't on the Supreme Court.