Japan's Sony Computer Entertainment (SCEI) denied reports it would join US IBM and compatriot Toshiba in developing a computer operating system (OS) for global use.
The major Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbu said that the three companies had reached a basic agreement to develop by 2005 a system that uses broadband data transmission.
The report said the alliance would open the specifications of the new OS to other companies, aiming to make it global standard in the high-speed internet age.
But a Sony spokeswoman described the claim as "a little misundestanding".
She said that the three companies announced last March that they would invest $US400 million over the next five years to design a powerful new chip to drive broadband communications.
The alliance said at that time that it would marry SCEI's leadership in the home console market, IBM's computer and semiconductor track record and Toshiba's expertise in system large-scale integration of chips.
The spokeswoman said the report might be referring to a system that would accompany the new chip currently under development.
"But it is not a generally conceived OS as those of Microsoft. It has been limited to the three-company framework."
The daily said the three companies were also aiming to create by 2010 an integrated system featuring thousands of personal computers, each equipped with the new OS, that is more efficient than current supercomputers.
News source: News Interactive | Tech - Sony denies new OS deal
