Sony Corp. took another step to lure new customers for its high-end PlayStation3, saying it would sell a device to let users record live television that can be stored on the game console or transferred to the PlayStation Portable for later viewing.

The combined television tuner and personal video recorder, dubbed PlayTV, is aimed at helping Sony boost sales of its high-end gaming console as well as its portable gaming unit. Sales are due to start in Spain, Germany, France, Italy and Britain in early 2008.

Sony announced the new product Wednesday at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany.

Wal-Mart’s online music store started selling songs free of copy-protection technology Tuesday for 94 cents per tune.

The songs from the Rolling Stones, Coldplay and Maroon 5, among others, will play on most portable media devices, including Apple Inc.’s iPod.

Although many independent music labels have for years sold their tunes without copy restrictions, major recording companies have insisted on digital-rights management, or DRM, technology in hopes of curbing online piracy.

The heavens are only a few mouse clicks away with Google Inc.’s latest free tool. A new feature in Google Earth, the company’s satellite imagery-based mapping software, allows users to view the sky from their computers.

The tool provides information about various celestial bodies, from stars to planets, and includes imagery from the Hubble Space Telescope and other sources. It also allows users to take virtual tours through galaxies, including the Milky Way, from any point on Earth they choose.

“By working with some of the industry’s leading experts, we’ve been able to transform Google Earth into a virtual telescope,” Lior Ron, a Google product manager, said in a statement.

The new software also promises users the ability to see planets in motion and witness a supernova.