CES 07: Sony scores Emmy

Tonight at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will give Sony a Technology and Engineering Emmy Award. According to Sony, the honor was specfically for the PS3's Sixaxis controller. Like the Wii remote, the Sixaxis can sense motion, allowing players to control onscreen action by moving the controller. (NOTE: Sony has since dropped its claims the Sixaxis won.)

Sony was understandably pleased by the announcement. "The critical acclaim for PS3 is a testament of the platform's strength and the industry's desire for a true next-generation entertainment system," said recently installed Sony Computer Entertainment president CEO Jack Tretton. Tretton assumed his new post in mid-December, shortly before Time magazine labeled the PS3 launch "a bust." Sony has since announced the console shipped 1 million units in North America in 2006, nearly double the number of Xbox 360s sold in 2005. Both consoles went on sale in mid-November of their respective launch years.

Besides the Emmy, Sony says CES will see Sony receive several other honors, including the 2007 CES Best of Innovations Award, PC World's 20 Most Innovative Products Award, Sound & Vision's Editor's Choice Award, and Digital Entertainment Group's Emiel N. Petrone Digital Innovation Award.

[UPDATE] Two days after this story was first published, Sony retracted its statement that it won an Emmy for the Sixaxis. Sony did win an Emmy--for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2's DualShock controller. The original article is above.