Sony's had a few rough years. But, all the pieces seem to have fallen into place for '08. (Everybody is asking ebulliently is this Sony's year, including Sony.) More importantly, Sony, like Apple, has a facility with media that translates into sleek user interfaces more polished than either Microsoft's or Nintendo's. Both companies have also had a propensity for tenaciously backing media formats with mixed results, most recently AAC and Blu-ray successfully.