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Sony Corp. on Thursday unveiled a bendable video screen and eyeglasses that allow the wearer to watch a movie from any location, saying the industry must keep innovating in the middle of a severe economic slump.

Chief Executive Howard Stringer demonstrated a range of new devices at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, including the flexible OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen playing a video of singer Beyonce.

Mr. Stringer also showed off prototype eyeglasses with built in video screens, letting users view movies wherever they are.

Sony announced it had enlisted video game publisher Electronic Arts for its fledgling home online PlayStation service, and signed up Viacom Inc's MTV Networks to provide more than 2,000 hours of video content.

Kaz Harai, head of Sony computer entertainment, said the company had signed up 2.1 million new users for the online network in the most recent month.

Sony, which on Wednesday said it had seen sales of some of its core products exceed expectations during the just-ended U.S. holiday season, is hoping to stoke consumer demand in 2009 with new, cutting-edge products.

The Japanese firm, which pioneered the Walkman and once dominated the high-end electronics marketplace, is going through a painful restructuring that will see it shed 16,000 jobs and curb investment to try to save $1 billion. Analysts and media speculate more measures are in the works On Wednesday, Sony unveiled a series of new products including a line of eco-friendly, energy-efficient flat TVs and what it called the world's lightest 8-inch notebook computer.

Holiday shoppers nervous about a protracted downturn held back in 2008, contributing to the worst U.S. holiday-spending season since at least 1970.

Many firms had moderated their expectations in anticipation of a severely weak end of the year.

“While the overall sales in the U.S. were down slightly, Sony Electronics enjoyed higher-than-expected sales in several key product areas this holiday season,” Sony Electronics President Stan Glasgow told reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday.

Sony Electronics is the Tokyo-based conglomerate's U.S. unit.

Its new VE5-series of TVs, which reduces power consumption by more than 40 per cent compared to Sony's other liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs, will go on sale in the United States this summer.

The firm behind Bravia flat TVs is the world's No. 2 LCD TV maker behind Samsung Electronics Co Ltd.

The company, which also makes PlayStation game machines and Cyber-shot digital cameras, last October cut its LCD TV sales target for the year ending March 2009 by 6 per cent to 16 million units as consumers cut spending on big ticket items due to a weak economy.

On Wednesday, Sony said it planned to launch the world's lightest 8-inch notebook PC, setting its sights on a rapidly growing market for ultra-portable personal computers.

Unlike cheaper, less powerful models known as netbooks, the new Sony Vaio PC will support all the software programs found in full-sized notebooks, come with Microsoft Corp's Windows Vista operating system and sell for about $900,.

Netbooks, pioneered by Taiwan's Asustek in 2007 and one of the rare bright spots in the electronics industry, are generally described as low cost, mini-laptops optimized for Internet use, and sell typically for $300 to $400 (U.S.).

The new Sony notebook, weighing 1.4 pounds (635 grams) and as thin as a mobile phone, will be available for pre-orders on Thursday and be sold at major retailers in the United States beginning February.

“This compact computer is about the size of a business envelop. It easily fits in a purse and I know for a fact it fits in a jacket pocket,” Glasgow said.

He said Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer is set to make announcements on its digital cameras and organic light-emitting diode TVs in his keynote speech at the electronic show on Thursday morning.

Sony in 2007 launched a ultra thin flat TV based on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology into a market dominated by LCD and plasma models.

OLED displays use organic, or carbon-containing, compounds that emit light when electricity is applied. Unlike LCD panels, they do not need backlighting, making OLED TVs slimmer and more energy-efficient.