Sony, Nintendo begin hand-held game battle

Sony and Nintendo made big announcements Tuesday that can fit into the palm of each hand.

Now the question is which hand consumers will choose.

Sony Computer Entertainment, the company behind the video game industry’s top console, the PlayStation 2, unveiled details of its new hand-held portable game device, the PlayStation Portable, which is designed to compete head to head against Nintendo’s market-leading GameBoy Advance.

Meanwhile, Nintendo Co. pulled back the curtain on its own new weapon in the hand-held war — the Nintendo DS, which stands for “dual screen” and features two miniature color monitors.

Above, Kaz Hirai, president and chief executive officer of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., demonstrates the PlayStation Portable Tuesday in Los Angeles.

Customer service

AT&T tops gripe list of wireless phone users

Mobile phone users filed more complaints about AT&T Wireless Services Inc. than any of its rivals last year, and billing problems were at the top of the gripe list at every U.S. wireless company, the Consumers Union said Tuesday.

The wireless service from Overland Park-based Sprint Corp. received the second largest number of complaints.

T-Mobile USA had the third highest number of complaints, followed by Cingular Wireless, which plans to buy AT&T Wireless later this year. Nextel Communications had the fifth highest complaint total and Verizon Wireless had the sixth-place ranking.

Citing figures it obtained from the Federal Communications Commission, the consumer advocate organization said that subscribers also complained about problems transferring their phone number to new providers and service quality.

Topeka

Westar Energy sets date for annual meeting

Topeka-based Westar Energy announced on Tuesday that it would conduct its annual meeting at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka.

Westar is the state’s largest electric utility and provides service to Lawrence. It will make a replay of the annual meeting available on its Web site at www.wr.com.

Clothing

Levi seeks to shed brand

Struggling jeans maker Levi Strauss & Co. will try to lighten its debt load by selling its Dockers brand, an 18-year-old clothing line that helped make casual pants fashionable.

The decision, announced Tuesday, marks the latest sign of distress at Levi’s, which has suffered through seven consecutive years of sliding sales and cost-cutting trauma, including thousands of layoffs.