PS3 PlayTV launches on Friday
A killer blow for the UK's TV recording packages?
On Friday Sony is launching the new PlayStation TV recording service, PlayTV. At heart, it's a pair of Freeview tuners built into a small, non-descript black box that plugs into your aerial and your PS3 via USB, and comes with a disc-load of special PlayTV software designed in Sony's Cambridge studio.
Once installed, you can access a 7-day Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) and you can flick channels using any PS3 controller or PS3 Blu-ray remote control. You can pause live television, you can schedule recordings using the EPG, you can watch one channel while another records and you can even record while you game.
PlayTV has another ace to play too. If you also own a PSP, Remote Play will allow you to drop into your PS3 remotely and set up recordings, or you can access your recorded content for viewing on the go.
Sony once suggested that all recordings made by the PlayTV software would be free from DRM, a surprising move in an age where rights management seems to put a downer on nearly everything that has a whiff of openness about it. Being able to take your content with you would be a huge advantage on those frequent occasions when your PSP doesn't have access to an open WiFi connection.
Alas, despite remaining DRM-free, the inevitable copyright restrictions reared their ugly heads and it's definitely not possible to directly transfer content from the PlayTV library to your PSP. However, the content you record can be exported from the program to the PS3's XMB for instant viewing. It doesn't take a huge leap of imagination to see where that's leading...
So, will PlayTV prove a major headache for Sky's Sky+ box, BT's Vision V-Box and Virgin's V+? The fact that it's limited to the free selection of digital terrestrial channels is a disadvantage, although, depending on how much you actually watch, it's a small one. And with the added remote viewing capabilities, it's an appealing package.
The whole lot costs £69.99 and will be privy to additional features over time as Sony is able to overhaul the service via Firmware updates, in much the same way as the PS3 itself.
We'll be putting PlayTV through its paces this week and will have a review for you in time for the launch.
Update: Clarified the DRM statement. There is none, just restrictions on content exporting.
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By ginger2481
16|09|2008 16:51
@rob freer: You're right - sorry if this wasn't clear in the article. DRM is not the issue, other than that when it was annouced to be DRM-free we were hoping for easy exporting to PSP, mobile phones, or any other video playing device, without hassle.
Due to copyright considerations, there are restrictions in place to ensure that content is not directly exportable to the PSP. We spoke to Sony this afternoon and confirmed this. However, as you point out, content exported to the XMB could be transferred to a PC and then re-encoded for PSP. This does feel like an unnecessary step though; one put in place simply to make the PlayTV, as a whole, less open. Pity.
By robcam73
16|09|2008 16:37
Sorry, cannot transcode it on a PSP. I meant on a PC, then transfer it to your PSP.
By robcam73
16|09|2008 16:36
Please do your research properly!! THERE IS NO DRM!!! It is simply the Mpeg 2 Transport Stream and can be exported to any external hard drive. if you want it on your PSP you can transcode it yourself from a PSP. THIS IS NOT DRM. it is totally unencrypted non drm bits that are coming through your aerial!!!