The Europe-only personal video recorder (PVR) PlayTV PS3 add-on has been priced and dated for mid-September. Initially promising recording of TV programs while playing games and allowing the transfer of content to your PSP, the developer has delivered some bad news about the application which might just put me off of buying it.
Hit the jump for the price, the date, and the disappointments.
According to various internet shopping sites, PlayTV is released on the 19th of September for £69.99 (~$130). Acting as a PVR device for DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial) broadcasts, PlayTV supports services such as Freeview in the UK, allowing any channels broadcasting using the DVB-T standard to be beamed down using your PS3. However, it doesn’t support non-terrestrial services such as Sky satellite broadcasting or cable television.
In PlayTV you can set up programmes in the electronic programming guide, much like TiVo and Sky+, and leave them to record while you go off and do your own thing. Of course, this doesn’t mean you literally need to leave your PS3 be: recordings can be done while playing games, watching videos, using the internet and any of the PS3’s other functions, with the code for this function implemented in firmware update 2.41.
Entire series of shows can be recorded so you don’t have to worry about missing an episode of Heroes and the sky’s the limit when it comes to recordings as the PS3’s hard drive is easily replaceable with a bigger model. If you miss something or if the phone goes, it can be paused, rewound and fast forwarded, just like the set-top boxes I mentioned before. Intriguingly, the gizmo can also record high definition broadcasts if they are transmitted on the DVB-T standard.
Remote Play is supported, allowing you to turn on your PS3 from anywhere in the world and indulge in that episode of Top Gear you’re missing because of the holiday to France, or simply to watch some live TV away from home. Unfortunately, that’s all you can do when it comes to PSP functionality.
Initially, we were promised that shows could be exported to the XMB menu and from there copied to PSPs, Memory Sticks and USB drives for viewing on other devices such as PCs. However, just today, the developers at Sony’s Cambridge studio in England confirmed that this functionality will no longer be included with the final PlayTV product. No reason was given, but I can assure you that several broadcasters probably stepped in and threatened Sony with lawsuits unless this feature was withdrawn.
As much as I wouldn’t like to admit it, this makes perfect sense. Couldn’t there be some sort of solution though? I think so anyway, as I try and explain on page two.
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You said that it can record HD this is not true also announced today was that it won’t be able to do this a tluanch and is being worked on.
Also the box doesn’t support DVB-T2 which is the transmission standard that the UK will use for Freeview on HD. So Play TV cannot be used for HD in the UK.
Now for the reason why you can’t copy the video files to other storage is because of certain laws which makes this illegal. Basically to copy stuff of TV it has to be done at home, from the original broadcast and the only reason for doing is to watch it at a more convienent time. By Play TV recording a programme it makes a copy within these boundaries but then by making a copy of this breaks the law. Its a bit of a grey area but its unlikely for the situation to change unless the law is changed.
@Rory: I’m aware that Freesat is broadcast on DVB-T2 but there ARE other European countries out there that receive HD broadcasts on DVB-T. Can’t be Anglo-centric.
I suspect you’re probably in the minority if your main attraction was the portability, as I expect most buyers will be attracted to its freeview and DVR capabilities.
That said. I have no idea who is going to buy this. Freeview boxes are now dirt cheap and as far as recording it has plenty rivals, both in satellite and cable DVRs (which also have the advantage of On Demand services), and HTPCs, but also Freeview+. I’ll be really interested to see how it sells anyway.
As for your solution, I think it’s a good one, and I hope it’s something Sony takes into account when they consider storage media and PS2 backwards compatiblity for the PSP2, BUT there will always be a large number of people out there who get weary at the mention of DRM and Sony themselves have a particularly poor history with the technology.
well if i lived in Europe this would definitely be mine
Don’t Care I’m still buying it