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PS3 will get digital TV next year

Published on 23rd August 2007 by Joe Martin

The PlayTV device for the PS3 should be available in Spring 2008.

The rumours have been flitting and flying around for a while that the PlayStation 3 would be getting some form of digital TV device and Sony has finally decided to make it official.

Sony chose to unveil the new PlayTV device for the PS3 at Leipzig GC 2007. The PlayTV device, which is a combined TV tuner and Personal Video Recorder (PVR), gets hooked up between the PlayStation 3 and the TV, allowing users to record one channel while watching another.

PlayTV is confirmed for the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain and should be hitting shelves in Spring 2008, though Sony promise that "other PAL territories to follow in due course."

"Designed to reinforce PS3's rightful place in the Living Room at the heart of the home entertainment needs, the twin channel TV tuner peripheral and PVR software turns PS3 into a state of the art TV recorder, allowing users to watch, pause and record live TV. PlayTV will also record individual programmes or whole series to the PS3 hard drive for viewing later on the family TV, or for transferring to the PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) for remote viewing outside of the home." Sony said in the official press release.

Tech-wise, the PlayTV will be available on DVB-T format and will use a 7-day guide to provide navigation and programming for the system. The system is also HD-ready and will support 1080P, as well as offering connectivity with the PSP.

Will you be picking up PlayTV, or is the PS3 still a bit expensive in your eyes despite all the wonderful extra features? Let us know in the forums.

7 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

Jamie 23rd August 2007, 10:29

Their interface looks a bit like Apples Front Row but with a TV tuner.

stephen2002 23rd August 2007, 11:59

That's pretty slick but I wonder if you'll be able to do anything with the PS3 while it is busy recording.

Drexial 23rd August 2007, 13:41

any word on us yanks getting it any time soon?

devdevil85 23rd August 2007, 15:49

You can download games in the background and still play games and watch movies, so I would guess you can do anything else while recording video...but that's just my thought on it....

completemadness 23rd August 2007, 18:44

i guess it depends how much hardware is in the box

if the box has a hardware encoder, and it will probably need a HDD too (cos the PS3 one isn't big enough) you should be able to game and record with no problems

2JSC 23rd August 2007, 21:14

Its a shame there is no word for a North America release... but don't you guys in Europe have only one or 2 cable service providers? Over here there are hundreds, so it would be harder to control some of the functions, and even programing of the tuner. Some options might even be null over here with some broadcasters.

mikeuk2004 23rd August 2007, 21:22

Well at the moment its nice to to know that Europe is getting something the USA aint or first. Until something happens and changes all that. :)