PlayTV DVR gets priced, dated
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Jan 13th 2008 at 7:15PM }
- Record and view your favourite programmes at the same time - Play TV enables you to record both Standard Definition as well as High Definition
- Personal Video Recorder functionality - watch live TV, pause, fast forward and rewind
- Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) to show what's on, now and next - up to 7 days in advance in certain countries
- Mobile TV functionality - export content easily from PS3 HDD to PSP - watch TV on the go! Thanks to live streaming, you can watch your favourite show whilst abroad
- Channel surf with either your BD remote or your Sixaxis
[Via PSPGadgetZ]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
jpeg91 @ Feb 14th 2008 6:11PM
is it really necessary that it costs £100. i brought a freeview receiver a couple weeks ago for $15 and it work great. just because this comes bundled with the software and saves programs to your ps3s hard disc. this will go down in price t about £30 if you wait about 4 months after release. just like normal freeview box's did.
IseWise @ Jan 13th 2008 7:30PM
The real question is whether or not it will come state side, and if not, why not?
Tom @ Jan 13th 2008 7:41PM
they are focusing on europe now, due to all the licening they have to accuire...
on the other hand, I can't wait to get this :D I'll cancel my sky+ service (which is like, £30 a month) and get this, without paying any monthly charge :) woohoo
Derick @ Jan 13th 2008 7:43PM
Same reason Everyday shooter isnt available to Europe?
Bellerophon @ Jan 13th 2008 7:45PM
IIRC I think it has something to do with the box using the DVB-T system which is in Europe only. So if they were to release PlayTV for the States hardware-wise it would be different.
Ste @ Jan 13th 2008 7:42PM
Do you have 'Freeview DTV' stateside?
bishop @ Jan 13th 2008 7:43PM
DVB like PAL is Europian standatd. That's why it will not be exported to US.
lord_monkey @ Jan 13th 2008 7:42PM
thats freakin great
Jess @ Jan 13th 2008 7:45PM
$200 for an addon, that's a little pricey for me. I thought $99 was on the high side, but then I read it again.
Tom @ Jan 13th 2008 7:47PM
well actually its $0 since you guys aren't getting it lol
mike @ Jan 13th 2008 8:13PM
Its very expensive concidering you can get a standalone settopbox with a 160GB HDD for the same price..
I have some important questions about it though..for example
Does it run as a background task so i can play games but programs still record?
Why a 7 day epg when the standard is now 14 days?
The biggest advantage of this is being able to use a psp to watch tv remotely..
TheWakeUpCall @ Jan 13th 2008 7:56PM
£99 seems a fair amount for a freeview addon. Also, in America, do you even have Freeview (or an equivilent)?
Also, for the person who is cancelling their Sky+, isn't this only a freeview DVR? So you could always have bought one of those instead of Sky+.
And for the American saying this is expensive: A) Welcome to ripoff Britain, where everything has £100 added to the price for no reason (see Windows Vista for example) B) We earn a lot more on average than Americans, so everything is a lot more expensive, especially in certain regions. Come to England and you'lll see.
TheWakeUpCall @ Jan 13th 2008 7:58PM
I meant £99 is an UNfair amount, sorry typo.
Tom @ Jan 13th 2008 8:20PM
its not just freeview though...remote play/recording via psp as well makes it a pretty sweet product
Kspraydad @ Jan 13th 2008 8:12PM
The states is getting a TIVO add-on which will work with PSP TiVoToGo (already implemented).
AFAIK.
Kspraydad @ Jan 13th 2008 8:17PM
BTW...what is the 'normal' price for a dual HD Freeview Tuner?
(a brand name not some knock off company)
Just for comparison please
Sora57 @ Jan 13th 2008 8:20PM
The LocationFree base station has been available in the US for over a year. It connects to your PSP via wifi. You connect your video components to it (including Tivo/DVD/VCR) whatever (up to 2 different components). You remote control the component through your PSP and can view its output as well. It's about $200 I think. So if you connect your VCR (with built in TV tuner) you can watch live TV.
Tom @ Jan 13th 2008 8:22PM
I got sky because of skyone and others..but now I'm getting bored, and I think its awesome how my playstation3 will get a neat add on in a few months :) which will only cost me the cost of £99..pretty great considering its hi-def
P @ Jan 14th 2008 7:46AM
Im guessing it can only record HD quality from a HD source such as Sky/Cable, It doesnt mention a freeview receiver being built into it, and i cant recall it being mentioned (EPG suggests it probably does i guess if it accesses this sort of thing) but if you have sky or cable then you already have recording features, im unaware of any freeview digital channels broadcasting in HD (BBC HD? though its 90% cr&p) so some of those features suggest they're useless/irrelevent if you have a sky/cable subscription. Could be wrong though.
To me, it sounds like an over-priced gadget which for around the same price you could buy as a standalone product and have it do the exact same things except broadcast to a PSP. For half the price i could see it selling loads for gimic factor alone, just impulse purchases, but PSP aspects asside, people wanting the DVB recording features would have purchased a standalone unit by now i'd imagine. I certainly wouldnt buy this over a seperate unit, i know how quickly my SkyHD box gets filled and how i horde Films/TV eps and such on this computer, I have ~1tb so 60gb would be gone in no time at all.
Also, to whoever mentioned 'can it record while playing games etc', i'd suspect so as its a seperate unit, but then it is using the HDD too so its hard to say i guess. If it stops you, then it really is all down to how badly you want to watch those recordings on a PSP isnt it.
Steve Childs @ Jan 14th 2008 6:57AM
Yeah, but this is freeview, not Sky. There may be freeview HD transmissions around London, but they are planned to go nationwide either later this year or next.
What would be really cool is if they could somehow to a link up with Sky which enabled you to use it as a Sky Desktop box as well.
But it would need to be able to run in the background when playing games, which is probably unlikely.
Freeview is ok and it may well have some use to us. But we've got Sky HD anyway. Would be useful though if we needed to record stuff and were recording two things on Sky at that time.
But the remote viewing is pretty cool.
But for this to be a must-have, they need to do some sort of link up with Sky, perhaps with their AnyTime system, so it could download or stream broadcasts that way.
As to the price - perhaps it is a bit on the pricey side, freeview boxes are available cheaper.
Steve Childs @ Jan 14th 2008 6:01PM
It won't go near Sky, HD will be available on Freeview at some point and as I said, I think around London you can get BBC, ITV and CH4's HD broadcasts over freeview as they're trailing out there.
But you won't be able to recording anything HD off Sky as a) its not a sky tuner and b) all HD stuff on Sky is Subscription only anyway.
Where this will score well is where people have their PS3 in a room other than the lounge - i.e. where they currently have no TV reception, or they've just moved house and don't want Sky, but want a Freeview they can record.
It is a bit on the pricey side, but that's hardly anything new, is it?
I'm in no rush to buy it. Had it been £49 then I may have done, to backup Sky.
That said, we've got no TV aerial anyway (new build), so it would be pointless.
klexam @ Jan 13th 2008 8:45PM
This is such a welcome addition. I wish we had it here in the States, but I am excited for you guys. Surely, something will come down the pike to us later on. If so, it will probably be 09. Anyway, enjoy this amazing add-on. These are the features that are going to really show why the PS3 is the "all around" system with so much more to offer than all the rest of the competition. I will be keeping my ears open for news of a periphial like this for us. Until then, enjoy Europe.
Rob @ Jan 13th 2008 9:00PM
I was really looking forward to this to replace my humax DVR but that is sooo expensive. Are there even any HD freeview channels available... no!
also to make it worth while i will have to upgrade my HDD to 200Gb plus too, as I have linux installed and games and only have 30gb free.... rubbish for DVR functionality.
A good humax (the best DVRs) twin tuner DVR only costs £175, and that includes a 160gb HDD....
I dont have a PSP and have no desire for that functionality really... I get enough TV at home without needing it everywhere I go.
Shame. could have been a neat addon at £50
rufus @ Jan 13th 2008 9:09PM
Does that mean we are going to get this in Australia too, soooon ??
Talden @ Jan 13th 2008 9:34PM
Sony NZ made a very limited statement that they were considering this for NZ. This might be the case for Aussie as well.
No idea about price for NZ though and our freeview here hasn't made the HD transition yet so I'm not in any rush to get it anyway. When this is available here and we have HD freeview I'll almost certainly be buying a PS3 and a bug HDD.
Wayne @ Jan 14th 2008 4:57AM
Usually Europe means Australia, but I haven't seen any pricing for the GPS Downunder. Sucks for us perhaps?
Chris Rah Osiris @ Jan 13th 2008 9:27PM
I really hope that something like this comes to the US
Organic_Shadow @ Jan 13th 2008 10:23PM
For pete's sake why can't it just be as easy as a coax-to-usb adapter for us here in the states? Stupid 'standards' and licensing roadblocks...
moo083 @ Jan 13th 2008 10:23PM
I hope they release this in the US and with a cable card slot so I can just get a cablecard from my company plus this all of sudden (since I already own a PS3) I have an awesome DVR I don't have to pay $10 a month for. Please Sony! Consolidate my devices!
In all seriousness, Sony will probably not listen to this. If it comes out, it'll be a ATSC, and nothing else. Which will be okay. Except that I have cable that has a lot of channels ATSC does not have. Please don't disappoint me Sony (though I know you will)...
kentuckyfried @ Jan 13th 2008 10:58PM
I hope this eventually comes here. That way I can finally get rid of my fricken VCR from the 1990's.
jango fett @ Jan 14th 2008 2:23AM
so this is for free? wow awesome. this proves without any reasonable doubt that the ps3 is the greatest thing that came to this world! haha. na but seriously i was planing on getting a 360 cuz i had read that console could be used for this! way to go sony, i will never doubt you again!
Maff @ Jan 14th 2008 3:28AM
Has no one noticed that it says it will record HD?
how the hell does it do that?
we don't have any HD broadcasts over terrestrial, just satellite and cable. And when it does become available it will use the DVB-T2 standard (MPEG-4, AVC) not DVB-T so will this be compatible?
I don't see the point as there's loads of Freeview PVR boxes about for £50-£60 and it's only a matter of time until they have HDMI upscaling like the £20 DVD players do now
tomas_sharp @ Jan 14th 2008 5:07AM
HD terestrial channels were always in the pipeline, as we currently haven't swicthed over to digital there is currently enough bandwith. once the analogue signal has been switched off that will free up a heap of space. There's a review by ofcom in 2008 about what this spare bandwidth should be used for and it seems they'll lean towards either HD on freeview, or some internet services.
Maff @ Jan 14th 2008 5:13AM
Thomas, Ofcom have said the free space won't be used for HD, they've said they will have to shuffle current channels around and use the current space available which will be enough for 5 channels, 4 of which will be unfairly handed to the main 4 broadcasters (BBC, ITV, CH4 & five) and they will have to use DVB-T2 (MPEG4)
cg @ Jan 14th 2008 4:09AM
£100 to watch Freeview on my PS3 !!!! LOL i will give that a miss, Freeview SUCKS.
I dont even watch TV anymore, its for old people.
MJ @ Jan 14th 2008 7:44AM
I really can't wait for this, I don't watch a lot of TV but the picture on my 55" Sony telly is crap using the built in freeview, so hoping this has top quality pic quality!
(ps, how do you create a profile for posting on here and the other weblogs sites? been searching all morning but must be missing something lol).
tomas_sharp @ Jan 14th 2008 5:07AM
Will be gettin me one of these, my freeview box although one of the best stll around is gettin pretty old. Plus i presume there will be some form of upscaler for SD channels and all the remote viewing and pvr is an awesome idea. I also guess we'll see a big firmware update around that time, in-game XMB included in that by any chance? here's hoping.
Christian @ Jan 14th 2008 5:59AM
I hope they partner with Virgin Media and Sky and push forward with also making a DVB-C and DVB-S versions of this. Would be great to be able to get a DVB-C version of this for my Virgin Media subscription and be able to toss the V+ box in the bin.
huyi @ Jan 14th 2008 7:44AM
you think that having a small 60gb hard drive is bad for this play TV? what about the 40gb users? £100 is way too much for a freeview in my opinion, i agree with what another poster, i hardly watch tv anymore as there is so much crap on it anyway.
paul.hanley @ Jan 14th 2008 6:41AM
Initially I thought £100 for the Freeview add-on was a total rip off as you can get Freeview boxes in the UK for less than £20.
I don't know though if this box will use a different chipset from the current cheap Freeview boxes due to the fact it is going to be able to receive the new HD channels when they eventually start broadcasting.
Still seems expensive to me though. £69.99 would probably be a better price. I'll still get one though :)
Semi @ Jan 14th 2008 7:22AM
99 quid and no need to buy a new tv...
this is good news, i can shelf the idea of buying dat X series sony tv!
mattclarkie @ Jan 14th 2008 8:03AM
When they finally launch HD freeview I may buy this. I am happy with my current freeview, as I mostly use Sky+ anyway. But if this can handle HD, and upconvert I may just get it for my bedroom rather than another £20 plus box for Sky HD in for watching TV in bed.
abominablecookie @ Jan 14th 2008 10:30AM
will this have upscaling, because i'm fed up of watching standard def telly on my hdtv and it looking like s**t. also how can it record in hd, when freeview doesnt even broadcast in hd at the moment.
But this still sounds awsum and im def gonna get it and probably a mahoosive external hard drive for all my "gentleman programs" that i like to watch on virgin one.
JaffaBoy @ Jan 22nd 2008 10:33AM
MJ >I really can't wait for this, I don't watch a lot of TV but the picture on my 55" Sony telly is crap using the built in freeview, so hoping this has top quality pic quality!
I think you'll fund this is crap too then! You're getting a crap picture because you are either not in a good freeview area at the moment or your ariel is rubbish.
I'm right near the edge of my region, but upgraded my ariel to a high gain one and now have great picture.
The HD stuff is for the future (hopefully!) when they cutoff analogue and free up bandwidth
JaffaBoy @ Jan 22nd 2008 10:41AM
MJ >I really can't wait for this, I don't watch a lot of TV but the picture on my 55" Sony telly is crap using the built in freeview, so hoping this has top quality pic quality!
I think you'll find this is crap too then! You're getting a crap picture because you are either not in a good freeview area at the moment or your ariel is rubbish.
I'm right near the edge of my region, but upgraded my ariel to a high gain one and now have good picture.
The HD stuff is for the future (hopefully!) when they cutoff analogue and free up bandwidth