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PlayTV gets SD upscaler and more in new update

by Majed Athab { Apr 3rd 2009 at 4:30PM }

The European freeview box and recorder known as PlayTV has just gotten a new software update. Several new functions have been added, including: new fast-forward/rewind speeds and new volume control settings. More importantly, users will enjoy the new SD upscaler and direct-to-TV option via the XMB (no more having to go through the PlayTV menu).

So, check out the embedded vid to see Mark Bunting, the producer of PlayTV, explain more about the new features. And, if you haven't gotten it yet, what are you waiting for? It's available now.

PS3 Fanboy review: PlayTV

by Jem Alexander { Oct 6th 2008 at 10:30AM }

The PS3 has firmly entrenched itself as not only a games console, but a fully fledged multimedia device. It features blu-ray, media streaming, a web browser and image viewing and printing. Now, with PlayTV, the PS3 adds television to its repertoire. Sony could easily have released a simple TV tuner with only the most essential features, but instead they've developed a product that's incredibly feature rich and integrates itself into the PS3 experience seamlessly.

Setting up your surprisingly light PlayTV box is simple and painless and requires nothing more than plugging an aerial in one end and a USB cable, connected to your PS3, into the other. Once this is done you need only load up the accompanying disc software, which will install the PlayTV client onto your XMB and guide you through the simple setup. After this, you'll have a new "TV" section on the XMB. PlayTV takes advantage of Freeview in the UK, a set of free TV channels and radio stations. Load up the client and you're off.

The emphasis has clearly been placed on being user friendly. The first time you enter any section of the software a splash screen will show you the controls. These can be reviewed again in the help section, along with more in-depth guides. If you'd rather use a remote control than a SIXAXIS controller, your Blu-ray remote will work just fine and PlayTV even comes with an overlay which can be stuck on top to show which buttons do what.

Continued →

PlayTV ships 85,000 units in the UK

by Majed Athab { Sep 28th 2008 at 11:00AM }

The PS3 is an excellent entertainment hub, and adding the freeview box and recorder known as PlayTV only leverages the PS3's profile. Since the initial sale of PlayTV in the UK over 9,000 Britons have pre-ordered the service, while 85,000 units have been shipped.

Again, that's only numbers for the UK. Continental Europe won't be getting the service until December. Can this interest seen in Britain spread eastward to the rest of the continent? Will it bomb; will the response be better? These are question we're interested in seeing answers to.

Worldwide PS3 releases for the week of September 14th

by Jem Alexander { Sep 14th 2008 at 6:00PM }

This week the Force unleashes worldwide whilst Americans get their hands on off-road racer, Pure. Europeans can enjoy recording TV onto their PS3 hard discs (while playing games, no less) and the Japanese finally get their hands on Eternal Sonata (though they choose to call if Trusty Bell, and why not?) Here's the full release list:

US Games

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
[Get a free $20 gift card at Toys R Us stores; Get a free $5 gift card at Circuit City]
Armored Core: For Answer
Pure

EU Games

Asian Games

Don't forget, release dates are constantly subject to change, so check with your local retailer if you need any of the above information confirmed. We're now only a month away from one of our most anticipated titles of the year -- Dead Space starts the holiday season off on October 14th and after that it's a terrifyingly expensive avalanche of titles until years end.

Europe's PS3 PlayTV records TV with no DRM

by Kyle Orland { Sep 4th 2008 at 4:00PM }

In a world where video providers seem to be adding increasingly disruptive digital rights management into their video streams, you can always count on video game accessories to provide a hole for unprotected video to break through. First it was the Xbox 360's HD-DVD drive, whose component output allowed for DRM-free copying of the now-defunct high-def discs. Now it's Sony's European PlayTV digital video recorder add-on for the PS3, which CVG reports can "export [recorded] videos to your PS3's XMB menu as MPEG-4 video" for free use on other devices.

At a time when everyone from Tivo to Microsoft seems to slap some sort of protection on digital video recordings, it's frankly a little baffling that Sony (itself a major video producer) would leave this hole in its digital recorder. Not that we're complaining, we're just waiting with trepidation for the other ~~patch~~ shoe to drop.

[Via Evil Avatar]

PlayTV goes back to DRM-free PSP-lovin' copying

by Andrew Yoon { Sep 3rd 2008 at 4:45PM }

Sometimes it's hard to keep track of what's "official" and what's not -- especially because Sony continues to contradict itself. (Case in point: PSP Brite's battery life.) When we first heard the Euro-exclusive PlayTV box would allow users to copy recorded shows onto the PSP, we all said "yay." The convenience of recording TV and taking it with us wherever we go sounded swell. Then, we found out that the files would be restricted.

Well, with PlayTV in the hands of reviewers, it appears Sony has switched back to the original plan. You'll now be able to copy DRM-free versions of your recorded programs to your PSP, or any other compatible MPEG-4 device, at least according to CVG.

Our European readers may want to check out CVG's review. The rest of us will just sit here in the corner, waiting.

[Thanks, benny boy!]

Aussies not getting 160GB PS3, PlayTV confirmed for 2009

by Alan Tsang { Aug 21st 2008 at 6:45PM }

Looking forward to the 160GB PS3? Then we hope you are not in Australia, for you will not be getting the configuration. Though the new 80GB configuration is still headed your way on August 28th for AU $699, which includes a single DualShock 3 controller.

Now onto the good news: the wireless keypad attachment has been confirmed to debut "before the end of the year." PlayTV is also confirmed for Australia in the "first half of 2009." Though with the recent reduction in features, we wonder if you guys Down Under still want the DVB-T tuner peripheral.

PlayTV recorded content will not be transferable

by Alan Tsang { Aug 13th 2008 at 2:30PM }

You just knew this was too good to be true, right? Eurogamer got in touch with Sony, who told them that PlayTV's saved video files will not be transferable to other devices, including the PSP, PC or memory cards. You will still be able to stream live or recorded content to your PSP via Remote Play. This completely contradicts what we were told earlier. No reason was stated for this aberration.

Furthermore, PlayTV will be unable to record HD signals, at least at launch. However, Sony is looking to add the feature some time in the future. With these reductions in features, will you still be picking the £69.99 device up come September 19th?

PlayTV coming September 19th, reasonably priced

by Jem Alexander { Aug 12th 2008 at 3:00PM }

Despite Mr. Sony Europe, David Reeves, telling the world that PlayTV would be with us as soon as September 10th, Eurogamer has been told by SCEE that the device will now not be available until the 19th. Reeves also stated a price of €99, which has also been confirmed false. PlayTV will now set you back £69.99. A much better price point than the originally rumored £100.

In case you're not aware, PlayTV is an add-on for the PS3 which will allow you to watch and record SD and HD freeview channels. You will be able to watch and record separate channels at the same time and even play games while recording is taking place. This is a Europe-only device, however, thanks to something that involves a lot of very technical TV jargon.

SCEE President dates PlayTV for the UK

by Alan Tsang { Jul 18th 2008 at 12:00PM }

Eurogamer has learned from Sony Europe's David Reeves that PlayTV will debut in the UK on September 10th, with the rest of Europe getting the add-on "from September to December," while Australia and New Zealand will be joining in on the DVR fun in January or February. No word on pricing though, but Reeves previously stated the price would €99.

Even more exciting for Europeans, Aussies, and New Zealanders is that the digital video recorder add-on will allow users to record TV while simultaneously engaging in a game. Apparently there were some technical obstacles they had to overcome to achieve this, so kudos to Sony for that. Reeves states that the firmware needed for PlayTV was already included in update 2.41, "so in theory if your PS3 is up to date you're all set for the 10th September launch."

Of course, North Americans who use the ATSC digital standard will never see this, since PlayTV is a DVB-T tuner. We'd say if anything, this should bring some relieve to our PAL regions friends who are currently missing out on the PS Store video service.

[Thanks, jimb!]

Video: PlayStation Day demonstration of PlayTV, Go!Explore

by Andrew Yoon { May 9th 2008 at 8:00PM }

Europe gets all the fun stuff! Watch David Reeve's PlayStation Day presentation about the PSP, which talks about two key PSP products available across the Atlantic: PlayTV and Go!Explore. PlayTV gives PSP owners access to DVR content, through connectivity with PS3. Go!Explore is an affordable GPS utility, which adds yet another fancy tool to PSP's ever-expanding features list. C'mon, SCEA! Give us GPS ... now!

PlayTV priced and dated, but not really

by Jem Alexander { Apr 21st 2008 at 6:15PM }

Amazon.co.uk has caused some confusion today when it listed a release date and price for the Digital TV recording peripheral, PlayTV. With a date of July 31st and a price of £59.99, it was looking like a good deal for UK PS3 owners. Until Sony refused to confirm both details and Amazon pulled all the information on their site, that is. Instead, the release date is now set for October and there's not a price in sight. Weird.

We're sure you're as excited as us about PlayTV, so we'll be sure to keep you up to date with any developments.

[Via Eurogamer]

PlayTV recordings will have no restrictions, DRM or encryptions

by Jem Alexander { Feb 26th 2008 at 5:30AM }

What's better than recording your favourite telly shows onto your PS3 with PlayTV? Could it have something to do with transferring these recorded videos onto your computer without restriction? That's what Sony are promising will be possible when PlayTV launches this year. There will be no restrictions on what you can do with your vieos which, once recorded, can become just another file on your XMB and can then be copied onto an SD card or USB key for easy transfer where ever.

Not only that, but there will be not DRM or proprietary encoding on the videos, they will simple render out as high-quality MPEG-2s. This means you can watch or edit them on your computer, or even encode them for use on your PSP (slightly pointless considering PlayTV supports PSP playback via Remote Play) or iPod. As long as no-one does anything illegal with the files (like put them on a BitTorrent network) then everything's fine. Expect people to take no notice of this whatsoever and start sticking stuff online as soon as PlayTV finally gets released - which is when, again?

[Thanks Jakob]

See PS3's PlayTV doing its thing; still Europe only

by Christopher Grant { Feb 15th 2008 at 1:30PM }

Remember PlayTV? Sony's been real mum on their PlayStation 3 TV-tuner slash PVR peripheral since first announcing the thing back in August. Like then, it still appears PlayTV will be Euro-only, thanks in no small part to the device's reliance on the European Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial (DVB-T) format. The BBC has a nice shakycam video (found after the break) of what you can expect from PlayTV, showing off live TV playback, the episode guide, pause and record functionality, and even (most impressively) playback from a PSP turning the PlayTV into a console-centric Slingbox of sorts.

They say it's coming out "later this year" (they previously has targeted "early in 2008") so it's anyone's guess when you'll be able to get one for yourself. As long as we're all guessing, you might want to take a couple stabs at price (still unknown) and potential availability of a North America-compatible version (also still unknown).

Continued →

See PlayTV in action

by Jem Alexander { Feb 14th 2008 at 2:00PM }

In glorious low-res shakycam! Those lucky BBC Tech guys have got their hands on PlayTV and have produced a wee video showing off exactly what it can do. The video takes you through the interface of the software on the PS3, showing you how quick and streamlined the whole system is. They then go on to show off the remote play features. It all looks rather excellent to us and we can't wait to get our hands on the magic box itself.

ThreeSpeech has also been able to put rest to some niggles that some of you may have. They have confirmation from Sony that, should you set a program to record and have your PS3 on standby mode, it will turn itself on, record, then shut down. So those of you who are worried about wasting energy can rest easy in the knowledge that your PS3 will be on only as long as it needs to be.