Playstation Home

When I return from my travels, I will expect Sony to have announced this. It’s the online network service that they should have originally launched with the console, but may just be in place by the European launch date.

Early details revealed by Kotaku suggest a cross between Xbox live and the virtual console/Mii’s of the Wii. If it combines the best of those two services, that will be better than what PS3 is offering right now. But how does it relate to my TV lifestyle, I hear you ask? Well this statement in the patent filed to the FCC sounds like something that may interest me.

Bits and Pieces…

…that might warrant your attention, but don’t deserve their own post.

That HBO deal with Virgin media that I wrote about earlier in the week, well that wasn’t exclusive for long. It seems that HBO have signed up with BT Vision to be an option on their VOD library of services. I am not sure, but I’m sure it will be pay as you watch, and even more lucrative for the fatcats at Time Warner.

Speaking of BT, they signed another deal with Universal, having already acquired their library of blockbuster movies, it will now be possible to download videos from music artists to your BT Vision box, for the cost of 29p per videoclip. That is cheap, but… does anyone still watch music videos anymore? Rhetorical question, I know they do, but are they still relevant to the point where people would hunt them down and pay for them??

Sony Worldwide studios boss Phil Harrison hinted today (or maybe yesterday, or earlier in the week) that TV on Demand was a big priority for the PS3. I read earlier in the week in Broadcast that BBC aren’t actually allowed to charge for downloaded content, so if they could get them on board I could take my wildlife fetish to a new HD level. Obviously I would have to go out and buy a PS3 first. Hmmmm…

And more from the BBC (this segue-ing is going great), they have commisioned Big Brother producers Endemol to produce an online drama to win back the millions of viewers who have deserted TV for the internet. Here is a hint BBC: much of the desertion was down to Endemol attempting to turn viewers minds to sludge. My wild guess is that they walked away from the TV to keep the brain cells they had left. They aren’t online trying to get stupider. (As I’ve explained before, Stupider is a word. Because I say it is). Giving Endemol £100,000 an episode to produce something, I’m guessing it won’t be geared to the tastes of anyone who breathes through their nose. But hey, prove me wrong!

I funded this advert!

Well my new TV arrived today, a 26″ Sony bravia LCD. But you don’t have Sky HD or Telewest TV Drive, I hear you cry! What’s the point? You are quite right, I won’t be lining the pockets of Rupert Murdoch or Richard Branson to view slightly clearer pictures, but we all know there are other ways to get high definition content. Read more about my HD geekfest after the jump.

TV from my games console?

One of the newest ways for people to watch downloaded content on their TV’s is through their shiny new games console. Both Microsoft and Sony have gone to great lengths to get their hardware in your living room, and neither one of them is satisfied with you just using it to play games…