Archive notice: This article was originally published on May 8, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Sony’s PlayStation 3 console is gaining new multimedia functions. A planned DVB-T tuner and accompanying software, called PlayTV, will turn the PS3 into both a television receiver and a video recorder, storing recordings on the console’s integrated hard drive.
At PlayStation Day in London, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves said PlayTV was expected in Europe in September 2008 at a price of €99. Remote Play would also allow live television and stored recordings to be watched on a PSP. Sony also planned to extend its GoView video-on-demand service from the PlayStation Portable to the PS3 and beyond the United Kingdom.
Sony described the development as part of its effort to position the PS3 as a home-entertainment hub. The company reported more than five million PS3 consoles sold in Europe, ahead of the Xbox 360 despite Microsoft’s earlier launch, as well as twelve million PSP handhelds and 48 million PlayStation 2 consoles sold in Europe.
