by Steve O'Hear
January 15th, 2009 | Posted in Net TV | 
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Perhaps taking a leaf out of the BBC iPlayer’s book, Google-owned YouTube have launched a version of the video sharing site designed specifically for viewing on a television.
Currently in Beta, the TV-friendly YouTube initially targets Sony’s PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. That’s because both games consoles feature a built-in web browser compatible with Flash video, making it relatively easy to port over any browser-based video offering. From the US version of the official YouTube blog:
… the TV Website offers a dynamic, lean-back, 10-foot television viewing experience through a streamlined interface that enables you to discover, watch and share YouTube videos on any TV screen with just a few quick clicks of your remote control. With enlarged text and simplified navigation, it makes watching YouTube on your TV as easy and intuitive as possible. Optional auto-play capability enables users to view related videos sequentially, emulating a traditional television experience.
Google also reminds us that, through partnerships with set-top box makers such as Apple, combined with the YouTube API, it’s not the first time that viewers have been able to watch YouTube on the TV, although progress hasn’t been as fast as the company would have liked.
See also: TiVo continues expansion, adds YouTube to “television services” lineup
“Our hope is that this site may help to accelerate an industry evolution towards open television access to Web video. Over time, we plan to add support for additional TV devices that provide Web browsers.”
You can access the new TV-friendly version of YouTube by pointing your PS3 or Wii’s web browser to www.youtube.com/tv
by Steve O'Hear
December 2nd, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | View Comments
Now that the PlayStation 3’s web browser supports full screen Flash video, I knew it wouldn’t be long before we’d see the BBC finally roll out a PS3 version of iPlayer. But boy was that quick.
Available in Beta, as of today PS3 owners can now access the Beeb’s seven day TV catchup service (UK-only), joining their Nindendo Wii brethren, along with specific versions for Nokia’s N96 and Apple’s iPhone. In fact, the BBC now lists compatibility with a whole bunch of portable media players, presumably via a generic mobile version, including the Archos 605 WiFi and Creative Zen X-Fi.
See also: BBC iPlayer on Wii gets a UI overhaul
The BBC always said it had a version of iPlayer for the PS3 in the works but that development was being held back due to the limited way in which Sony’s console supported Flash video. Now that’s been addressed, there’s no reason why other Internet TV services, such as Hulu, can’t follow in iPlayer’s footsteps.
by Steve O'Hear
August 15th, 2008 | Posted in Mobile, Net TV | Comments Off
It looks like we jumped the gun in our praise of PlayTV, Sony’s forthcoming DVR add-on for the PlayStation 3. The feature we liked the best, the ability to transfer recordings onto the PlayStation Portable (PSP) or any device that supports MPEG2 playback, appears to have been dropped at the last minute. Instead, users are restricted to streaming live TV or recordings to a PSP over a local network or the Internet, SlingBox-style. And while this is still a neat feature in itself, it renders the device nearly useless for watching recordings on-the-go since the Remote Play functionality of the PSP requires Wi-Fi access.
“With regards to PlayTV, you can not transfer content to your PSP, PC, or memory sticks” a Sony spokeswoman tells The Register.
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by Steve O'Hear
July 18th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | Comments Off
Sony’s launch of its online video store for the PlayStation Network feels like playing catch-up as it is. But for those PS3 owners in the UK or anywhere in Europe, the wait will continue.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe head honcho, David Reeves, has confirmed that the PS3 video store won’t be available to European gamers until sometime next year, reports The Register. While Reeves wasn’t specific, he told attendees at a conference in Santa Monica earlier this week that video downloads through Sony’s online gaming service “will not come to the PAL markets this year”.
The problem is an all too familiar one: the company has to work through country-specific licensing deals with each major studio before any launch dates can be announced.
As we’ve noted in the past, there are many challenges that any company faces to deliver a European-wide online movie service. Not least are the disparate licensing agreements that exist across different countries in Europe, along with the staggered release ‘windows’ imposed by Hollywood which govern when and how new titles can be distributed in the various different formats.
by Daniel Langendorf
July 15th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | View Comments
It’s all the rage: movie and TV show on-demand download services via the Web. Now we can add Sony to the ever-expanding list.
Sony unveiled its own movie/TV show on-demand download service for its PlayStation line of products today at the E3 Media and Business Summit. Sony made a point to note that the service will feature more than Sony-produced content, including movies and TV shows from Fox, MGM, Lions Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner, and Funimation.
The U.S-only service, found through the PlayStation Network, will be live this evening. It’s been long-rumored that Sony was going to open an online video download service.
Standard-definition and high-definition rentals and purchases are available. Standard rentals start at $2.99, with high definition rentals at $5.99. TV shows can be purchased at $1.99 an episode, while movies can be purchased from $9.99 to $14.99.
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by Steve O'Hear
June 3rd, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | View Comments
Sony might not yet be ready to roll out its own Internet TV service for the PlayStation 3 but the company is launching an original interactive HD video show to be distributed through the game console’s online service.
Called “Qore”, the magazine-style show will feature “exclusive multimedia news, developer interviews, in-depth game previews and behind-the-scene looks at the hottest PlayStation games”, according to the press release. “Subscribers will also have special access to game demos, betas, add-ons and other downloadable and game-related content.”
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by Steve O'Hear
May 19th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV, Other, Social | View Comments
It’s no secret that we’re fans of the PlayStation 3. And with the news that Sony’s next-generation console will now offer game developers an easy way to integrate YouTube uploads, we’re gushing once again.
By taking advantage of YouTube’s recently updated API and tools, Sony has added support for the video sharing site to its Software Development Kit to allow developers “to create games that enable direct upload of in-game video captures to YouTube”. While a few titles on both Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s XBox 360 already offer the ability to save game replays and share them over the Web, it’s the first time that a games console has offered YouTube support as a built-in and officially supported developer feature.
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by Steve O'Hear
May 12th, 2008 | Posted in Audio, Net TV, Review | View Comments
Apple and Sony are fierce competitors, but that hasn’t stopped the PlayStation 3 playing nicely with Mac OSX computers. Thanks to some great third-party software, and Sony’s decision to add support for the UPnP AV standard, the PS3 has, in some ways, become a better solution than Apple’s own offering to the problem of streaming content – audio, video and photos – from a Mac to the TV. Here’s our quick guide to creating a Mac-supported PS3 media center.
Step One: Turning the Mac into a PS3-friendly media server
Assuming that your Mac is already on the same local network as your PlayStation 3, the first thing you’ll need to do is install a UPnP AV-compliant media server. In fact, this will need to be done for all of the Macs that you want to share media from.
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by Steve O'Hear
May 7th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV, Other | View Comments
Piece by piece, Sony’s PS3 has the potential to be one of the best, if not the best, media centers on the market.
Ability to stream content from a Windows PC (or Mac) to a television? Check.
DivX support? Check.
Blu-ray player? Check.
USB device support? Check.
Portable integration? Check (via the PSP).
DVR functionality? Announced.
Movie download store? Coming soon.
It’s just that most consumers don’t know it.
Perhaps that will change this September, in Europe at least, when the PS3’s DVR add-on finally goes on sale.
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by Steve O'Hear
April 9th, 2008 | Posted in Net TV | View Comments
Later today, a version of the BBC’s iPlayer will be made available on Nintendo’s Wii games console, announced the UK public broadcaster’s Future Media and Technology chief Erik Huggers during a keynote speech at the MipTV-Milia conference in Cannes.
Alongside download (Windows-only) and streaming versions (Windows/Mac) accessible via a computer, the BBC has already built a version of its UK-only TV catch-up service for Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch devices. Today, however, marks the first time the iPlayer will be available on a games console, and perhaps surprisingly, not one designed specifically to be a media center. So much for the ‘trojan horse into the living room’ strategies of Sony’s PS3 and Microsoft’s XBox 360.
The ability to port the streaming version of iPlayer to the Wii was made possible because of Nintendo’s original decision to offer a Web browser for the console, and one that supports Flash Video (see last100’s ‘Five resources to create a Wii media center‘). The PS3 also features a full Web browser with the Flash plug-in, so perhaps we can expect that to be next on the list.
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