Later this year, ABC TV and Sony Computer Entertainment Australia will launch a trial allowing PlayStation 3 owners to watch an "optimised" version of iView via the PlayStation Network.
iView recently celebrated its first birthday and each week approximately 70 hours of content from ABC1, ABC2 and exclusive-to-iView is added to the site. The bulk of the content is available two hours after Eastern Standard Time broadcast.
Of course it is already possible to watch iView on the PS3, thanks to the 2.5 firmware update which added Flash 9 support to the browser, but it seems the results are far from perfect.
From the ABC's perspective the move doesn't come as a surprise, and it has confirmed that it's already "in discussions with a number of other companies about making ABC iView accessible on other platforms".
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| Access to ABC's browser-based iView gives the PlayStation 3 a key advantage over many other set top boxes. |
iView on TiVo and Windows Media Centre
The smart money here would be on TiVo, which would be a great boost for a product that's often criticised as lacking features. Hopefully it will be smoother than TiVo's slow and clunky Blockbuster interface. It would be great to see a plugin for Windows Media Centre as well.
Sony's PS3 video download service
What's more impressive is the fact that Sony has agreed to go along with offering iView access, especially considering that Sony plans to introduce its own video download service for the PS3. The fact that Sony is prepared to allow iView access, and even plans to release the PlayTV digital TV tuner for the PS3 in Australia, shows that it's interested in improving the value proposition of the PS3 rather than just milking customers for every cent they've got.
The PS3 vs Apple TV
This is in stark contrast to Apple's approach - there's no Flash-support on the iPhone, no Blu-ray support in Leopard and no TV tuners in the Apple TV because such features might see people spend less money at the iTunes store.
Sony's obsession with proprietary formats has long kept it in many people's bad books, as have arrogant acts of bastardry such as the music CD root kit scandal.
When you take into account the upcoming price cut, the PlayStation 3 looks more attractive than ever as the centrepiece of your digital lounge room.