Sony has just confirmed the rumor we all heard back in April: video downloads will be available on the PS3 this summer. Details right now are scarce, but we do know the service will first be rolled out in the United States, followed by Japan and Europe later in the year. As we mentioned before, we would like to see a service tied in with Netflix since everybody and their mother seems to use the service, or even a Hulu type service, which offers TV shows from Fox and NBC, broken up by short 15-second ads. Our best guess though: iTunes-esque pricing, the most expensive of all three choices. Rent a movie, pay a high premium, and lose it . We can't see how this will be successful, considering Sony's quirky history with digital media downloads (see: Sony Connect and ATRAC3).
Sony's own Bravia line of televisions will be getting video as well via Bravia Internet Video Link (BIVL). The film, Hancock, as mentioned in Sony's press release, will be available "exclusively to all Internet connected Bravia LCD TVs in the U.S. before it is available on DVD." We'll have a review of the BIVL system very soon.
Another interesting tidbit from the press release: Sony wants 90 percent of their electronics products network-enabled and wireless-capable by March 2011. The PSP, PS3, and a Bravia television--all connected together and sharing media? Yes, we're just as thrilled as you are of the future possibilities. Let's hope that Sony doesn't limit their content and media-sharing capabilities to a Sony-centric universe, which the BIVL system seems to be all about. We'll have more details as they roll in.
In the meantime, what do you think of Sony's direction? Will the company go down the Hulu route or will it offer time-limited DRM content?
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