TV is now coming directly to you via PlayStation Vue. The new technology will let people watch live TV and on-demand content, no cable or satellite service required, Sony has announced.
The “Visual Understanding Environment” cloud-based streaming service will include a beta for select PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 owners later this month. The idea combines live, on-demand and catch-up TV with a PlayStation user interface that works with a DualShock. The past three days of popular programming will be available without the need to schedule recordings. It also recommends movies and shows based on your viewing habits and what’s trending.
You can save shows to the cloud without storage restrictions or scheduling conflicts, Sony said. Tag a favorite show and you’ll be given automatic access to episodes of that show for 28 days so you can watch it whenever you like. The beta includes 75 channels per market, including the likes of CBS, Fox, NBC and Viacom for the U.S.
In light of the controversy surrounding its costly Playstation Now Beta earlier this summer, Sony promises a “fair and competitive” price, despite declining to offer further details. However, it did confirm that PlayStation Vue will be offered on a month-to-month basis without penalty for cancellation, so no contracts.
Gamers will only need a PS4 or a PS3 and a broadband internet connection. A version will be released on iPad soon after the PlayStation console beta. Later it’ll be available on more Sony and non-Sony devices. Sony Computer Entertainment of America plans a commercial launch during the first quarter of 2015.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Sony Computer Entertainment President Andrew House said that the service was a great “opportunity, in my view, to fulfill a longer goal of transforming what was in the past a dedicated game device into a proper entertainment hub. There is nothing in entertainment as broad as the mass-market live-TV space.”
House additionally claimed said PlayStation Vue was part of Sony’s push to broaden the appeal of PlayStation consoles. As of the end of Sep. 2014, PS4 had sold 13.5m units worldwide.
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