PlayTV Coming To New Zealand

President of SCEE brings some more great news for Kiwi gamers. PlayTV, which allows PS3 owners to watch and record televison shows to their hard drives, will be coming to New Zealand.

Dated for September 10th in Europe, Kiwi gamers will have to wait until early next year because our technology isn't quite up to snuff yet.

"We've got Australia and New Zealand also lined up for it in January or February, because on their digital terrestrial they haven't actually set the standards yet," said Reeves.

We've contacted SCE-NZ for comments on dates and pricing regarding PlayTV, and we will report back on an updates on the situation for Kiwi gamers. In the meantime, the uniniated can check out below what PlayTV can do for them.

Mobile TV with PSP: Wi-Fi connectivity with a PlayStation Portable allows for portable viewing of live or recorded television programming. By using the Remote Play feature of the PlayStation 3, owners can use a PlayStation Portable to access their PlayStation 3 console from anywhere in the world via the Internet. The Remote Play feature has the ability to 'wake up' the PlayStation 3 from stand-by mode, allowing the user the ability to watch live TV, set recordings and watch previously recorded content anywhere in the world direct from their PlayStation 3 to their PlayStation Portable via the internet.

Recorded programs can be transcoded and transferred via USB to the PlayStation Portable. The recorded files will not contain DRM meaning the programs will be copyable to any mass storage device connected to the PlayStation 3. This feature also allows the export of radio shows allowing users to make their very own podcasts for on the go listening.

LiveTV: The Live TV feature allows access to the widely available DVB-T network. In the UK this is known as Freeview. Whilst using the Live TV option, live programming is cached as it is displayed, so that users can pause, rewind and fast forward through any recently-viewed material, as well as record and turn subtitles and audio description on/off. Screen size can also be changed. A programme guide can so be accessed. PlayTV allows users to watch one program whilst recording another. Live TV also has a now and next bar enabling users to scroll through live TV and see what is on other channels and what is coming on next.

Guide (Electronic Program Guide): The software features a 7-day electronic program guide. PlayTV allows users to set recordings and change channel from the Guide, also selectable is a Favourites guide which is a list of a users favourite programs. The Guide shows a full description of all programs. Whilst setting recordings, users can set whether they would like to repeat the recordings daily or weekly to record the same program again in a series - a 'kind of' series link.

Library: The PlayTV Library is where all the recorded content is stored. The content can be viewed in a list view or in a thumbnail view. Its also fully sortable by date, channel and name. The library is also where content can be exported to the PlayStation 3's main menu to be stored with the rest of the user's video files. Whilst playing back the recorded content, users can pause, fast forward, rewind, skip to/from and turn subtitles and audio description on/off. Screen size can also be changed.

Schedule: The schedule feature allows users to edit their future recordings. It is also fully searchable.

Find and Record: The find and record feature allows users to search the next 7 days worth of TV programs by searching with a key word in the title of the programs and/or the description of the program. Find and record also lets users set manual recordings using the channel, date and time that you wish to record.

Manuals: PlayTV displays an on-screen manual. This acts as a quick reference to the various functions of a controller, Blu-ray remote control and remote play using a PlayStation Portable.

Settings and other features:
- Turn Subtitles on / off
- Turn Audio Description on / off
- Set whether you would like live TV to always be recorded or just when paused for trick mode.
- Screen Size settings
- Game play recordings on / off (See below)
- Parental Lock
- HDD Size: PlayTV can use the PlayStation 3's own internal hard drive or an external storage device.
- Codecs: PlayTV supports MPEG2 SD and HD, AVC and MPEG4 broadcasts.
- PlayTV can be controlled using the a PlayStation controller or Blu-ray remote control.

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