Sony goes whole hog with PlayTV

The home-theater technology crammed into the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is cool, but it has never been clear whether consumers care enough about downloading video or connecting their MP3 players to their systems to make it profitable. Still, Microsoft and Sony are determined to chase this potential market.

Sony's latest effort is a package of hardware and software called PlayTV that will go on sale in Europe later this year -- and presumably the United States at some point, too. The system will let users record TV shows to their PS3s like a TiVo.

You can then either watch the shows and movies on your television connected to your PS3 or wirelessly broadcast the videos to your portable PlayStation Portable anywhere in the world that has a Wi-Fi hotspot.

So it's basically a TiVo-plus-Slingbox.

You might have forgotten -- or never known -- that Sony already has a device called the LocationFree player that mimics the Slingbox, letting you watch your local TV wirelessly on your PSP.

Sony always seemed to have a desultory interest in the LocationFree, though, dooming the product with no marketing support. Perhaps the PlayTV will enjoy a better fate. It certainly sounds more ambitious.

I would love to play with a PlayTV. But the PlayTV probably doesn't deserve any more love from Sony than the LocationFree machine ultimately received.

First, to get the full benefit, you'll need a PS3, a PSP and the PlayTV device.

Sony hasn't announced pricing for the PlayTV, but the LocationFree sells for $250.

I'd be surprised if the PlayTV, with more functionality, sells for anything less, and $300 seems more likely.

So you're looking at a roughly $1,000 investment to take advantage of this gizmo.

OK, but let's say you have that kind of dough for games and gadgets.

I would guess close to zero.

So who's the market for this product?

People with lots of cash who love to watch TV, but don't already have cable or satellite TV service.

That, I would think, is a small demographic.

Now, if the PlayTV were to let you ditch your current DVR, then we might be talking, and I'm hoping that's Sony's ace in the hole.