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Sony's PlayStation 3 is a multimedia powerhouse, juggling the playback demands of Blu-ray, DVD, and DivX with ease. But while on-demand content is growing in popularity, there remain a vast number of people who watch regularly scheduled, over-the-air broadcasts. So it's not surprising to see Sony enter the market with PlayTV, a new device that will let you watch and record digital TV on your PlayStation 3. It was announced for the European market last year and will sell for 80 pounds, or about $156.

Using a USB tuner, plus the included software, PlayTV will allow users to … Read more

A quick recap of Neil Young's recent announcement at the Sun JavaOne conference, as reported by CNET's Dan Farber. The long-awaited (by fans) Neil Young Archive project is coming out this year. It'll be on Blu-ray, which is the first digital format to satisfy Mr. Young's needs (with a regular DVD, you couldn't watch high-resolution video and listen to music at the same time). He recommends buying a Sony PS3 as a Blu-ray player because the PS3 has an Internet connection and a fat hard drive, and he wants to update the content over time. … Read more

Considering how unfortunately popular karaoke remains here, it's surprising that it has taken so long for this music game to arrive on U.S. shores. But Singstar is finally getting a stateside launch for the PlayStation 3 on May 20, according to I4U News.

The game, which is already on the European market, comes with 30 songs loaded on its disc but also allows hundreds more to be purchased and downloaded from the "SingStore," which will be expanded by 25-30 songs each month. Each tune, which goes for $1.49, comes with a video of the artist.… Read more

Not long ago the idea of adding 500GB of storage space to a home media system was unthinkable to the average consumer, unless one was willing to pay ungodly sums of money. What a difference a couple of years make.

Iomega is releasing its "ScreenPlay HD Multimedia Drive" at that half-terabyte mark, a considerable leap from the 60GB capacity of its last generation. As storage technologies continue to drop in price--the new ScreenPlay is selling for around $200--it's positioned to compete with a growing number of products such as LaCie's "LaCinema Premier," which was … Read more

Sony Computer Entertainment announced Tuesday that it is again delaying the launch of its 3D social-networking gaming service, "Home," for the PlayStation 3.

The PlayStation Home Open Beta service is expected to begin in the fall, nearly a year after its expected launch date. Sony unveiled the concept of its Home service more than 12 months ago and had anticipated at the time a full launch of the service at the end of last year.

Sony, in delaying the service launch, noted it wanted to expand its closed beta program to more PS3 users. The pending Home service … Read more

If you insist on lugging around a PlayStation 3 as if it's a PSP with a glandular problem, the least you can do is get some protection for it against the elements. Messiah Entertainment feels that pain, which is why it's created its "Hardwear Console Armor" for the PS3, according to I4U News.

The silver shield may add a stylish touch but looks as if it might scratch even more easily than the original finish. Still, such risks are the price one must pay for the sake of looking good under fire. And if you tend … Read more

There's good news for those who can't bear to part with their PlayStation 3. (Or perhaps not so good, depending on one's social life or lack thereof.) Clearvision is releasing a 7-inch display and a pair of speakers that can be attached to Sony's console, according to Engadget.

The Wii was outfitted with a similar screen last year, presumably because the PSP and DS just don't cut it for hard-core gamers when on the road or walking to the corner grocery for a six-pack of Red Bull. But regradless of what you think of the … Read more

Update: This story has been changed to reflect the email from Sony touting its PlayStation 3 March performance.

With the release today of its March video game industry sales report, NPD has provided fodder for just about anyone who wants to read the numbers the way they want. Or trumpet them.

For example, in an e-mail from Nintendo, I learned that, according to NPD, "In March, Nintendo again defined industry momentum in both home and portable video game sales."

In other words, Nintendo's sales of 720,000 Wiis topped console sales. And Nintendo also dug around in … Read more

Sony wasn't kidding when it said the next PS3 system update was coming in mid-April. Just in time to take the edge off tax day, the version 2.30 of the PlayStation 3 system software is now available for download. As revealed last week, the software update adds DTS Master Audio decoding (to deliver the best audio from compatible Blu-ray movies), as well as a major overhaul of the interface for the PlayStation Store (as explained in the Sony video walkthrough shown above).

The question is: what do you think? Does the DTS upgrade make the PS3 an even … Read more