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Showtime's cord-cutter service will come to Roku and Sony devices
We already know that Showtime's internet-only service is coming to Apple TV, but that's not the only home entertainment platform that's been invited to the party. The company has revealed that if you own a Roku device, one of the TVs with the hardware built in or Sony's PlayStation Vue, then you're all good, and it will launch for all three on the same day. The outfit also mentions that Showtime (yes, that's what it's called) will be the only "premium" offering that broadcasts its live East and West Coast feeds to its users, just like its Anytime apps on various platforms. No matter what device you use, you'll be asked to cough up $10.99 a month for the privilege of catching the forthcoming Twin Peaks revival. The system is due to launch "early July," although given that the new seasons of Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex premiere on July 12th, we're gonna say July 11th is a good guess.
There's no longer a place like PlayStation Home
PlayStation Home, Sony's answer to the Second Life question no one asked, was never where the company's heart lived. Maybe its greasy, suppurating id lived in those gleaming neon halls, somewhere between the bowling alley full of dead-eyed polygon people and the virtual shopping mall. You know the PlayStation Home shopping mall I'm talking about. It's the one where you could spend very real money on an entirely fake golden statue of a robot lady with impossibly proportioned breasts.After seven years, the majority of which were spent in beta testing, Sony closed Home's doors this week. The PlayStation heart is secure elsewhere, for sure, but the shuttering of Home does mark the conclusion of an experiment true to the PlayStation soul, as well as the end of the brand's darkest era.
AMC's channels come to PlayStation Vue
If you were intrigued by PlayStation Vue as a substitute for cable TV but refused to sign up until you could watch The Walking Dead, it's time to hop aboard. Sony has added AMC Networks to Vue's channel roster, giving you AMC proper as well as IFC, Sundance and WEtv. Be prepared to pony up if you just have to catch Portlandia, though -- while you'll get AMC and WEtv in the base Access package, IFC and Sundance are only available if you've subscribed to Core or Elite. This certainly isn't the best deal if you care about AMC or IFC above all else (Sling TV offers it as part of its $20 bundle), but it'll make Vue a better value for your cord-cutting dollar.
HBO, Sony reportedly look for special streaming deals with ISPs
According to the Wall Street Journal, as TV services shift from the traditional outlets (antenna, cable, satellite) to the internet big names like HBO, Showtime and Sony are worried about their services running into congestion and bandwidth caps. A possible way around that, is negotiating with ISPs to have their content delivered as a "managed service", like cable-provided phone service and video on-demand. If you're thinking "isn't that what net neutrality was supposed to stop?" you're not alone -- Sling TV CEO Roger Lynch is quoted calling the potential setup a "mockery" of the rules that will go into effect soon. Even Comcast is reportedly leery of running afoul of the regulations, and it's the one that already got into a dust-up with Netflix a couple of years ago by doing exactly this with its TV app on the Xbox 360.
This is Sony's streaming TV service, PlayStation Vue
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-366276{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-366276, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-366276{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-366276").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Wondering what Sony's new live streaming TV service, PlayStation Vue, looks like in action? Well, if you live in Chicago or New York City or Philadelphia, you can go try for yourself on PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4. There's a seven-day free trial! But if you're one of the billions of people outside of the trio of introductory markets, we've got a video walkthrough for you above.
Sony attempts to 'redefine television' with launch of PlayStation Vue
With 20 million-plus PlayStation 4 consoles sold to date and over 80 million PlayStation 3s in homes worldwide, Sony has plenty of reason to make Vue, its TV-streaming service, a cornerstone of the platform. The subscription-based service, which officially launches today in New York, Chicago and Philadelphia, is more than just a Sling TV clone, too. Vue offers not only a mixture of live and on-demand content from cable networks like Discovery Communications (e.g., TLC, OWN, Animal Planet) and NBCUniversal (e.g., Bravo, CNBC and E!), but also broadcast TV from NBC, CBS and FOX. And thanks to cloud storage, PS Vue also features what Sony's calling a "virtually unlimited" DVR. It's the company's take on a streaming experience that "redefines television."
Sony's PlayStation Vue TV service to launch in the next two weeks
Sony's PlayStation-based streaming live TV service won't go live nationwide until sometime later in 2015. If you live in Chicago, Philadelphia or New York City, however, the service lights up "in the next two weeks." That's according to Sony Computer Entertainment head Andrew House -- he's the top PlayStation exec at Sony. House told the Wall Street Journal as much in an interview today, though he stopped short of providing details on pricing or launches in other parts of the US.
CBS CEO talks PlayStation Vue and standalone Showtime
CBS just announced its earnings for 2014, including $3.68 billion in revenue for Q4 (all those episodes of NCIS pay off, apparently), but its always-talkative CEO Les Moonves provided most of the interesting information. According to the NY Post's Clair Atkinson, he has confirmed that CBS has a deal with Sony to be on its new internet TV service PlayStation Vue, saying "they're paying more than everyone else" for the privilege. That probably explains why the $20 per month Sling TV is missing the network channels -- for now, "there's a path to negotiation" according to Moonves -- and why Vue may end up being more expensive.
Apple TV rumors point to a Sling TV, PlayStation Vue competitor
It's been about six months since we heard significant rumors about Apple + television and as predicted, here they are again. Re/code is hearing whispers that instead of trying to work with pay-TV companies like Time Warner Cable or Comcast, Apple will have its own over-the-top streaming service in the vein of the just-launched Sling TV, or upcoming services from Verizon and Sony. The rumor suggests Apple will license content directly from programmers, although its last go-round of negotiations suggesting a split in advertising revenue was not well-received. That similar services exist now certainly gives this round of rumors a shot in the arm, but Apple has been considering its next move in the living room for years without doing much. CEO Tim Cook mentioned last week that sales of the Apple TV have crossed 25 million units, and as usual the world is wondering what the company will do with its "hobby." As always, until something is actually announced my advice is to remain skeptical.
Here's what Sony's PlayStation Vue TV service is like in real life
When Sony unveiled its PlayStation Vue streaming service, it painted a rosy picture of what you'll get: tons of channels! You'll never look at TV the same way again! But what's it like to use in the real world? You won't have to wait until the formal launch to find out, apparently. One early user has shared impressions with GigaOM, and the early signs suggest that it might just beat Dish's Sling TV... in certain circumstances, anyway. The interface is polished and speedy, and your viewing rights are much more consistent than what Sling TV delivers. As a rule, you can assume that you'll have the promised 28-day window to watch saved shows from a cloud DVR.
The FCC gets to work on letting internet TV compete with cable
It's far from a done deal, but the FCC has taken a step towards putting internet TV service on a par with cable and satellite. On Friday it announced the adoption of a proposal (previously floated by chairman Tom Wheeler) that would give TV providers that stream their channels over the internet, the same access to content that satellite and cable TV services have. So far, internet providers aren't classified as a "multichannel video programminng distributor", but if they were that could have forced programmers to negotiate with the likes of Aereo, instead of merely suing them. Even as cord-cutters celebrate, there are some restrictions even with the new proposal -- this plan wouldn't affect Netflix, Amazon or Hulu -- but it could make things easier for PlayStation Vue or Dish Network's planned internet TV feed.
PlayStation Vue is a cloud-powered broadcast TV service that launches in early 2015
If you thought cramming a PlayStation into your TV with the cloud-based PS Now was crazy, Sony's now trying to do, well, the exact opposite, bringing broadcast TV (and a bigger dose of on-demand content) to the PS4, PS3 and, at a later date, even the iPad. Oh good, another subscription service, you might already be thinking. However, Sony has already signed up some major networks and players (Fox, CBS, Viacom and ABC, for starters) and a no-contract setup: you'll pay month by month -- like how you pay for Netflix. The tie-ups will also include the ability to record programs, as well as play selected on-demand content. More device support for both Sony and non-Sony hardware is set to roll out to the service in the future, although there's no specifics just yet on what that'll include -- likewise, pricing remains a mystery. Beta testers will see around 75 channels of content, including local networks, when tests start later this month, although there's one proviso: they have to live in NYC, before it rolls out to Chicago, Philadelphia and LA. For the rest of us, the entire service is set to go live in early 2015.