The previously discussed Sony PS3 DVR add-on, the PlayTV, finally has a European release schedule and pricing.

The PlayTV will be available in Europe in September for €100, or approximately £80/$160. As previously reported, the PlayTV will have dual DVB-T tuners to enable DVR functionality on the PS3, and content can be place-shifted for remote viewing on the Sony PSP. Australia is expected to receive the PlayTV roughly a month after the European release.

Who knows if well ever see something like this in the US. Unlike most of the rest of the world, terrestrial broadcast isn’t very popular in the US. So while an ATSC version of the PlayTV would certainly be possible, I don’t think it would sell well. Sony would really need a CableCARD-enabled tuner as most of the US market uses cable, and/or a partnership with DirecTV or Dish Network. Though the PS3 is certainly capable of handling OCAP/tru2way, and the BD-J standard for Blu-ray is actually part of the same familiar as OCAP (both are based on GEM/MHP), so perhaps some work could be reused.

From Register Hardware.

I post a lot about TiVo in Australia, but they’re not the only game in, or coming to, town. CNET Australia reports that Australia EPG provider IceTV plans to add a feature called ‘IceTV Recommendations’, which is similar to TiVo Suggestions. Since IceTV is just a guide and not a full DVR package, it does not auto-record the programs, but rather presents them as suggestions to the user to decide on. (You can do the same on TiVo by disabling Suggestion auto-recording and then manually checking them in the menus. TiVo+8 is the shortcut.) The feature is currently compatible with Windows Media Center and Mac/EyeTV, but compatibility with additional DVRs which use the IceTV guide will be announced in the coming weeks.

And the previously discussed Sony PlayTV DVR add-on for the PlayStation3 looks to be hitting Australia in 4Q2008, according to Gizmodo Australia who attended a Sony briefing. Australia is getting it roughly a month after the European market, so they have something to look forward to as well. Giz also got more details from the briefing:

Other interesting tidbits include that there’s only an input for your aerial, no output, which means you won’t be able to connect your antenna to your TV through the PlayTV. And while you can only record TV programs to the PS3’s internal hard drive, you can backup the contents to an external drive. It isn’t finalised, but it looks like the EPG will be supplied by the rumoured FreeView collection of free-to-air networks as well

So it looks like the DVR choices for Australians will be expanding soon with TiVo, PlayTV, and possibly a Freeview DVR.

BBC News Technology got a chance to play with Sony’s forthcoming PlayTV tuner/DVR add-on for the PlayStation3, and the video has been posted on Blip.tv:

Hat tip to Zatz Not Funny.

Sony’s semi-official ThreeSpeech blog has posted a video teaser of the forthcoming PlayTV add-on for the PlayStation3. The PlayTV is a DVB-T dual-tuner USB module that gives the PS3 TV tuning and recording functionality. As previously announced the PlayTV will be released first in European countries, with other DVB-T territories to follow. To be clear, DVB-T is not used in North America, we use ATSC. So the PlayTV, as announced, will not work here. However, there have been rumors of an ATSC version.

The video provides a few brief glimpses of the PlayTV UI. Looks like pretty standard fare, though I am intrigued by the thumbnail navigation of recordings. That’s something I haven’t seen before. Personally I don’t think it is as useful as titles - I’m far more likely to remember the title of something than I am a 15-second clip of the show - but it is interesting. The built-in place-shifting over the Internet to a PSP is also a nice feature.

One thing though, it seemed to be a glaring omission, but the video doesn’t mention scheduled recordings at all. They show an EPG, tuning live TV, and mention recording what you’re watching now - but not a word on setting up scheduled recordings. There’s also the question of the PS3 recording if it is doing something else - like gaming or playing a BD/DVD. I’d suspect the answer there is no, since PlayTV is utilizing the PS3’s CPU.

Picked up from PVR Wire @ TV Squad who noticed it at TG Daily.