New Technology TV

It's a widely held belief in the TV industry that various forms of video on demand will be the way we watch TV in the future. In fact, there are many companies now offering video for download over the Internet. These companies range from major TV networks offering their mainstream TV shows on streaming video on the Internet to movie studios offering DVD's and Internet downloads of their major movies at the same time. Apple offers movies and TV shows for download through iTunes, Amazon offers them for download through its Unbox service, and Microsoft provides the option of downloading movies in HDTV as well as standard def through its Xbox 360 video gaming platform. Now, Sony may be poised to offer downloads of high definition movies through its Play Station 3 video game platform. While nothing has been confirmed yet as to when Sony will offer this service, company officials have remarked that the move would make a lot of sense.

There are a number of reasons why it would be a good business move for Sony to offer High Definition movie downloads for the Play Station 3. For example, it adds a new revenue stream for that Sony could profit from at the same time as adding a new feature to the Play Station 3. It also makes sense from the standpoint of further taking advantage of the Play Station 3's features and potential. For example, the fact that the Play Station 3 has a built in hard drive, the ability to connect to a broadband network, and the ability to display HDTV resolutions up to 1080p make it the perfect vehicle for downloading a viewing movies in HDTV. Furthermore, Sony also has a division that produces major motion pictures, and because of that, it would be in an excellent position at least from the standpoint of supplying its own movies to owners of the Play Station 3.

One argument against providing movies in HDTV over the Internet is that Sony might undermine its own proprietary high def DVD format- Blu-ray. Blu-ray discs take advantage of blue laser technology to pack more data onto the disc than is possible with conventional DVD technology, which makes it great for delivering movies in HDTV.

Blu-ray is also currently engaged in a format war with Toshiba's HD-DVD format. Some analysts have argued that Internet downloads of movies in HDTV could make both high definition DVD formats irrelevant. If that's true, on one hand offering downloads of HDTV movies could undermine both formats (the Xbox 360 can play HD-DVD's with the addition of an external drive in addition to getting HDTV movies online) which would be a mistake if Sony wants the Blu-ray format to be successful in the long run. On the other hand, offering HD movies through downloads and on Blu-ray disc might be a good way for Sony to hedge its bets against the trend for on demand TV in the future.

Either way, it seems that Sony is looking ahead and trying to add value to its products and services.