Sony announces new PSP media connection plans

Whilst Sony has revealed little new information on its plans for the launch of the PlayStation 3, Consumer Electronics Show attendees were treated to several announcements regarding the PlayStation Portable handheld device.

Sony Corporation chairman and CEO Sir Howard Stringer provided a brief demonstration of how the company's recently announced Location Free TV technology can be synchronised with the PSP.

The Location Free base station connects to PC, TV and PSP, and enables users to view streamed audio and visual content and local broadcasts worldwide, via an internet connection. Users can connect to their base station using the Location Free Player on the PSP, to view all their favourite content and tune in to the channels they wish to view, from any Wi-Fi connection point.

The company also announced its intention to re-launch its Connect music download service in March, offering music, games, videos and movies, which can be downloaded directly to the PSP. Although no specific details were revealed in terms of content, the move appears to be a renewed attempt to compete with Apple's iTunes service, particularly in view of the recent launch of Apple's video ipod.

Game content, precise details of which were not revealed at the show, is likely to take the form of casual games and re-inventions of classic franchises in a similar fashion to Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace. Since its launch in November with the arrival of the next-generation Xbox 360 console, the online marketplace service has enjoyed some four million downloads.

With the revised edition of Sony's PSP Media Manager soon to be available, transference and conversion of multiple media formats is becoming incredibly simple, opening up new possibilities for the type of content available on the handheld device.

The multimedia capabilities of the PSP, rather than its obvious function as a games machine, are clearly a focus for Sony at present. However, it is difficult to gauge the success of its extensive connectivity and digital distribution ambitions without further information on pricing, range of content and specific launch dates - which are expected to follow shortly.