Sony Bringing Movies to PS3 This Summer

Sony Computer Entertainment president Kazuo Hirai, speaking at a press event at Sony headquarters in Tokyo, has said the company plans to launch a movie download service for its PlayStation 3 video game console. The service will launch in the United States this summer, to be followed by launched in Europe and Japan at a later date. Hirai revealed no specific information about the service, save to note that additional details will be available next month.

A PS3-based movie download service has been the subject of speculation since even before Sony launched the PS3 console over a year and a half ago. It seems a natural fit: Sony is, after all, also one of the major film studios, and controls a good deal of video content. Through Sony BMG, a download service ought to be able to offer music videos from Sony BMG artists, at the very least. Launching a movie download service will also enable the PlayStation 3 to compete more effectively against Microsoft’s well-established Xbox Live service, which offers movies, television shows, and other video content (some of it in high definition) for download.

Sony also announced “Life with PlayStation,” a new service that will initially launch with news and weather information but is slated to be expanded to include a number of additional data sources, including photos and movies. The interface is a globe of the Earth with weather systems and major cities marked; users can browse stories (they open in a browser window) and locations while the system plays music from a user’s media library.

The announcements came as part of a press event where Sony CEO Howard Stringer updated its corporate plan through the fiscal year 2010 (PDF), promising to return the Sony brand to luxury status and bring profitability back to its video game and TV businesses. STringer promised more Internet integration with its electronics products—including (this should sound familiar) a movie download service for Internet-connective Bravia televisions, due to launch in the autumn in the United States with the Sony-produced Will Smith feature Hancock, before the film is available on DVD. Having lost share in key markets to the likes of Apple and Nintendo, Sony says it plans to invest $16.7 billion over the next three years on future technology and product development.