If it can make it there it can make it anywhere.
Didn't Netflix find this isn't the case. They can make it there, then find the studios all have exclusive deals with other providers here.
Sony has unveiled its widely expected PlayStation Vue OTT TV service, telling us everything we need to know except the most important part: the price. At present it is just a US phenomenon, which makes sense – if it can make it there it can make it anywhere. It is referred to as a cloud-based TV service and claims to reinvent …
I already have a PS3, so the idea of not having to buy anything appeals to me. However, I get 250 KB/s top speed, and even that is fairly unreliable. I can't reliably stream anything at any reasonable resolution.
Nevertheless, I want to be able to choose, within the set of my favorite shows, what I want to watch, and watch it immediately. Given my bandwidth restrictions, this implies downloading or purchasing the media I'm interested in well in advance - at least a day, and frequently weeks.
If this service allows me to do that, I'll consider it. I can even accept DRM, including online DRM - I'd consider this a cached streaming, not a download, so I'm fine with not really owning the media, provided the price is appropriate. However, inability to fully cache lots and lots of content would be a showstopper for me.
Low, unreliable bandwidth?
There's an app for that. *cough*torrent*cough*
I've found Mythtv has revolutionised my TV viewing. I record what I want to see and now I watch a whole lot less. Not even free content of dubious origin tempts me.
Interesting, the ability to skip adverts has resulted in lower TV consumption.
If Sony have any sense they'll produce a plugin stick which can provide this service, or implement an app which allows it to be streamed via chromecast.
It doesn't need any storage, it doesn't need much by way of a UI - it just has to be able to authenticate a user and connect to content on demand. The content could be a livestream, VOD or a "recording" which is basically just a timeshifted stream marked by a start / end timestamp.
We have 6 Sony games devices connected to the internet, I don't think it will reach a PSP, nor all the Vitas*. But the 2 consoles will be.
* Teenage boys 2, me 1
** Hmm some mobile telephone game (then on a N8), or Killzone Mercenary and Tearaway, easy choice.
And PS4 BBC Iplayer is horrid!