Owners of Sony’s PlayStation Portable (PSP) in Ireland and the UK will be able to download films, music videos and other content on demand from early 2008 after Sony and BSkyB announced a joint partnership.
This new service will be the first official PSP video-on-demand (VOD) download offering in Europe and will have an estimated market of two million PSP users.
Entertainment programmes, animation, music, sports and other general programming will be available from Sky and its third-party content providers. PSP owners will be able to download either wirelessly or via a PC connection.
Further information on this VOD service is expected to be announced at the Leipzig Games Convention, held in Germany on 22 August.
James Murdoch, CEO of BSkyB said, “Together, we’re ideally placed to make portable, on-demand TV a reality.
“The quality of the PSP screen and its substantial reach among two million users makes it a natural extension to our multi-platform strategy.”
VOD is becoming increasingly popular, with the proliferation of web-based services such as YouTube and Joost.
The recent launch of the iPlayer on 27 July marked the BBC’s move into the world of VOD but has received criticism due to its compatibility issues, working only on the Windows XP operating system.
By Marie Boran
