Sony's internet TV service, PlayStation Vue, will come out of beta and launch commercially in three major cities within the next two weeks. The Wall Street Journal reports that Sony will offer Vue in New York City, Chicago, and Philadelphia to start — cities where invited testers have already been using the service for months. PlayStation Vue runs on Sony's PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 consoles. The goal is to roll out Vue nationwide by the end of 2015, Sony's Andrew House said in an interview with the Journal.
Announced back in November, PlayStation Vue will bundle a number of popular channels including CBS, FOX, NBC, Comedy Central, FX, Discovery, and many more. Much like Sling TV, you'll be able to watch live streams of those networks and "catch up" by watching episodes that've aired in recent days. But Sony's service will have more channels — around 75 in each market — and allow for recorded shows to be stored in the cloud for 28 days.
We still have no idea how much it will cost
The major question around PlayStation Vue is the monthly subscription price; some expect Sony to charge anywhere from $50 to $80 for the service. And at that point, it's not far off from cable. But to its credit, Sony looks to have built an attractive user interface that's a bit nicer and more intuitive than Sling TV's current experience. Speaking of Sling, Sony has also been unable to bring ESPN (one of Dish's big exclusives) to Vue. "Even absent ESPN we are very confident that we have a very robust offering in the sports area with existing partnerships," House told the Journal.
Sony has said it eventually plans to take PlayStation Vue beyond its two consoles with apps for iPad and other devices. It's a big moment for internet TV; Sling has reportedly allied 100,000 subscribers since opening signups, according to Recode. And just two days ago, HBO finally unveiled its standalone subscription service, HBO Now, which will launch in April at $14.99 per month.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/11/8190749/sony-playstation-vue-launching-two-weeks
Everything you need to know about PlayStation Vue, Sony's new pay-TV service
The PS3 and PS4 based TV streaming services launches in a couple of weeks. Here's what you need to know
PlayStation Vue is Sony’s latest attempt to bring PlayStation consoles to the centre of the living room entertainment experience by offering a cloud-based television service to rival streaming competitors such as Netflix.
PlayStation Vue launches in the next couple of weeks and will initially only be available via PS3 and PS4 in Chicago, New York and Philadelphia before rolling out across other U.S. States over the course of the year.
Here’s everything you need to know…
What features does PlayStation Vue have?
PlayStation Vue works in a similar vein to Netflix and will feature live TV, catch-up TV and on-demand content. Users will be able to save their shows via the cloud for up to 28 days. Up to 500 shows can be saved and there are no storage limitations.
It will feature a ‘smart’ Search feature to find your favorite shows, while the Explore feature will allow users to filter shows by various parameters, including genre, ratings and popularity.
Users can tag shows as ‘favorite’ and PlayStation Vue will then save future episodes of that programme for the next 28 days so you can watch them at your leisure without worrying about forgetting to record them.
What channels are available?
There are approximately 75 channels available from day one. Check out the confirmed content.
• CBS – At launch, PlayStation Vue will offer the live linear signal from CBS Television Network's owned-and-operated TV stations in select leading markets in addition to on-demand prime-time programming.
• Discovery Communications – Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Investigation Discovery, Science, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, Discovery Family Channel and 11 more brands.
• Fox – Fox Networks Group's portfolio of national entertainment programming services, including - FX, FXX, FXM, National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD. Additionally FOX Sports' national and regional programming services - FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2, BTN, Fox's regional sports networks, including YES Network and Prime Ticket. The agreement also covers Fox's owned and operated television stations.
• NBCUniversal – All local offerings from NBC, Telemundo and regional sports networks as well as Bravo, CNBC, E!, NBCSN, Oxygen, Sprout, Syfy, USA Network and more.
• Scripps Networks Interactive – HGTV, Food Network, Travel Channel, DIY Network and Cooking Channel.
• Viacom – BET, CMT, Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, PALLADIA, Spike, VH1 and more."
There are some significant channels missing from the service, including ESPN and CNN.
How do you get PlayStation Vue?
Initially you will need a PS3 or PS4. An application will be available to download on launch day. You will also need a broadband connection and pay up for a subscription fee to use the service. Initially, PlayStation Vue will launch in three US states, Chicago, Philadelphia and New York and will launch across the U.S. later in the year. The launch date is expected to be in the next two weeks.
How much will it cost?
There will be a subscription for PlayStation Vue, but right at this minute the pricing hasn’t been announced. We’ll update the article as soon as we know.
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