The PlayStation3. It can play music, videos, store your photos, play HD visuals and Blu-Ray disks, play games and keep you in touch with your mates, plus much more. You'd think it coudn't do anything more high-tech - but you'd be wrong. Please welcome Sony's latest innovation, ladies and gentlemen - PlayTV.

PlayTV is a clever little bit of kit that turns your PS3 into a PVR, giving you the ability to watch, pause, rewind and record live TV - a bit like a Sky+ box. The kit costs £70 in total, and allows your PS3 to receive Freeview channels and interactive TV services.

The demo looks promising. The menus are well designed and quite snazzy, and the EPG is easy to use. The few channels which came stocked with the demo were only sample channels, and the picture quality left alot to be desired - although this will be no problem in the final release as the channels are delivered via your TV ariel, giving crysal clear visuals.

There are some very good features tucked away inside PlayTV. Recorded TV can be moved from PlayTV to the XMB and treated like any other video file, so you can watch your favourite programmes on your phone or PSP. PlayTV also works via Remote Play, so you can tune in at any time via an internet connection.

PlayTV seems to be a good little bit of kit, but I'll have to take a look at the full thing before making my mind up completely. As you'd expect with a demo, it still leaves alot to the imagination, but gives just enough away to sway a potential buyer.

I can't wait until I get my grubby little hands on it.

Linford

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