Sony is about to make a bold move into the highly competitive entertainment business, after the company today unveiled its long-rumoured online TV service. With PlayStation Now and PlayStation TV already patented and out in the ether, the Japanese giant has settled with PlayStation Vue for its cable-free platform, which will launch first across PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 before proliferating onto other devices including iPad.
At launch, Vue will provide users with access to 75 channels, including the likes of Animal Planet, National Geographic and Comedy Central and it’s understood a limited beta test will go live later this month for a handful of users on both of the aforementioned consoles.
In a statement provided to CNET, Sony’s group CEO Andrew House outlined the vision for the service, claiming that Vue will combine live, on-demand as well as catch-up TV all wrapped around a familiar looking PlayStation interface.
“Everyday TV is about to become extraordinary with our new cloud-based TV service, PlayStation Vue. PlayStation Vue reinvents the traditional viewing experience so your programming effortlessly finds you, enabling you to watch much more of what you want and search a lot less.”
While there is no pricing to report at this time, Sony has assured potential customers that Vue will offer “transparent pricing with no commitments,” so we’re guessing that it will adopt a Netflix-like business model where users pay on a monthly basis.
PlayStation Vue will begin rolling out in beta form at the end of this month for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 3 users before a fully-fledged launch in the early stages of 2015.
