Sony Adding TV Tuner To PS3 Sony Japan Releasing Add-on DVR Peripheral for PS3

Since the Playstation 2 and later, Sony has always envisioned the
PlayStation (2 and 3) as being at the centerpiece of your home
multimedia setup, with its Blu-Ray/DVD capabilities, as well as the
other digital media playing abilities it has. Following Sony Europe's
lead, Sony Japan is releasing a TV tuner add-on peripheral for Japanese
PlayStation 3s.
The Sony Torne will offer Japanese gamers the chance to record and
timeshift (think DVR) TV programming. It'll be able to record TV content
directly to either the PS3's internal HDD or to an external HDD attached
via USB. It will be able to record TV shows at any time – even if
the PS3 is being used for gam
ing, watching Blu-Rays, or even turned off.
The PSP has been big for Sony, and they've included that with their
plans. If you save the video files from the Torne onto a Sony Media
Stick, you can view it on a PSP. Likewise, if your PS3 and PSP are on
the same network, you can wirelessly stream content from the Torne to
your PSP for wireless viewing. Obviously, this is a well-developed
product. Sony hasn't missed any steps here.
A similar add-on called PlayTV was launched in the UK in 2008 and
Australia in 2009. Like the Torne, it provided DVR like functionality to
the PS3, and has been fairly popular with the PS3 crowd. The PlayTV also
allowed you to stream content to the PSP, and even, a few Sony Ericsson
phones.
While the Sony Torne will be released in Japan in March 2010, North
America has been strangely left out of any such DVR add-ons. TV Tuner
add-ons have been rumored for the Xbox 360 for some time, but so far, no
such devices have come to fruition.