Can Sony click with download store?

Planes, trains and automobiles are where digital video wants to do some boredom busting.

Scores of companies are betting there's gold in helping go-go commuters and road warriors catch the latest episodes of 24 and Grey's Antatomy. Apple downloads movies to iPods. Cell phone carriers stream TV shows to handsets. Sling Media's Slingbox connects users to their home TVs from any Web-enabled handheld.

But a company uniquely positioned just a few years ago to be among the front-runners in the nascent mobile-video category is conspicuously missing, said James McQuivey, a Forrester Research analyst. Sounding a little like Marlon Brando, McQuivey argues that Sony, with the PlayStation Portable (PSP), should have been a contender. He notes that Apple's iTunes has sold 50 million TV shows, seized a huge market lead and proven people will watch video on small screens.

"This problem of Sony's goes back to the Betamax. They don't just want to make the device that everybody wants. They want to own the entire the format."

--James McQuivey
Forrester Research analyst

"The thing is, Sony could have been all this," McQuivey said. "The Sony PSP is one of the best portable entertainment media devices that anyone has come up with in years. It has a relatively big screen, plays video beautifully, has good storage and audio. It could have been the first big mobile carrier for TV shows and movies."

Instead, the mobile-video play of one of the world's largest electronics companies is straggling behind Apple, has shaken the confidence of supporters--especially in Hollywood--and added to the woes of CEO Howard Stringer.

The PSP is a handheld device that plays video games, music and videos, and also displays photos. As of March, Sony has sold 7.2 million of the devices in the U.S., according to NPD Group. The PSP was supposed to be a total-entertainment media device, yet two years after launching the PSP in North America, Sony by some accounts is retrofitting its video plans.

The Financial Times, for instance, reported last December that Sony planned to launch a PSP download store early this year. But as April heads into May, still no store. A Sony spokesman declined to discuss the issue.

To some observers, a PSP video store is an admission by Sony that the company's Universal Media Discs (UMDs), the mini DVDs that play only on PSPs, are a bust.

The media began kicking dirt over UMD a year ago when consumers largely ignored the format. From the Calgary Sun came the subtle headline "Bombs away; UMD sales are zilch with consumers." The Hollywood Reporter published a story in March 2006 about Universal Studios and Paramount Pictures ending production of movies for the PSP. Variety chronicled the handheld's sagging sales in July with a story headlined "PSP loses support; Wal-Mart, studios pull back."

Format envy
The source of the problem is easy to pinpoint, say critics: Sony's UMD was another attempt by the company to force a proprietary format down consumers' throats.

"Sony hasn't won a format war ever," McQuivey said. "Sony can't get over the idea of controlling the media format. This problem of Sony's goes back to the Betamax. They don't just want to make the device that everybody wants. They want to own the entire the format."

Some observers said that by offering a disc that would play only on a Sony device, the company was thwarting piracy. Others accused Sony of creating the UMD to force PSP users to pay twice for films. Since the company offered no way to connect the handheld to a television--the same way iPods link to TVs--a UMD movie can't be enjoyed on a larger screen.

[tell_ron]

They ignore the obvious.

Sony could very easily add a normal onscreen keyboard for the psp, they don't. Insteaad they have this arcane input method. Its been 2 years. The beauty of Apple is that they do the obvious, while others do not. IT s that simple.

[GGGlen]

Just occurred to me...

I never even considered buying a PSP, because I have ZERO interest
in gaming (I don't even want something that has the option of
playing games on it, but my iPod wasn't originally designed for
them)... and the kids that I know who own a PSP, they seem to have
ZERO interest in sitting down with it and watching a movie.

[Tiger1964]

Sony Will Never Get It

I bought a PSP last November and I have absolutely no interest in gaming. The PSP has one of the most beautiful displays available for a small device. I love to carry around my pictures and home videos to show people. I would never purchase a UMD movie. Too expensive to just watch on a little device when I can rip it from a DVD and put it one the device by myself.

Sony has the perfect chance to turn this little device into a mini computer, if only they would allow applications like a calendar, address book and a few other pda type apps...Unfortunately unless you have an older device without the old firmware you are out of luck in trying to run "homebrew" which essentially exploits the wonderful functionality of this device.

Sony seems doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past, anyone remember Beta tapes?

[skeptik]

ignoring the obvious II

"Some observers said that by offering a disc that would play only on a Sony device, the company was thwarting piracy. Others accused Sony of creating the UMD to force PSP users to pay twice for films. Since the company offered no way to connect the handheld to a television--the same way iPods link to TVs--a UMD movie is prevented from being enjoyed on a larger screen."

Dear Sony/Industry:
Isn't it obvious? We're not really ever going to adopt a "buy twice" strategy. Oh sure, you'll get a few buy anything early adopters - but never a real market segment.
Equally obvious to anyone who tries it: Playing small screen content on a large screen - eh not so good. Sell us the HD disc and let us downscale to our portable devices. Or throwaway the idea that we'll buy anything for our portable devices at all. Manipulating content we paid for doesn't make us pirates, it makes us enthusiastic users. Guess who buys the most product? Enthusiastic users.

Oh and the proprietary format thing? Why would we? Do you really think we're that stupid? Or brand loyal? NOT.

[Stating]

Sony Is Satanic

A freshly decapitated goat. Eating raw flesh. Digging your hands into a bloody carcass. Throwing knives, live snake handling. Topless women cavorting around. If this isn't Satanic I don't what is. Sony is seriously offtrack.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=451414&in_page_id=1770&ICO=NEWS&ICL=TOPART
Slaughter: Horror at Sony's depraved promotion stunt with decapitated goat

"Electronics giant Sony has sparked a major row over animal cruelty and the ethics of the computer industry by using a freshly slaughtered goat to promote a violent video game. The corpse of the decapitated animal was the centrepiece of a party to celebrate the launch of the God Of War II game for the company?s PlayStation 2 console. Guests at the event were even invited to reach inside the goat?s still-warm carcass to eat offal from its stomach."

[navsimpson]

Yeah, Sales are Up

http://kotaku.com/gaming/feature/feature-the-year-of-the-psp-250775.php