Since the move to the next-gen consoles, Sony press conferences have lost their impact. Poor PlayStation Portable sales followed by the PS3 letdown, journalists and gamers destroying the arrogance of the Japanese company, the success of the Xbox 360; all of these drove Sony to keep a low profile during E3, although it would seem that during this Game Convention in Leipzig the wounded lion has gotten its strength back. There have been showers of thundering announcements with the company putting forth the lofty aim of making the PS3 and the PSP multimedia platforms at the centre of everyone’s lives.

The PS3 becomes a free digital video player

The conference kicked off with the usual splurting of random numbers in an attempt to show the strength of the PlayStation brand. The main idea the manufacturer will try to bring across is that, yes, the PS3 does sell. The introduction of the Starter Pack in Europe caused a 61% rise in sales (in Europe) since its launch; and a pretty impressive 240% in Germany in the first week, though we’ll have to wait and see if this will be a long-term trend. Especially knowing that the numbers are facing the sales of Xbox 360 and the Wii, a graph compared the sales of PS2 and PS3 during the course of the first months of sales. You can then see that the PS3 is actually selling more than the PS2 did at the time. The underlying meaning? The PS3 might have had a rough start but it will end up dominating the market, like its predecessor. Well, so according to Sony.

Despite this hard number talking, the company has decided to go all out to catch up on its low sales in the next-gen market, with the aim out of Leipzig being to make its console into a real multimedia hub. We knew about the Blu-ray, the image viewer, the music and the Playstation Network, and next up comes the television.

Having the friendly name PlayTV, this new (entirely free) service will allow you to watch normal or High-Def TV channels. For this, you only need to add a little black box to the PS3 and connect it to your TV. You may well ask: what is the point if you already own a digital decoder? So as you can record TV to your PlayStation’s hard drive, and later put the shows onto your PSP. Eat that, Sky Plus.

The PS3 is now going to be a DVR as well as a games console, even allowing you to watch one channel whilst recording from another simultaneously. PlayTV also includes a full schedule, allowing you to see the shows that are on now and on next in the same way you can with your Sky-type box. Recorded shows will be found in a directory named Library, and the Library will have a few smart features of its own: For example playing the first few seconds of video in a preview window when you hold your cursor over it.

As we mentioned above, it will be possible to export your recorded TV shows to your PSP, via either WiFi or USB. The live demonstration was more than interesting, with the quality and simplicity of use looking good. The PlayTV service will be available in France, UK, Germany, Spain and Italy at the beginning of 2008, and the rest of Europe will be covered later on in the year.

Instant Messaging and GPS on PSP

After having spoiled the PS3, it is the PSP’s turn to have its share of surprises. Clearly detaching itself from the competition, the portable Sony console wishes to reinvent itself as a portable multimedia centre. The first sizeable announcement concerns the addition of the Go!Messenger service. Developed in partnership with British Telecom, this service allows users to send instant messages and also to have audio or video conversations with the addition of a web cam. Utilizing WiFi, this feature will be available as a free update in January 2008.

It doesn’t stop there. Many are the situations in life where a GPS set would be very handy (notably when travelling across Germany). The brand new Go!Explore service transforms the PSP into a GPS device, which is usable on foot as well as in cars. Including a receptor and a UMD disc containing maps, Go!Explore will allow you to find out where you are, locate addresses and navigate to them.

The program was created in partnership with TeleAtlas and NavNgo, and contains eleven audio languages. The basic maps (France, UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Benelux and Scandinavia) will be available to download on the PSP Network. The service should be available during the next year, though no pricing details have been announced.

Sony has finally announced the release date for the slim PSP as September 6 Available in black, white and silver, the new PSP will be sold with some limited edition bundles at launch. For example there will be a yellow version available in a Simpsons pack, along with a black and red Spiderman bundle.