It seems that no one at Sony can keep a secret -- either that or the Japanese electronics giant is adopting modified guerrilla marketing tactics in its battle against game makers Microsoft and Nintendo.
The recent price reduction for Sony's 60GB PlayStation3 model was one of the worst-managed corporate announcements in recent memory, with everyone who was anyone at all signaling the price drop for nearly a month before Sony dropped out of serial-denial mode and made the official announcement.
Now it appears that Sony is at it again, as reported by the Engadget web site:
It's been rumored before, now Sony's marketing manager for Computer Entertainment in New Zealand has apparently, and likely pre-emptively, unveiled Sony's intentions to turn the PS3 into a digital video recorder.
Sony's Warwick Light is quoted in an interview with New Zealand's The Press as saying, "We're also hoping next year - about the same time that Freeview launches its terrestrial broadcasting service (expected to be in March) - to release a digital tuner for the PS3, turning it into a programmable TV recorder."
Whether this will happen in other markets will probably have to wait for other unofficial comments from Sony executives around the globe, but this does make a lot of sense, though as Engadget points, to be really useful as a DVR the PS3 will need a lot more than 80GB of storage space.
I'd go a step further and suggest that to be as attractive as possible, Sony should look to incorporate CableCard-style compatibility in markets where such standards exist, as an over-the-air tuner is of pretty limited benefit. A Sony-TiVo partnership could be beneficial for both companies.
Video Savant 
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