Analyst wonders why there’s no video download service for PSP

Sony PSP still has no video download service - Image 1It is needless to say that the PlayStation Portable (PSP) is more than a video gaming device. In itself, and with the help of the homebrew scene, the handheld can easily be transformed into a total portable entertainment system.

This is why Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey is wondering why Sony didn’t take advantage of this. According to the analyst, Apple’s iTunes has been enjoying the huge market for mobile video content for some time now and Sony has still to take a slice of it. McQuivey expressed his regret,

The thing is Sony could have been all this. 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.

McQuivey explained as well that this problem is not focused on the PSP alone and is in fact the problem of Sony since the time of the Betamax. Quite boldly, the analyst added that Sony will never win a format war ever because it refuses to open its channels and listen to what the consumer wants. He then adds that,

You got a company here that’s pushing its own approach on every level, and as a result nobody is using its memory stick or video format, so you don’t have the same robust market that you could have had if you said ‘We’re going to open this up. You can put your Windows Media files on here. You can put your QuickTime files on here

The PSP, as you all know, uses format Universal Media Discs (UMD). Quite ironically, these UMDs can only be played and viewed on the handheld unit.

Via Next-Gen

Sony PSP still has no video download service - Image 1It is needless to say that the PlayStation Portable (PSP) is more than a video gaming device. In itself, and with the help of the homebrew scene, the handheld can easily be transformed into a total portable entertainment system.

This is why Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey is wondering why Sony didn’t take advantage of this. According to the analyst, Apple’s iTunes has been enjoying the huge market for mobile video content for some time now and Sony has still to take a slice of it. McQuivey expressed his regret,

The thing is Sony could have been all this. 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.

McQuivey explained as well that this problem is not focused on the PSP alone and is in fact the problem of Sony since the time of the Betamax. Quite boldly, the analyst added that Sony will never win a format war ever because it refuses to open its channels and listen to what the consumer wants. He then adds that,

You got a company here that’s pushing its own approach on every level, and as a result nobody is using its memory stick or video format, so you don’t have the same robust market that you could have had if you said ‘We’re going to open this up. You can put your Windows Media files on here. You can put your QuickTime files on here

The PSP, as you all know, uses format Universal Media Discs (UMD). Quite ironically, these UMDs can only be played and viewed on the handheld unit.

Via Next-Gen

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