>After the news end of last year about YouTube dedicated HD TV-channels and Google TV, PlayStation announces that it will rename it’s current ‘PlayStation Network’ to SEN: Sony Entertainment Network. I saw an incredibly cool presentation last week at the ‘iMMovator-conference’ about connected television where Sony unfolded their plans for 2012 and beyond.

As I predicted in my book ‘A Brand New Playground‘ the ‘game consoles’ develop into home entertainment systems that are connected to all the content in the world through the internet. The video below shows you how PlayStation was already providing all sorts of content in 2010. It organized consumer content (photo’s, music and video’s), but was also connected to content providers like Hulu and Mubi (arthouse movies) and loads of other stuff. It’s nice to know that currently more than 50% of all PlayStations are connected to the internet, which is about 30 million PlayStations globally…

Now in the near future PlayStation will largely copy Apple’s functionalities: the PlayStation will be the core of content that will be accessible by all Sony devices and screens in your household. The cool thing is that they decided to make it an ‘open system’ based on Android. Hooray for Sony – well done.
Now finally we can access Sony pictures, Sony music and Sony PlayStation content with all kinds of devices and a specially designed remote control with touch screen and a complete abc on the back will help you to navigate through all that content! Sony also promised to deliver full internet access instead of just limited versions of YouTube and Google.

The main difference is that with Google TV on the Sony televisions you can actually watch two layers of content at the same time: internet + television content. Technically these two cannot be integrated as of yet, but the layers are so well integrated that it will feel as ‘one’ stream of content. The ‘older’ internet television force you to choose between either ‘TV-content’ or ‘internet content’… the future televisions (connected televisions) will enable you to multitask like you never had before and make your tablet your third screen while sitting on the couch instead of your second screen… 😉

I will be visiting the release of PlayStation Vita tomorrow where we will hear more undoubtedly!

Meanwhile read some more on the Sony USA website