My guess is that you will not be able to write to the UMDs. First off, you could never do this internally because the laser won't support it. They won't supply an add-on for your computer, because they don't want people to copy the disc. So I really doubt they will provide such a thing.

As for movies, they have already struck deals with many movie studios to release feature length films on UMD for less than the cost of a DVD. I'm sure most of us won't have a problem selecting some of our favorite movies to re-purchase and have to watch anywhere. I can't wait for the day when I can watch Fight Club anywhere I want.

You don't have to wait. Buy a portable DVD player or get a laptop with a DVD drive. ;)

Hmm.. portable DVD player for $600? No. Laptop for $2000? No. PSP for $200? YES!

Ability to only watch your proprietary movies on your little handheld? Priceless.

Watch only my movies? What the hell are you talking about?

Sony Hand-Held PlayStation Offers Wireless Network
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm..._playstation_dc

Tue Jul 29, 1:13 PM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp (news - web sites) (6758.T) said on Tuesday its new hand-held PlayStation console would be equipped with a wireless network system which allows users within a close area to play games together and download game characters.


Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), Sony's game unit, mapped out technical details of the upcoming "PSP" hand-held platform, which will compete head-to-head with Nintendo (news - web sites) Co Ltd's (7974.OS) dominant Game Boy Advance handheld console.

"We will be using some challenging technologies including wireless (news - web sites) LAN," SCE President Ken Kutaragi said at a meeting of game software makers and retailers.

"The PSP is a product with huge potential, following PlayStation and PlayStation 2 (news - web sites). The video game market may change in a big way," he said.

Kutaragi said the PSP, scheduled to debut in the fourth quarter of 2004, would employ "the latest and the most cutting-edge technologies" including two powerful micro-processors and an advanced 3D-effect graphics engine.

The new device will process data ten times faster than the original PlayStation console, SCE said.

Kutaragi also said the PSP would adopt advanced security technology which will help protect the copyright of game developers.

Sony, the dominant force in the $30 billion video game market, took industry watchers by surprise in May by unveiling its plan to launch the PSP, which features a color screen and a new high-capacity optical disc created especially for it.

The move puts Nintendo and its Game Boy hand-held platform directly in its sights, just as in 1995 when Sony first ventured into the game console business.

Sony has not set a price for the PSP, a multi-media unit that also plays movies and music, but analysts expect it to sell for 19,000 to 30,000 yen ($159-$251), well above the 12,500-yen price tag for Game Boy Advance SP, Nintendo's smaller version of its hot-selling device launched in February.

SCE plans to start distributing PC-base software emulator tools to game developers this autumn, followed by the final hardware tool next spring, Kutaragi said.

"We plan to demonstrate our prototype version of the PSP at the E3 trade show in the United States next May, and a software line-up at the Tokyo Game Show, ahead of the worldwide launch in the fourth quarter of 2004," Kutaragi said.

The news came after the Tokyo stock market closed.

Shares in Sony closed up 0.52 percent at 3,840 yen, while the Nikkei average (^N225 - news) index fell 0.06 percent.


Chris

Um... that stuff is all mentioned in the specs posted way earlier today.

Uh... your movies. You know the ones you are talking about buying to watch...

What my post is refering to is that these movies are proprietary in nature and can only be watched on this device. (as of now.) I have a hard time believing people will want to buy movies that they can only watch on a small portable device. That's what the hell I'm talking about.

Yes, but mines in plain English, for us simple folks! ;)

Chris

One of the reasons I like Nintendo is because they stick to games. I don't want my console or portable to do 900 different things. I want it to play games. As long as it doesn't affect the initial price I don't care, but if it debuts at $200 or some other nonsense price I won't bother.

Pretty amazing specs there, it will be interesting to see how many they sell at that price though. The beauty of handhelds was always their low cost.

Jeff's right,

Very few people are going to buy a movie in a format that they can only watch on a little handheld. As a result there likely won't be many movies released in the format.

Plus, unless sony is willing to take a huge loss (which I don't think they are) the quality will suck if they put it out at $200. Not to mention that the proprietary disks will likely be smaller than DVDs, making more compression necessary and likely offering a lower picture quality.

Plus portable DVD players don't really cost $600. I bought mine for less than $300 around 2 years ago and it's a Panasonic.

And laptops that can play movies don't really cost $2000. :D

They already have interest from movie studios, and UMDs of motion pictures should be $10-$15. They are using MPEG-4 so the quality will be there. They will be taking a huge hit. I don't know why you think they wouldn't; they took a huge hit on the PS2. The portable DVD players I have seen for under $500 either are crappy quality or the screen is tiny (yes, smaller than 4.5"). As for the laptop, if I'm going to splurg on a Laptop, it better do a lot more than play movies.

It's totally cheesey though, it's not a DVD player, it's an MPEG4 player.

joshd2012, the "movie studios" that are interested are likely Sony's own studio's.

Sony still swears by the MiniDisc too. What happened to all the music that was promised to be available on those? (I'm talking store bought.)


offtopic?
Regardless, am I only one that it worried that we are going to have to endure the Sony fake hype machine for 3 years in a row now? (PSP hype till late next year, and then PS3 stuff should be rolling.) Sony could learn something from MS and Nintendo's approach to their hardware. Then again, they are trailing the PS2...

Personally I'm interested to see what Nintendo has up their sleeve. This type of competition is very good and Mario won't take it standing down.

Well Nintendo is a different machine with out "old-man Yamma". How much different is yet to be scene. Traditionally I would say Nintendo plans to stick with the GBA for at least 3-4 more years to really milk the profit from it. What Nintendo does should be interesting indeed.

The future connectivity of the their new home system and a portable will hopefully be far evolved from the current GC->GBA setup. I love it already, it's just that there is so much that can be done better. Perhaps Sony can innovate this area and bring some new stuff to the table.

The Big N saw Sony steal their thunder and marketshare in the console department, I'm not sure they'll sit idley by with the GBA while Sony swoops in again. A nice handheld GCN or N64 sounds right to me. Course I could be wrong.

Outta curiosity, where do you install the "World's Smallest Nuclear Reactor" ?

MiniDisc actually did (and still is doing) very well in Europe and some parts of Asia and Africa. That's besides the point though.

MPEG4 is pretty sweet and if the movies are $12-19 I'd buy them without hesitation especially before travelling.

Keep in mind this thing will play games as well but we are choosing to focus on the peripheral uses of the system. If you dont want to watch movies or listen to MP3's then don't, but I think it's a great idea. The whole "walkman of the new millenium"
deal is a brilliant way to market this.

If they can get the power consumption worked out of a CD based system a GC portable is very realistic. Is it possible Nintendo went with small DVD's for this very reason? (in part)

Side Note: If I remember correctly the GC uses 1/6th the power to run that the Xbox does. My friend and I calculated them launch weekend. I'll double check tom. The power consumption overall of the unit is fairly low, it may have been engineered with a portable in mind.

You are correct.
I had this in my post, but took it out when editing.

If a laptop has enough processing power to play a movie without any "choppiness" it will do a lot more than play movies.