Sony unveiled a Net-connected video recorder that can seek out and record TV programmes it thinks its owner would like.
The device, which uses a hard-disk drive instead of optical discs or magnetic tapes, will be the first of Sony’s “Cocoon” line of products that aim to become an alternative to the PC for accessing Internet content.
The recorder includes a 160 gigabyte hard-disk drive, able to record 15 hours of high-definition TV or up to 100 hours of standard quality programmes, with a possible expansion to 320 gigabytes.
Cocoon uses the freely available Linux operating system and a microprocessor based on reduced instruction-set computing technology developed by MIPS Technology Inc.
This is part of “Sony’s strategy of opening four home gateways to the Internet: TVs, PlayStation 2 game consoles and mobile phones, as well as the PC.”
A Linux-based PC can perhaps serve as a PVR, with the TV guide becoming the “digital dashboard” for the home segment.
