It’s almost no secret that Sony finally wants to move to a digital system for distributing new content to its customers. There’s been a heavy emphasis of that in any of the recent presentations on the PS3. As well as inter connectivity between the PS3 and PSP, and being able to download movie clips and tv shows to your PSP, Sony has recently been experimenting with new methods of distributing movies for the PSP (DRM-protected movies on memory sticks). Due to the disappointing (and I would add expectedly so) low UMD sales, Sony is very keen on finding other ways to highlight the versatility of the PSP as more than a gaming handheld, but as a media player.
Hence, the rumor goes that Sony will be soon offering downloadeable movies for the PSP. This will possibly be both directly through your PC, and through your PS3 (the PS3 seems like the most likely choice, but they would be stupid to not offer the same on the PC). The rumor further indicates that Sony is hoping to offer hundreds of movies for download by Christmas. Sony is scrambling to become the first company to offer movies for download, and in doing so, to show up Apple and their iTunes.
Unfortunately, it looks like they will fall short, as Apple is rumored to be unveiling their own movie downloading system imminently. If the rumor is correct, this could potentially be a huge blow to Sony as iTunes is already well established, and have already started making inroads by selling TV shows.
Having said all that, if both sets of rumors are true, Sony could still stand to have an amazing finish to their somewhat lackluster year. Combined with the rumors swirling about the PSP2 (actually more of PSP Lite or PSP 1.5, but still cool nonetheless), and the upcoming PS3 launch, Sony could have something special on their hands. Sony has stumbled a bit since E3, having troubled clearly expressing what they are about, but if these three things come together at Christmas, Sony could very well cause a huge stir in the next few months.
