PS3's PlayTV recorder

(gadgetshow.five.tv) -- Sony's PlayTV, a digital TV recorder add-on for the PlayStation 3, will get its UK release at the end of March. At least that's according to retailer HMV, which stuck the £99 box up on its website for pre-order recently - before mysteriously taking it down a day later. Hmmmm...

The compact device adds twin Freeview tuners to the PS3, allowing users to record TV shows directly to the console's hard drive, not to mention pause and rewind live TV. Recordings can then either be watched back on the PS3, moved onto a portable video player or "place-shifted" via the Internet to any PSP in the world. Apparently, the tuners and recorder are also HD ready, so if hi-def shows ever land on Freeview (pretty unlikely any time soon, we reckon) you'll have no trouble recording them.

Sony recently confirmed that any recordings made using PlayTV will be DRM-free, allowing you to move them from device to device freely, as well as watch them on almost any portable media player or computer.