Sony announces cloud-based TV service with live TV, DVR, and video on demand

We were expecting Sony to launch something like PlayStation Now, which is cloud-based streaming for games. But Sony seems to have larger ambitions, launching a TV service that will provide live television, video on demand, and even DVR in the cloud. It will offer universal search “across live and on-demand video content” — letting you just keep your content in Sony’s cloud and use it across all of your Sony gadgets — in fact, the company says it will work on 70 million Sony devices. That presumably includes the PS4, PS3, Vita, smart TVs, and Android devices. It’s not clear at all what Sony means by “live TV” yet — building an all-in-one service like this is fraught with complications with studios, cable companies, and has been a big target for lawsuits.

Sony already offered video on demand service, so it’s not a complete shock for it to grow it into more, but this sounds a bit more ambitious than what you’d think. The DVR in the cloud is particularly interesting, and it fills out the Sony Entertainment Network in a big way. Sony’s online offering had long been a sore spot for customers, but here at CES it certainly looks like it’s beginning to fill out nicely. If Sony can pull off this TV in the cloud service — which begins testing later this year — the company’s ecosystem of devices and services may finally cohere into the “One Sony” vision that CEO Kaz Hirai has been pushing for.