Sony PS3 Movie Download Service

Sony has announced that the rollout of their movie download service to the PS3 will commence “this summer”.

Being that summer is already here (its plenty hot outside), we expect this to be only a few weeks off.

The rollout will continue in Europe and Japan later in the year. The service will then expand to the Sony PSP as well as video Walkmen.

Sony is essentially playing catch-up to Microsoft on this one, as Gates’ company began their Xbox 360 video download service late in 2006. However, Sony may be able to exploit a marketing advantage now that the HD format wars are over. Their PS3 will give a user the option of using the HD digital download service or playing a Blu-ray movie disc (XBox does not have the Blu-ray capability).

Sony likely delayed this rollout while waiting for a resolution to the Blu-ray vs. HD DVD battle. Even though they are a bit behind, they should be fine in the long run, as they try to position the PS3 as a central family entertainment device in the household.