Playstation 2 Gets TiVo-like Functions

"Austin, Texas-based BroadQ is offering Qcast Tuner, software to connect the PS2 with a PC running SnapStream Media's video recording software.

Houston-based SnapStream released its Personal Video Station software last year. The program allows a PC connected to a TV signal to record and play back programs using the PC's hard drive, similar to standalone devices such as the TiVo video recorder.

To date, playback of SnapStream programming has been limited to monitors and other devices connected to a PC. But the network adapter Sony released for the PS2 last month finally gives the company a pathway to television sets, SnapStream CEO Rakesh Agrawal said....

'I think the overall idea of being able to view video and other content via the game console, that has real long-term potential, but I think you're talking four or five years down the road,' he said. 'You're really looking more at the PlayStation 3. By then, people will have more of the home networking capacity, and the game systems themselves will have more capacity.' " [News.com, via Slashdot]

This is all well and good, but it doesn't really get me anywhere. I've come to realize that what I want is for my ReplayTV to access the internet directly. I want to be able to set preference sites for their channel guide. For movies, I want to tie it to the Internet Movie Database so that I can get more information about a particular movie. Or if I see an actor on a TV show and I want to know his name, I want to be able to press a button and get a full listing for that episode from a site like TV Tome. If I'm watching a weekly drama or sitcom and I missed last week's episode, I want to press a button that takes me to an episode guide, snarky comments and all. If I'm watching a news/politicaly commentary show, I want to link a subject out and see what the blogosphere is saying about it. If I'm watching a talk show interview with a particular author, I want to link out and search my library's catalog or Amazon reviews. The manufacturer can pre-program defaults (and charge for placement), but I want to be able to change those preferences. If you're a television network or movie studio, make your web sites interesting enough and I'll include you in my list.

Interactivity and convergence isn't happening fast enough for me, and the cable companies certainly aren't helping things any.