Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ), today announced that PlayStation 3 (PS3) computer entertainment system (CECH-2000B) with a 250GB hard disk drive (HDD) will become available on February 18, 2010 in Japan at a recommended retail price of 34,980 yen ($380.7).

Sony said that the PlayStation Network has over 3.8 million cumulative registered accounts in Japan. The PlayStation Network is offering users movies, TV drama and music videos, in addition to a wide variety of game and anime content with more than 4,800 pieces of downloadable content for PS3. Taking advantage of the extra HDD capacity (250GB), PS3 users will be able to store more entertainment content and services downloadable from PlayStation Store.

The company will also introduce "torne" for PlayStation 3 system, a set of digital terrestrial tuner and application in Blu-ray Disc (BD) for viewing and recording digital terrestrial broadcasting on the PS3 system. "torne" will become available in Japan in March, 2010, at a recommended retail price (RRP) of 9,980 yen ($108.6).

Users will be able to watch digital terrestrial broadcasting and record them on the hard disk drive (HDD) of the PS3 system by simply connecting the digital terrestrial tuner to the PS3 system using the attached USB cable and installing the application from the BD.



To accommodate those users who wish to record TV programs in high-definition on PS3, SCEJ will also introduce a "PlayStation 3 Digital Terrestrial Broadcasting Recorder Pack," that comprises the PS3 system with 250GB HDD, the largest HDD capacity of the existing model, and "torne." The special bundle pack will become available in March, 2010, concurrently with the release of "torne," and will be a limited offer at a RRP of 42,800 yen (including tax).

Sony said that "torne" offers user friendly interface, allowing users to operate the application using DUALSHOCK 3 wireless controller. Users will be able to search through the electronic TV program guides or play back recorded content comfortably as if they were playing games.

The colorfully designed 24 hour TV program guide can be zoomed in or out by pressing L1/R1 buttons, allowing users to find and select their favorite TV programs by a simple touch of a button.

TV program search function on "torne" application can sort the TV programs by genre or by keywords and will instantly list up the corresponding TV programs for users to simply select and record out of the list. Additionally, "torne" will automatically start recording pre-programmed content even when the PS3 system is in Stand-by mode or when users are playing games or using the application on the XMB (XrossMediaBar) such as the Blu-ray/DVD player. Users can also connect external HDD via USB cable to record TV programs directly on to the external storage instead of on the HDD of the PS3 system. Additional useful features include quick playback and scene search for viewing recorded TV programs.

Connectivity with PSP (PlayStation Portable) allows users to transfer recorded TV programs to its Memory Stick PRO Duo (Mark2)/Memory Stick Micro for high quality viewing on the go. By using the Remote Play feature of the PS3 system, users at home can connect on to their PS3 system using their PSP and remotely access the application to view or record TV programs.

"torne" also offers online functionalities, such as the Internet browser which can be used simultaneously with the application, and unique "Toru-Miru feature" which can display the number of users who have pre-programmed the TV programs through "torne" as well as the user trend of which program is being most watched.