AfterDawn: News

Sony launches 'Life With PlayStation' service

Sony has announced the launch of their "Life with PlayStation" service which will give users live global news and weather as well as 3D views of the globe and even cloud imagery.

The information will be provided from partnerships with The Weather Channel (the weather updates), the University of Wisconsin-Madison (cloud imagery), Google News (the news feeds) and finally the The Earth Television Network (live webcam images of cities).



The application is free and Sony R&D head Noam Rimon adds that the entire service is integrated with Folding@home so "this means that while you're taking a stroll on Life with PlayStation, you're automatically helping Stanford University to work towards curing diseases such as Alzheimer's and various types of cancers."

Sony also adds it plans to add "a wide variety of interactive content and channels" to the service in the future.

To add the service, simply head to the XMB and click on the Folding@home logo.



Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Sep 2008 15:39

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• 27 comments

• 13thHouR

  Any addition to service is a good thing but is this really that "great"?
  
  lets jump for joy, once sony stops tracking users data and the infernal dynamic adds which is becoming an epidemic across the industry.

  20.9.2008 04:15 #1

• 1bonehead

  I do not understand what is so great about this new service.
  

  The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above!
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  20.9.2008 04:23 #2

• Stu_dent

  tbh this is what we have news and weather channels for

  20.9.2008 07:03 #3

• lbkamp

  Why complain?Its new thats good!

  20.9.2008 09:13 #4

• NHS2008

  Sony should HOOK-UP with Google...
  and get Google earth and stuff ported to PS3!! ofcourse for FREE.

  20.9.2008 10:24 #5

• chickenR

  I downloaded this earlier, just for the sake of trying it out, I wasn't excited about it. After playing about for a while, gotta say it's pretty cool. Fun to have a look at the weather and news for different cities around the world (however limited the current selection is). Nice job Sony

  20.9.2008 11:57 #6

• Hunt720

  l like that they use this as an interactive front end to the folding at home project. If nothing else it entices users to help lend computing power and be able to browse global weather a d events simultaniously..... Unless you ask nobrainer.. I mean 13thhour. Then in that case it's somehow related to an evil advertising scheme despite the complete lack of corelation.

  20.9.2008 12:50 #7

• Oner

  Originally posted by Hunt720: l like that they use this as an interactive front end to the folding at home project. If nothing else it entices users to help lend computing power and be able to browse global weather a d events simultaniously..... Unless you ask nobrainer.. I mean 13thhour. Then in that case it's somehow related to an evil advertising scheme despite the complete lack of corelation.+1
  

  
  
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  20.9.2008 13:19 #8

• 13thHouR

  Originally posted by me me me: Any addition to service is a good thing but is this really that "great"? Originally posted by Hunt720: l like that they use this as an interactive front end to the folding at home project. If nothing else it entices users to help lend computing power and be able to browse global weather a d events simultaniously..... Unless you ask nobrainer.. I mean 13thhour. Then in that case it's somehow related to an evil advertising scheme despite the complete lack of corelation.ok lets just quit it with the personal attacks oner's second or third insult and bait account, oh sry i meant to say sony pr stooge infesting a technology forum to spread their opinion of their cleaner than clen approach to business.
  
  and i get the happy hand of oner suspension for a baited outburst that he feels happy for his friends to get away with. did i just say double standards?
  
  =====================================================
  
  OK lets get on topic and rewrite my post that even though was just a single line was totally miss interpreted by sony bloggers who are paid to destroy peoples credibility while selling all things sony.
  
  Originally posted by Kaz Hirai: "By utilizing the full processing power of the PlayStation 3, 'Life with PlayStation' will bring unique content centering on two axis, place and time,"Kaz Hirai launched "life with playstation" and was jumping around the stage like the retard Steve Ballmer, and what is so great about this service exactly? its a carbon copy of the wii news and weather channel with better graphics (OMG are Sony turning into EA?) or even widgets that you can get on your desktop, that after a few looks, is pointless.
  
  Not really big news now is it,(MY Point but was twisted by the usual sony defence force, what's the bonus or pay lads, a free game every now and then, what you selling your soul for?).
  
  This is a pointless service to tie sony over until the next "big" thing to try to get sales and hit the press with some free advertising, with a very, very, over hyped service.
  
  My second point was if sony want to do something great for its customers lets announce that they are dropping user tracking and dynamic in game add placement! but i suppose all that revenue from Coke, McDonald's, Pepsi, ect is just too irresistible, so goodbye to great games and hello to product placement, rushed titles, no realism, and the only selling point is "the best graphics to date".
  
  
  

  21.9.2008 04:55 #9

• DieMPAA

  What baffles me is how the PS3's browser, a potentially powerful reason to fire up the PS3 in your living room, is still being treated like the red-headed stepchild of the console. For pity's sake Sony, fix the damn browser!

  21.9.2008 06:14 #10

• susieqbbb

  Wow!!!! And the wii has had weather and news for how long now. And it took sony this long to rip off nintendo.
  
  How sad!!!
  
  Why cant sony develop there own stuff instead of ripping off everyone else.

  21.9.2008 11:52 #11

• 13thHouR

  Originally posted by susieqbbb: Wow!!!! And the wii has had weather and news for how long now. And it took sony this long to rip off nintendo.
  
  How sad!!!
  
  Why cant sony develop there own stuff instead of ripping off everyone else.it is an extra feature as i originally stated but has been well over hyped!
  
  Taking ideas and expanding on them is how our culture evolves and is crucial to our existence and is a great, unless you are corporate scum and copywrite ideas like the MPAA/RIAA do, as do many other companies.
  
  RIAA:
  
  # Sony BMG Music Entertainment
  # Universal Music Group
  # Warner Music Group
  # EMI
  
  MPAA:
  
  # The Walt Disney Company
  # Sony Pictures
  # Paramount Pictures Viacom—(DreamWorks owners since February 2006)
  # 20th Century Fox (News Corporation)
  # Universal Studios (NBC Universal)
  # Warner Bros. (Time Warner)

  21.9.2008 12:00 #12

• varnull

  Quote:l like that they use this as an interactive front end to the folding at home project. If nothing else it entices users to help lend computing power and be able to browse global weather a d events simultaniouslyPretty good.. not a bad idea at all, but I do wonder if it's just to try to get some better press.

  21.9.2008 13:13 #13

• Hunt720

  Nobrainer.... If your pathetic attempts at discounting oner by insinuating that I am another account of his (which is laughably ironic at best) are any indication of your actual knowledge on the subject at hand, you lost your own arguement as usual.
  
  But then again this was a Sony post so we should have expected such an ignorant onslaught from the person who (again ironically) hasn't even used the service as it would probably steal your DNA and use it to selectively market to you the very cancer it's trying to cure.
  
  ... Be careful responding, it could be a trap.

  21.9.2008 18:18 #14

• DVDBack23

  Back on topic, this is a Sony launches 'Life With PlayStation' service article :)

  21.9.2008 19:04 #15

• Oner

  It's not even worth bothering with anymore. Everyone knows who you are and your weak attempts to try to hide it just don't work, especially when you cry about it AFTER your CONSISTENT troll posts, off topic posts and the way you instigate threads by your biased comments. It is obvious, every time.
  
  I don't do anything, the MANY members of aD already know what you are about and call you out on it all the time, it's not me with different accounts, I have only had one account for the past 6+ years here on aD! You just don't get the point, after NUMEROUS warnings, temp bans and at least 2 full bans you still cry as if it is not you. Everyone already takes your words as cheap, worthless and incorrect...so beleive what you want. It's not a conspiracy or an attack, it's just the truth and if you or any other member violate forum rules they get dealt with. It just so happens you do it alot, and no I am not the one who bans you. I have only done it once.
  

  
  
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  21.9.2008 20:36 #16

• 1bonehead

  Originally posted by susieqbbb: Wow!!!! And the wii has had weather and news for how long now. And it took sony this long to rip off nintendo.
  
  How sad!!!
  
  Why cant sony develop there own stuff instead of ripping off everyone else.
  Well said
  

  The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above!
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  21.9.2008 20:48 #17

• Oner

  Originally posted by 1bonehead: Originally posted by susieqbbb: Wow!!!! And the wii has had weather and news for how long now. And it took sony this long to rip off nintendo.
  
  How sad!!!
  
  Why cant sony develop there own stuff instead of ripping off everyone else.
  Well saidWho did they rip off Folding @ Home on a console from? I guess certain people strive to point out negatives but NEVER the great positives the impact of this application on something that has been proven to be WAAAAYY more powerful than many other distribution methods....but you never hear them saying negatives about M$ avatars, their late implementation of 1080, HDMI or other items. Funny huh? And yet I get called/labeled
  
  "sony pr stooge infesting a technology forum to spread their opinion of their cleaner than clen approach to business
  
  or
  
  sony bloggers who are paid to destroy peoples credibility while selling all things"
  
  THAT is a hypocritical double standard!
  

  
  
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  21.9.2008 20:52 #18

• 1bonehead

  Originally posted by Oner: Originally posted by 1bonehead: Originally posted by susieqbbb: Wow!!!! And the wii has had weather and news for how long now. And it took sony this long to rip off nintendo.
  
  How sad!!!
  
  Why cant sony develop there own stuff instead of ripping off everyone else.
  Well saidWho did they rip off Folding @ Home on a console from? I guess certain people strive to point out negatives but NEVER the great positives the impact of this application on something that has been proven to be WAAAAYY more powerful than many other distribution methods....but you never hear them saying negatives about M$ avatars, their late implementation of 1080, HDMI or other items. Funny huh? And yet I get called/labeled
  
  "sony pr stooge infesting a technology forum to spread their opinion of their cleaner than clen approach to business
  
  or
  
  sony bloggers who are paid to destroy peoples credibility while selling all things"
  
  THAT is a hypocritical double standard!
  
  Wow !
  

  The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above!
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  21.9.2008 21:05 #19

• varnull

  we know who is who ;)
  
  should we turn it into another personal slagging match... or just call in the big guns from the staff to sort it out hmm?
  
  I for one don't see any real point in this constant need to pick over news reports like they are important. I see no need for a topic about every little thing.. in fact I think it would improve afterdawn no end if news items were just that.. news .. with no comments and pointlessness tagged on the end.
  
  Soy have released this.. yeah fine, now get a life.
  

  
  
  Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work. I want a refund.. I want a light.

  21.9.2008 21:24 #20

• rvinkebob

  Originally posted by susieqbbb: Wow!!!! And the wii has had weather and news for how long now. And it took sony this long to rip off nintendo.
  
  How sad!!!
  
  Why cant sony develop there own stuff instead of ripping off everyone else.Well, it took Microsoft 2 years to rip off Mii's, the XMB, Singstar, EyeToy... don't believe me?
  
  Microsoft equivalents of Mii - Avatar's, XMB - the new dashboard (though it only resembles the sideways bar), Singstar - Lips, EyeToy - some movie making game with the same basics (though I can understand that this game may not be a FULL rip-off. So instead of pointing out what Sony copies, why don't you EVER point out what MS copies?
  
  This kind of business allows companies to take something great and make it better, thus creating healthy competition. In the mean while, we have ignorant biased fanboys who fail to see the this.
  
  Anyone here that has ever used Compiz in Linux, would know that it copies tons of things from different operating system's but it's for competition. Imagine how boring the world would be if we had only one of everything.
  
  On topic, it's an OK service, but they need wayyyy more cities ;)
  

  
  

  21.9.2008 22:21 #21

• 13thHouR

  @ rvinkebob
  
  expanding a service is a good thing as i stated in my first post, but the service is lacking, copying ideas and expanding on them is what is needed, what isn't is stupidly long patents and copywrites.

  22.9.2008 00:01 #22

• Oner

  Originally posted by 13thHouR: @ rvinkebob
  
  expanding a service is a good thing as i stated in my first post, but the service is lacking, copying ideas and expanding on them is what is needed, what isn't is stupidly long patents and copywrites.I actually agree with this to an extent but what is a company to do? They have to protect their property (intellectual, physical etc.) and those are the items in place of which are available to be utilized. Especially after the beating Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft, Sega & many others have taken in the modding, homebrew & pirate scene over the years! And while the LWP service as of right now is not as rich and full as other available applications on other mediums that doesn't mean it will be stagnant and not improve. The LWP app just came out a few days ago, and any which way you look at it, it does "good" at improving/increasing the use of F@H. That surely is a great benefit that should be given credit and not disservice!
  

  
  
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  22.9.2008 08:36 #23

• 13thHouR

  Maybe the over hyped news of life with playstation was damage control for this?
  
  PlayStation Video Store Hampered by DRM Quote:Restrictions prohibit downloading purchased movies more than once.
  
  The tech-savvy folks over at Ars Technica have taken issue with Sony's recently launched downloadable video store for the PS3, and they believe that -- as is the case with so many things these days -- digital rights management has the potential to cripple the service.
  
  Revealed at this year's E3, the PlayStation video store seemed like an excellent counter to Microsoft's lucrative video marketplace -- allowing users to own the movies they download, rather than simply renting them. According to Sony's DRM policies, however, that ownership only applies to a single PS3 or PSP system, and purchased films cannot be redownloaded without contacting customer support. PlayStation Network media relations manager Lincoln Davis explained that even requesting a download from support has its limits, telling Ars Technica, "Consumer service can issue a redownload as a one-time courtesy, as provided by our guidelines, for the title to allow the consumer to go back and download the movie from their PSN download list."
  
  Restricting downloads to a single console seems reasonable enough, even though most of the other paid content on the PlayStation Store can be downloaded on up to five. The real point of contention lies in the single download limit, which takes any notion of ownership and turns it into little more than an extended rental. Forcing customers to jump through hoops -- or even repay -- to access products they've already purchased crosses a line for a lot of people, and no matter how common this kind of policy becomes, there will always be a sizable backlash.

  23.9.2008 04:42 #24

• Oner

  Why is it you ALWAYS have to try to change topics? Also how/why would there be "damage control"? They allow you 2 downloads on your PSP & PS3 and if there is a need for further downloading you contact customer support. Easy, or is that something just to complex for some?
  
  Anyway keep it on topic.
  

  
  
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  23.9.2008 08:48 #25

• Hunt720

  life with playststion was in development before the psn video store was even released at e3.
  
  Point = mute
  

  
  

  23.9.2008 08:54 #26

• johnflash

  Why doesn't anybody just ban Nobrainer from AD and get it over with :P

  23.9.2008 10:57 #27