Sony To Launch Qriocity VOD Platform

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We’ve seen a lot of Video On-Demand and IPTV services come around lately, and now Sony is getting into the game. At CES last month, they showed off their new VOD service, called Qriocity, which will run on any Sony device that has a XMB. The service will offer both HD and SD movies.

Blog SonyInsider believes (who saw the service in use at CES) believes that it will be an all-you-can-eat subscription model, similar to Napster. It will be out on all Sony devices with a XMB (XrossMediaBar). Most famously, the PlayStation 3 and PSP run an XMB, but some BRAVIA HDTVs, Blu-Ray players and Cyber-shot cameras also are equipped with the XMB.

Obviously, we won’t see the Qriocity platform on the digital cameras, but if they can bring the streaming VOD service to the PSP, that might be a huge application for their popular gaming portable. We’ve seen a ton of IPTV set-top boxes come out in the last year, and if Sony can integrate their own IPTV/VOD platform right into the TV, without need for an additional set-top box, this could really be a boon for IPTV.

SonyInsider reported that the interface for Qriocity was “great looking” and showed “rich album art”. Looks have never been Sony’s problem, as the XMB has always been popular for it’s UI, and it even won a Technical Emmy for it’s appearance. One advantage with Sony running it’s own VOD service versus all the small startups is their connection to movie studios, both through Blu-Ray and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

20th Century Fox, Paramount, Disney, Lionsgate, Warner Brothers, Universal, MGM and Sony’s own studio will all provide movies for the service at launch, which is a pretty impressive showing. SonyInsider, who tried the service at CES with a 6Mbps connection said it looked like “720p/1080i quality … and was certainly no Blu-ray.”

No word on pricing or a solid release date, but Sony says the new service is coming sometime in 2010.