"We're also hoping next year--about the same time that Freeview launches its terrestrial broadcasting service--to release a digital tuner for the PS3, turning it into a programmable TV recorder," he said to The Press.

When contacted today, Sony senior hardware manager Patrick Seybold told Shacknews: "We have no announcement regarding DVR capabilities for PS3 in North America at this time."

Freeview is a non-profit digital television provider, and is planned to launch in New Zealand next March. It is unknown whether the PlayStation 3 digital tuner will be released on the same time frame in other territories, and if it will entail a simple firmware update or require a hardware add-on.

Competitor Microsoft has plans to bring television to its line of Xbox 360 consoles with the release an IPTV-enabling firmware update. The service--announced at this year's CES--will deliver television content over the internet, rather than through terrestrial lines.