Oh PS3, Why Do You Lack PSP Features?

Sony have been selling the PS3 for some months now as a network enabled home entertainment device, yet it seems to be lacking at least one piece of functionality which is available on Apple TVs that has also been available on Sonys' own PSP for over a year.

There is no doubt that the last firmware update was a big step up for the PS3 as an entertainment center. Upgrading the DVD playback software to do a decent job of upscaling was a good move, and adding the ability to be a DNLA client is also a great boot because it allows users to play movies and music stored on DNLA enabled PCs and storage devices around their network, but the PS3 still lacks the ability to subscribe to Podcasts which the PSP has been able to do for over a year, and it’s quite frankly stumped me as to why it’s not available.

For those who don’t know what a podcast is, well, it’s like a radio or TV series that you can subscribe to. You provide the relevant software with a location of the web where it can find information about new shows and the software will download new editions of those shows when they’re released. Some popular tech-centric examples are TWiT for audio only, and DL.TV for video.

So, maybe someone can explain why, given Sony’s claims about the PS3s' power and network connectivity, and the new upscaling features in firmware 1.80, they’re still missing podcast subscriptions which could help put the PS3 squarely at the center of any home entertainment setup.

So come on Sony, step up and give us PS3 owners something which PSP owners have been enjoying since long before the PS3 was even released.