Sony's Location Free TV moves to the UK

Sony plans to extend its Location Free TV technology to the UK and rest of Europe later this year, giving customers their local TV stations anywhere in the world.

Currently it only works in the US and Japan, so that when a national travels to another country, including the UK, they can watch their usual TV on their laptop or PSP (provided they have a wireless broadband connection).

The adaptor is now going to be extended to included PAL broadcasts, so for the first time UK customers can enjoy British TV, including Sky, where ever they are in the world.

The box plugs into your TV at home and then has a wired Ethernet link to your router. It can be used around the home, but its main use is for those who travel. Shinjii Okazaki, a senior manager at Sony, said up to four clients can be added to the base station.

Although you can't change the Sky channel, you can watch whichever station it is on. But with terrestrial TV, you can change the channels as well. And if you have a DVD in your player, that can be watched as well.

The service is easy to use, but with the rise of IP TV, its lifetime will be limited once services are being broadcast over the Internet.

In the US, the adaptor costs $349, but pricing details for the UK were not available.

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