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Marketing folks at Sony have always touted the PlayStation 3 console not only as a powerful gaming machine and a high definition player, but also as a computer with web browsing capabilities and other PC-like functions. But there is more, according to a recent interview with New Zealand press outfit, 'The Press', Sony may be unveiling a new digital tuner device for the PlayStation 3 in 2008.

"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," Warwick Light, sales and marketing manager for Sony Computer Entertainment New Zealand, said.
The Freeview service is scheduled to launch in New Zealand in March 2008. How exactly will Sony turn the PS3 into a DVR remains unknown, but it’s likely that the tuner will be an attachment which connects through one of the console’s USB ports.

This is good news to PlayStation 3 owners who enjoy the console's media functionality, and could also explain why Sony was so willing to release an 80 GB PlayStation 3 model.