A comparison of PS3 and 360 as media players

I see. It's part of the Playstation website revamp:
http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2010/12/13/a-new-website-launches-on-ps3/

In terms of content, we bring you there all the latest trailers from the world of PlayStation, news and features, as well as guides to help you get the most of your PS3.

Go check out the new site now at eu.playstation.com from the Internet Browser on your PS3.

In the New Year you can expect more to come to this new site, with the integration of the PlayStation.Blog and PSN community features.
Click to expand...
 
It's muddled. I had a poke yesterday and tried tweaking the display settings to fit the whole page on, but couldn't. However, the browser would repeatedly crash on changes to Display Size and Resolution settings, but not every time. And by xcrash I mean freeze the PS3 needing a pwer-button reset. Finally I clicked the PSN link at the top and was taken to a message saying I needed 1080p. Had a look just now, and I'm taken to the old page.

As I used Blank Page for my homepage, I wonder if others who normally access the PS home page had some cookie type thing that directed them to the old page, and now I have the same?

In 1080p, full screen, it does look a lot nicer then just a webpage, almost like an app.
 
Apparently, VUDU 2.0 is coming.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=25036656&postcount=62

VUDU 2.0: It's Here!

Exciting news! Today when you turn on VUDU you'll be among the first of our customers to see a whole new user interface, optimized to help you discover and enjoy the perfect movie from the comfort of your couch. We kept everything that was great about the existing interface – from quick access to the hottest new releases, to Rotten Tomatoes reviews, to linked filmographies of cast and crew – and worked to make it even better.

You'll see that the new UI offers improved browsing and navigation, with faster access to more great movies with one click of your remote. Now all those HD movies are even easier to discover, experience and share. The redesigned service also delivers recommendations based on your viewing history. And of course, we still offer the largest collection of HD and HDX media on demand, with rich Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 surround sound to complete the cinematic experience.

Because VUDU is a cloud-based service, your VUDU enabled device will automatically be updated with the new UI without discs, downloads or hassles. For more detailed descriptions of what's changed, click here for our FAQ. Check out the new VUDU tonight – we know you're going to love it!

...
Click to expand...
 
According to GAF, Qriocity is available in some European countries now:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=25034283&postcount=1

As in the thread title really. It can be found under the music icon of the XMB.

Incredibly slick interface. Pricing is good too.

For anyone who doesn't know, Qriocity is a cloud based music streaming service by Sony. You can use it on Bravias, Vaios, Blu-Ray players and PS3's etc.

I've started a 30 free trial of the £9.99 a month premium service. The basic service (which also has a free trial of 30 days) is £3.99 a month.

...
Click to expand...
 
I thought something would be up when I had to reconfirm my EULA last night to be able to login to PSN again. Probably not available in my country though, these things rarely are. (yep, UK, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Germany, France ... the usual)
 
Shifty Geezer said:
It's muddled. I had a poke yesterday and tried tweaking the display settings to fit the whole page on, but couldn't. However, the browser would repeatedly crash on changes to Display Size and Resolution settings, but not every time. And by xcrash I mean freeze the PS3 needing a pwer-button reset. Finally I clicked the PSN link at the top and was taken to a message saying I needed 1080p. Had a look just now, and I'm taken to the old page.

As I used Blank Page for my homepage, I wonder if others who normally access the PS home page had some cookie type thing that directed them to the old page, and now I have the same?

In 1080p, full screen, it does look a lot nicer then just a webpage, almost like an app.
Click to expand...

I checked out http://eu.playstation.com from my PS3. While the layout is DS3 and 1080p friendly, it's largely a content site for now. We should see more social network features (like FaceBook) later on.
 
Apparently Netflix has now standardized (December 21, 2010) on the least functional version of their PS3 application:


I called them up and was told this decision was the result of user feedback. I guess their focus groups are made up of folks that don't actually watch movies. . .

It is now impossible to browse subgenres on the PS3. Also, all top level categories are limited to 75 items. And you do not even get all of the top level categories - no animation for example.

Way to go Netflix!

=(

Cheers

As an aside, here's an open letter posted by another fellow that summarizes the GUI deficiencies (and issues with the Canadian Netflix service) fairly well:

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=138616486149426&topic=385

Example of confused reactions to the new interface:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101221192529AAzur1P
 
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patsu said:
I'm afraid you have to specify which is the "old" UI because there are more than 2.
Click to expand...

The complaint is that they standardized on the worst GUI of all them. Your old version was actually preferable to last one I had since it appears to include the full genre list and a "see all" option that actually means that.

Mine previously looked like this (minus the queue as Canada doesn't appear to rate high enough to get that feature):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVcmuypJllU&feature=related

More complaints about the "new" GUI:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=1196100#post1196100

Cheers
 
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Good, the more people complain or cancel their subscriptions, the faster they will change it. ^_^

The worst type is people who cancelled without making a noise (like me ! :LOL:).

I wonder why they cut down on subgenre navigation. Lighten server load ?
Can you search quicker/better now ?
 
patsu said:
I wonder why they cut down on subgenre navigation. Lighten server load ? Can you search quicker/better now ?
Click to expand...

I wondered if that was the intent as well. . .hopefully that's not it. I doubt that is the case as the PC app does not limit browsing this way and I would think that most of their users still access via a PC.

There is an interesting blog post talking about how the switch to using AWS meant they had design their service to fail more:

http://techblog.netflix.com/2010/12/5-lessons-weve-learned-using-aws.html

The best way to avoid failure is to fail constantly.
Click to expand...

So here's hoping this is a short lived failure.

=)

Searching is identical as before, things like director names and such are still not clickable so all you get is a free form title search (I also did not notice any speed difference but it was already fast).

Cheers
 
deathindustrial said:
Found an article with some screen shots of the various Netflix GUIs (doesn't look complete though):

http://gigaom.com/video/netflix-ui-innovation/
Click to expand...

So they picked the bottom right design ? It's not a bad choice. All they need to do now is to add subgenre browsing and you'll be fine ?

I use AWS for one of my clients too. The comment about planning for (regular) failure is true. You can't prevent failure in a dispersed and extended setup.
 
patsu said:
So they picked the bottom right design ? It's not a bad choice. All they need to do now is to add subgenre browsing and you'll be fine ?
Click to expand...

I am not sold on the side scrolling mechanism as it goes against 20+ years of PC interface behaviour and thousands of years of the printed page (one side to the other, then down a line). Having two rows scroll sideways on the "new" interface makes it harder to keep track of where you are in the list. They have also greatly shortened the lists - previously you could have 250 titles max, now you get 75. They have also increased the tile size which means you actually get less titles on the screen than before so it takes longer to browse as well.

Adding in *all* genres and sub-genres would be a big plus but they still need to support a full list of titles, proper sorting and useful features like being able to click on a director, cast or other bit of info to search for similar titles. The website does this so their systems support it. They just have decided to not expose this functionality on the PS3 (and presumably other non-PC devices).

Unfortunately in Canada there is no other streaming option currently.

Cheers
 
Hmm… Hulu Plus also uses a single scrolling row. Works for me so far, although it can display over 100+ entries. I don't know what the limit is.

The best way is probably for you to file your feedback (and all the links to objections) here:
http://blog.netflix.com/

EDIT: They may need a slightly different layout for power users. The new UI may be skewed for noobs. e.g., The PSN Video Store allows the user to toggle list layout format.
 
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