Sony Music Unlimited, Qriocity Europe official

Sony's rumored media subscription service was revealed at a pre-IFA event today and is now known to be much less ambitious than rumored. Known as Music Unlimited, the feature will give streaming audio to Sony's Bravia TVs, Blu-ray players, PCs and the PS3. The PSP and other devices will get access later, Sony said.

The new music component is due to reach users of the Qriocity movie service by the end of the year with pricing to be set later.

The unveiling also comes with word that Qriocity will expand beyond the US and should give Europeans access to Fox, Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount, Sony and Universal movies. As with the store available in the US, viewers have 14 days to start watching a movie and 48 hours to finish once it has begun. A launch is initially slated for France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK in the fall.

The launch is lower-key than expected as many had expected it to include unlimited video more relevant to the platforms chosen for the launch. Apple may be on the verge of launching a new Apple TV today that would have 99-cent iTunes TV rentals; it already has access to iTunes music and may even support apps that aren't an option on most non-computing Sony devices.

By Electronista Staff