PlayStation-emulating DVD player!
So, a bit like a PS2 but without the ability to play PS2 games then?
If reports on industry-gossip website The Register are true, Taiwanese company Acer Labs are working on a DVD player with a built-in 300MHz Risc processor and emulation software capable of playing PlayStation games. If such news were true it would cause mass indignation from Sony who are well known for their adversity to PS-emulation. With no licensing deal apparently attached, it could mean another Sony versus The Emulator court case for the world to watch. Analysts have recently been pointing out to the electronics giant that by abandoning the PlayStation business and allowing people to develop new, approved solutions for potential PlayStation users, they could end up selling even more games. Imagine, if you will, that Sony concentrated first and foremost on the promotion of the PS2 and allowed other companies to create, for instance, a TV with a built-in PlayStation, or a hifi with a PlayStation separate. Of course, the licensing end of Sony's PS2 business may have already be prepared to allow this (although it seems to have more to do with the immediate licensing of the Emotion Chip rather than the whole PS2 unit's technology). Nonetheless, if Acer are making a move without Sony's guidance or permission they may find themselves in hot water and before long. Interestingly, The Register think that as long as Acer just sell technology to the Chinese OEMs who create many of the West's DVD boxes, it will be hard for Sony to combat them, considering the less-than-strict laws on intellectual property in place in China. Regardless, if this move is being made without the full consent and backing of Sony, history dictates that they'll step in to try and throttle it.