Despite news of the service's initial launch back in July, Sony's online Portable TV rental service has only now officially set a price for its downloadable wares, which pretty much takes the spiffy label of "experiment" off the project and moves it into "full-blown money-making cash cow" territory. It still remains to be seen how PSP fans in Japan will receive the news and the $1 to $3 pricing on the available shows, though.The Sony Communication Network has a plethora of music videos, trailers, and other media ready for download directly to your PSP, right along with the aforementioned cache of local TV shows. The only problem we have with the service so far is that renting is the only option available for now. Each video has an expiration date which means you'll only be able to watch them for a limited time, which contrasts with Apple's format of letting customers keep the videos they buy from their iTunes service, a practice that has proven to be immensely successful so far.
There is no word yet on whether Sony intends to develop a similar service for the US or Europe, but chances are they'll base that decision on how well the Japan-only service performs.
