The app will launch in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands first. Sony hopes to roll it out to other European countries soon thereafter. Sony also hopes to add to functionality that will allow users to post directly to the PlayStation Blog as well as other, unannounced, features. The app will be free to download when it arrives.
While this app does not let you play games or get trophies like owners of Windows Phone 7 devices can do with Xbox Live, it is a step in the right direction. The ability to see if friends are online is cool. Users could see that a bunch of friends are jumping online to get a game going and decide to head back to their place to do the same so as to not miss some online gaming, for example. And at least Sony is showing some interest in the app market.
By no means does this app do everything gamers would want it to, but it is a step in the right direction. Hopefully enough users will see the benefits an app like this can offer and Sony will see the benefits of having official iOS and Android apps and maybe something even cooler can come out down the line. Who knows, maybe this is just meant to test some back-end coding stuff before the rumored PlayStation Phone comes out. Whatever it is, it is free, and it is at least a little useful for those living in the supported markets.
What are your thoughts on the Official PlayStation App? Is this something you would like to see come to other markets? Would you download and use this app? Do you think this is just the first step of PlayStation integration into mobile phones? What features from the app do you like the best and what features do you think are missing? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: PlayStation Blog
