Sony will next month launch its LocationFree TV (LFTV) service in the UK and other key European territories, allowing PlayStation Portable users to receive television programmes transmitted from the home and out across the internet. Mac users are to get access to the service too.

LPTV support is included in the PSP firmware update - version 2.7 - Sony announced this week. The upgrade - due to be posted on the Sony Computer Entertainment Europe website on 25 May - also adds podcast and RSS support, and the ability to handle AAC and WMA music files.

LPTV will be launched in the UK, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, where, from next month, consumers will be able to buy Sony's LF-PK1 unit, which streams TV, DVD and other content from AV devices out onto the web. Any LFTV-compatible device can receive the stream and control what's streamed and when.

Already available in the US, the LF-PK1 costs $350 (£196/€281). Sony hasn't said how much the product will cost in Europe.

The unit ships with software for the PSP and PCs. Sony this week said it had licensed the technology to software developer Kaga to port the code to Mac OS X. The software is also expected to be ported to Windows Mobile and other mobile device operating systems, Sony said. In January this year, it said it would offer a software development kit to allow programmers to create LFTV-compatible apps on a variety of platforms.

Again, it's not yet clear how much the software will eventually cost. ®