Come November 26 and Sony will launch its PlayTV peripheral - a dual-HD tuner Personal Video Recorder that adds to the PlayStation 3 - in Australia, after having already made it available in other overseas market.

With the Sony PlayTV capable of hooking up to a PS3 console via a USB port, and allowing the recording of the TV shows to the hard drive of the console for later playback, the PS3 owners will be able to use their devices like a Tivo-like HD TV recorder.

The dual tuners of the PlayTV enable the users to record one show while watching another show or while playing a game or a Blu-ray. However, it does not provide for a simultaneous recording of two channels.

With the exclusive provision of viewing the PlayTV content over Remote Play, the users can also view the shows with a PSP or the new Sony Ericsson Aino phone.

The forthcoming PlayTV unit, which be priced at $169.95, will include a seven-day program guide that the users can navigate either with the help of the Sixaxis controller or the Blu-ray remote.

To make the optimum use of the PlayTV and the HD programming, it is advisable to upgrade the hard drive of the PS3 models, like the 40GB version as well as the new 120GB PS3 Slim, to 500GB or higher.