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Sony's version of placeshifting - technology that enables you to watch and listen to content from your home computer, stereo or television elsewhere than its originally intended place, usually via an Internet connection - is called LocationFree TV. While a mobile client exists for LocationFree TV, it is only for PlayStation Portables (PSP). This may soon change.

ACCESS, parent company to PalmSource, has inked a deal with Sony to develop a "LocationFree” software client for Windows Mobile devices and cell phones, further mobilizing the Japanese electronics giant's placeshifting solution.

The presence of cell phones in the announcement conjures up visions of compatibility with the Palm OS developer's ACCESS Linux Platform (ALP) for smartphones; devices built on ALP aren't expected from manufacturers until the middle of next year, at the earliest, however.

Currently, LocationFree software connects with PCs or a dedicated LCD monitor, after connecting the “LocationFree Base Station” to a TV antenna or DVD recorder. Sony said as telecommunications infrastructure advances, it'll increase licensing of LocationFree software in order to expand the number of compatible products.

A couple of week ago, Sling Media debuted a beta application to 'placeshift' cable, satellite, or digital video recorder (DVR) signals through its Slingbox gadget to Windows Mobile devices. There's also Orb Networks capability to stream live and recorded TV to PDAs and smartphones and - reportedly - plans by Microsoft to get in on the action.