Ditching Cell made sense for some things, but OS/features wise it meant hitting a big reset button as a lot of those features were very finely tuned for it. Also, I seem to recall that the whole OS layer is new compared to the hyper visor + GameOS layer they developed with IBM and Toshiba. Hopefully they stick to the same basic OS and CPU architecture and evolve them as they cannot afford to do everything from scratch each time. It would be a huge waste of money.
Perhaps they plan to use a browser "desktop" for the UI as they have done with the PS4. Then only minor tweaking to native libraries and the latest GTK APIs to webkit and webkit updates. All the UI and apps could be similar between all Sony "connected" Platforms.
Sony also has plans to support
DLNA CVP2 as does just about everyone in the world if you look at the
Playready Licence holders.
Two cites that should be recommended reading as Game Consoles are a big part of what's coming are:
Sony to Adopt Microsoft's PlayReady DRM Technology from 2011 DLNA DTCP-IP using WMDRM10 and CVP2 using Playready (Playready is backwardly compatible with WMDRM10) Playready was chosen as the DRM standard for DLNA CVP2 by Cable companies and CE manufacturers.
Media Gateways : The Next Big MSO Trend from 2012 (The Comcast X3 Cable modem is pictured in this article and shipping in 2014...I have one as well as the X1) Eventually all Cable companies will move to all IPTV and the X3 without the need for a X1 can support this using DLNA CVP2 Smart TVs, STBs and Game Consoles.
It's kicked off by the FCC mandate which took place June 2014 that requires Cable TV DVRs to support DLNA CVP2. Clients are required to be certified by DLNA.ORG and DTLA and that starts this September.
ATSC 2.0 also kicks off in 2014 and a Smart TV that supports DLNA CVP2 can support ATSC 2.0. With a Network tuner like Sony's Nanse or HD Homerun from Dust, a DLNA CVP2 STB can support ATSC 2.0. ATSC 2.0 supports a CA DRM, Blu-ray codec, 1080P, S3D, XTV (Browser and Java apps) and NRT (Non Realtime Transmission). HbbTV can also be supported by DLNA CVP2 platforms.
A DLNA CVP STB is a game console or Android L platform. In the near future a Connected Blu-ray player can also be a DLNA CVP2 STB client and server which I think is a planned XB1 and PS4 feature. Playready is designed for embedded platforms, the Windows 8.1 OEM platforms are required to support AOAC and embedded DRM so 2014 PC hardware designed for Windows 8.1 can be a DVR or STB because it can support DLNA CVP2.
Microsoft and Sony will be announcing this sometime near September or slightly after. In the ramp up to full certification we may see the features enabled by native libraries supporting DLNA CVP2's HTML5 like DLNA with three box model, MP3 and I think a refreshed PS3 and Xbox 360 with network server ability.
Mentioned in
2013 rumors for a 2014-2015 refreshed diskless Xbox 360 are it's ability to use a XB1 or Windows 8 drive and Gaikai like serve Xbox 360 games to either a XB1 or, supported
in Windows 8 code,
playing Xbox 360 games on a Windows 8.1 PC likely the same Gaikai like way. There is no rumor for a refreshed PS3 but can we expect the same features from a PS3?