Sony to deliver cheaper Blu-ray player
BDP-S300 will have enhanced capabilities for lower price than earlier model
By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 2/26/2007
FEB. 26 | By this summer, Sony will street a second and cheaper Blu-ray player than its fall 2006 debut model.
Expected to sell for about $600 at retail, Sony’s BDP-S300 model will be about two-thirds the price of the company’s first Blu-ray player, the $999-priced BDP-S1. Exact street dates have not been determined.
For the most part, the BDP-S300 is nearly equal to the BDP-S1. Both output 1080p high-definition video, the highest resolution available through an HDMI connection. Both also upconvert standard-definition DVDs to high-definition video.
One key difference is that the BDP-S300 allows for CD playback, an option that is absent in the BDP-S1. Additionally, the BDP-S300 supports BD-ROM and BD-Java playback.
However, the BDP-S300 won’t be able to showcase BD Live material through a broadband Internet connection. Blu-ray backers have long touted the ability to frequently refresh BD discs with Internet-delivered content as crucial to ultimately attracting mainstream consumers to the format.
Internet connectivity comes standard in all of Toshiba’s stand-alone HD DVD players. At this point, few stand-alone Blu-ray players contain that feature. Yet Sony’s PlayStation 3 does allow for BD Live content.
Still, Sony officials bet the value proposition of the BDP-S300, with its enhanced capabilities and more attractive price point compared to Sony’s earlier model, will expand high-def consumer adoption.
“We plan to continue leading the Blu-ray Disc charge with products for the home that exceed consumer expectations and fulfill Sony’s vision for [a high-def] world,” said Jeff Goldstein, VP of marketing for Sony Electronics Home Products Division.
Click here for more on this story from TWICE magazine.Crave questions whether this new player has more value than the Blu-ray-enabled PlayStation 3.
