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Sony Intros New Blu-ray Players and Wireless Home Theater

by Will Safer on February 27, 2008 at 08:39 AM

Sony Blu-ray


Sony doesn't give consumer electronics aficionados a chance to catch their breath.

Coming on the heels of a whole host of big announcements made at the annual Consumer Electronics Show last month in Las Vegas, the consumer electronics powerhouse returned to Sin City for its line show, where it introduced a boatload of new products, including no fewer than 18 audio products and accessories, from Bluetooth-capable Walkman portable audio/video devices to a turntable (yes, a turntable!) for those music aficionados who still have vinyl records (and want to turn them into MP3s).

Of course, we'd be remiss not to mention the big ticket items you've come to expect from Sony, such as new Blu-ray disc players. The BDP-S350 (coming this summer with a $400 price tag) and the BDP-S550 (arriving this fall with a $500 tag) -- both feature picture-in-picture capability, which is a new feature showing up on many BD movie releases. Plus they both have Ethernet ports, which Sony calls "BD Live," so you can plug them in to an Internet connection and receive firmware updates and interactive content.

We are particularly interested in the four BRAVIA products that Sony introduced with the new S-AIR technology, which is all about wireless audio transmission. We're big fans of systems that eliminate wires around the house. The top of the line unit is the DAV-HDX576WF model, which includes one S-AIR Air Station receiver/speaker (AIR-SA10) and a wireless rear speaker kit (WAHT-SA10). That's coming next month for $500. The DAV-HDX277WC is basically the same system without the rear speaker kit, for $400, and the DAV-HDX275 is again the same without the Air Station or the rear speaker kit. That kit alone will run you $149.

The Walkman players consist of a whole slate of audio and video capable units with Bluetooth capability. They'll run you from $150 to $370 depending on memory size and feature sets.

Kind of an odd addition to all these product intros were two new Cyber-shot digital still cameras. First, the new 9.1-megapixel DSC-H50, with a 15x optical zoom lens, will be shipping this May for $400. Then the slim DSC-W300, which has a 13.6-megapixel CCD, a 3x optical zoom lens, a 2.7-inch LCD and an eye-level viewfinder. All that plus a titanium body is coming out this May for $350.

Oh, we didn't forget. That turntable, the PS-LX300USB, has USB output and can deliver MP3s of your records to your computer. Look for it next month for about $150.

Finally, one interesting announcement was for a limited edition Vaio notebook computer series, the FZ Series, which can be ordered up with one of three highly stylized covers. The so-called Graphic Splash Expression Collection PCs will have cover options called Victorian lace, flora, and leaf, and with four variations on keyboard fonts, including three new ones called Bradley Hand, Copperplate, and Synchro. These laptops are available now starting at about $1,300.

From Gearlog and Sony.


Sony February 2008 Line Show



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Tags: New Products, NewProducts

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