Sony Adds Wireless Blu-ray Player & Home Theater Systems
By Rachel Cericola
Sony
just announced four new Blu-ray products today. However, the one that's getting the most buzz is the BDP-S560, a stand-alone Blu-ray player with built-in Wi-Fi.
That wireless access makes it easy to add this $350 Blu-ray player anywhere in your home network setup. Once it's on the network, you can stream updates and BD-Live content. In case you get bored with your Blu-ray movie collection (ha!), the unit also supports Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) devices, which means you can wirelessly stream photos, too.
Aside from the wireless thing, the BDP-S560 also features Sony's own Precision Cinema HD Upscale technology and Precision Drive, which can fix bent and scratched discs.
The BDP-S360 ($300) includes some of those features, without the wireless. Both stand-alone players also support 7.1-channel Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, and DTS-HD Master Audio decoding. Each unit will ship this summer.
If you want to add speakers into that mix, the HT-SS360 ($350) provides 5.1-channel surround sound and is well-suited for pairing with either player. That will be coming in May.
For those seeking the whole kit and kaboodle, the BDV-E300 ($600) and BDV-E500W ($800) are full 5.1-speaker systems, each with its own Blu-ray player. Both setups promise full HD playback as well as 24p True Cinema output, BD-Live and all of the other goodies today’s home theater users expect. The big difference between the two is that the BDV-E500W throws in wireless S-AIR audio, meaning that the unit can transmit audio up to 164 feet from the main system.
The BDV-E300 model is "S-AIR ready," which means for a few extra bucks, you can go wireless via optional modules. Both systems will start selling in June.
Sony's BDVE500W Blu-ray home theater system includes S-Air wireless capabilities.
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