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published:
03-Mar-08
territories:
USA
categories:
Technical development
Sony launches next-gen Blu-ray Disc players
Sony has announced the launch of two new Blu-ray Disc (BD) players, the BD-S350 and the BD-S550, which are scheduled to arrive in the US by summer 2008 and autumn 2008 respectively.
Both devices will be capable of accessing the advanced interactive features introduced by BD Profile 1.1 (Bonus View) – notably picture-in-picture – and, more recently, Profile 2.0 (BD-Live) which allows consumers to access web-enhanced content. The BD-S350 - SRP $400 - will reportedly ship as a Profile 1.1 player but is equipped with an Ethernet connection which will allow users to download a firmware upgrade to make it Profile 2.0 compatible. The BD-S550 - SRP $500 - will be Profile 2.0 compatible out of the box.
In addition, both models feature an external port for local storage, allowing consumers to utilise flash-based memory. The BDP-S550 will include a compatible 1GB storage device.
Our take...
This is a significant development for the emerging BD marketplace as these devices will be the first BD standalones to be compatible with both Profile 1.1 and Profile 2.0.
The Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) aims to bring Profile 2.0 into force ahead of the all-important fourth quarter of 2008. By making an announcement this far in advance of devices arriving later in the year, Sony has signalled a clear statement of intent regarding the development of BD. The consumer electronics giant is effectively mapping out progress for the rest of the industry.
The new hardware upholds the ruling by the BDA in April 2007 that all new BD players launched after 31 October 2007 be Profile 1.1 compliant and therefore fully compatible with BD-Java, the interactive platform that supports advanced content such as picture-in-picture.
However, in the absence of a 'sunset date' for devices launched before November 2007, there remains a range of early-spec BD hardware that will not support more advanced interactive BD capabilities without complex manual firmware updates.
So whilst immediate sales of BD players to consumers that waited for the format war to be 'won' are likely to be brisk, Profile 2.0 standalones could remain out of reach for some consumers for the time being. Meanwhile, those buying lower-cost entry-level BD machines may find their hi-def experience dampened by a lack of specification compliance.
BD player prices - which currently start at around $300 - are likely to stabilise as an increasing number of higher specification, higher priced machines enter the market to service the evolving BD format. However these devices will face strong competition from the PS3; currently the only BD player available with an Ethernet connection – making it effectively 'future-proof' – and priced at $400 it is likely to be the BD player of choice for many in 2008.
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Analyst, market intelligence & notices
Reports
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published:
23-Apr-08
territories:
Italy, France, Germany, UK, Spain, USA
Marie Bloomfield
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published:
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territories:
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published:
01-Dec-07
territories:
USA - Central and Eastern Europe, Nordic Region, Western Europe
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published:
01-Nov-07
territories:
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea. Rep [S], Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Russian Federation, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, UK, USA - Asia-Pacific, South and Central America, Central and Eastern Europe, Europe, International (exc.US/Canada), North America, Western Europe
David Scott
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Western Europe
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