Sony unveils Blu-ray player, Vaio PC

Sony released details on several products that will feature Blu-ray high-definition DVD drives--but like the PlayStation 3, you're going to have to wait awhile to take them home.

The company unveiled on Thursday the BDP-S1 Blu-ray Disc Player, a Vaio RC desktop with a recordable Blu-ray drive, and an internal Blu-ray disc drive for PCs. Sony expects the player to be available in July, while the desktop and an undisclosed Vaio Blu-ray notebook PC should ship by "early summer," the company said in a statement.

Blu-ray discs can store much more data than conventional DVD media and are designed to accommodate high-definition content. But the Blu-ray standard is competing with a rival standard called HD DVD to become the accepted format for high-definition recording. The format war has threatened to frustrate consumers just like the VHS-Betamax battle 25 years ago.

Sony's Blu-ray momentum has slipped a bit over the past few weeks. The launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 will be delayed until November because of problems finalizing the standard, the company announced this week. And Toshiba said at the CeBit technology exposition that it will have an HD DVD laptop and player out before Sony's Vaio and BDP player are scheduled to appear.

The BDP-S1 player will cost about $1,000 when it is released, Sony said. The Vaio desktop will cost about $2,300, but Sony will toss in a $25 Blank BD-RE (rewritable) disc with 25GB of storage for free. Pricing for the BWU-100A internal PC drive will be released later this year.

[dipnip]

You need to stop allowing press releases to dictate your article sentences!

Whoohoo! You get $25 bucks, I get your booty- why, because U R A hoochie mama, selling it like they tol' you to? Bet you watch fox news. ;) Lick the screen, somebody came for your beeyooteefull poetry. You really should change your tie, Mick! You need a sense of humour, to, aqueous or other otherwise? I will tell Old Nick that your soul has a whole black hole. And it will not go pretty with the lum-tickers!

[dipnip]

You need to stop allowing press releases to dictate your article sentences!

Whoohoo! You get $25 bucks, I get your booty- why, because U R A hoochie mama, selling it like they tol' you to? Bet you watch fox news. ;) Lick the screen, somebody came for your beeyooteefull poetry. You really should change your tie, Mick! You need a sense of humour, to, aqueous or other otherwise? I will tell Old Nick that your soul has a whole black hole. And it will not go pretty with the lum-tickers!

[yipcanjo]

Gosh! Thanks, Sony...

A free $25 rewriteable disc w/ purchase of a $2300 desktop machine?! Gee... Thanks, Sony!<br /><br />Anyone else gonna avoid the 1st gen Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD drives like the plague???

[Greenbeanx]

I am going to wait..

I'll think I'll wait it out..<br /><br />My Dual Layer DVD burner works fine right now. I'm going to wait till someone cracks the protection on whatever standard wins out. I want to backup movies and I hear HD DVD will let you do that but who knows. I rather have the freedom to do what I please.

[yipcanjo]

Gosh! Thanks, Sony...

A free $25 rewriteable disc w/ purchase of a $2300 desktop machine?! Gee... Thanks, Sony!<br /><br />Anyone else gonna avoid the 1st gen Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD drives like the plague???

[Greenbeanx]

I am going to wait..

I'll think I'll wait it out..<br /><br />My Dual Layer DVD burner works fine right now. I'm going to wait till someone cracks the protection on whatever standard wins out. I want to backup movies and I hear HD DVD will let you do that but who knows. I rather have the freedom to do what I please.

[bobby_brady]

We don't need or want BlueRay or HD-DVD

Both formats are infested with tons of DRM. I'm speculating they'll both die off in time, mainly due to the consumer unfriendlyness of both formats...Similar to what the music industry did with DAT and DCC.

[bobby_brady]

We don't need or want BlueRay or HD-DVD

Both formats are infested with tons of DRM. I'm speculating they'll both die off in time, mainly due to the consumer unfriendlyness of both formats...Similar to what the music industry did with DAT and DCC.

[bobby_brady]

We don't need or want BlueRay or HD-DVD

Both formats are infested with tons of DRM. I'm speculating they'll both die off in time, mainly due to the consumer unfriendlyness of both formats...Similar to what the music industry did with DAT and DCC.

[Greenbeanx]

Thats why..

..you wait until till someone cracks the DRM..It will happen..every protection (safedisk, securerom, CSS) has its weakness. Its a matter of time before its cracked like an egg. Its like the arms race all over again..

[bobby_brady]

We don't need or want BlueRay or HD-DVD

Both formats are infested with tons of DRM. I'm speculating they'll both die off in time, mainly due to the consumer unfriendlyness of both formats...Similar to what the music industry did with DAT and DCC.

[Greenbeanx]

Thats why..

..you wait until till someone cracks the DRM..It will happen..every protection (safedisk, securerom, CSS) has its weakness. Its a matter of time before its cracked like an egg. Its like the arms race all over again..

[David Turner]

Why would anyone want this stuff??

Who wants this tech, its got rival formats so you might lose out <br />if you get the wrong one, thanks Sony I had a Betamax. <br /><br />It has a heap of DRM rubbish that wont play high def stuff unless <br />its connected to a DRM protected tv.<br /><br />I would rather just stay with DVD its more then good enough for <br />movies and if I need more storage I will just buy a bigger <br />hard drive. <br /><br />To me this format is going to go the way of Super Audio CD and <br />Dvd Audio, yeh its better then a standard CD but you have to <br />buy a whole heap of new gear and content for an experince that <br />while better isn't on the whole worth the time or investment. <br />IMHO

[David Turner]

Why would anyone want this stuff??

Who wants this tech, its got rival formats so you might lose out <br />if you get the wrong one, thanks Sony I had a Betamax. <br /><br />It has a heap of DRM rubbish that wont play high def stuff unless <br />its connected to a DRM protected tv.<br /><br />I would rather just stay with DVD its more then good enough for <br />movies and if I need more storage I will just buy a bigger <br />hard drive. <br /><br />To me this format is going to go the way of Super Audio CD and <br />Dvd Audio, yeh its better then a standard CD but you have to <br />buy a whole heap of new gear and content for an experince that <br />while better isn't on the whole worth the time or investment. <br />IMHO

[Earl Benser]

Too little, too late, too expensive....

Sorry Sony, but no one cares any more. You and Toshiba blew the <br />contest into oblivion, and that's now where you are stuck. Be it Blu-<br />Ray or HD-DVD, it's wasted development time for an uncaring <br />consumer market.<br /><br />Go with MPEG-4 and regular DVD's for HDTV movies - much more <br />effective, much more economical, much more user friendly, and <br />do-able NOW!

[Earl Benser]

Too little, too late, too expensive....

Sorry Sony, but no one cares any more. You and Toshiba blew the <br />contest into oblivion, and that's now where you are stuck. Be it Blu-<br />Ray or HD-DVD, it's wasted development time for an uncaring <br />consumer market.<br /><br />Go with MPEG-4 and regular DVD's for HDTV movies - much more <br />effective, much more economical, much more user friendly, and <br />do-able NOW!

[shanewalker]

Wow. Afraid of innovation, folks? Expensive?

Alright, let me say I'm as frustrated as anyone that there is a <br />format war. I think these two evolutionary, rather than <br />revolutionary, solutions are a cop out to begin with. We should <br />have moved on to FMD (flourescent multi-layer discs, now <br />arising in Asia) or holographic media, truly exponential leaps <br />forward in terms of storage capabilities. But, the consumer <br />electronics superpowers figured out long ago that there's more <br />profit to be made in incremental upgrades.<br /><br />Second, I'm really, really upset about how crippled these discs <br />are going to be under the toe-hold of the MPAA and content <br />providers...but I understand why. Rampant piracy and the file-<br />sharers that commit such are to blame for creating the climate <br />that justifies these already paranoid money-grubbers...so BLAME <br />THEM! I have a huge DVD collection. I paid for it. And I'm <br />going to suffer because of the illicit behavior of others. I should <br />be able to employ fair use and rip, serve, move my purchased <br />HD media around to various devices I own. I know the <br />manufacturers know we want this--let's hope they work it out. <br />But they didn't create the problem, they're being forced to deal <br />with it. Face it.<br /><br />Finally, to those ******** about how expensive the new hardware <br />is--GET REAL!! does anyone remember how pricey the DVD <br />burners were when that format launched? Thousands more than <br />either of the new HD optical formats. I think you've either <br />suffered amnesiac blows, weren't paying attention, or are just <br />spoiled by a record cheap electronics market that resulted from <br />the fast adoption of DVD. Not too long ago, S-VHS decks cost <br />more than these HD decks are going too. Be thankful--Sony will <br />be selling these at a loss, I guarantee it.

[Earl Benser]

There is no reason to repeat the DVD price curve....

... when DVD players with progressive scan retail for $40. Paying <br />$1000 for Blu-Ray or $60 for HD DVD is absolutely ridiculous. I'm <br />not moving until a HDTV player gets under $80, and if it don't <br />happen, that's fine. Conventional DVD's still look good on an HDTV.

[diggumsmax]

People are freaking out over nothing

Recently Sony and Universal announced it would not make use of the Image Constraint Token, the toggle implemented in AACS copy-protection that downscales signals if connected via a component connection. At least not for a while. I'm sure other company's will follow suit as it is idiotic to cut out 3 million early adopters of HDTV's. Secondly they have developed a chip that can read both HD-DVD and Blue Ray. LG has already announced the release of a player that will play both formats for late summer early fall. Things seem like they are getting better but I still wouldn't rush out to be the first to buy either format. Let them come out with some movies and let the prices drop and let companies come out with players that will play both formats. Hopefully they will come out with a player that plays hd-dvd, blue-ray, dvd, cd, SACD, and DVD-Audio. Only time will tell.

[shanewalker]

Wow. Afraid of innovation, folks? Expensive?

Alright, let me say I'm as frustrated as anyone that there is a <br />format war. I think these two evolutionary, rather than <br />revolutionary, solutions are a cop out to begin with. We should <br />have moved on to FMD (flourescent multi-layer discs, now <br />arising in Asia) or holographic media, truly exponential leaps <br />forward in terms of storage capabilities. But, the consumer <br />electronics superpowers figured out long ago that there's more <br />profit to be made in incremental upgrades.<br /><br />Second, I'm really, really upset about how crippled these discs <br />are going to be under the toe-hold of the MPAA and content <br />providers...but I understand why. Rampant piracy and the file-<br />sharers that commit such are to blame for creating the climate <br />that justifies these already paranoid money-grubbers...so BLAME <br />THEM! I have a huge DVD collection. I paid for it. And I'm <br />going to suffer because of the illicit behavior of others. I should <br />be able to employ fair use and rip, serve, move my purchased <br />HD media around to various devices I own. I know the <br />manufacturers know we want this--let's hope they work it out. <br />But they didn't create the problem, they're being forced to deal <br />with it. Face it.<br /><br />Finally, to those ******** about how expensive the new hardware <br />is--GET REAL!! does anyone remember how pricey the DVD <br />burners were when that format launched? Thousands more than <br />either of the new HD optical formats. I think you've either <br />suffered amnesiac blows, weren't paying attention, or are just <br />spoiled by a record cheap electronics market that resulted from <br />the fast adoption of DVD. Not too long ago, S-VHS decks cost <br />more than these HD decks are going too. Be thankful--Sony will <br />be selling these at a loss, I guarantee it.

[Earl Benser]

There is no reason to repeat the DVD price curve....

... when DVD players with progressive scan retail for $40. Paying <br />$1000 for Blu-Ray or $60 for HD DVD is absolutely ridiculous. I'm <br />not moving until a HDTV player gets under $80, and if it don't <br />happen, that's fine. Conventional DVD's still look good on an HDTV.

[diggumsmax]

People are freaking out over nothing

Recently Sony and Universal announced it would not make use of the Image Constraint Token, the toggle implemented in AACS copy-protection that downscales signals if connected via a component connection. At least not for a while. I'm sure other company's will follow suit as it is idiotic to cut out 3 million early adopters of HDTV's. Secondly they have developed a chip that can read both HD-DVD and Blue Ray. LG has already announced the release of a player that will play both formats for late summer early fall. Things seem like they are getting better but I still wouldn't rush out to be the first to buy either format. Let them come out with some movies and let the prices drop and let companies come out with players that will play both formats. Hopefully they will come out with a player that plays hd-dvd, blue-ray, dvd, cd, SACD, and DVD-Audio. Only time will tell.

[ottugi]

Does Anyone Care?

Rather than comparing which format will win over. It will be better to compare the jump from cassette to CD vs. DVD to HD media as whole.<br /><br />Migrating from DVD to HDDVD or Blue-ray is nothing like the switch from cassettes to CDs. Everyone jumped onto CDs since CDs were hugely more durable than cassettes and that signaled the end of stretched tapes left in the deck in hot days in parking lot. Everyone jumped on to replace cassettes with CDs. Things are different now. We already have a medium most of us are quiet happy with.<br /><br />Even if HD mediums are of higher quality, they will only be interest to techoholics &#38; those of us that are rich enough to own 60inch sets.<br /><br />Also if you factor in the sheer amount of people in metropolitan area that can not afford to put such hugh TV sets in their already crowded apartments, a lot of us will stick to smaller sets and thus won't notice much of difference with HD/BD over DVDs.<br /><br />Unless the price of HD media &#38; players drops to current DVD units, not a lot of us will ever care. Just my two cents.

[ottugi]

Does Anyone Care?

Rather than comparing which format will win over. It will be better to compare the jump from cassette to CD vs. DVD to HD media as whole.<br /><br />Migrating from DVD to HDDVD or Blue-ray is nothing like the switch from cassettes to CDs. Everyone jumped onto CDs since CDs were hugely more durable than cassettes and that signaled the end of stretched tapes left in the deck in hot days in parking lot. Everyone jumped on to replace cassettes with CDs. Things are different now. We already have a medium most of us are quiet happy with.<br /><br />Even if HD mediums are of higher quality, they will only be interest to techoholics &#38; those of us that are rich enough to own 60inch sets.<br /><br />Also if you factor in the sheer amount of people in metropolitan area that can not afford to put such hugh TV sets in their already crowded apartments, a lot of us will stick to smaller sets and thus won't notice much of difference with HD/BD over DVDs.<br /><br />Unless the price of HD media &#38; players drops to current DVD units, not a lot of us will ever care. Just my two cents.

[TomMariner]

The Development Team

Wow, would I hate to be heading the development team for Playstation 3! I head divisions that turn ideas into electronic products and I can just hear the paint blistering off the wall in a Japanese meeting room as top management uses loudly screams invectives at the folks who blew a lead and a few billion dollars.

[Earl Benser]

They blew a few million dollars....

.... that's for sure, but Sony never had a lead. Nor did Toshiba. The <br />whole HDTV DVD issue has died in a petty squabble. Now, we'll <br />wait for MPEG-4/H.264 versions of HDTV movies on standard <br />DVD's. No Blu-Ray, no HD-DVD, no problems.<br /><br />But, the paint is still blistering off the wall in a Japanese meeting <br />room.....

[TomMariner]

The Development Team

Wow, would I hate to be heading the development team for Playstation 3! I head divisions that turn ideas into electronic products and I can just hear the paint blistering off the wall in a Japanese meeting room as top management uses loudly screams invectives at the folks who blew a lead and a few billion dollars.

[Earl Benser]

They blew a few million dollars....

.... that's for sure, but Sony never had a lead. Nor did Toshiba. The <br />whole HDTV DVD issue has died in a petty squabble. Now, we'll <br />wait for MPEG-4/H.264 versions of HDTV movies on standard <br />DVD's. No Blu-Ray, no HD-DVD, no problems.<br /><br />But, the paint is still blistering off the wall in a Japanese meeting <br />room.....