Sony opens the floodgates

(Credit: Sony)

Sony held its annual "Open House" in Las Vegas this week and, as
usual, pulled out all the stops. Here's the latest news:

Home theater

• New Sony Blu-ray players: Better than PS3?
• Sony PX-LX300USB lets you breathe new life into your old vinyl records
• Another proprietary wireless audio system: Sony S-AIR
• Sony refreshes Bravia home theater line for 2008
• Sony's new budget AV receivers packed with features
• Sony puts price tag and April launch date on new DualShock 3 wireless controller

Portable media

• Sony announces plethora of new audio accessories
• Sony's 2008 MP3 players priced for U.S.
• Sony's $500 headphones to hit U.S.
• Kids' headphones are good for parents too

Cameras

• Sony's new Cyber-shot W300 takes whopping 13.6-megapixel pictures
• Sony megazoom resolution rises, price falls

Computers

• Sony leery of the EEE PC?
• Sony Vaios try to make a 'Splash'

GPS

• Sony NV-U73T and NV-U83T available in stores now

[bdplaid]

The ego has landed

Sony's had a bad decade, but with the Blu-Ray wars over and "won," they smell blood in the water. They're just too full of themselves, and consequently don't listen to what consumers want.

Too bad, because their products still miss the mark, and are too expensive.

And Blu-Ray will die in the next couple of years, when downloadable movies become more mature (why do you think Apple isn't concerning itself with discs/DVD anymore?).

[Notjub]

Sony "misses the mark"? Are you reading CNET??

Because here most of the reviews for Sony electronics are consistently top tier. Expensive? Yes. Do you get your money's worth? YES!

And I find it hilarious that you'd say Blu Ray will die because of Apple, seeing as they have one of the comfiest chairs in the BRC.

[ym p1]

Downloading movies

Downloading movies to replace dvds wont happen for another 10 years at least.
Apple just couldnt make their own format

[jkjokeman]

blu ray, i couldnt agree more

I agree, i mean i feel bad for the HD DVD buyers
Jeremy lesser times have I tried to pull through this

[Wes#1]

Sony televisions used to be cutting-edge...

yet I don't see any announcements for new Sony TVs. They seem to have lost their way here, after discontinuing their large rear-projection sets last December. Nothing in their 2008 lineup shows progress or fills the need for large screen HD sets. Gone are the 60" to 70" sets. Their largest affordable flat screen is 52"... and next up is a 70" that costs an obscene $33,000. With nothing new on the horizon (except the silly $2,500 OLED TV with a miniscule 11" screen!), one has to wonder it Sony has stumbled big-time after years of leading the big screen display field.

[jpfalcone]

the Sony TVs were announced at CES

Plenty of Sony TVs are on the way--they just announced them seven weeks ago:

http://ces.cnet.com/8301-13855_1-9842162-67.html

Still no word on pricing, however.

[joemin97]

I am still a Sony Man through and through.

But I think Sony by getting rid of their SXRD TV's made a great mistake granted everyone now seems to want hangable TV's but Sony was about to release a SXRD that was only what 7inches deep and looked like a Plasma or a LCD on a wallmount. Plus a comparable product in a LCD as was stated before was what $33,000.00. yeah right ok.... Now I have just purchased a new Bravia for My bedroom and I was lucky enough to get a XBR SXRD 60inch TV for my HTR. But when will sony be bringing back some of its great design and unique Tech for the Big Screen Lovers of America. I suppose we could buy a Front Projection Set but those have a few limitations. I will always purchase a Sony product over another Brand but four things Sony needs to Remember, Technology, Design, Quality, & Price. They must have all four of them to sell a TV to Me. The 40V3000 which I just purchased had a Great 1080P screen(Tech), Nice Low Profile hidden Speaker (LowProfile Design) and a Piano Black Frame, Quality at least outside looks great, Price was perfect $1400 at Sears. Comparable to what $2000. Now I know I could have bought a XBR but at double the amount that I paid and I only get a little more contrast ratio and the new MotionFlow Tech which Samsung seems to have totaly gotten this time around from their LCD Display I have seen. I will stick to the 40inch V3000.

[Ksal005]

in the woods of no return

Sony has lost their way. I've never been a Sony fan and I've always thought that their products were overrated. Now that they have won the HD war, or should it be more like HD-DVD lost and Sony was the only one left, their prices are alienating the mass market of the average family. Blu-Ray has a chance to be the dominate force in HD but their prices are not working for the consumer. They are missing a huge opportunity here and it will be their own fault. The average family which is most of the market will remain with regular DVD.

So sad.

[LuckyBX760]

Response to "in the woods of no return" Post

This is in response to the posting by Ksal005's. The comment of "HD-DVD lost and Sony was the only one left" does not make sense to me. HD-DVD lost because Sony had a better marketing strategy. How do you explain all the big retail and movie studios backing Blu-Ray? BestBuy, Netflix, Walmart just to name a few.

I agree that the Blu-Ray player is overprice but take a look at history. How much was a DVD player when it was first introduced to the market, over $1000. Give it time and the Blu-Ray players will come down in price. I know I'm going to wait a while before I purchase one.

You say the average family is alienated by the price from buying a Blu-Ray player, but the average family probably doesn't yet have a 1080p TV that will support Blu-Ray. I suspect an average family will first invest in a HD TV and the Blu-Ray player will follow down the road. Also Sony isn't the only company which makes Blu-Ray players; Samsung, Panasonic, Sharp are all in the market. Each one of these companies has their own right to price their player however they want.

My point is I see Sony winning the HD battle as taking a huge lesson learned from their loss 20 years ago when VHS beat out Beta.

[irdac]

Trust in Sony

After what they did to PCs with their DRM messing up the kernel, not once but twice, I will never trust Sony and so whatever new marvels they bring out I will always feel it unsafe to buy.