Sony Announces $1,000 Blu-ray Player

Sony introduced its first Blu-ray products on Thursday, offering the cheapest solutions so far to employ the technology. However, the price point still remains at about $1,000 or more, twice the cost of entry-level HD DVD players.

Pricing has become one of the major sticking points of Sony's next-generation optical disc format. With Sony announcing the lowest cost Blu-ray player to date, it may signal the company's concern that consumers may opt for the cheaper HD DVD format.

The company plans to release its first Blu-ray disc player in July. Sony says it expects the device to retail for about $1,000 USD. A Blu-ray enabled desktop and laptop computer will follow over the summer, with the desktop retailing for $2,300 USD. Pricing for the notebook was not announced.

The standalone player will support 1920 x 1080p output through an HDMI connection, and play MPEG2, MPEG4-AVC and VC1 video formats. Analog component outputs for 1080i will also be included. The player runs BD-Java, Sony and Sun's answer to Toshiba's iHD.

Sony's desktop and laptop Blu-ray computers will allow for the recording and burning of HD content onto Blu-ray discs for playback in compatible players. Each machine will come with software preinstalled that would make the process easy, Sony said.

Additionally, Sony plans to release an aftermarket internal Blu-ray disc drive capable of writing Blu-ray discs at 2x speed. The unit would fit into a standard computer bay, the company says. No release date or price was given for the drive, although Sony said it would be available "this year."

"We're in a unique position to be unveiling a full line of HD products that capitalize on Blu-ray Disc's technological advantages," Sony president and COO Hideki Komiyama said in a statement. "Blu-ray Disc will set the bar for the high-definition lifestyle that consumers have been anticipating."