Now that Sony's BDP-S350 is all taken care of with that BD-Live-enabling update, the focus shifts to its mightier sibling. The BDP-S550, which was announced way back at a Sony event in late February, is finally shipping. Granted, it's still hard to find in some places, but Sony's own website has 'em in stock and ready to ship within a few business days. $399.99 will get you full 1080p BD output, DVD upscaling via HDMI, 7.1-channel analog audio outputs, Dolby TrueHD internal decoding, BD-Live / BonusView support, BRAVIA Sync and a swank Discovery Channel Blu-ray Disc. Can't beat that with a stick, huh?

[Thanks, Ron]

Sony's XBR6 series won over hearts long before they even went up for pre-order, but now that they've begun to filter out, you're probably wondering if the image quality is as stunning as the overall design. The lucky souls over at CNET were able to feast their retinas on this 52-incher for awhile, and when time came to pen the review, they had only a few negative things to say. The only knocks were the high price, intermittent color accuracy issues and below-average screen uniformity, but those downfalls were (generally) overshadowed by the accurate color temperature / decoding, bountiful array of ports and energy efficiency. Moreover, this HDTV produced the "deepest black levels of any non-LED LCD TV" it had ever tested, which is sure to thrill those who like it dark. Unfortunately, the bloated sticker ($3,699) and image quality niggles kept it from snagging a perfect review, but 4 out of 5 ain't bad.

Sony's VAIO VGC-JS190J (you know, the little fellow of the bunch) managed to snag itself a pretty great review late last month, so it's no shock at all to see the bigger, sleeker and all-around better VGC-RT150Y land similar sentiments. The 25.5-inch unit was rolled out as part of a trio at CEDIA, and besides packing quite a bit of horsepower, this thing actually looks shockingly like a svelte LCD. Reviewers instantly fell in love with the expansive panel, beautiful array of ports, inbuilt HDTV tuner and Blu-ray burner, though reality began to set in when refocusing on the $3,999 list price. Sure, multimedia performance was above par, and it can easily be hung on a wall, but unless you've just got oodles of cash to burn (and have something against making donations), this one probably deserves a skip.

Okay, so you probably noticed things have been hopping lately with the advance of 3D technology, global takeover-style, by companies like RealD using ZScreen active polarization with Sony's digital theater projectors. No more bulky shutter glasses and no need for dual projectors -- huge, right? Well, Sony has decided to step it up a notch and bring out its own "single-projector 3D adapter" to blow the rest of those guys out of their tiny pond, namely in the realm of bandwidth and resolution. Sony's adapter works in tandem with its new LKRL-A002 and LKRL-A003 lens units, utilizing the full height of its 4K projectors to displays 2K images for the left and right field of view simultaneously. The adapter can be quickly extracted when going back and forth between 3D and 2D media, 60P capable for fast-action content and good for a silver screen of up to 55-feet. If you're thinking of trading in your first born for a stereoscopic wonderland, check out this tech in a couple weeks at ShowEast in Orlando on its way to March 2009 retail availability. No word on price, but naturally, we want one.
[Via About Projectors]

We've already seen this circular media server loosed in Japan, but Sony is just now getting around to launching the thing in Europe. The Home Share VGF-HS1E follows the same design scheme as most of Sony's living room-based HTPCs and comes loaded with a pair of 500GB 7,200RPM SATA hard drives, a multicard reader, three USB ports, Ethernet, WiFi and DLNA-compatibility. There's no word on price, availability or any of that good stuff, but we'll be keeping an ear out.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Good news for DISH Network VOD fans -- you'll soon be seeing a few more options in the programming guide. Announced this week, the satcaster has inked a deal with Sony Pictures Television that will enable it to host the studio's films and other programming content on its video-on-demand platform (DISH On Demand) as well as its pay-per-view services. Best of all, the agreement covers SD and HD content, and if we're reading this correctly, it sounds as if some future films will be made available day-and-date with the DVD release.

Earlier this summer, Sony promised that it would be pushing out a firmware update in the future that would add BD-Live functionality to its BDP-S350 Blu-ray player. Fast forward a few months, and lo and behold, it has kept its word. Available right this very second, the version 010 firmware adds in BD-Live support and improved BD-Java compatibility / improved sensitivity to the Remote Commander signal while in standby mode. Hop on down to the read link and get that 56.23MB download going -- given Sony's typically slow (and by slow, we mean hosted over a 14.4k modem) servers, you could be waiting awhile.

[Thanks, Dan and Brendan]

Update: Seems as if the URL download has been pulled, though users are reporting that the Network Update directly through the player works fine.

Of late, there has been quite a bit of press circulating which suggests that Blu-ray isn't faring too well. At that head of those sentiments was a Samsung UK director named Andy Griffiths, who casually predicted that BD only had about five good years of life remaining. Unsurprisingly, senior VP of corporate communications at Sony Rick Clancy has hit back with an epic tale of why the format is actually not nearing its end. In fact, he suggests that Blu-ray will eventually live harmoniously with digital downloads, and he forecast that BD has "perhaps a decade" of growth to come. He also snuck in a few plugs for his PS3 and BRAVIA HDTVs, but more on the point, he essentially stated that not enough of the world had broadband (yet) for downloadable content to pose a real threat. Right, because the vast majority of the globe definitely has a few C-notes to lay on a BD player. We're only kidding (kind of).

[Via SonyInsider]

After spending a bit of time with Sony's new all-in-one desktop lineup at CEDIA 2008, it was easy to recognize that some serious thought went into the design. CNET was able to corral one of the lower-end JS units, the VAIO VGC-JS190J to be specific, and took the time to determine whether the innards were as delightful as the exterior. Overall, critics found that it was the "best deal" going on an all-in-one desktop with an inbuilt Blu-ray drive, and amazingly, they found it "relatively free of software clutter." Furthermore, they yearned for more screen space than just 20-inches when watching those BD flicks, but outside of that, they found that "no other all-in-one, including Apple's iMac, could do as much, as fast, for the same price." Sounds like a winner, no?

What is this, the week of the 8x BD writer or something? Just days after Buffalo announced two such units for the American market (and Delkin failed epically with an alternative half as quick yet more expensive), in runs Sony with an 8x Blu-ray writer of its own. The October-bound BWU-300S can cook an entire single-layer (25GB) BD-R in around 15 minutes, and it'll also burn CDs at up to 48x and DVD-RAMs at an undisclosed rate. In an effort to push the Blu-ray playing aspects, the drive comes bundled with the BD version of Men in Black, and if all that's worth $399.99 to you, you can get your pre-order in this very moment.

It took a few days hours longer than expected, but Sony's VAIO TT is here. And it's sexy. This 11.1-inch beauty features a sub-1-inch thick, 2.87-pound chassis made from carbon-fiber, and Sony claims it's the lightest notebook on the planet to pack Blu-ray capabilities. Arriving in a variety of configurations, the VAIO TT is available with an XBRITE-DuraView LCD, Intel's Centrino 2 technology, an HDMI output, dual channel 256GB (128GB x 2) SSD setup with RAID, Sprint WWAN (EV-DO Rev. A) and Windows Vista running the show. The Fall-bound TT -- which will arrive in premium carbon black, silk black, champagne gold and crimson red outfits -- will start at around two large, with the Blu-ray model going for $2,700 and the SSD edition demanding $2,750. There's no direct mention of a battery life figure, which scares us just a tad, but you can dig into the full release just after the break.

The holiday push for Blu-ray is officially on. We've got name-brand players dipping below $200, and now we've got two mega-corps teaming up to promote the format this fall. Sony and Discovery Commerce, the consumer products arm of Discovery Communications, have inked a deal which will provide Sony Blu-ray deck buyers with a "gift-with-purchase coupon redeemable for an exclusive high-definition program sampler, Discovery on Blu-ray Disc, which features episodes from Fearless Planet and Sunrise Earth. The fortnight-long promo will launch on October 5th at over 11,000 retailers in the US, though there's no word on if a better, actually desirable promotion will follow after that.

Back at CES 2008, Sony quietly unveiled a number of cutesy BRAVIA accessories. Now, those very accessories are up for pre-order. Designed to function with compatible BRAVIA HDTVs, these modules expand the capabilities of your set, with the Input Link Module ($149.99) adding four HDMI ports, the DVD Link Module ($199.99) adding an upscaling DVD player and the Wireless Link Module ($799.99) adding cordless HD transmission. Check 'em all out in detail below.

[Via SonyInsider]

Read - BRAVIA Wireless Link Module
Read - BRAVIA DVD Link Module
Read - BRAVIA Input Link Module

Sony's BDP-S300 has seemingly always been at the forefront of Blu-ray price drops, and while we were pretty stoked to see it hit $299 last December, the very solid 1080p player has now reached an unquestionably delectable $199.98. On sale at Amazon "while supplies last," the deck combines a name you've heard of with a price point you can probably stomach, and moreover, we're hoping this is just the beginning of an industry-wide effort to lower the barrier to entry for BD. Scoop it on up if this is the moment you've been waiting (and waiting) for.

[Thanks, Tyba]

Just as expected, Sony will be bringing its XEL-1 OLED TV to UK shores before 2008 expires (sans battery or viewing area), paving the way for the 11-inch wonder's European tour; at least that's the word from T3. Of course, if it shows up next month wearing a price tag near the estimated £1,500 mark, this bit of kit will retain its status as something for well-heeled blokes obsessed with riding the bleeding edge of tech trends. Frankly we're surprised by the whole "estimated pricing" verbiage -- the XEL-1 has been on sale for almost a year, so we'd assume Sony would have a better feel for pricing. And really, are any customers for this going to be put off by a few pounds on the high side?