Sony Has Plans for Next-gen Blu-ray Players

Ever since the Toshiba killed off its HD DVD format, Sony’s BDP-S350 will be the first announced player from the Blu-ray camp. The S350 will feature an Ethernet port that makes it a snap to go online and download trailers, games as well as other interactive content right from the comfort of your couch. Unfortunately, the “BD Live” service isn’t readily available and users will need to first download a firmware update later in order for their discs to fully benefit from this feature. Another (HD DVD) old-hat feature is Picture-in-Picture playback, although I find that to be more of a distraction than anything else. The BDP-S350 and BDP-S550 will be released in summer and fall respectively, where the former retails for around $400 and the latter will go for approximately $500. Get a PS3 already, folks.