Sony's New Blu Hits the Street
By Mark Fleischmann July 18, 2008 — Sony is now shipping the BDP-S350, a next-generation Blu-ray player that is far slimmer than its predecessor and even comes in a much smaller box. It uses a third less packing material, and what it does use is biodegradable paper. And due to the lightness of both the product and its packaging, shipping it will involve 43 percent less diesel use and other carbon emissions. Proof, were any needed, that I'll do anything for a novel lead.

Those are good things, actually, but what users may like even better is the six-second boot time, an enormous improvement over early Blu-ray players. BD-Live interactivity is coming in the fall and will arrive in the form of a firmware upgrade. The upgrade can be done via internet, thanks to the ethernet port, but for old-fashioned users, the upgrade will also be available on disc.

One interactive feature touted was "put yourself in the movie." The disc would have a specially edited scene that would allow users to insert themselves into the action. This feature has already been (unintentionally?) parodied in a skit on Saturday Night Live, with Andy Samberg and Bill Hader inserting themselves into a series of well-known movie scenes, waving and saying hi to grandpa.

The BDP-S350 sells for $399 at sonystyle.com and other retailers. And if you're wondering what's inside the thing, here's a teardown analysis by Format War Central.

Sony expects Blu-ray to reach parity with the standard-def DVD format by 2010. The company also asserted that Blu-ray penetration on a time scale is exceeding that of DVD—though the numbers for BD were given as a percentage of high-def-savvy households, making this perhaps something of an apples-and-oranges comparison.

The event ended with reporters routed to a display showing Sony's video, audio, gaming, computer, and networking products. While there was nothing previously unannounced, the overall effect suggested many ways in which Sony might fit into homes of the present and future—especially as fuel prices force more and more families to eschew travel for "staycations."