Sony goes wireless with new Blu-ray player, home theater

Sony introduced a pretty hefty bundle of new products yesterday, but it’s the wireless Blu-ray player and home theaters that caught our attention.

The BDP-560 has built-in 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, thus throwing more support behind BD-Live. The service, whose success we recently pondered, connects Blu-ray players with online features like extra scenes, trailers and interactive games. Wi-Fi should make Blu-ray live much more accessible, particularly for people who don’t keep their routers in near proximity to their entertainment center. The model is also Digital Living Network Alliance-ready, so it can connect with other DLNA devices, such as cameras.

“Consumers don’t want a living room cluttered with wires and the new Blu-ray Disc product lineup breaks down the wired barriers of the past," said Chris Fawcett, vice president of marketing for Sony Electronics’ Home Product Division.

To that end, Sony also included a wireless home theater system in its line-up. The BDV-E500W uses S-AIR technology to beam out audio to rear surround speakers or up to 10 S-Air AirStation audio devices around the house. A second model, the BDV-E300, can be upgraded to include this technology. Both theater systems support BD-Live, but it doesn’t appear that their wireless capabilities will be able to grab the extra content.

The wireless Blu-ray player will cost $350 when it’s released in May. The home theaters are coming in June, with the E500W costing $800 and the E300 selling for $600.