But that's a good thing. In his address to the press today at CES, the CEO of Sony Corporaption was smiling when he spoke about his company's commitment to Blu-ray Disc.
Sony's presentation was limited to existing models such as the
BDP-S300,
BDP-S500 and the
BDP-S2000ES. Sr. VP Randy Waynick showed how Blu-ray disc is a major part of Sony's HDNA push with products spanning several groups: home video (BD players), Computers (VAIO with BD drives), and Multimedia (
PlayStation 3). Additionally, he discussed a future BRAVIA LCD television with modular components, such as a plug-in BD/DVD drive or additional HDMI inputs.
Sony displayed a stylish Media Center VAIO PC with Blu-ray, and the current HES-V1000, which integrates a 200 disc BD/DVD/CD changer, BD writer, and 500GB HDD ($3499).
Waynick also highlighted the new BD-ROM/writer BWU-200S, which at under $200 "has the ability to put Blu-ray in any PC". The drive appears to be 4x as well.
New Blu-ray products were limited to the prototype "Sapphire 3" and "Sapphire 4" which look to be BD-Live enabled successors to the BDP-S300/500 players.
Also confirmed was the ability for the PS3 to be updated to full Profile 2.0 BD-Live capability, though no date was given.
Finally, Sony highlighted the recent announcement of Warner Home Video's commitment to exclusively release in the Blu-ray Disc format. WHV's exclusivity gives Blu-ray a decisive content advantage when it comes to the competition.