3D seems to be the big theme of 2010 in the gadget world. A plethora of 3D related gizmos, were unveiled at CES and now Sony are showing that they are in on the game with the announcement of two new 3D capable Blu-ray players.
The BDP-S470 and BDP-S570 can be pre-ordered now but are not yet 3D capable, however after a firmware update is released by Sony in the summer both devices will be fully capable of playing Blu-ray 3D Discs.
In the meantime they come packed with cool features to keep you entertained whilst you wait for the update.
The S570 player is able to connect to the internet via Wi-Fi and can access full-screen Internet videos, and the latest catch-up TV services such as BBC i, and LOVEFILM users can download films directly to the Blu-ray player. You can plug a Sony USB wireless LAN adapter into the S470 and enjoy the same capability. Although if you're going to splash out on one of the players it would probably be best to just get the S570 and enjoy the extra features.
Such as the Entertainment Database Browser, which use technology from Gracenote® to browse details like actor and production information from a Blu-ray Disc. The S570 also features IP content Noise Reduction, designed to optimise picture quality when streaming full screen internet video, creating sharper images and more impactful colours to further enhance the online experience.
And it is DLNA enabled which means it can 'talk' to other DLNA enabled devices such as your phone, laptop or music player and play back stored content on your TV, no matter where in the house the device is located and both the Blu-ray players can be controlled via an iPhone or iPod touch using the free BD remote app.
For those who are lucky enough to own a 3D television one of the players would provide a great, reasonably priced accompaniment to it and with a lack of 3D channels 3D movies are pretty much essential to enjoy 3D TV at its full potential. But by the time 3D televisions become more affordable and more popular we will likely start seeing more 3D TVs like the Phillips WOWvx and the LG true 3D which don't require glasses, thus de-cluttering your head and removing the danger of lost and broken glasses (imagine keeping check of a whole family's worth of glasses). Plus it's quite likely that Blu-Ray devices and other external hardware will start being built into 3D television sets. (Sharp have already announced that they will be releasing such a model by the end of the year.) The 3D world is changing at such a fast rate that these players that seem like the height of technology could be useless by the end of the year. But I guess that's gadgets for you.