I’ve said before that Blu-ray player pricing would drop this fall as we head into the holiday shopping season, and it sounds like Sony will be kicking off the trend in September. HD Guru, citing an unconfirmed report by Consumer Electronics Daily, says that Sony will cut the MSRP on their BDP-S350 by $100, from $399 to $299, on September 28, 2008. The BDP-S350 is a full-featured, Profile 2.0 / BD-Live player.

Sony will also reportedly introduce the previously announced BDP-S550 with an MSRP of $399, instead of the expected $499 price point, in mid-October.

The price reductions will certainly result in competitive pressure on other vendors.

In fact, HD Guru reports that Funai will cut the MSRP of their NB500 from $299 to $249 to remain competitive. The NB500 is a Profile 1.1 / BonusView player sold in the US under the brands Philips, Magnavox, Sylvania, Insignia, and others.

Since these are the MSRP prices the players will almost certainly be available for less online, and even at retail. While the NB500’s MSRP has been $299, it has been selling normally at stores such as Wal*Mart and Best Buy (under the other brands) for $280 or less. So the cut to MSRP will likely result in a further reduction in retail pricing.

I expect that this is just the beginning of price cuts for the holidays. With the inevitable sales, there should be some good deals on Blu-ray players. And the price cuts on BD-Live units will finally make them competitive with the PS3, unless Sony also cuts the pricing on those. While an entry-level PS3 remains $400, with the BDP-S350 at $300 (and less online) it becomes an option to consider.

From HD Guru via Gizmodo.

Sony is boosting the capabilities of their PlayStation3 lineup while maintaining their price points. The $399.99 MSRP price point, formerly 40GB, is now an 80GB unit. Previously announced, this is now shipping to retailers.

And today Sony announced a new unit for the $499.99 price point, with 160GB. But more than just a boost in storage capacity, Sony will launch the 160GB unit in November as part of a bundle. The bundle will include the 160GB PS3, a copy of the game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, a voucher for a couple of the game PAIN via the PlayStation Store, and a DUALSHOCK 3 Wireless Controller. All for $499.99. That sounds like a pretty good deal, especially since I my 60GB PS3 cost me the same amount with no bundle back when I got it.

Of course, the PS3 remains one of the best Blu-ray players on the market. But the additional storage space will make a difference now that Sony is offering video downloads, including HD video, via the PlayStation Store, and as they move toward increasing broadband game distribution.

Their press release:
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I mentioned Amazon’s planned video streaming service earlier this morning in my post about YouTube on TiVo, and now I see that, coincidentally, Amazon is releasing it to “a limited number of invited Amazon.com customers” starting today, according to The New York Times.

The new streaming service will apparently be called Amazon Video on Demand, and it will be distinct from Amazon Unbox, Amazon’s purchase and rental download service. The Times reports Amazon will have 40,000 titles available for instant streaming. I don’t see the new service as a replacement for Amazon Unbox, but rather a compliment. After all, you will need an active Internet connection to stream video on the new service. Unbox allows you to download video to watch later, off-line - such as on your laptop while on a plane, or on a PMP while traveling. And it is a fairly open secret that Amazon intends to offer HD content through Unbox, and true HD content does not lend itself to streaming on today’s networks. Streaming vs. downloads vs. physical media (DVD/BD) really lay along a convenience vs. quality curve, as a generalization. Streaming is instant gratification, but the lowest quality. Downloads take longer, but will generally offer higher bit rates and hence higher quality. And physical media, in the form of DVD, offers yet higher bit rates. As well as extras, often times audio formats not found on downloads or streams (5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS), additional languages, subtitles, etc. But with the inconvenience of a wait to receive the media. And Blu-ray is at the end of the scale with the highest bit rates, full 1080p HD, often 7.1 lossless audio, etc. All of these options compliment each other and will appeal to different users, or under different circumstances to the same user. (I myself buy a number of Blu-ray discs and love the quality. I also still buy some DVDs, though less now with BD. But I also use Amazon Unbox through my TiVo to check out movies I don’t have as strong an interest in, or impulse rentals due to sales, etc.)

Currently, aside from a PC, Amazon has a deal with Sony to make the streaming content available via Sony Bravia HDTVs. Today that requires the Sony Bravia Internet Video link, which is a $300 add-on. But in the future Sony is expected to build the Internet connectivity directly into new models in the Bravia line. Amazon says they’ll pursue relationships with other TV and Internet device vendors. Which, of course, begs the obvious question - what about their current flagship CE partner, TiVo?

While TiVo isn’t mentioned in the article, I really have to believe this is in the works. TiVo releases H.264 and video streaming support, and they just happen to do so on the same day Amazon makes their streaming service available to the first users? TiVo and Amazon already have a relationship with Unbox, an apparently very successful one, so you know they had to discuss the streaming service early on. With the infrastructure in place with 9.4, TiVo could throw the switch at any time just by updating the HME application that is used for all of the broadband video options. No further software update would be required in the field. I think it is a safe bet that we’ll see Amazon Video on Demand on the Series3 & TiVo HD in the future, perhaps the near future.

Picked up via EngadgetHD.

UPDATE: I went looking around Amazon to see if there was any information on the streaming trial, and on the Amazon Unbox page there was a link in the upper right to sign up for the beta. It says space is limited, so I’d jump on it, don’t procrastinate.

And just to fully confirm that Unbox downloads are not going anywhere:

The goal of this Beta is to test our new instant streaming feature. Don’t want to wait for your video to download? Want to avoid downloading additional software? Want to watch Unbox videos on a Mac? Amazon Video On Demand is the solution to these common customer requests. Purchase or rent a video and you will have instant streaming access to your video from any PC or Mac. All of the existing Unbox functionality remains. You can continue to download your videos for offline playback on a PC or TiVo.

For a limited time, Amazon is offering a special Blu-ray starter bundle. Buy a Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray player for $379.99 or a Sony 40GB PlayStation 3 for $399.99 and get an 8-pack Blu-ray movie starter set for $80 - just $10 a title, a 65% savings. The 8-pack has an MSRP value of $231.60, and an Amazon price of $161.95. The titles in the pack are: Black Hawk Down, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Dogma, A Few Good Men, Gattaca, Life of Brian - Collector’s Edition, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and The Fifth Element.

If you go for the deal I strongly recommend the PS3 over the BDP-S300. The PS3 is a more feature rich Blu-ray player - the BDP-S300 is only a Profile 1.1 / Bonus View player, while the PS3 is Profile 2.0 / BD-Live. And, of course, you get all of the top end gaming features with the PS3.

Picked up from Blu-ray Stats News Log.

After Sony and six major cable MSOs recently came to an agreement on tru2way, other consumer electronics companies were invited to sign the same agreement. And now it seems others have, the signatories now include ADB, Digeo, Intel, Panasonic, Samsung, and Sony. As more vendors sign on to the agreement we’ll start seeing more options in two-way cable devices.

Their press release:
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Wal*Mart has decided to push high-definition systems in general, and Blu-ray in particular, in their stores. They’ve revamped their consumer electronics departments nationwide, and have added a “high-def Blu-ray experience area” in 1,200 stores. They’ve increased their selection of full HD (1080p) HDTVs by over 58%, and they’ve increased their selection of Blu-ray players by adding players from Magnavox, Samsung, and Panasonic to their existing Sony player offerings. Along with the additional players they’ve also expanded their selection of Blu-ray movies.

As a promotion, between June 8 and June 14, they’re offering a $100 Wal*Mart gift card with the purchase of any Blu-ray player. And, also beginning June 8th, they’ll be pricing selecting Blu-ray movies at only $15, including 3:10 to Yuma, WAR, Shooter, 300, and The Fifth Element.

Their press release announcing the changes:
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