Has Sony beaten Apple to the netbox punch?

Sony SMP-N100 offers a cheap entry into internet TV

Has Sony beaten Apple to the netbox punch?

26 August 2010 10:11 GMT / By Paul Lamkin

Now, there's plenty of net streaming set top boxes out on the market including efforts from Popbox and Roku, but Sony is a big player and big players tend to sell big. (Hence the big player tag).

So when Sony goes and releases a netbox, which pretty much gives you the Bravia internet experience without forking out for a new TV or Blu-ray player, and announces that it's going to sell the device for around $129, then we're going to sit up and pay attention.

And no doubt over in Cupertino they'll be taking note as well, especially with the new dawn of Apple TV on the horizon.

The Sony SMP-N100 offers the Bravia range of internet services such as Netflix, Blip, YouTube and Daily Motion and will also playback your media (including DivX and MKV) via its front loading USB socket or from your network as it's DNLA compatible.

The minus points are that there's no Skype, Hulu or Boxee and the device will also not be compatible with Google TV when it launches later this year.

But, for $129 this might just be the device that people too impatient to wait for Apple's iTV or Google TV integrated TVs are waiting for.

Via: cepro.com

Full tags

Sony SMP-N100, Home Cinema, Sony