Sony’s New Blu-Ray Players Waste Their DLNA Functionality

sonybdps360Sony’s has unleashed its next wave of Blu-ray players onto the Australian market, and they introduce some much-needed Wi-Fi into the mix. But despite the introduction of DLNA compatibility, the players still can’t compete with your PS3.

The biggest reason is that even though the two premium players feature DLNA functionality, the function is restricted to just playing back photos. And while I happily admit I’ve been using my PS3 to play back slideshows on my 50-inch plasma for a while now, I also use it to playback video and music files stored on my home computer.

There are still some things that make these players attractive for those who don’t want a PS3 in their loungeroom – the BDPS360 entry level player ($449) has a six second startup time, which is lightning fast when compared to the near-minute times of their ancestors; the BDPS560 ($549) adds HD audio decoding, Wi-Fi and DLNA for photos; and the premium BDPS760 ($729) adds gold plated connections and a headphone jack, among other things.

But none of those features outweighs the ability to stream video over my home network for me. Don’t get me wrong – I think they’re all a step in the right direction, but they still can’t top the versatility of the PS3.

[Sony]