While many of us have our collection of nice electronic toys, most of us can't afford to walk into a store, take a look at a company like Sony's complete line of Bravia media equipment and walk out with it all. And your conscience might stop you anyway—even if your wallet could take the hit, you know enough to look around at other respectable brands, maybe some Samsung or LG equipment, and make a more informed decision.

Well today we're taking the role of "that guy" for you. Sony shipped us their latest Bravia LCD TV along with all of its modular Link components: a wireless HDMI streamer, their internet video player, an HDMI port expander and an extra slim DVD player—a set of matching electronics designed to hook nicely to the back of your Bravia TV while integrating with the display at a software level.

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100 Hertz, 100 Schmertz. If you really want smooth motion in your fast-moving action scenes, you need a TV with 200Hz technology. Apparently. Fortunately for you, Sony is bringing the goods, so all you need to do is bring the cash, and a transaction can be made. The Z Series Bravia includes three models: a 40-inch, 46-inch and a 52-inch, going for $3,399, $4,099 and $5,099 respectively. We've seen the MotionFlow 200Hz in action, and it looks the goods, especially for fast-moving games, so if you're into that kind of thing, you might want to get into this kind of thing. Or you might want to wait until next year when the ZX1 lands, which brings 200Hz and a 9.9mm thin body - Your call.

[Sony]

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You know that Sony LCD TV from yesterday that CNet claimed was the best LCD ever? Well, the Australian models from the same XBR family have just arrived in stores. They're not exactly the same on the inside, but the key technologies are the same.

We get three different screen sizes here in Australia, starting at $3,999 for the 40-inch model, $6,999 for the 46-incher and a whopping $9,999 for 55 inches of Sony Bravia XBR goodness. That may seem pricey, but hey - the world is going into a recession...

The full release is below the fold, but we should also point out that the 40-inch model doesn't include the RGB dynamic LED backlight and MotionFlow 100Hz Pro technologies. Probably why it's so cheap much cheaper than the 46-inch.

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In case you haven't gotten enough of amazing TVs you can't possibly afford in this awesome economy today, Cnet has reviewed the 55-inch, plasma-killin' tri-colour LED-backlit Bravia XBR8 we saw a couple months ago. Spoiler: Sony's setup didn't lie—it's the best LCD TV ever, falling just short of the best HDTV ever, nearly matching Pioneer's PDP-111FD (Cnet's best flat-panel period) in blacks, colour accuracy and bright-room picture quality.

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European Bravia commercials are some of the most visually interesting ads you're likely to see, at least they have been in the past. From the thousands of bouncy balls in San Francisco to the exploding paint orchestra, we like these ads. And now there's a new one! The latest shows a massive domino setup of various colours (of course) tumbling around India. Not quite as cool as some of the past spots, but still worth a watch just the same. [Illegal Advertising via Shape and Colour]

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Jesus had a nice up close look at the ZX1 TV from Sony back at IFA a few weeks ago, and his response was pretty similar to our own after seeing it at UCHI this week: Wow.

The TV, which manages its ultra-slim body by outsourcing its TV components to a separate box, only needs a single power cable to power the screen. It connects to the other box - which includes all the same connections and controls you'd find on a Bravia TV - using a proprietary wireless technology from Sony. Apparently it doesn't interfere with any of your other wireless techs (like your garage door or wireless headphones), and the box can be hidden away up to 15 metres away.

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The DMX-WL1, DMX-DVD and DMX-SW1 link modules from Sony hook up to their BRAVIA TVs to provide wireless streaming of HD video from anywhere up to 65 feet away. The DMX-WL1 is a two-piece system that has five HD sources (four HDMI and one component) that's $US800 in October. The DMX-DVD is an upscaling 1080p DVD player for $200, and the DMX-SW1 adds four additional HDMI inputs for $150, both of which are available now. These "follow" the BRAVIA Internet Video Link Module which latches onto compatible BRAVIA TVs, which costs $US300. [Sony Style]

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Sony became the latest to jump on the app trend bandwagon, but not with a product you'd automatically equate with downloading itty bitty widgets. The company has released an App development kit for its line of Bravia television sets. It expects people to create things like small multiplayer online games, weather and news data aggregators and anything else you can program onto 1.3MB of memory.

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We've been bringing you news on Sony's Bravia Internet Video Link for ages (it's that net-connected, wired, Bravia-TV compatible movie-player device) and now Sony's announcing official support for Amazon's Video on Demand service. So you'll have "tens of thousands of premium movies and TV shows" for the device, and more importantly "streaming high-definition content" from Dailymotion, Sony Pictures Entertainment and other providers will be available too. Since it also streams YouTube and other sources, is it possible that the US$300 BIVL may make a dent in the home-streaming HD TV market? It could, with the might of Amazon and the sheer number of Bravias sold alone. Press release below.

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Fans of Giz Explains know that Tru2way is the cable industry's latest cable card scheme. Today, Sony and Panasonic are showing off their own Tru2way-enabled TVs, Pana's PZ80Q with a built-in box, and Sony's Bravia with a box that connects via HDMI. What's cool is that this is the first time their showing it connected live to the cable company's head-end, and as you can see from the video and shots below, it works pretty well. Bonus: Samsung is showing off a different Tru2way interface, also connected to Comcast, though without full video-on-demand capability. Photos of that below.

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