NEWS: Sony Announces Movie Promo for Networked HDTVs, Blu-ray Players

At the beginning of this week (November 9-13), Sony Electronics announced a special promotion where, according to a company press release, owners of network-enabled Sony BRAVIA HDTVs and Blu-ray players “will be able to enjoy an exclusive in-home opportunity to rent the Sony Pictures animated hit, ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs,’ four weeks before it is available at retail.”

The Sony press release specifies that customers who purchase a networked BRAVIA HDTV or Blu-ray player and register these devices between November 9, 2009 and January 4, 2010 “will receive a free 24-hour rental of the movie in high definition (a value of $24.95).”

Current owners of network-enabled BRAVIA HDTVs and Blu-ray players will be offered a chance to rent the film before it is available at retail, from December 8, 2009 through January 4, 2010, but at the regular price of $24.95. Models eligible to take part in his special rental promotion include current networked BRAVIA HDTVs such as the W5100, Z5100, XBR9* and XBR10 HDTVs as well as Sony’s new BDP-N460 Network Blu-ray player. The promotion is also open to “earlier BRAVIA models equipped with the BRAVIA Internet Video Link module.”

*Excluding the Sony BRAVIA KDL-32XBR9  

Perhaps stating the obvious, Sony emphasizes that “televisions and Blu-ray Disc players must be connected to the internet to receive the movie.”

Hiro Kawano, senior vice president for Sony Electronics’ Home Division business, comments that, “given our breadth of content and strength in networked products, Sony is the first company to utilize its internet enabled TVs and other network devices to stream feature films directly to consumers’ televisions prior to availability on DVD or Blu-ray.”

For more information, visit: www.sony.com/news.