Sony Bravia Internet Video Links net to your TV

by Alex Zaharov-Reutt

Thursday, 01 March 2007

Bravo for Sony’s new Bravia Internet Video Link, which lets you watch TV shows and Internet videos from sites like AOL, Grouper, Yahoo!, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony BMG Music – without needing a PC.

If you have a compatible Sony Bravia TV, with some older models not compatible, you can attach the new Bravia Internet Video Link to the back of the TV, plug in an Ethernet cable, and presto – you’re able to watch Internet video content on your TV, without your computer needing to be part of the process.

The interface looks similar to that seen on the PSP and the PS3, and is known as the Xross Media Bar, or XMB, and it’s a very lovely way of browsing through your content indeed.

Sony’s 40 and 46-inch V-series Bravia’s with 1080p capability are supported, while in the S-series, the 26, 32, 40 and 46-inch models are also supported, as is a single 32-inch unit, with the model number KDL-32XBR4.

One of the big online movie sites is obviously not part of the content offering – or at least not yet. No prizes for guessing YouTube, but apparently Sony are in discussions and hope to sign them up soon. Other sites like Revver, and even Microsoft’s Soapbox are also targets to work with the new Bravia Internet Video Link, with Sony promising more details soon.

Set to retail in July for approx. $300, I guess it won’t be long before this box is simply built directly into future models, but until then, at least several existing Bravia models can be upgraded with the new box to support streaming Internet TV and video right to the biggest screen of the house – your TV.
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