Sony's first Blu-ray drive gets rap for not playing flicks

And we've been griping about Blu-ray delays in the good ol' USofA. Looks like the folks Down Under have it way worse, since Sony has just released their BWU-100A internal PC drive for reading and writing Blu-ray discs in Australia, 'cept supposedly the thing can't actually manage to play back is Blu-ray movies. Apparently they're blaming the lack of HDCP-compliant graphics cards, and the fact that there isn't any retail software that can play Blu-ray movies, just the OEM version of Intervideo WinDVD BD that ships with Sony's VAIO AR laptop -- assuming of course, that your Blu-ray content requires HDCP to begin with. That would make us wonder why Sony can't just bundle that same software with the BWU-100A, but we're clearly thinking with the addled mind of a consumer. If we were smarter, we'd realise the logic behind releasing products so saddled with rights management that they can't even play back the media they were built for. Luckily, Sony says they're optimistic about resolving both issues soon, and that for now the device is still 100% functional for storage (hooray), and can play back your own home-burnt movies as well (as well as Blu-ray flicks that are HDCP-free). All this can be yours, you lucky Australian you, for a mere AU$1,399, or about $1,075 US.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]