nsz-gp9
Latest
Google TV goes international, Sony NSZ-GS7 set-top box up for preorder in the US and UK
Sony mentioned during CES 2012 that its Google TV-powered hardware would come to Europe this summer, and now it's official. Along with Google, it's announced preorders are available for the $200/£200/$199 NSZ-GS7 internet streaming set-top box in the US and UK (showing a ship date of July 9th, Sony says it should hit stores July 22nd), with plans to launch in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico and Netherlands later this year. The NSZ-GP9 with integrated Blu-ray player will arrive in October, priced at £280/€300/$299. UK users can expect localized content from The Guardian among other sources, and more reveals are promised at Google I/O this week. There's an internationally-aimed trailer (embedded after the break) and more information from Sony and Google at their respective sites, we'll see if the mix of reworked hardware and updated software makes this venture more successful than the last round. Update: It looks like buyers in other countries may not have to wait long, Sony Australia has already announced a "limited time" pack-in offer of the boxes with the purchase of a new TV starting this week. The box will be available solo at some unspecified time in the future.
Sony's Google TV-enabled NSZ-GS7 Network Media Player up for pre-order at J&R
We knew Sony's next batch of Google TV-enabled hardware was coming this summer, and now at least one device is up for pre-order at J&R. Folks who've been wanting the Android-based service without shelling out for a full TV set from the company will now only need to part with $200 for its NSZ-GS7 Network Media Player. The unit comes complete with an updated remote featuring a QWERTY keyboard, motion control, a microphone (for "voice commands") and a touchpad, and it's said to work with most of Sony's 2012 TV lineup. There still seems to be no word on this streaming box's exact specs, a ship date or when you'll be able to snag its Blu-ray touting sibling, but you can hit the source link to secure one for yourself in the meantime. Here's to watching whether it'll muster up more gusto for the platform than Logitech's Revue, once it's planted consumers' AV racks.
Sony's second try at Google TV brings Blu-ray player, streaming box and a new remote (Update: hands-on!)
Interestingly, despite a Sony execs saying that its Google TV model was meeting sales expectations, for the second round it's focusing on two add-on boxes. The NSZ-GP9 Blu-ray player and NSZ-GS7 network media player (pictured above) will ship in North America and Europe in early summer, and are expect to roll out in other regions afterwards as Google TV expands its reach. Common to both boxes is a completely reimagined remote, featuring a backlit QWERTY keyboard, touchpad and motion control for gaming. We're not hearing anything about IR blasters up front this time around, but it can work as a universal remote to control other devices with "basic" control of Sony's 2012 HDTVs as well, while the Blu-ray player supports voice search as well. Unspecified at this time are the provenance of the internals, although the switch away from its Intel predecessors should yield cheaper, cooler running units. There's no price or expected ship date available currently, check back for more info and hands-on with these as well as the other new Sony hardware shortly. Update: We got our hands all over the new hardware and our first impression is: it's tiny. The network streamer is still bigger than a Roku, but compared to say, a Revue, the switch to ARM has clearly had a slimming effect on Google TV. The Blu-ray player is similarly shrunken, with its footprint down to merely what a normal player would occupy. The remote is conveniently backlit this time around, and dual sided. It certainly has an improved feel this time around, but is it good enough to satisfy the masses? We'll know better after we've spent more time with it. Check the pics in the gallery to see for yourself.
