'Hancock' To Stream In HD On Bravia

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 10/14/2008

San Diego — Sony today is making good on its offer to rent the recent box-office hit “Hancock” as an HDTV stream to owners of Bravia LCD TVs equipped with a Bravia Internet Video Link set-back box prior to its availability on DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

The Sony Pictures summer hit starring Will Smith will be available to rent for a 24-hour period at $9.99. It will stream directly to Bravia Internet Video Link-equipped televisions from Oct. 28 through Nov. 10.

As previously announced, Sony will also offer consumers who purchase the rental stream and register online a free Blu-ray copy of the movie by mail after the Nov. 25 disc street date. Sony said the combo package has a “nearly $70 value” ($29.99 for the stream and $39.95 for the Blu-ray disc).

Sony said the offer is the first time “a top-grossing theatrical movie will reach consumers' homes via an Internet-enabled platform prior to the packaged media release.”

“Bringing ‘Hancock’ directly to Bravia is something only Sony can do,” stated Randy Waynick, Sony home products division marketing senior VP. “No other CE company has an entertainment portfolio like Sony, and we will continue to push hardware innovation that brings value to our customers. This is an important development not only for the industry, but for consumers seeking new entertainment options.”

As for future offerings, Sony said its Sony Pictures unit “is in discussions” to offer a high-definition video-on-demand motion picture day-and-date with its DVD release, with premium pricing, on the Bravia Internet Video Link and other platforms.

Sony will offer three versions of “Hancock” including a high-definition stream (720p) and two standard-definition streams (480p) with different encoding for lower bandwidth customers. The Bravia Internet Video Link service will automatically detect the customer's bandwidth and select the best stream for optimum performance. Once the customer clicks the “Buy Now” button in the Internet video link menu, the feature will immediately play.

In addition to movies, the module will also enable compatible Bravia TVs to stream content from such services as YouTube.