Sony slashes cost of Blu-ray player

Sony has announced a new Blu-ray player that is 40 per cent cheaper than its current flagship $999 (£509) BDP-S1 model – even though it can do more.

The $599 (£305) price tag on the new BDP-S300 makes it a little more competitive with Toshiba's $499 (£254) player which uses rival HD-DVD technology.

Unlike the S1, the S300 can play CDs as well as high-definition video. But there is no information yet on whether it will be sold in the UK, or what the price here would be, a Sony spokesman said.

The Blu-ray camp has claimed an edge over its rival in terms of the number of movie titles sold in its format. One reason may be that Sony's Playstation 3 games console uses a Blu-ray drive.

But sales of standalone players of both rival technologies are said to be slow as potential buyers hold back to see which becomes dominant.