Sony has announced the release of a new Blu-ray player, the BDP-S360. The player offers full-HD picture quality and 7.1 surround sound compatibility.

While the BDP-S360 is an entry level BD player, it offers some serious high-end features. Sony’s BD-Live will be available so that users can connect to the web and stream or download bonus content directly from their players. The player also offers a USB port so you can store any downloaded content or better still watch content stored on an external hard-drive through the player.

It also features Sony’s Precision Drive and Precision Cinema HD Upscaling technologies. Precision Drive stabilises warped or bent discs and allows for the play-back of scratched Blu-ray disks. While HD Upscaling is a technology which improves standard definition video quality so that it can be better enjoyed on HD TVs.

The BDP-S360 will be available in SA from August 2009, and should retail for R3599.