Hands-on With Sony BRAVIA Internet Browser

Believe or not, but many 2011 Sony BRAVIA devices (TVs, Blu-ray players, etc) have a built-in web browser accessible through the updated XMB interface. This was not officially announced at CES 2011, but as you can see in our exclusive hands-on video that the browser was most certainly functional. According to our sources, the browser is HTML5/Java compliant, and is powered by a MIPS processor. We heard that one day it might be upgradeable to support flash, but no time table was given. Tabbed browsing is supported, and you can also utilize the TrackID service to identify which song is playing in the browser.

In our video of the BRAVIA Internet Browser, you can see that the test page loaded rather slowly. This is mostly due to the horrendous Internet speeds available in Las Vegas during CES 2011. Regardless, even on a diamond connection it wouldn’t be the fastest browsing experience because of the slow hardware, but this is still a nice option.

Browser settings are fairly basic, including adjustments for Character Size, Javascript Setup, Cookie Settings, and the option to delete all Cookies. There are also options for Bookmarks, Next/Previous Page, Stop, Refresh, Enter URL, Zoom, Open in New Window, Character Encoding, and Details. When you are entering in a website address, it can be a little slow as you have to do it through a T9 interface, using the remote’s numeral keys to enter in the letters.

BRAVIA Internet Browser should be available on products such as the HX929, HX820, NX720, HX729 televisions. We are still working to confirm compatibility on the EX series TVs and the various BDP-S series Blu-ray players.