Sony Cuts Prices On Google TV-Integrated HDTVs

Devin Coldewey

Devin Coldewey is a Seattle-based writer and photographer. He has written for the TechCrunch network since 2007. Some posts he’d like you to read: The Dangers of Externalizing Knowledge | Generation i | Surveillant Society | Choose Two | Frame Wars | The User’s Manifesto | Our Great Sin His personal website is coldewey.cc. → Learn More

Thursday, August 11th, 2011
cheapsony

Google TV hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, and while we could argue all day about what exactly prevented it from achieving greatness, the expensive hardware has to at least be part of the discussion. Logitech bit the bullet two weeks ago and lowered the price of their Revue from $250 to $99 — and it seems Sony has decided they might take a bit of that medicine too.

Their Google TV-powered HDTVs, which debuted in October, are getting hefty price cuts. Sony also made clear that these are not being made cheaper because there are better ones coming out soon — they just want to capture more market. That’s code for “they were too expensive to begin with.”

Here’s the breakdown (according to Amazon, and confirmed by Sony), by display size:

24″: $600 $295
32″: $800 $498
40″: $1000 $723
46″: $1400 $961

The best savings are on the 24″ version — and while Google TV wasn’t exactly a big hit among the TV-watching public at large (they prefer just watching), an internet-powered display like this could be a hit in a dorm room or kitchen.

Google TV will probably be around for a while, so it’s not a bad investment (and not a bad price for a 24″ set anyway), and the platform should be getting an update in the next few months as well, so you could be doing yourself a favor picking one up now.