Sony's 4K Ultra HD media player is now available for purchase, with the earliest orders slated to ship July 5th. As announced previously, it's priced at a whopping $699.99, though comes pre-loaded with 10 full-length movies out of the box. Of course, titles vary in quality, with The Amazing Spider-Man and Taxi Driver representing the best of the crop. (The full list can be found here.) Sony is also revealing what 4K rentals and purchases will cost users when its Video Unlimited 4K Ultra HD service goes live later this summer. Rentals will start at $7.99, a clear jump over what video-on-demand services are currently charging for 1080p HD downloads. Purchases will run at least $29.99 apiece, also a hike compared to the $20 and below price point that's become common for Full HD content. Sony isn't yet saying how pricing for TV shows will compare
Using the company's math though, you're getting about $300 worth of films out of the box. We can't imagine many viewers would shell out that much for Bad Teacher and That's My Boy given the choice, but it's hard to complain given the cost of zero. Sony is also including additional content beyond the major studio productions; it says indie films, shorts, and 4K gallery videos will "demonstrate the full capabilities of end-to-end 4K video production." All told, you'll be able to store up to 2TB of media on Sony's ultra hi-def player.
Update: Users of the AVS Forum have noted that the player only works with Sony 4K TVs, with some older revisions requiring an HDMI board swap.