14 DAY TRIAL // Although portable TVs are not exactly as popular nowadays as one might have predicted only a few years back, there are still quite a lot of people who simply can't stay too far from their telly even when going at a picnic, for example. And this is exactly the reason why the European division of Sony has announced the release of the new BRAVIA B4000-Series LCD TV range, which is supposed to be a portable TV, but reaches display sizes of up to 26 inches.
"With the BRAVIA B4000-Series we've introduced a fresh concept," says Angela de Klein, Product Manager, LCD TVs, SONY TV Operations Europe. "We tend to talk about it as a Lifestyle product, but what this means to the customer is practicality and convenience. Here is a TV that looks good wherever you put it and that's designed so you can pick it up yourself and move around easily. As with the whole Bravia range, it has a great picture, quality sound and plenty of connectivity too, but what's really special about the BRAVIA B4000-Series is that it is an engagingly stylish but ultimately practical lifestyle solution."
While Mrs. de Klein's statement is quite obviously a little bit biased, the truth of the matter is that the BRAVIA B4000 does provide a series of rather interesting features (not to mention quite an attractive external design). Thus, the devices from this series are available in two different finishes, each inspired by natural materials (Pearly White and Glossy Mocha), and allow users to choose between 20-inch, 23-inch and 26-inch models.
Quite obviously, Sony's new portable TVs are built around the Bravia image-processing engine, but they also incorporate Virtual Dolby Surround and BBE ViVa audio signal processing. Furthermore, the devices have been equipped with up to two HDMI sockets for connecting external HD devices, as well as the Bravia Theatre Sync technology, which allows users to control HDMI-linked setups using a single remote.
However, since this is, after all, a portable TV set, the engineers from Sony have also thrown in a digital tuner capable of receiving free-to-air (DVB-T) digital TV programs, wherever they are available. Moreover, the feeling of portability is further enhanced by the convenient handgrip located at the back.
Unfortunately, Sony's latest announcement doesn't mention anything about the portable Bravia's pricing, but we're sure to find out more in the coming weeks, when this thing is slated to hit the shelves across Europe.
We are just a few, but there are many of you, Softpedia users, out there. That's why we thought it would be a good idea to create an email address for you to help us a little in finding gadgets we missed. Interesting links are bound to be posted with recognition going mainly to those who submit. The address is 
.
