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Beauty and the Box: Sony’s S5100 Blu-Ray Player

By Drew Prindle Dec 23, 2019 3:03 PM

Home theater boxes are in an awkward transitionary period right now; almost like the VHS to DVD switch that happened years ago, but worse. It’s clear that streaming media from the Internet is the way of the future, but streaming services like Netflix and Hulu haven’t been able to match the variety and availability of physical disks, which leaves savvy consumers in a bit of a quandary. Do you buy a media streamer that can’t play discs, or do you buy a disc player that can’t connect to the web?

A handful of manufacturers have offered up devices that attempt to bridge this gap, but none can match the style and elegance of the Sony S5100.

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With it’s edgy, angular design and matte black finish, this thing looks like it could’ve fallen out the cockpit of a stealth fighter jet. But the modern look isn’t without purpose — we get the impression that the designers are making a statement here. The angled top suggests it can’t be stacked on, can’t be topped, and will therefore always enjoy a prominent spot in your home theater setup. In essence, it’s the last box you’ll ever need.

What’s best is that the S5100 has the guts to back up that statement. Sporting an impressive list of specs, it may very well be the last box you ever need to purchase. In addition to the blue-beam optical drive that can play your DVDs and Blu-Rays, it also has built in WiFi, app support, NFC, and 3D playback. As long as smell-o-vision isn’t invented anytime soon, it’ll probably remain relevant for years into the future.

Sony hasn’t yet announced an official release date, but expect the S5100 to roll out sometime this spring.

Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital… Read Full Bio

We’re only a few months away from our new Bond, Producer Amy Pascal teases

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Since Daniel Craig bit the big one in his James Bond swan song in 2021’s No Time to Die, fans have been waiting to find out who the next person to drink the martini shaken instead of stirred will be. In true Bond fandom fashion, a whole slew of fancasts have started to muddle the waters as to who could possibly be the new 007. Callum Turner, Jacob Elordi, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and more have all been pitched as possible replacements. Some more ethnically diverse options like Henry Golding and Rene Jean-Page have also emerged. But, alas, no word has come down from on high to give us the scratch to this fan itch raging on for the last five years. That is, until Producer Amy Pascal sat down during her Spider-Man: Brand New Day press tour and gave a bit of insight on when we can expect an announcement, and also what we can expect in the cast.

I would say the end of the year is a good bet. We are being really, really methodical. – Amy Pascal

Elevate your elegance: Choosing your first cigar

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Earlier this year, I was strolling the streets of New York and ended up sitting in the Carnegie Club with an Old Fashioned in one hand and a cigar in the other while My Way by Frank Sinatra played from a speaker flanking leather-bound books behind the couch I had been using as my perch. It was my first cigar, but it led to a slight obsession that recently found me on the back deck of a lodge in Kenya, staring at Mount Kilimanjaro and smoking a stick while giraffes meandered by. Admittedly, there has been no intention in my budding hobby; I am aimlessly choosing the cigars that look good (the ones that look like those smoked by Arnold or Stallone in the movies, obviously). But I have decided to approach these in a new way, with a little help from my friends over at La Aurora, who graciously decided to navigate my ignorance with some info compiled by Brand Manager John Gaglio, with input from Master Blender Manuel Ynoa, CEO Ed McKenna, and Brand Manager Elvis Batista.

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FIFA’s Gianni Infantino Is Uglifying the Beautiful Game With $20 Billion Plot — But the Global Soccer Community’s Punching Back

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For the better part of two decades, perhaps even more, corruption has allegedly run rampant within FIFA. Sepp Blatter, in particular, became the face of alleged extortion schemes, and he operated with impunity while at the helm of the organization for 17 years, from 1998 until his forced resignation in 2015 amid an FBI corruption probe. He’s banned for life from all football-related FIFA activities. If you’re new to the organization’s alleged deep connection to corruption, Netflix offers a brilliant 2022 documentary, FIFA Uncovered. In that documentary, Gianni Infantino appears in his previous capacity as Secretary General of UEFA (2009-2016) and later as the newly elected FIFA president, who vowed to root out corruption and hand the beautiful game back to the people where it belongs.

That, as it turns out, was all wishful thinking.