Sony Corp. said Monday it will release a new device Oct. 1 that lets computer users watch Japanese television programs while abroad through the Internet.

The device consists of a base station wired to a TV set at home and Sony software installed in the computer. Through the device, users can access their base stations from hotels, restaurants, cafes or other locations that have broadband Internet access or wireless local area network services.

They can also access content from other audio-video equipment connected to the base station, such as DVD players, and send commands to switch TV channels without using the TV functions.

The device, developed under Sony's "Location Free" TV concept, costs about 35,000 yen -- around 33,000 yen for the LF-PK1 base station and 2,000 yen for the LFA-PC2 software.