For a while, the Sony Dash is actually kind of a glorified widget machine. Kind of like an iPad, but imagine that it doesn’t have the office suite function, or anything else that makes the iPad so great. The Dash Internet Viewer is a touchscreen WiFi device which can be propped up like a digital photo frame. Oh yeah, it’s not portable. So you just have to prop it around your home.

It runs Chumby OS, which lets the 7-inch device can run Chumby apps (there are over 1,000 free ones out there already), to which Sony will be adding its own Sony Music and Sony Pictures properties for movie trailers, music videos and so forth.

But the thing is, the the Sony Dash can now actually stream Watch Instantly content from Netflix. As if that wasn’t enough, Demand Media will also be offering Dash-tailored portals to content from eHow, Golflink and Livestrong.com, and it’ll have no issues streaming “online music videos, television, or film content on-demand” to the 7-inch touchpanel.

Amazingly, this device is only $199. Okay, there’s no external battery and you can’t lug it around everywhere, but I’m sure you can hack it.