Sony and Samsung, two of the biggest backers of the Blu-ray Disc format during its battle with rival HD DVD, are releasing new Blu-ray Disc products with the anticipation that consumers are finally ready to start upgrading to high-definition video discs.
Sony's new machines, the BDZ-A70 and BDZ-T90, are both Blu-ray Disc recorders that pack a hard-disk drive and dual-tuners for Japan's digital TV broadcasting system. The former model has a 320G byte hard disk and iLink port for hooking up to a DV camcorder while the latter a 500G byte drive but comes without the camcorder connection. Both cost ¥168,000 (US$1,608) and are available in Japan only.
Last year Sony said it would make Blu-ray Disc standard on its digital video recorders. Sony, which developed much of the technology that sits at the heart of Blu-ray Disc, is beginning to promote the format strongly after Toshiba pulled the plug on HD DVD in February.
Samsung's new player, the BD-P1500, supports "full HD" 1080p playback and accepts not only Blu-ray Disc but also DVD and CDs. In the case of DVDs it offers upconverting to 720p, 1080i and 1080p.
But it won't support BD-Live, the next major addition to the Blu-ray Disc format, out of the box. BD-Live is an interactive system that brings functions like gaming, e-commerce and new content to a Blu-ray Disc player through an Internet connection, due to be available in coming months.
The first buyers of the BD-P1500 will have to upgrade their players to support BD-Live through an Internet or USB memory drive.
The player will be available worldwide from May and will cost around US$399.
- Sponsored Resource:Are you ready for virtualization? Try the sever assessment tool.
- Sponsored Resource:Learn more about ultra light notebooks from Asus and the best warranty in the industry.
- Sponsored Resource:Thinking about a new Laptop? Lenovo has models to meet everyone's needs.
- Sponsored Resource:Get the truth about remanufactured ink. Learn more from HP.
- Sponsored Resource:Six smart ways to grow small business IT
News For Your Business
- Intel's Classmate 3 Laptop Gets a Touch Screen
- OQO Shows off Handheld Computer Based on Atom
- Intel Laptop Platform to Boost Graphics, Power Use
- Move Over Quad-Cores, Intel's Ready to Ship 6-Core Chips
- Apple Clobbers Competition in Customer Satisfaction
Community Comments