Sony and Samsung, 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 $1,608 and are available in Japan only.
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. 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.
29-04-2008, 12:37
Sony and Samsung launch new blu-ray products
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