Samsung Electronics, one of the world"s leading producers of consumer electronics as well as microchips, has re-announced (originally promised almost two years ago) plans to release the BD-UP5000, their HD player capable of Blu-ray disk and HD DVD playback this summer. Samsung"s Duo HD player will fully support both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats and their interactive technologies, HDi and BD-Java – but specifications of the device remain unknown.
"As a member of the DVD Forum and contributor to the DVD Industry, we recognize that both HD DVD and BD formats have merits. As such, we have decided to market a dual format player. Samsung is flexible to market a stand-alone HD DVD player whenever consumers demand it. Our main concern is not technology, but consumer choice. Consumers are hungry for more HD content but are currently confused about competing formats. Samsung"s Duo HD player will allow consumers access to every HD movie title available regardless of the authoring format," said Dongsoo Jun, executive vice president of the digital AV division at Samsung Electronics.