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Panasonic, Sony show off 2.0 Blu-ray players

By Nate Mook, BetaNews

January 9, 2008, 5:12 PM

Both Sony and Panasonic are showing off their next-gen Blu-ray players that support Profile 2.0, but only Panasonic has its product nearly ready.

The Blu-ray Disc Association has promised that 2008 will be the year for interactivity coming to the format, and the hardware vendors supporting the standard are pushing forward with player upgrades to support it.

Currently, the PlayStation 3 is the only device that can be upgraded to Blu-ray Profile 2.0, also known as BD Live, which adds Internet connectivity as a mandatory feature. In turn, manufacturers are having to build newer players and existing customers must purchase another device.

Sony had prototypes of two 2.0 Blu-ray players on display in its CES booth, while Panasonic was demoing its BD-50 player that is due in the spring. Neither company has set pricing for the new players, with Panasonic telling BetaNews it will see how the market changes in the meantime.

When asked whether owners of the BD-10 or BD-30 players will be frustrated that their hardware will soon be out-of-day, a Panasonic representative told BetaNews that early adopters deal with such situations all the time and are used to paying a bit more money to have early access to new technology.

The BD-30 and BD-50 are nearly identical, aside from the latter adding an Ethernet port and include slightly more powerful audio processing capabilities, Panasonic said.

Sony was less concerned about alienating its customers, as most of its customers are currently buying PlayStation 3 consoles in order to play Blu-ray movies, and the PS3 will receive a firmware upgrade to Profile 2.0.

Panasonic's BD-50 player

Close up of Sony Blu-ray players
Sony's prototype Profile 2.0 Blu-ray players

Sony Sapphire 3 (Prototype)
- BD-Live and Bonus View capable
- Network Firmware update
- BD/DVD/CD playback
- Full HD 1080p video output and 24P True Cinema
- AVC HD playback with x.v.Color video output

Sony Sapphire 4 (Prototype)
- BD-Live and Bonus View capable
- Network Firmware update
- BD/DVD/CD playback
- Full HD 1080p video output and 24P True Cinema
- AVC HD playback with x.v.Color video output
- Advanced Audio Codec support

Add a Comment (8 Comments)

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By Joey Deacon

posted Jan 10, 2008 - 1:38 PM

"In turn, manufacturers are having to build newer players and existing customers must purchase another device."

Here we go again, the idiots at Betanews don't understand. Are they simple.

NOBODY IS FORCING ANYONE TO UPGRADE. ALL CURRENT PLAYERS WILL PLAY FUTURE BLU-RAY MOVIES.

how diffucult is it to understand? If you don't have a BD-Live player, you can't use BDLive features on the disc, but the main feature will play...

Score: 0

By ROBFORBETA

edited Feb 14, 2008 - 12:58 AM

It's always a pleasure to hear from someone who understands and accepts reality for what it is. I suspect that some early adopters are disgruntled only because, by definition, they have a need to have the latest and greatest. If, on the other hand, you simply want a high quality picture to enjoy in the privacy of your own home, you are set.

Score: 0

By MikeTechno

edited Jan 10, 2008 - 5:04 AM

How incredibly arrogant these Blu-ray manufacturers are now? They insult their loyal customers by how they treat them and this is article is a perfect example of that. If I was a Blu-ray owner, and I thank God now that I am not, I would send it back to the manufacturer with a very nasty letter insisting on a free upgrade to the latest Blu-ray profile player (or a full refund so I could go out and by a non-crippled HD DVD player instead).

If I were a Blu-ray owner, I would seriously consider getting together with other Blu-ray owners and filing a class action law suite against all of the manufacturers of the various Blu-ray players for the fraud that they have perpatrated on the consumers with their non-updateable machines.

Can you say "SCAM"? Sad. I am now convinced that Warner made the wrong decision. They should have dumped Blu-ray and stuck with HD DVD exclusively. That would have been the smarter move and I think history will bare that out over time. Too bad they let Sony bribe them into going with Blu-ray exclusively.

Score: 0

By pitdingo2

posted Jan 10, 2008 - 8:06 AM

Do you post the same thing in every topic on Blu-Ray? Again, if you follow consumer electronics at all, you would know first adopters most always get screwed.

HDTV's did not include HDMI for a long time. Most HDTV's out there can not do 1080p. Some suckers even bought 480p Widescreen TV's.

Technology changes. If you want to insulate yourself from this stuff, you should wait until the dust settles.

Sorry your HD-DVD format is dead...the better format won.

Score: 0

By lvthunder

posted Jan 9, 2008 - 6:40 PM

What does Advanced Audio Codec support mean

Score: 0

By yountmj

posted Jan 10, 2008 - 1:50 AM

Not entirely certain, as it would seem to be implied. It's the coding format for audio within MPEG-4 files.

Perhaps it means it will play files downloaded from the iTunes Store? *shrug*