Samsung is rescheduling its initial U.S. Blu-Ray player launch from May 23, 2006 to June 25, 2006 in order to complete compatibility testing with several Blu-Ray test discs that will become available in late April from product manufacturers and content providers.
The hardware development for Samsung’s BD-P1000 Blu-Ray player is complete and ready for mass production in Suwon, South Korea once these compatibility tests are passed. Sumsung still anticipates that its BD-P1000 will be the first Blu-Ray player to launch at a national level in the United Sates.
Samsung has also confirmed that two new features have been added to the BD-P1000 model without changing the expected $999 street price. The BD-P1000 will have a native 1080p output via HDMI for Blu-Ray software titles that are digitally mastered in 1920 x 1080 resolution and up to 1080p upconversion of conventional DVDs through the HDMI digital interface. Additionally, the built-in 9-in-2 multi memory card interface has been ungraded to 11-in-2 by adding support for Mini-SD and Memory Stick Pro Duo formats. By including a memory card interface into a Blu-Ray player, the native high definition resolution contained in 3MP or larger digital still pictures can be enjoyed on a high definition television.
