Panasonic's Blu-ray burning FreeSat+ DVRs due in June
Blu-ray archiving DVRs have been a staple in Japan since the format was still in protective cartridges, and now we have more details on the new Panasonic HD Everything lineup launching in the UK. All three boxes can convert recorded programs into h.264 to save disc space, and beyond their FreeSat+ twin tuner DVR capability, support Panasonic's VIERA Cast internet hookups to pull in video and pictures from YouTube and Picasa. The DMR-BS850 and DMR-BS750 support BD-Live enabled Blu-ray playback and recording in HD, while the DMR-XS350 serves as an HD DVR on its hard drive, but falls back to SD for disc archiving on old school DVDs. No word on a price, but while the British ponder Panasonic vs. Humax we're already willing to trade in proposed tru2way boxes to have a shot at these.
[Via TechDigest.tv]
Update: TrustedReviews came through with some better pics, specs, and most importantly, prices for these joints - The DMR-BS850 has a 500GB HDD for £999, the DMR-BS750 has a 250GB HDD for £899 and the DMR-XS350 clocks in with a 200GB HDD for £699.
