Blu-ray player
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Futuristic Denon Blu-ray player / receiver concept
Denon isn't typically known for throwing out any futuristic pieces of AV luxury, rather, it tends to side with the more traditional, classy look. Of course, there's always a first time for everything, and while we're highly doubtful that this supposed Denon rendering will actually come to fruition, it certainly is a sight to behold. The two-piece kit consists of a rumored DVD-HD8910 Blu-ray player up top, with a 2TB AVR-HD8910 media center / receiver below. The 7.1-channel box also claims to handle iTunes music files and offer a direct connection to the iTMS, and while it's understandably simple to brush this all off as a fanboy's fantasy, Denon's no stranger to stuffing unusual extras in uncommon places.[Via AVSForum]
Funai getting into the Blu-ray player game, courting the budget set
You know those cheaper-than-a-DVD players (pictured) that hit England recently? Well, we're waiting for the HD disc equivalent, and you know Sony, LG and Toshiba aren't about to deliver such base "budget friendly" action. Obviously we're a long ways away from anything near that $18 price point, but a tiny little step was just taken in that direction with the announcement that Funai is going to be building a new Blu-ray player for OEM rebadge action. Analysts are pegging the initial offering at around $500, and it should be available before the end of 2007. Funai isn't ruling out an HD DVD player either, but the Blu-ray player will come first, and most likely will hit a near bottom pricepoint for its category, at least if Funai's LCD methods are any indication.
Panasonic DMP-BD10 player gets price and accessories
In lieu of somebody actually releasing one of these Blu-ray players, Panasonic is getting "official" on their DMP-BD10 and have a price and some accessories to hopefully keep us entertained until it all drops in September. It looks like they're hoping to hit the premium end of the already pricey Blu-ray spectrum, and are going to be shipping this unit for $1300. Other than Blu-ray playback and 1080p upconverting, the main notable feature is some proprietary P4HD tech to improve 1080i/720p output over analog, which apparently excuses a $300 premium over other players. The $1000 7.1 channel SA-XR700 receiver nicely allows control over HDMI via Panasonic's Viera Link tech, and has an extra HDMI in and a single HDMI out for 1080p pass through. If you team all this up with Panny's $3000 SB-TP1000 speaker system, which includes "Twin Center Speaker" tech to double your center channel fun, and maybe toss in an 80-inch plasma, we're sure you'll have one of the hottest spots on your block for viewing "Benchwarmers" and "Fifth Element" when this all gets released -- in September.[Via HD Beat]
