Now, this is the rather fascinating thing about our industry. We love awards so much, we hand out "innovation" awards long before the products actually ship. Thus, I can tell you that while Samsung has just started shipping its "award winning" BD-UP5000 DuoHD dual format player, it has just announced its second generation combi, the BD-UP5500, for release in the second half of 2008! I am not in marketing so I have no idea how it goes selling a player whose successor is already announced before it hits the streets, but there you go.

Also announced was Samsung's now 4th-gen BD player the BD-P1500 for release in June of '08. No pricing was announced for either player.

Yes, a dual format player seems so, I don't know, last week, the BD-UP5500 will feature HDMI 1.3, full HDi interactivity for HD DVD. For the BD-UP5500 there is direct mention of streaming PIP capabilities (BD-ROM Profile 1.1, now mandatory) and web-enabled interactivity features, there was no direct mention of either BD Live features or BD-ROM Profile 2. We hope this player will be Profile 2 capable since BD Live enabled discs will be on the market then. Similarly, DTS-HD Master Audio "support" is cited, but it is not specifically mentioned that the player can internally decode the DTS lossless codec. I'll try to confirm both points with Samsung's folks later in the show.

The BD-P1500 is specified specifically as BD-ROM Profile 1.1 (streaming PIP), and there is mention of Ethernet connectivity. Stay tuned there.