LG: No combo Blu-ray and HD DVD player this year
By Richard Lawler 
posted Jul 26th 2006 12:55PM
posted Jul 26th 2006 12:55PM
Those waiting for a dual-format player to solve the conflict between HD DVD and Blu-ray will be waiting at least a little longer, or maybe forever. LG had indicated they would be replacing their canceled BD199 Blu-ray player with one capable of playing both formats, but they told TWICE that they have no plans to release such a device this fall. They did mention that they have been a strong supporter of the Blu-ray format, with their GBW-H10N burner already available, and when queried about 2007 only responded that they have not finalized their 2007 product plans yet. With Samsung still maintaining their "no plans" line and Ricoh's multiformat laser not due till the end of next year and still playerless it could be a very long wait for a compromise. We're trying to remain optimistic but we know how these types of things usually end up.
Sounds to me like someone with influence in one of the camps got to LG and put the kabosh on the dual-format player. If I had to guess it is probably the Blu-Ray camp, hoping the PS3 with it's Blu-Ray capabilities will turn the tide away from HD-DVD.
I say put 2 blue-laser pickups in the thing, remove the red-laser altogether to lower the cost (no CD or SD-DVD, all of us already have these things) and these players would sell like hotcakes until the universal Ricoh solution was ready next year.
Flaky Korean companies
If you don't know what you're going to do keep your f***in piehole shut. Both Samsung and LG have looked like complete idiots over this mess. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
The years not even over yet. How can you say that for sure?