Sony's most anticipated high-definition product remains the PlayStation 3, which is still expected to be released this spring, at least in Japan. But the company said Wednesday that it will also release, in the summer, an as-yet-unpriced Blu-ray player called the BDP-S1, and, by the end of the year, an external computer drive that will play and record the high-definition discs.
Blu-ray hardware from Sony and others will hit the market at roughly the same time that a rival, and incompatible, high-definition technology from Toshiba called HD DVD will be available to consumers. Toshiba said Wednesday that its first HD DVD players will begin shipping to consumers in March 2006.
Though Sony's Blu-ray technology has gained considerable momentum in recent months, analysts say the uncertainty over which format will ultimately prevail is likely to dampen consumers' enthusiasm for high-definition technology.
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