Sharp Announces Blu-ray Disc/1-Terabyte Hard Drive Combo Recorder...For Japan

If you think the Blu-ray/HD-DVD War is causing confusion in the U.S., it is downright cut-throat in Japan. Sony and Sharp are aggressively on a campaign to replace VCRs and DVD recorders with Blu-ray Disc Recorders. As I have reported previously, Sony has announced four new Blu-ray Disc Recorders for the Japanese Market, and now, Sharp has announced a new Blu-ray Disc/1 Terabyte Hard Drive Combo Recorder (BD-HDW20 ), as well as a 500GB version (BD-HDW15 ), for the Japanese market. In addition, both the Sony and Sharp Blu-ray recorders can also record in standard DVD formats to insure backwards compatibility. While Sony and Sharp have not indicated any plans to also make standalone Blu-ray Disc recorders available in the U.S. anytime soon, this is definitely a trend to keep a watch on. For more details, including photos and specs, check out the Official Sharp Press Release.

Related Stories:

More Details on Sony's Blu-ray Disc Recorder Initiative (PC World).

Panasonic Counters Sharp With Its Own Blu-ray Disc/1 Terabyte Hard Drive Combo Recorder (CNET/Reuters).

Other Blu-ray News: New Blu-ray Disc Players To Output DTS-Master Audio Bitstream (High Def Digest)