That didn't take long. Just a month-and-a-half after Toshiba announced it would be coming out with Blu-ray Disc products in 2009, Toshiba has actually released details about its first Blu-ray Disc player. Due in November, it comes out just in time for the holiday buying season. Not a bad timeline, considering how long it took for the high-definition format war to run its course.
From its pictures, the BDX2000 is svelte and stylish, and it looks nothing like the last generation of HD DVD players (the high-def format Toshiba previously supported). Its smoked mirror front panel flips down to reveal the player's disc tray and controls.
The player sounds fairly standard. It has an ethernet port for Internet-connected BD-Live functions; and it has Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio Essential playback. The player supports AVCHD playback. A nice touch: It has an SDHC Card slot for playing back photo and video content (JPEG, MP3, WMA and AVCHD files) as well as storing BD-Live content. And like most players on the market, the BDX2000 supports HDMI-CEC for controlling both the TV and the Blu-ray player via the same remote control.
The BDX2000 is expected to carry an MSRP of US$250 when it goes on sale in November. Our guess, however, is that it will sell for less, given some of the pricing pressures we're already seeing on Blu-ray Disc players.
Another note: Toshiba takes pains to note in its press release that "This product does not play HD DVD discs. Blu-ray discs with high-definition content required for HD viewing." We find it a curious inclusion: given that HD DVD has been out of the market for over a year-and-a-half, it seems odd to dredge this up, even if it is in a footnote.