Toshiba Will Launch its First Blu-ray Player [Toshiba BD-18 to be Released by the End of the Year]

Toshiba has acknowledged that their HD DVD format has been buried and that the “future” is Sony’s Blu-ray disc, hence why the company plans to launch their first Blu-ray player by the end of the year. If reports by Japanese newspaper Yomiuri are correct, the new Toshiba BD-18 DVD / Blu-ray deck is likely to be released in Japan (its home market) just in time for the holidays and the Christmas shopping spree, that would cause a price war which we all would benefit from.

If up until now Toshiba had their pride in focusing on upconverting DVD players that would bring standard DVDs to near high-definition resolution, the recent drop in market share have forced Toshiba to consider the new BD-18 Blu-ray player sounds like a wise and solid decision for the Tokyo-based company.

Although there aren’t any specs or a release date confirmed for the moment, we can only wish that the new Toshiba BD-18 reaches the US and Europe.