Panasonic confirms Blu-ray player ship date

Panasonic has confirmed that it plans to begin selling a Blu-ray disc player in the US this September.

Blu-Ray is engaged in a fierce battle with HD DVD to become the next-generation format for DVDs.

Panasonic's first Blu-ray player will have a DMP-BD10 model number and the company says it will have a sub-$1,500 price point.

"With the DMP-BD10, Panasonic proves its commitment to providing the best high definition entertainment experience for the home," said Panasonic entertainment group's vice president for merchandising, Reid Sullivan. "Our goal is to focus on the total solution for an uncompromised high definition experience. In addition we want to ensure that the consumer experience is as easy as possible, so we’ve added EZ-Sync HDAVI control function to make it simple to connect and control multiple products, such as a Panasonic Plasma TV, Blu-ray Disc player and receiver. Plus, with the BD10 we respect the legacy content that consumers have in their entertainment libraries, including virtually all DVD and CD formats, as well as video and image formats."