Samsung Duo HD Player due out soon
 

Here is something that will muddy the waters a bit. It's been announced earlier in the year that Samsung will be using a new chip produced by Broadcom in their upcoming flagship BP-UP5000 Universal BD/HD-DVD (possibly shipping in October). It is also supposedly sanctioned by both groups. Pricing is not known at this time but typically flagship means >$1k.
This may be a picture of it, but i'm not sure. On the tray it looks like it has the BlueRay and HD-DVD logo. SAMSUNG's Digital World - DVD Player
Does this help or prolong the format war? Will it perform equally on both formats? Who can say, but Broadcom will sell their single chip solution to anyone who wants to get into this market, so if the Samsung product is popular you can be sure that others will jump into the fray. Here is the link to the whole story.
SI - readmsg.aspx msgid=23853577

Re: Samsung Duo HD Player due out soon
 

Well, we know what "universal dvd players" did for the high end market. It was, in my opinion, a great product. But , the initial units, like usual where priced above most peoples means. And then, we had the problem of the record company executives not really backing fervently, either SACD or DVD - A, to get it to the point where the mass consumer could go for it.

As far as Blu vs. HD DVD. I think we`ll have to wait and see. $1000.00 will not draw the mass consumer. And the player needs to be truly universal and have ALL features. Full or at least most of the functionality of both formats. HDMI, 1.3 true Dolby HD, DTS HD, SACD and DVD -A playback. That, then is a true "Universal Player." Otherwise, why waste time once again.