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Crave: Sharp will make the first LCD TV with a Blu-ray Disc recorder built in.

The high-definition disc recorder will be wedged into the side of Aquos DX-series TVs. It will have dual digital tuners, allowing users to watch and record simultaneously on different channels. It will record using the encoding format MPEG4 H.264/AVC.

The TVs will be available in sizes ranging between 26 inches and 52 inches.

The catch? They’re only available in Japan for now, but Sharp is planning to sell it abroad by the end of the year.

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CNet: Sharp plans to launch a Blu-ray recorder with a 1-terabyte hard drive, as it competes with the HD DVD camp.

The model will have the largest storage capacity of any Blu-ray player thus far.

The 1-terabyte model, capable of recording 127 hours of high-definition digital programming, will go on sale December 1 in Japan for about 300.000 yen (1.835 euro).

Sharp also plans to offer eight more new Blu-ray recorder models by year’s end in Japan in a bid to replace VCRs and conventional DVD machines.

The Osaka-based company said Wednesday it has no specific plans at the moment for overseas launch of these products.

Toshiba already offers an HD DVD recorder with 1 terabyte of storage.

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Engadget HD: Mitsubishi gave a glimpse of their new Blu-ray recorder at Ceatec last week, which sports an hard disk drive.

That’s all we can really tell you about this unit, but by mere heft analysis we’re going to guess this one falls somewhere between Sony’s BDZ recorders and Toshiba’s RD-A1 HD DVD monstrosity.

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Digital World Tokyo: Further details have been released of Sony’s Blu-ray recorders, scheduled for release in Japan this December.

The machines both feature hard-disk drives; the BDZ-V9 has a 500GB drive and the BDZ-V7 has a 250GB drive. There are two digital tuners in each recorder so that two high-definition programs can be recorded simultaneously.

The recorders include Linear PCM audio and 1080p output. They can also be connected to Sony’s recently launched high-definition camcorders by a Firewire connection and can playback the AVCHD-format discs used in the cameras.

The higher capacity BDZ-V9 will be launched on December 8 and the BDZ-V7 will follow about a week later on December 16. They will cost ¥300,000 (around €2,000) and ¥250,000 (around €1,700) respectively.

The machines fill an important gap in Sony’s high-definition strategy, which by now has HD-capable products in several parts of the consumer video market including televisions and video camcorders. These will be joined in November by the PlayStation 3 game console and then in December by the two new recorders announced Tuesday.

Launching the recorders internationally is possible but nothing has been decided as of yet, Sony said.

Both recorders were unveiled during a news conference at the Ceatec show, which opened Tuesday and runs until Saturday at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, east of Tokyo.

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Engadget: Earlier at this month’s IFA show, Daewoo launched their DBD-8000 HD Video Recorder.

What it records to we have no idea since there’s nothing listed in the specs or printed on the chassis.

But that ShowView EPG icon bottom-left means it definitely records to something. However, if it records to Blu-ray Disc then it certainly trumps Panasonic’s first.

For sure, it plays Blu-ray Discs and includes a built-in DVB-T TV tuner, HDMI out, DV in, and additional support for DVD, VCD, CD, and MP3 or JPEG laden discs.

As yet there are no release dates or pricing details.

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Dow Jones Newswire: Matsushita, maker of Panasonic-brand products, has said it will start marketing Blu-ray disc recorders in Japan this November.

The brand will launch two Blu-ray recorder models with different hard disk drive capacities and plans a monthly output of 3,000 for each model.

The recorders will come with a high price tag, but Takuya Sugita, Matsushita’s video equipment business director, said in a news conference their price should come down as sales grow. The company expects retailers to sell the high-end model for around Y300,000 (approximately €2,000).

The move will make them one of the first companies to launch the Blu-ray recorders, as the battle over the next-generation video standard heats up.

Matsushita has already released a Blu-ray player, but it has yet to finalize plans for selling recorders outside of Japan, Sugita said.

Electronics companies have basically divided into two camps. Sony, Samsung, Philips, Pioneer and Sharp also support the Blu-ray standard, while a group led by Toshiba is pushing the rival HD-DVD.

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TechWhackNews: Sony has said that they are aiming to launch Blu-Ray recorders in the Japanese market by December.

The company is also due to launch Playstation 3 in the American and Japanese markets by the year-end which they hope would boost the popularity of the Blu-Ray standard.

The Sony Playstation 3 gaming console is equipped with a Blu-Ray drive. And to challenge this, Microsoft is planning to provide an add-on HD DVD drive for their Xbox 360 gaming console.

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Akihabar News: Amex has announced that their ‘world-first’ Blu-ray disc recorder – the M505-BDR – will debut at IFA in Berlin, ready for European distribution.

The unit appears to have absolutely everything: it plays Blu-ray software titles via a native 1080p HDMI output.  It also up-converts conventional DVDs to 1080p through the HDMI digital interface and is backwards compatible, playing both standard DVDs and CDs in addition to supporting all DVD formats including, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+RW, and DVD+R.

Additionally, AMEX DIGITAL has included a dual Hybrid digital TV turner with PIP (Picture in Picture) Function and wireless WiFi b/g, 100/1000Mb network, Fire Wire IEEE1394, S/P DIF in/out interface that supports all the major formats source from internet and HD-DV Cam, the native high definition resolution contained in 2-megapixel and larger digital still pictures can be fully rendered on a high definition television via slide show functionality built into the M505-BDR.

Retail price is expected to be between 1,500 and 2,000 Euros.

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