Confirmed: Samsung Duo HD Player Coming

Looks like we can take this tasty rumor to the bank. After months of hemming and hawing, Samsung has finally announced that it will, in fact, release a dual-format Blu-ray/HD DVD player before the year is out.

According to Engadget HD, the Duo HD BD-UP5000 should be coming out "in time for the holidays," which sounds a little less optimistic than the July time frame that was bandied about before. Anyway, Samsung claims that the new player will, indeed, be fully compatible with all your favorite HD DVD features, including those cool (or annoying, depending on how you look at it) video commentary pop-ups. Beyond that, Samsung didn't release and other specs or a price tag, but again, I'm guessing that the Duo HD will cost somewhere in the $1,000 range. And who knows—maybe this time, they'll have worked out all the kinks that plagued LG's first-to-market BH100 hybrid player.

Related:
Samsung says Duo HD BD-UP5000 dual-format Blu-ray/HD-DVD combo player on the way [Engadget HD]
Samsung press release