Samsung will be the only manufacturer to release a set-top Blu-ray player this summer. Pioneer was also supposed to release one in June but they delayed the BDP-HD1 to sometime in the Fall 2006.
The real surprising news is that Pioneer announced that they will no longer manufacture regular DVD players and will only support the Blu-ray format. I think they are jumping the gun a little by doing that. After all, VHS is finally getting phased out after years and years of DVD’s being released.
News Source: BetaNews
Remember that Blu-ray players will be backward compatible with current DVDs, they will save on manufacturing old DVD players and push the adoption of the new format. There is no harm since standard DVDs are not pushed out, but only aside.
Maybe no harm for compatibility, but I think the price difference will hurt.
-Ryan