Pioneer unveils BD Live, low-price Blu-ray players

CES: Set-tops will offer external storage

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 1/8/2009

JAN. 8 | Pioneer Electronics will launch its first out-of-the-box-BD Live Blu-ray Disc players, as well as its first mass-market-priced model in May.

Considering current market conditions and falling technology prices, Pioneer felt now the time was right to expand beyond its current core elite market focus. Its BDP-120 will be priced at less than $300 and will ship with a 1GB flash drive for external content storage. It will automatically be able to playback Web-enabled features without the need for firmware upgrades.

"As the technology matures, we can maintain our elite line, but we can also provide more economically minded product," said Rolf Hawkins, national trainer of home entertainment at Pioneer.

Chris Walker, Pioneer senior manager of product planning, added, "When times are tough people enjoy spending more time at home."

The company also will launch two premium BD Live players priced at more than $500. Although higher priced than many available set-tops, these elite models will find fans because of their distinctive storage capabilities, says Pioneer management.

The BDP-320, at less than $400, will have 1GB of internal storage, as well as the ability to support up to two terabytes of external storage via its USB port.

Pioneer's $599 BDP-23FD will have the same storage capabilities as the BDP-320 and is considered top-of-the-line of this series.

As studios offer more complex downloads with their BD Live titles, Pioneer is confident its players can hold the expanded information.

"No one is doing this level of external storage," said Hawkins. "This is very unique to Pioneer."

Pioneer just started shipping its BD Live-ready model, the BDP-09FD, with firmware coming later this year to upgrade it to fully Web-enabled.