Format War ’06: Phillips Blu-Ray writer, Pioneer delays player

Have a need to not only burn CDs and DVDs but also that pretender to the next-gen optical crown, Blu-Ray? Philips has got you covered with their new TripleWriter, which can burn BD-ROM, BD-R, and BD-RE media at a blazing 2x. All that for the low, low—did we mention low?—price of $1045.

One assumes it can also read Blu-Ray discs, which I suppose makes it a viable choice, since standalone Blu-Ray players are going to run about $1000 anyway.

In related news, Pioneer, who along with Samsung was supposed to be one of the first to deliver standalone Blu-Ray players to market this month, has delayed the release of their debut player to September, and in a bizarre move, has announced its plans to exit the DVD player business. Instead, the company will move entirely to producing Blu-Ray products.

Just a tip, Pioneer: you might want to invest in another basket. Last we checked, HD DVD wasn’t dead yet.