By James Wells
MELBOURNE: Hitachi is ‘Tera-fying’ its opposition at the Harvey Norman conference and exhibition in Melbourne with a 1000GB or one Terabyte Blu-ray Recorder prototype which will be released within months for $A2,000.
According to Hitachi Australia senior product manager, Evan Manolis, the world first product is expected to be launched in early 2008 and will see the brand introduce a recording version of a technology that many companies can only offer with playback-only functionality.
"No one has a Blu-ray recorder. There’s players out there, but we will be leading the way with another Hitachi world first behind our hybrid hard disc and DVD camcorder as well as other high definition camcorder concepts we have yet to introduce," he said.
Manolis also previewed a 50-inch 1920 x 1080 full high definition plasma television with frame rate conversion and HDMI 1.3 input as well as Hitachi’s swivel stand and one-touch remote.
"We plan to be the first to market with 50-inch plasma in full high definition for between $4,000 and $5,000. It is our 50th anniversary selling televisions, so it makes sens that we are the first brand to enter the 50-inch segment this year," he said.