Following the ongoing speculations during the last six months, Samsung today officially announced the introduction of a dual format High-Definition (HD) optical disc player in time for the holidays.

Samsung?s Duo HD player (BD-UP5000) will fully support both HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc formats and their interactive technologies, HDi and BD-Java. The new Duo HD joins Samsung's next generation DVD line-up which includes Samsung's second generation Blu-ray player available at retail this month.

"We welcome Samsung's Duo HD player as another solution in the marketplace that will help reduce consumer confusion and buyer hesitancy towards HD media," said Ron Sanders, President of Warner Home Video. "This is an innovative product that can move us closer to mainstream consumer adoption of HD technologies."

"We are very pleased to announce the upcoming release of our Duo HD player. Consumers are hungry for more HD content but are currently confused about competing formats. Samsung?s Duo HD player will allow consumers access to every HD movie title available regardless of the authoring format. Samsung is committed to making life simpler through technology and will market next generation DVD products which will satisfy the consumer and market requirement. This is a big win for the consumer."

Samsung has been a member of the Blu-Ray Disc Association and the DVD Forum. "We recognize that both HD-DVD and BD formats have merits. As such, we have decided to market a dual format player. Samsung is flexible to market a stand-alone HD-DVD player whenever consumers demand it. Our main concern is not technology but consumer choice" said Dongsoo Jun, Executive Vice President of the Digital AV Division at Samsung Electronics.

Currently, Samsung's rival LG Electronics has also released its first Blu-Ray /HD DVD combo player, the BH100 (MSRP $1299.95). LG will also release a BD/HD DVD combo drive for PCs (GGW-H10N) later this month. Sony's BDP-S300 Blu-Ray player will launch in the middle of the year for about $599 while Toshiba's HD-A2 player carries a recommended price of $399.