Samsung unveils ultraslim Blu-ray player
Samsung announced a new 1.1-inch Blu-ray player, which also has built-in Wi-Fi and support for the company's new Samsung Apps streaming content platform.
Blu-ray players tend to all have the same boxy shape and glossy black finish, but Samsung has shown some truly unique designs in the past, like last year's BD-P4600. Samsung announced another uniquely-shaped Blu-ray player at CES 2010, the BD-C7500, which comes in at just 1.1 inches thick and "wood" exterior finish.
Key features of the Samsung BD-C7500
- 1.1 inches thick
- "Nature-inspired" wood finish
- Wall-mountable
- Supports Internet@TV/Samsung Apps, which will provide content from Netflix, Pandora, Vudu, Blockbuster, Picasa, and Twitter
- Built-in Wi-Fi
- No release date or pricing announced
Internet@TV and Samsung Apps are Samsung's new proprietary content portal for home theater products. As of now, it's not perfectly clear exactly how it will work; Samsung says that the first free apps will launch in the spring, with premium apps following in the summer. There's no word yet as to whether services like Netflix and Vudu will be free or premium apps. With other players offering the same functionality for free, we expect it will be difficult to charge a premium for standard streaming media apps like Netflix.
As you can tell from our review of the BD-P4600, although we give Samsung credit for trying, we didn't find the design wholly practical or worth the extra money. The BD-C7500 will likely be in the same vein, really only making sense if you intend to wall-mount your Blu-ray player or don't mind paying extra for the aesthetics.
