The launch of the BD format is all in the hands of Samsung. That’s not much different than the HD DVD launch, which relied solely on Toshiba (and continues to do so). But with all the manufacturers that support BD, it would have been nice if more of them had some players out at launch, and at different price points like Toshiba.

As it is, Samsung’s BD-P1000 will be going it alone for about two months, because Sony’s player is currently targetted at on or about August 15th. And now the Samsung BD player is available for pre-order at several online retailers, according to I4U. I checked it out myself at Amazon.com, and sure enough, there it was. But they still listed the ship date as April 25th. Hmmm. That’s not right.

Samsung BD-P1000 Blu-ray Disc Player Available for Pre-Order