Panasonic's Blu-ray Disc player, the DMP-BD10, will set consumers back a whopping $1,500 when it ships in the US in September - up to $500 more than Sony's offering. Actually, Panasonic said the DMP-BD10's price will be "less than $1,500" - so our money's on a $1499.99 price tag...

The company didn't provide much in the way of specifications, though it did say the player will ship alongside a series of new plasma TVs capable of showing 1080p content, implying the DMP-BD10 can output at that resolution. It will also offer a HDTV set-top box that matches the Blu-ray machine's styling.

Panasonic did say that the player will also handle not only DVDs but also CDs.

By the time the player ships, Samsung's 1080i BD-P1000 machine should have been on the market for four months, assuming its May debut goes as planned. Sony's 1080p-capable BDP-S1 is currently due to ship in the US in July. It will be priced at around $1,000. Samsung hasn't said what it will charge. ®