Sharp are soon to introduce their BD-HP1 Blu-ray disc recorder to the Japanese market. It features a 'hybrid recording function' that allows anyone who owns a Sharp AQUOS TV with an iLink connector to record full high definition content onto Blu-ray discs.
Yes, it's vendor tie-in. By the sound of it, you won't be able to enjoy all this Blu-ray storage goodness unless you already own a fairly modern (post-2004) AQUOS TV.
As Sharp say:
The BD-HP1 is one more way to enjoy the AQUOS Fami-link, a setup that combines the AQUOS LCD TV and AV equipment to provide entertainment. This player is installed with the industry's first Hybrid Recording function, allowing users to record high-definition programs received by the AQUOS’ digital tuner through i.LINK. The player also has the Easy BD Dubbing function, which allows users to transfer programs recorded by an existing AQUOS HD Recorder to Blu-ray Disc without losing the high-definition quality. Sharp is promoting this player as a new product genre that enables users to easily record onto Blu-ray Discs from the AQUOS LCD TV and the AQUOS HD Recorder.
The press release also goes on to suggest that this is just the first of a string of products that will tie you in to Sharp products forever. Well, OK, they don't put it quite that way, but you get the idea.
The drive will only write to single-layer rewritable discs, and the specs even suggest that it won't play dual-layer discs, though I could have misinterpreted them.
Aside from all this lovely Sharp linkage stuff, the drive doesn't seem to do anything else out-of-the-ordinary. No price, or international availability, details. It's coming to Japan on March 20, 2007.
From: Sony to double BRAVIA LCD TV production for growing European demand