Samsung Prepping Third-Generation Blu-ray Player For Release

Samsung Electronics has announced it is readying the world's first third-generation Blu-ray disc player, featuring a host of enhanced features.

Dubbed the BD-P1400, preliminary specs just revealed by the electronics giant highlight what is likely to be one of the most feature-rich Blu-ray players yet to hit the market.

In addition to full 1080p output capability (at both 24fps and 60fps), the deck will boast in-board Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD audio decoding.

The player is also expected to include a built-in Ethernet port (in anticipation of future Blu-ray disc releases featuring web-enabled content), and is likely to fully support HDMI v1.3 as well.

Samsung has not yet announced an exact release date or pricing for the BD-P1400, although it's been rumored for anytime between late July and Q1 2008. The company has confirmed that it will display the new player at the 2007 IFA consumer electronics conference in Berlin beginning August 31.

We'll keep you posted as further specs and release information is unveiled, so stay tuned!