Toshiba became the first company to ship a high-definition DVD player, the HD-XA1, an HD-DVD player that's now available in Japanese stores for $940. Even though content for the player is nearly nonexistent, Toshiba is bundling a couple of HD DVDs with the player, Resident Evil and Moonlight Jellyfish, hardly blockbusters, but at least something to show off the shiny new HDTV signals emanating from within.

Toshiba is still sticking with its April US launch date for the HD DVD players, quoting the price of this same HD-XA1 unit at a lower $799 stateside and the low-end HD-A1 for $499.

Toshiba launches world's first HD DVD player [Reuters]

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